Hello everyone. This week has been a little bit more special than the others. This is because on Monday 19th of September twenty-eight years ago I came to this world. I took the congratulations, but actually my mother was who made the effort and who should be congratulated. September 19th, day that I took off to enjoy it. Without doing any special thing, I dedicated myself basically to relax, to cook and  to answer the congratulations of people who spent a minute of their time to write me or call me. It might sound a little boring, but trust me, corresponding to the people who remembered me, and on the other hand, taking a break from the bustle of the last few weeks meant a lot.

In the evening, I met several friends to celebrate it with a few beers and a good chocolate cake. Very happy to celebrate it with them, but at the same time a little strange not to have family and friends nearby. Anyway, always well surrounded, it´s a luck.

The rest of the week kept going on the same line as the others, office work to continue preparing the activities that we carry out weekly and also in Caritas, laying a hand on everything we can.

As activities to highlight, on Wednesday Gioia and I did our cooking workshop. This time the theme was about summer meals. Taking advantage still of  heat and because during the summer we had no activity for the development of the workshop, we decided to do it that day. Of course, a good Andalusian gazpacho and a bitter-sweet potato salad. The preparation of the dishes was a success, it was not so much the attendance of participants. Due to several unforeseen the previous weeks to the workshop, we didn´t have clear whether we would do or not the workshop in the usual local, which gave us few time to create the event and promote it. Even so, the participants present there enjoyed the activity and were very satisfied with the dinner that they themselves drew up.

See you next week!

Welcome to my blog one more week. After a intense summer and at the same time productive, is time to resume the activity in a way more structured but also open to new developments. I say structured because through the project we are carrying out we have a series of weekly activities with a fixed schedule, and I say open to new developments because from now till we finish the project, we will carry out a series of events and activities coming out of normal hours and in many cases will happen during the weekend.

The activities that we have scheduled for the next months are: kitchen workshops, photography and natural products; Spanish, Portuguese and Italian classes; yoga classes and outdoor workouts; our radio program and the weekly screening, each month with a different theme. As possible activities, we will organize several hikings, a wine route, a cheese halloumi excrusion, besides several sport events and a 3 on 3basketball tournament. This is basically what is going to be our work from now on.

On the other hand, we continue with our office hours in order to prepare with time all these activities and also with our collaboration at Caritas. Unlike countries like Spain, of Catholic tradition, the presence of this organization in the island is small and often it finds serious difficulties to attend to all those people that come in seeking of help because of their lack of resources.

Along the last week, as aspects to highlight, saying that I´ve started with the Spanish classes I’m going to impart until end of March. These classes are a challenge for me given that without much experience in teaching the Spanish language, I will give classes to two groups of about 15 people each one. A challenge that I accept with great enthusiasm and which I am sure I will learn a lot.

To close the week and setting aside the work with the Organization, on Friday it was organized a party to celebrate the birthday of five friends and volunteers of other organizations who have their birthday in this month of September, me included. A party that promised to be mythical and in the end didn´t disappoint. Proof of this was the condition the house was the next day. Although a couple of hours of cleaning, and everything like new.

We continue next week with new stories and experiences of life in Cyprus. Best regards!

Hello to everyone!

After a few weeks off the blog, we’re back. In this post I will focus on summarizing how I have spent the last few weeks that I haven´t written and I will comment a bit the month of September, which comes loaded with activities and purposes.

As I said in the last entry, the burden of social and cultural activities and lack of time forced me to stop writing until it was more comfortable. That lack of time is due mainly to the amount of time that it demanded to me the Greek course that I did at the University of Cyprus, some meetings with my mentor and my companion of exchange of languages, the work as volunteer that have led both my mates and I in two music festivals,… and also the little but intense time that I have had for enjoying with my friends and others known people during my time free.

