Kalandozásaim Filantrópia szigetén

 

Sziasztok, Mónika vagyok, Erdélyből. Több évvel ezelőtt elhatároztam már, hogy egy évemet önkéntességre szeretném szentelni, mivel hozzátennék valamit a közjóhoz, meg egyben tapasztalatokat is gyűjtenék. Érettségi után meg is kaptam a lehetőséget erre és így kerültem a Filantrópia kis szigetére, az adományboltba.

Vegyes érzelmekkel (őszintén nagyon féltem) vágtam bele az új kalandomba. Az első napon rájöttem, hogy semmi okom nem volt félni, mert egy csodálatos pozitív- és energiabomba önkéntes társ mellett kötöttem ki. Ő lenne Núria. A családomtól távol több száz km-re ő töltötte be számomra a testvér és egyben az anyuka szerepet is. Nagyon sokat tanultam tőle a néhány hét alatt, amit együtt töltöttünk. Rájöttem, hogy az életet élni és élvezni kell, nem végig küzdeni. Minden nap felfedezek valami újat amiért aznap épp hálás és boldog lehetek. Nem sokkal később csatlakozott a kiscsaládunkhoz Irene is, aki egy igazi mókamester. Így éltük tovább napjainkat hárman egy idegen városban, új élményeket és emlékeket gyűjtve. Ó, meg persze megszerettem a reggaeton-t, de hát ez nem egy nehéz feladat, ha az ember lánya spanyolokkal él együtt.

Sajnos Núria-tól búcsút kellett vennünk néhány hét után, mivel lejárt az egy éve. Dugiban, a szobámban megsirattam a távozását, viszont előtte ezt titkoltam, hogy ne könnyes legyen a búcsú, hanem mosolygós perceink legyenek az utolsóak itt együtt.

Itt, Budapesten tanultam meg mit jelent szívből segíteni valakin, aki tényleg rászorul erre. Megtanultam értékelni a családommal töltött néhány perces telefonbeszélgetéseket. Megtanultam főzni. Megtanultam hogyan kell kiismerni egy mosógépet, mert ezek a szerkezetek nagyon gyakran kifognak rajtam. Megtanultam beilleszkedni új környezetekbe és társaságokba. Megtanultam jobban angolul és folyamatban van, de tanulok spanyolul

Hálával tartozom mindenkinek, aki körülvesz engem és segít mindenben, legfőképpen Zsuzsának, aki szerintem titokban boszorkány, mert mindig igaza lesz, hiába nem hiszünk neki a dolgok elején.

Reggeli a lányokkal egy vasárnap délelőtt (a képen épp csak Núria-val)

A budapesti kiscsaládom (Beci, én, Zsuzsa, Núria, Irene)

Kalandozásaim Irene-vel az Ikeán innen és túl

Séta a Margit szigeten Núriával

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It's not a goodbye yet

This experience is coming to an end and I can only be grateful. What an amazing group of people I have met, each one with their own culture, language, customs, political ideas... sometimes we feel unique, special... and we are. But when you share differences and similarities with other people, you realise that in the end we all have the same values in common: family, love, friendships, work. Then everyone has their hobbies... traveling, meeting people, Netflix, reading...

How many interesting people there are in the world and how difficult it is to get out of your comfort zone to reach them. It's also increasingly difficult to find someone interesting, as many of them look alike and are no longer special. 

Time is money, so there is no need to share it with people we don't feel like sharing it with. But I have been lucky in this volunteering, as I have met wonderful people who have taught me so much and I hope I have taught something too. I am not formally saying goodbye yet, as this is not my last blog, but inwardly I am beginning to do so. I am living things more intensely, I know there is a limit, there is a day when I will take the flight and say goodbye to Budapest. Maybe it's not forever and I'll come back for a new job, maybe I'll come back to visit (visiting of course, it's not a maybe), who knows? 

Three years ago I was living in Prague as an Erasmus student, and I thought I had learned how to say goodbye to a city. But I'm discovering that you never learn how to manage goodbyes. You don't say goodbye to the city, you say goodbye to the experiences, to your favourite bar, to the guests who came to visit you... but above all you say goodbye to the people who made your everyday life wonderful.  

I would recommend volunteering to anyone, I would recommend it to anyone who can spend a year abroad, it fills you with a magic that cannot be explained. You connect with yourself, you discover things about yourself that you didn't know, you forge friendships in a language that is not your own language. And the more you travel, the more people you meet, the more you discover about yourself, the more you realise how much you still have to learn.

So I can only say that I feel gratitude for everything I have learned this year personally and for everything I have learned from the people around me. It has been a great opportunity to meet you.

