Breaking Out of Routine

November/December 2019 -

It feels like we got into a familiar pleasant routine, with the work at the shop. The culture shock phase is almost gone, and I feel a sense of comfort and being at home.
This sense of belonging is so strong that during the Christmas holidays, after spending quality time with family and friends back in my country, I started feeling nostalgic for my other family, the Budapesti family.

Oh, and by the way, now that I’m writing this, I just got back from Italy and it feels nice to be here with them once again. Besides, New Year’s Eve is at the door and I can already hear the sounds of the city through my bedroom window, warming up and getting ready to party.

It’s getting crazy out there, but don’t hold your breath, because at Filantrópia we get our share of excitement and parties too. No monkey business.

Ordinary day at Filantrópia

We break out routine all the time.

“How?” You ask?

Good question! Let me tell you.

Every month we host events at the shop, for our customers and friends. These come in the form of anniversaries, Christmas parties or just good-old plain parties (‘cause sorry, Santa, we can’t wait for You to have fun) and every time we meticulously prepare food and drinks and we set up music and do-it-yourself workshops for the participant to join in.

It is satisfying to see people relax and learn in such a cozy environment we created for them.

"If you want to smile, make others smile!"

Besides, with all the creations coming from our workshops, we had the

opportunity to be part of the Christmas market in a cozy coffee bar and English book store called Massolit Bookstore & Café. (I know, right? Books AND Coffee?! Why didn’t we think of this??)
It felt nice to see our inventions being loved and bought by other people.
It was also the first time experiencing what it means to be on the selling side of a market stand.

It will be harder to smug at street vendors from now on…


Another activity that breaks us out of routine is creating social media posts, with humorous pictures and texts to engage our subscribers and notify them about weekly offers and promotions.
Although it’s cool to pose in hilarious creative pictures, it’s not always easy to come up with funny stuff in such a short time.

Luckily the girls are remarkably good at this so I’m happy to say that I’m learning the skill from the tops (brown-nosing via blog post: done 😉) .

High-tech drone selfie

So, in the end, we have our day-to-day routine, but we don’t get bored because we always have something challenging and new to deal with, which is, after all, the end purpose this Erasmus+ adventure: to experience new things and grow.

I send you all my love and I hope to see you soon!
Elia.