As to the course of Greek, saying that they have been four very intense weeks in which we have received all the classmates a vast amount of material and knowledge which, personally, I have  struggled to digest. Yet with this course I have been able to establish a base language to continue to learn in the coming months. One of the things that motivates me to continue learning Greek is its great similarity in pronunciation with the Spanish. While its grammar is crazy at times (comparable and even more difficult than Spanish in my opinion), phonetics is almost equal to our language. We will see in the coming months how I develop my learning.

Apart from the course, my colleagues and I also have worked as volunteers in two music festivals during the two last purposes of week, specifically at the Windcraft festival, organized by my mentor Elli and at the Afrobanana festival, one of the most important of Cyprus. I’ve also had some time to enjoy both with volunteers as Cypriot friends. There has to be time for everything.

See you the coming week! Stay tuned!

ΓΕΙΑ ΣΕ ΌΛΟΥΣ! (Hello everyone!)
After a weekend of relaxation and very good company, on Monday began Greek classes at the University of Cyprus. An intensive course in basic level which will last until the last week of August. One of the concerns we had the volunteers was how to get to the University, since public transport in Nicosia is not one of the strengths of the city and due to the heat of these dates we had very clear that the bike would be a good choice. Six kilometers at two of noon to return home with forty degrees, a blazing sun and a loaded air, leaving no breathing is not the best picture to use bicycle. Anyway, I decided to try their luck the first day to see if he survived the experience.

I woke up on Monday at seven in the morning to prepare myself and to leave home with plenty of time. I knew the bike route till the University, but not the time I would need to get there. At eight Barbara and I took the bike and headed to the College. We arrived there about half past eight, which gave us time to relax the body and entering to the class in full conditions. A little later would arrive Benjamin and Gioia. There, we met our classmates and our teacher, Michalis. Started the class and soon we could check that all our colleagues were at least one year living in Cyprus, what despite being a basic level group, allowed to the profesor to advance faster of it normal. For us, who landed at the island just three and a half months, was a tricky.

The next day, just entering class the teacher proposed to Barbara, Gioia and Benjamin change the class of to the side, also of basic level but at a level more suitable to their needs. About me, Michalis didn´t know what to do. As I’ve been meeting regularly with my language exchange friends since my arrival, I have been able to learn to read in Greek before the beginning of classes, because of that the doubt of the professor. He suggested me try it the second day, and if I saw that I couldn´t follow the group still would have the option to change my class. At the end of the morning I had it clear, I would change class. In a group where the level is so high you learn many things, but also leave many other basic and important ones without understanding, so we’re going, as say the Cypriots, siga siga.

On Wednesday I definitely changed class. With a level more suited to my needs, I felt more comfortable and adapted to the group. Arriving at noon after five hours of Greek, it was time to return home, and just like Monday and Tuesday, the temperature Wednesday was close to forty degrees. Six kilometers with that circumstances are eternal, but that there is no forced to make them. Arriving home, a good shower, something to eat and a siesta time, to recover energy.
On Thursday I followed classes. As it was passing week, it was having harder to go to the University, not so much as the classes as it of early and the bicycle ride. Every day that passed, the level of difficulty of the classes and the amount of content that we got  were at times difficult to digest, so on the afternoon of Thursday I I met with my language exchange partner to chat a while in Spanish and to solve some doubts I had with Greek. In the evening, we met Manu, Gioia, Benjamin, Georgiana, Emanuela, her friend Laura and I for dinner at a downtown restaurant where the specialty is the “souvlaki”. Then, together with Yari and Ilenia, went to take a beer, to don´t end too soon the night. At about half-past twelve, we took the car to go back home. I had to rest, the weekend was interesting as well as exhausting, even more so after the first week of school, it was waiting for us “Fengaros”, one of the most important music festivals of Cyprus.

On Friday, after the Greek lessons, I prepared the rucksack, tent and other belongings and around six loaded things in Manu´s car. This time we were in the car Manu, Benjamim, Portuguese and workmate of Manu’s organization and I. The car which had completed the “convoy” were Michalis, Panaiotis, and Ángeles. In the village of Kato Drys where the festival, we would meet with the rest of the troop. We arrived at the village, parked in the boonies and we headed to the campsite to mount the tents. At eight o’clock on Friday that was already bursting with people and all the shadows were picked to mount tents, we didn´t have any other posibility more than camping open sky, but yes, near the site of concerts and the toilets, very handy to cover our basic needs (drinking and piss).