New volunteer, new workmate, new flatmate! Móni

At Zsuzsa's parents place making Zakuszka. 

It was an incredible family Sunday :) 

An amazing sunset as always

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Friends

It's already been six months that I am here in Budapest and it seems like at least one year. It's incredible how time flies and we are not even aware of it. 

I came in November and every experience abroad is difficult to deal with. When your experience is starting, you are full of energy and ready to live through the next chapter of your life. 

Last week our friend and workmate left because it's her time to change the chapter. We were living together, working together and hanging out together. So, I would like to tell you about Sara. 

When I came to Budapest, Sara was waiting for me in front of our home, she carried my luggage (27kg) and she had prepared my first lunch here. Sara, Harry and me were eating tomatoes and cheese. (Yes, they love cheese. There is no meal without it and it was just my beginning in the cheese fantasy).

As I was telling you before, going abroad alone can be hard in the beginning because you don't know anything about it and you don't know anyone to share your experience with. But then, Sara introduced me to all of her friends here, she was always organising parties and making plans, she was always working very hard and taking care of everyone. Sara is an easy going person, caring, friendly, confident, generous, clever and an amazing cook. I would like to be Italian to know how to cook once a week: home-made pizza, pasta and risotto. (I made a lot of mistakes, for example I cooked pasta one day and I ate it the next day hihihihi).

Sara wasn't just organising activities for everyone, she was really good at planning too. Once, she organised a quiz night at home... full of people, full of questions, full of cheese (do you have doubts about a party without cheese?). She organised barbecues, capuccino time (we love coffee too) and luggages. Yes, I've written  luggages. Already three rounds of clothes went to Italy. (Yes, three weren't enough, she has to come back to pick the fourth round up, lucky us hihiiii).

As I told you too, Sara, during our last night in Morrison's... (finally): Sara is an amazing workmate, she knows how to teach you, how to say if you are doing something wrong and she's able to spread her energy and positive vibes. Sara is also a very good friend, she listens to your worries and she gives  you really good advice. She would never judge you. 

To sum up, it's very important to know how to enjoy life. In other words, all of us have worries, responsibilities and goals although everything takes time. So, on the path to reach those goals, I would say that we have to learn how to appreciate  the people that are surrounding us, enjoy our daily activities and never we have to get stuck, we always need a change in whichever field. And that is what Sara is always doing. 

I am very lucky to have met you! See you soon apañada! :)

PS: In spanish, apañada means someone who always finds a solution for everything. And that's why Sara is apañada apañada. 

At the Carnival Party. Zsuzsa, Eleonora, me and Sara

    At Sara's birthday. Me, Eleonora and Sara. 

Last day of Sara. Me, Eleonora, Becci, Zsuzsa and Sara. 

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BEING AWARE

 

I would like to start my post by being grateful for everything that surrounds me. The opportunity to live abroad, volunteering and meeting people from different countries is making me grow every day positively. In fact, I consider myself really happy and lucky because after six months I can truly say that I am settled down in this city. 

Szimpla Kert

                                   Having a French dinner with other volunteers that I met in Budapest

One highlight is the way I am learning to be aware of the value of money. Before coming here, I used to buy a lot of things in shopping centers, such as new clothes, new utensils for home... And then I realised that you can find almost everything you need in charity shops or second hand shops as well. When people are getting rid of tools that they are not using anymore,  another person can reuse it and give it a second, third or fourth life. This means that we are taking care of the environment by reducing waste production, reducing the use of plastic... and this is amazing.

All of us should learn about finding treasures in this kind of shops. A lot of times we need something immediately and the easiest way to get it is to buy something new. However, what about looking for the cheapest way? That's what I'm learning now. In my opinion, marketing and advertising are creating needs that we really don't have and we should be critical to know what is important and what is not. 

                                                            

In my second volunteer training, learning about recycling

Now, before buying something, I'm wondering... do I need it? How many of these have I at home? Can I find it in a way that takes care of the environment?   

On the other hand, recycling doesn't mean that we have to donate absolutely everything or keep everything. The act of giving clothes, tools, utensils... that are not in usable condition, why are we giving them to charities? If we are not using something because it's ruined, we should just throw it away. Why are we thinking  that other people can still wear it or use it? 

Recycling t-shirts into dog toys 

In conclusion, I believe that more and more people are learning about recycling and they are also becoming aware of the value of money because they can save it easily! So all of you that know how to do it, spread the word!

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Almost three months

I would like to tell you today that I am very happy to be here and  to enjoy this experience as I am doing now.

 I like working in the shop and getting to know our usual customers (some of them are coming every day), although what I like the most is discovering this beautiful country. 

