MY SECOND MONTH HERE IN SLOVAKIA!

Hello again everyone! This month actually passed pretty fast, I didn’t even noticed! I’ve been to some places, mostly forests and lakes, because you know due to COVID-19 we weren’t allowed to do many stuff. But things are getting better in time. :D

So, April started with the Catholic Easter here and I had the opportunity to taste a local dinner with some traditional dishes, thank to my roommate who is actually local. We had a cooked salted meat with smoked cheese braids and a homemade cheese from milk and eggs. After the boil it, they put it at a towel and let it dry for a couple of hours. It is plain as a flavor so you can put any kind of spices or sauces you want to. They were all delicious!
Running the next week we’ve had the online on-arrival training with the others ESC volunteers that came in Slovakia for their organizations and I met so many interesting people about my age, from all over the world. The training itself was informative and entertaining and sure we had very kind and thoughtful supervisors. :) We are keeping contact with each other and when all the curfew is over, we really hope to meet up in person and get to know us better. At the last day of the training, I decided I would for a walk at the centre to see the Hrad castle and the old national theater of Bratislava. Both have an imposing structure and are breathtaking. Also the view from the castle is amazing! Especially when it gets dark and see all these colors reflect the river from above.

As the weeks pass, we are now able to visit the INEX’s office to work there. It is a very homie and cozy work environment, very organized and our coordinators and co-workers are pretty helpful and friendly. They basically make us feel like family. And here the time comes to prepare our workshops for the upcoming workcamps, presentations at schools and democamps.They have given us plenty of time to complete it and we’ll be present it to our colleagues by the end of the month in order to see any mistakes and so on.
I, as well, met up with my mentor Andrea who is so nice and funny! We got a walk a forest named Devinska Kobyla which was a 3hours roaming in nature and it was so beautiful! We actually had her sister and their dog as a company so that made it even funnier!! In our way we grabbed some fresh garlic leaves for home recipes. It actually is tasteful but you shouldn’t take when it blooms, so be respectful to nature. :D

Last but not least as sightseeing, was later on a nearby lake called Kuhajda. It is very close to the center and you should in fact be there in like 10minutes by tram. it’s so peaceful and you just watch the lake, the swans and ducks swimming around, it’s very fulfilling and nice way to charge your batteries after maybe a long day or week at work. It also has tennis or volleyball fields, so you are free to explore.
If you ever have the chance to make an application for a program as a volunteer in INEX, take it! Slovakia and Bratislava, that for now, I’ve been in, is worth visiting with so many places to see. Trust me, if we are able to have fun during corona, I’m sure you’ll be ever more excited to visit later on! I’ll see you next month with a whole new diary of new experiences and news! Till then, stay safe! :D

Christina
ESC INEX volunteer