At night, all the group enjoyed a night of good vibes, laugh and emotion. Several national groups and other international accompanied the evening with their music, although I must say that my idea of music festival is a bit different of what saw there. The music that was played was good, but not to give jumps and dance without stop. We would wait to Saturday night.

On Saturday morning, after a short night of sleeping because of the heat, we had breakfast the entire group and went to the beach to spend the day there. Back, a shower and to prepare the body for the night. The village was crowded at times. If the previous night had people, Saturday is done. In the evening, was a “very famous” singer that hadn´t heard in my life, Joss Stone. Probably I’m not such updated in music as he believed. We returned at night to concerts after our particular driking point next to the concerts arena to enjoy the music, but there was no music to move the body at all. The singer above was the middle of the night, and while he sang like angels, not hit much in the style of the festival. Anyway, it went well.

Sunday was time to pick up the stuff and return to Nicosia. But before that, even had time in the morning to go a bit to the beach and enjoy a bit more the day. Bad luck for us, to get to the beach we were told that we could not swim because apparently the water contained oil fluid of any accidental spillage. After staying a while in the sand under the umbrella, we collected things and went back to Nicosia. I had to do my homeworks of Greek and to rest since the following week would come hard.
Because the classes of Greek and other activities that I am doing, don’t have much time to write, so I’m going to stop writing for a couple of weeks. I hope all friends and family at the back. A big hug!

Hello to everyone!

This last week was the final week in office, catching up some of the work that we will carry out in September, as the Spanish lessons, the workshop of veggie kitchen,… among other activities. The only novelty of the previous week was on Tuesday in the meeting with our coordinator Lefki to speak about how we spent our week in Lofou. Each of the volunteers gave their particular point of view on the week to finally make a general assessment of the festival.

On Wednesday night I was with Manu, my friend from Seville, for a beer and chatting for a while in a park near home. There he was commenting on that over the weekend it had scheduled a camping plan in Akamas, one of the most beautiful and natural landscapes in the Island. Sometimes I find difficult to decide about some plans, so it costed me say yes to the proposal to go together camping to that area, although I finally accepted, and very gratefully. We were already starting to arrange the weekend plan.

On Thursday, more office work and in the night I attended one of the events that our friends volunteer of the Politistiko Ergastiri Association organized. The event in particular was about Portugal. Organized by Benjamin, friend and a Portuguese volunteer of this organization that did a great job making a photographic exhibition on the culture, places and Portuguese characters throughout history. Besides there was a Portuguese film with cultural overtones and was served typical food of the national territory. At the end of the event, Manu, Ángeles and me went to my house to prepare a few CD´s of music for the journey. At the same time, Ángeles, who was not very convinced to come with us, ended up joining the plan. Here the group that Dimitris, my Office Manager, christened “The Spanish Mafia” was created.

At the end of the day of work on Friday in the office, I went back home to prepare my luggage. At 17:00 o’clock would be Manu waiting for me at the front door to load packages. Diving glasses (well, swimming ones), towel, flip flops, tavli, flashlights,… and of course, music. The trip promised. Soon after we went to pick up the travel companions left, Emanuela and Ángeles. Emanuela would accompany us to Pafos, in the middle of the journey, because her friend Laura came from Italy to the city airport and they both had planned a few days of holidays.