 

For this reason, I went to Dobogókő with a friend that came to visit me from Spain. He is Charlie. This place was amazing although it was snowing, cold, windy, and dark. But of course, it was January, what was I expecting? Sun and light? 

 

Nevertheless, the company is always more important than the places that you are visiting, and I had the best visit. Moreover, we were in a nice hostel, warm and cosy, with a lot of Hungarian people. In spite of the weather, we were walking for hours in the forest, breathing fresh air, and enjoying nature. I would recommend Dobogókő if you like hiking, but please, if you want to have fun instead of getting a cold, don't go during the winter. 

 

 

 

On the other hand, as I said before, I am enjoying working in the shop. We are receiving lots of donations (mostly clothes) and we are not able to sell everything that we receive. Because of  that, we are donating a lot of  clothes to homeless shelters. 

Since two or three weeks,  Zsuzsa’s father is coming to the shop to help us with different tasks. So we shared a task going to donate clothes to a homeless shelter. People were very nice and grateful.  

Barna was asking where we should leave the donations. Meanwhile, I was waiting outside and  there were a lot of people waiting to enter to the homeless shelter to have a warm meal. They were very happy to see the car full of clothes  and they asked me different things that I couldn’t understand (yet). However,  I was able to understand “Adomány?” (donation?) And I replied, “Igen, Igen” (Yes, yes). 

So, as you can see, I already learnt a lot of new words and a lot of new things, my parents are very proud of me and I'm eager to learn a lot more!

Above all, I am falling in love with this city. I went to Café New York and as you can see in the picture below, it’s amazing (and very expensive) so I was there only to look around and to enjoy live music.

 

Although what I like the most was Aquaworld. It is an awesome aquapark where  you can chill and have fun with your friends. It’s a perfect plan for a  Sunday.

 

 

 

Talking about having fun, Sara's birthday was one week ago. We were in a nice place having dinner and drinking pálinka (it is a strong alcoholic Hungarian beverage appreciated for its potency, flavor, and fragrance). You can imagine how the night ended. Below, I add my favorite picture with my flatmates and friends, Sara and Eleonora. Sara is 13 now. 

 

 

 And then, last week I participated in an online training course, where I met people from all around Europe who are volunteering in Hungary too. I had the opportunity to meet people living in Budapest doing the same thing  as me, and it is very heart-warming to share this experience with people who are at the same point in their life.  

I hope you enjoyed these small stories and moments from my exciting and  colorful life here in Budapest!

 Köszönöm! :)

 

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Getting out of my comfort zone

 

Hello everyone! I am Núria, the new volunteer of  Filantrópia Charity Shop and this is my first blog post. It is a pleasure for me to be part of this project because I am learning a lot of new things and living amazing experiences that I have never had before.

On one hand, I want to tell you how I decided to come here. I finished my studies in Law and Business Management Administration in September and I was lost about what I could do during the next year. Instead of studying a Master or starting to work in my city, Lleida, I was willing to spend a year living abroad, meeting and learning from other cultures or other ways to live… so I was looking for many projects that brought me the opportunity to do what I am doing now. Eventually, I found the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) with a lot of projects in environmental issues, recycling, working with youngsters or elderly people… Therefore, I applied for Filantrópia Charity Shop, and twenty days later, I was here.

Another point worth considering is I consider myself as a brave person, active, ready for new challenges… but when you are getting out of your comfort zone you make yourself smaller and you start to have doubts about what you should do in your future. Nowadays, what is “normal” after finishing University (at least in Spain) is studying a Master to specialize in some field or starting to work in what is considered by people as a “serious” job. In my opinion, sometimes it is difficult to do what you really want instead of what you should do. Anyway, I am here (luckily).

On the other hand, I am getting used to this new challenge of learning every day something new. Moreover, what I like the most in this project is the possibility to give a second, third or fourth life to clothes, objects, shoes… avoiding consumerism. Here I realized that we don’t need to buy everything new because we can reuse it.

Furthermore, we are carrying out different activities like workshops which are an amazing idea to get to know the customers or our work team. What’s more, we are creating dog toys or scrunchies from used t-shirts, ties… so we are recycling and being creative at the same time! That’s great! I am really excited to keep going on this adventure because time is running out.

Taking everything into consideration, I feel very lucky to be part of this project because of the people that are around me. For me, the city where you are living is important (Budapest, what can I say? Awesome), the project is also important because I am going to spend eleven months, in a project that I believe in, that I think is good for the society, for the environment, etc. However, the most important thing as I have said before are the people who you are living, working with, or meeting… They spend their time with you, and I appreciate that. I am feeling like at home.  

 

 

 

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