We headed to Blue Lagoon with the music really loud. Between the noise of the air entering through the window and that Manu hass a little “lack of hearing”  I believed that it was the only alternative. Anyway, we enjoyed the trip to Paphos. I say to Pafos because, after parking the car, accompanying Manuela to the hostel and returning to the car, we saw that one of the taillights of the car had kept switched on. At that time it came to my mind once when a firend of mine and me runned out of battery, and we had to push the car as a kilometre without success. I started to tell the story while we got into the car, when I saw that Manu couldn’t turn on the car. Imagine the situation: Ángeles pissing of laughing because of the situation, Manu face´s circumstance and me between laughing seeing Ángeles and trying to contain me to express my solidarity with Manu. Then came the legendary phrase of the trip when I asked Manu: is the first time that happens to you? If it weren´t for the context in which I said it, anyone would think that my friend had “blue balls”. The case is that something we had to do, and we did. Ángeles and I started to push the car uphill while Manu tried to turn on the car. There was no way. We decided to put car in reverse to push down. At that time, they were two retirees who had just came out of the retirement home of Paphos playing the tavli, and to see that we needed help, kindly began to push the car with us. Finally and fortunately, we started the car, we said goodbye to the men so nice that they pulled us through and we went to the Mall for supplies.

Still we were 45 minutes to reach our destination. We left mall and close to an hour later, we arrived at the “Baths of Aphrodite”. There, we waited for a 4 by 4 to reach the camp, since the last part of the road was impossible to do it with another car that wasn´t an all-terrain vehicle. But before that, our friends Ilenia, Barbara and Virginia came to the parking, along with two more Cypriots. Two 4 by 4 picked us up and took us to the camp through an rugged trail. We arrived, assembled tents and relaxed a while in the water, before going to rest. The day had been long and the weekend hadn´t done more to start.

On Saturday morning, after an evening concert of snores by me and Manu and which had to suffer to Ángeles and our Cypriot guest, we got up and we walked for 20 minutes to reach the famous beach of crystal clear water and a blue intense call “Blue Lagoon”. There we spent most of the day to soak and enjoy the place. A little before noon appeared there Emanuela and her friend, which was a pleasant surprise. They accompanied us until about 17:00 h and then returned to Pafos. We still at the beach, met some very nice guys who invited us in the evening to dinner “souvla” on their camping area, in one of the coves in the area. We returned to our campsite to rest a little Sun that we had been sticking all day and to relax a while playing the tavli, reading or simply chatting. Above all of the latest from our Cypriot companion, although more than dialoguing that was more like a monologue. There was no who to stop. Around 22:00, a 4 by 4 arrived at our campsite. They were the guys who we met at the beach. They came to pick us up, so we took some drinks that we had and Manu, Ángeles and I went with them. Arriving at the place, the rest of friends were waiting for us, some cooking of chicken, lamb and beef souvla, others simply drinking and chatting. For those who don’t know, the souvla is a Cypriot traditional food which consists of puncturing several pieces of meat on a stick and maket it rotate over hot coals until the meat is cooked. Such things are that you actually introduce into the culture of the place in which you are. After a delicious dinner, we were a while chatting and about 2:00 o’clock back to our tend.

The next morning we got up early, well, some more than others, and took a swim in the cove where we were camped. After the bath, we collected all our things and phoned a kind of 4 by 4 cab to pick us up. The guys who brought us on Friday left on Saturday without warning us and we had to take hold of this service to get to our car. At midday picked us up and took us to our car. We still had left three hours to Nicosia, so better return with time and without haste. On the way back, we stopped at Paphos and did a kind of lunch-dinner to recharge batteries and make the trip in the best conditions.

In the next post next week I will tell about the Greek lessons at the University of Cyprus. See you next week!

Hello to everyone one more week. After an intense week of work and full of good moments at the “Xarkis Festival”, it was time to relax and  disconnect a Little from work and routine, that since I arrived Nicosia three months ago still  I hadn´t had a day off in conditions. So in that summarized my week, the days I worked extra hours I recovered them this week.

On Tuesday I spent most of the day at home, updating the blog and enjoying the home. After a week out it feels good stay at home relaxed and cool. On Wednesday, after lunch, I went to the beach with Elli, her cousin and her cousin´s boyfriend who had come from Canada to spend a few days on the island, and Anna, former YEU volunteer. Afternoon calm in one of the beaches of Larnaca airport and coming back home.

On Thursday I went with my language partner Antonia to Limassol, to enjoy of a bit more the beach and to visit the city, that I still hadn´t visited. A while in the morning on the beach, where I had time to swim (how I missed it), and in the afternoon we visited “the marina” or area of the port and the historic centre of the city. Ideal day for disconnecting and recharging batteries.

Back in the office on Friday, I met which is going to be our partner’s organization during the next month and a half, Georgiana, from Romania. I say partner in organization and non-office basically because we’re just going to coincide in the office with her this week. From the week coming up to the last week of August, my colleagues and I are going to attend an intensive Greek course in the University of Cyprus, so we will match few time at the office,  for sure much more out of it. Returning to the office, I took the day to update some things that we need to prepare for the coming weeks. In the evening I met several friends to go to a party that was organized in the occupied part of the island or the Turkish side, to understand us. Few minutes after crossing the border, Dimitris phoned me to let me know of the coup that had just been produced in Turkey. Despite the news, we decided to go up to the bar where the party was running. To get there, the place was practically empty. For fear of the situation, many people there present minutes earlier decided to return home. We were there a while, but before the situation of discomfort that is breathed we decided to return to the Greek side, just in case. We continued our particular night in the bars of “our Nicosia” wondering if the next day we could continue with our plan for the weekend, which was visiting the island’s northern part, I mean, crossing again to the Turkish side.

The next day, seeing that the coup in Turkey had failed, we decided to go ahead with the plan. We load the cars with backpacks, camping tent,… and headed to the border. There they would tell us if we could finally cross or not. Fortunately, there was no problem, everything seemed to be calm. Already in the occupied part, we went to a supermarket for provisions, loaded the car, and after almost three hours of journey we arrived at our destination, Golden Beach. We landed in a sort of semi-abandoned camping, but still in operation, with several bungalows and a restaurant. Apparently, bungalows still work, but the restaurant was closed by the Government a couple of months ago. Thing strange that a part itself works and the other doesn´t. The case is that we mounted the tends and we went direct to the beach. To give you an idea, on a beach about two kilometers long there were about 25 people in total, and there were only ten of us. That was a real paradise. Waters clean as any that has been seen before, a pleasure going.

In the evening, we prepared some cold dinner and we went back to the beach to drink, play, and enjoy the tranquility of the place. My idea was to sleep on the beach together with several friends, since I hadn´t a mat for the tend, but at midnight I decided to go to sleep to the tend because of the high humidity that had been on the beach and the little clothes carrying sleeping under these conditions. Sleeping in the tend wasn´t much better, but at least I didn´t catch an unnecessary cold. The next morning, we went back to the beach. I went to swim a while while the gang was getting fresh. At mid-morning, my friend Ángeles and I went to wander along the shore, and coming to an area of rocks we found the shell of a giant turtle, with the body in decomposition to the side. To say that this area of the island are inhabited by giant turtles. The pity was not to see any alive. Even so, gave impression to us seeing the size of that animal.

In the afternoon, we picked up everything and we took the way back to Nicosia, but in the middle of the road we had time to stop and eat something. A bit more of two hours of journey, and about 20:00 we arrived at the Greek part of Nicosia.

Already on Monday, we resumed the activity in the office as usually. In the afternoon we played “Screening Club” in the Bank of Cyprus, in the amphitheatre that is located in the courtyard at the back of the building. The film projected was “The Blues Brothers” or “Rogues at all pace” (title in Spanish, we translate everything!). Good attendance and good course of the film until, without knowing exactly why, the player ate twenty-minute film, the twenty most important minutes where the climax of the film happened. In the end, several friends came to ask me several things that  they didn´t understand. Me, that I have watched this movie like four or five times some time ago, I knew that something was missing, but in that time was pending of the public and I tried to search a reason of what became in the outcome to explain it to my friends. By the time, thinking about it, I realised that actually was missing the part more important of the film. Honestly, I think that for more than one was a relief that the movie ended a few minutes earlier, since the concrete of the amphitheatre is not too comfortable, but it is something that we have to improve for the next film, personally I think that was a shit. Hopefully we will improve those technical issues in the upcoming projections.

See you next week!

After a week away, here we are again. The reason for my absence is none other than having been an entire week in a small mountain village called Lofou. And the reason for having spent a week in Lofou is none other than having been an active part of the art and music festival “Xarkis festival” that took place there. But before talking about my experience in the village, I will make a brief summary of what was the week before the festival.

The day after the beers with my good friend Nikos, I mean, on Thursday, I worked at the office in the morning. On the evening several members of YEU Cyprus, my organization, and volunteers met at the Eirinis Park. There we did several activities such as putting in common our idea of professionalism and responsibility at the time of working in group, or a rain of ideas on how face different events and activities before and during them same, this is what is the most efficient way to prepare a certain activity and how to act where some setback occurs during the same. This information collected will serve in future both for the volunteers and the Organization to carry out any work that arises. It will be our guideline.

On Friday I spent the morning with the guys from Caritas at their flat, since the office remained closed throughout the week due to lack of staff. Gosia, the head of Caritas in Nicosia is a machine, but she also has her limits. And by overload work and lack of staff she decided to close the office for a couple of weeks. So on Friday morning we were at the flat. A time to chat with them and to check that the coexistence was well, and the truth is that it doesn´t run very well. Half of them are from Indian origin and the other half of Arabic origin. If we also add that a total of thirteen people live at the appartment sharing tasks, you can make an idea of what that means. First I asked to one of the Indian guys if it was complying with the cleaning schedule and he explained to me that they did it, but that some of the tasks corresponding to any of the Arabic boys wasn´t being undertaken. Listened the first version, I went to listen to the version of one of the Arabic boys and he offered me the opposite version. So my reaction was to explain them that everyone has a different concept of cleaning, but that ultimately coexist all together, and if they don´t respect the shifts of cleaning and each other, may be difficult for coexistence. I don´t have any idea if my words will have served for something or not, I hope yes, although all know that Rome wasn´t built in a day.

In the afternoon, and after three weeks without touching a ball, I went to play basketball with Dimitris and Hara, partner and member of YEU. Same time and same place. There we met several friends to get some baskets and by the desire that I had playing that evening “I was on fire”. Good basketball afternoon. But the day didn´t end there. In the evening we had planned a dinner at home. My friend Manu from Seville and I spoke days back of cooking together and dinner in family. In the end the family grew up to sixteen people, so with volunteer pocket it wasn´t possible to invite so many people, we proposed that each one would provide something to help the cause. And it was a success. Pumpkin croquettes by Manu, tomatoes and zucchini stuffed by Gioia, Romanian soup by Raluca, baked pasta by the Italian girls, my scrambled eggs,… I think that nobody was hungry. After the dinner, put heading to “New Division” to finish the night in the best way possible.

On Saturday I had rest and prepared my luggage, because on Sunday I would put heading to Lofou. But before that, on Sunday morning, my friend Barbara and I went to the beach with my mentor Elli and his friend Simos to Sirena Bay, in the area of Paralimni. A quiet morning and refreshing in one of the many beaches that this island has. In the afternoon, back to the capital, Barbara and I finished preparing our luggage to leave to “the countryside”. Gioia and Benjamin would reach us on Monday in the morning. At 20:00 Alexis, one of the organizers of the festival, came home to pick us up and between one thing and another, we arrived Lofou around 23:00. First night to greet the already known members, to introduce us to the new ones and to rest.

On Monday early in the morning we started throwing a hand in what the organizers were asking us, given that until Wednesday we wouldn´t have specific tasks. This way, some of the tasks that we did were: to enable the rooms where later the workshops would be made, to prepare part of the set, to move furniture up and down… there was work for everybody. At the time of the meal the first mishap came. The cook in charge of cooking for the staff of the festival gave up in the last moment, therefore several volunteers had to take charge of the task. Fortunately, these girls managed good enough to cook during the whole week for about forty people. In the evening, a little bit of rest and to keep on helping in what was needed. Coming the night, time to relax in group and to know each other a bit better.

The next day, very early, there was scheduled a trip to a nearby farm to learn how to extract milk from the goats. Nektarios, musician at the festival and reporter for one of the workshops put the car, and the priest of the village was commissioned to take us to the farm. In total there were six of us in the car, three of us and three more girls. After driving for about twenty minutes on roads that reminded me when I went to collet the harvest of almond by van with my grandfather Maximino (rest in peace), we arrived at the farm. But arriving at the small farm, it turned out that the pastor was sleeping, so it wasn´t any choice for us but to return to the village. In the road coming back, we stopped in several spots to enjoy of the nature of the place and of the flora and trash that there was in there, product of campers not very aware with the environment. The pastor, after the unsuccessful excursion, very kindly invited us to have breakfast at home, without the goat’s milk, but with other good food for the day that awaited us, accompanied of course by a good frappé. After the breakfast, we continued with more work in the morning and in the afternoon, in our free time,  I attended my first workshop. This was taught by Nektarios and it was about technology and music. Interesting information at some points which will help us in the future to edit audio and video files. After the workshop, more collaboration with the organizers, but without doing something exhausting. In the night, after the dinner, can you guess who entertained the night with his guitar? Nektarios! Very good guitar player no doubt.

On Wednesday early in the morning there was another excursion to a nearby monastery, but this time preferred to rest. The previous day it was very busy and I ended up dead. The morning started like the previous, quiet but non stop doing things. Workshops continued their rhythm, and in the village still this characteristic of rural tranquility was breathed. After eating, Katerina, also voluntary of the festival, asked me if I could cook vegetable paella on Thursday evening. She was one of the volunteers who took the reins of the kitchen when we knew of the absence of the official cook. The menu of the week was based in a vegan diet, and although the cook didn´t come finally, Katerina and others volunteers cooked in that line. She asked me to cooked because that night she was going to be absent, by what I said yes. It didn´t sound very resounding at the beginning my confirmation, given that neither the tools nor the ingredients were the most appropriate. I already knew what I was going to cook wasnt a proper paella because of the reasons I said before, but I could cook something. The afternoon and the night passed as the previous, helping in the afternoon to Valentin, the general technic in charge among other things of mounting the areas of shadow in the camping and gathering us after the dinner in the hostel.

In the morning on Thursday was a reflection of the previous, and after lunch I took a relaxing time because I would cook in the evening. At 18:00 I was waiting for the boys in charge of making the purchase to arrive with the ingredients to start to cook, but the time passed and until 20:00 didn´t arrive with the purchase. When we began to take food out of the bags for cooking, instead of buying rice for paella, they brought a kind of pasta in grain called “krisaraki”. At that time I was sure that we wouldn´t had dinner vegetable paella. We began to cook the pasta, to chop vegetables and fry them. Around 22:00 the dinner was ready. The menu was finally “krisaraki with vegetables” and we had to feed a regiment. Thus, on Friday we already had prepared the meal. After dinner, the majority of the group we went up to the school, in the highest part of the village to chat, drink and gaze at the stars. In places like that you realize the light pollution that there are in the big cities and not so big ones. Gaze at the stars that way was great.

At the beginning of the weekend, already beginning to notice the arrival of more people at the village, although not so much as expected, and last-minute details and the rush by leaving it ready kept us all without stopping until dinner time. After dinner came the time to enjoy. School square was enabled for the concerts, and the stage was located just in front of the facade of the school. Several groups played, among them the Greek group “BAiLdSA” and we enjoyed a great night of dancing and drinking. The concert ended at 2:00 and I went to rest, that on Saturday we would still keep busy.

The next day, we started at 9:00 in the morning. More preparations and more movement of people from one side to another. Some people attending to the workshops, other helping for the correct operation of the same. After eating, I stayed in one of the workshops as assistant of the reporter, for which all proceed normally. And in the evening I had to work at the entrance to the concert venue (where the school), although I was lucky to be in the first round from 20:00 to 22:00, given that the concerts didn´t begin until practically that time. About twenty minutes later, arrived directly from Nicosia our friends Manué, Benjamin, Ángeles and her friend Maria to enjoy with us the concerts. Good music in charge of “Afriquoi” and good atmosphere along with some whiskies was the perfect combination for a perfect night. The pity was that not many people came to the concert in particular and to the festival in general. Perhaps by the distance between the city and the village, perhaps by the date that was organized.

On Sunday, the last day of the festival, was the day that more people came to the village. Latest workshops and activities were conducted in the morning and the early afternoon. From 18:00 a group of girls sang a series of traditional songs at the town square, and then came two Turkish Cypriot gentlemen playing the first a kind of drum by both sides and the second a sort of traditional wind instrument from here. Among these men and other groups with typical instruments from the island made dance to everyone Greek, Cypriot and Turkish dances, me included. Good way to close the festival. Just before I go to sleep, I said goodbye to most of the people I met there (Anthoula, Anastasia, Angie, Paris, Athos,…) and who I shared an incredible week with. I´m sure that we will see them in Nicosia.

On Monday, Rafaella, Barbara and I returned to the city, with desire of getting home, resting correctly and putting a couple of washing machines. By the afternoon I could do all this calmly. Nothing better than relax to recharge batteries and start the new week.

See you next week! Yasas!

Greetings for everyone

This week it has been fairly quiet in terms of activities and events. As every week, on Tuesday we had our weekly meeting with our coordinator Lefki, in which we valued the week before from 1 to 10, we carried out an assessment of the activities of the previous week and we talked about the activities that will be carried out next week. But given that these weeks we are not taking big events or activities (with the exception of the screening club organized on Monday and which made record attendance, around a hundred people), the two last meetings with Lefki have been to outline which will be our schedule from September until the end of our experience in Cyprus. New activities, events and workshops that I’ll be unveiling in the next posts.

As I said before, the previous week was fairly quiet in terms of activities, so we continued with our office work. I also met, as every week, my language exchange partners Antonia and Natasha. My will to learn to speak Greek is remarkable, but it is not easy, so they don´t have another option that have patience with me. And I can assure you that they have it. Anyway, I still have time to improve. Little by little or “siga siga” in Greek.

The weekend was generally quiet. On Saturday Benjamin, Gioia and I went to a party that the organizers of the art and music festival called “Xarkis Festival” made in order to promote the festival and also for staff and volunteers to know each other better. On Sunday Gioia and I both went together with two organizers of the festival, Athos and Alexander, to the village where is going to be celebrated the event, Lofou. All morning walking through the village, a village with very rustic style in which only fifty people live there. Part of the organizers told us where is going to be located each of the facilities that will have the festival and some of the tasks we are going to carry out. Personally I think it´s a very nice village perfectly comparable to any rustic village in the interior of the Iberian peninsula, and in which, allow me the expression, “it is fucking hot”.

Back to Nicosia in the afternoon, I met up my Spanish friends to see together the result of the Spanish elections. In the end there wasn´t change. Let´s wait for four more years.

Already on Monday, we organized our weekly “screening club”, with the exception of the last week, since the 20 Monday was holiday. This week he played the last film of the genre that we have been projecting this month, “Grease“. Honestly I don’t know why, but the film was a huge success, especially among women. A hundred people attended to watch the movie outdoors. A hit of film without a doubt, and that I’m not a lover of musicals.

And to close the post of this week, saying that after several failed attempts to take a few beers with my friend Nikos, finally on Tuesday night we got agreement. Saying, rather, that he kidnapped me. And I finally let myself to kidnap, gladly. We took a few beers with good conversation topics of through and ready to sleep in a good mood because of the beers.

See you soon!