Ciao tutti, my name is Tea and for the past 6 months I have been living and volunteering in Palermo, Sicily.
I came to Palermo expecting to experience everything that Sicily has to offer in terms of sights, views, cultural heritage, food, traditions and to help the local community. I got all of that and even more. Palermo is a city of contrasts – a beautiful and breathtaking nature vs.trash on the ground; amazing and warm people vs bystanders that look at you making you feel uncomfortable; Incredible cultural heritage and sights vs. chilling mafia influence and sack of Palermo; very rich and posh people vs poverty and drugs on the other side of the city; super hot and humid summer days vs chill, windy winter days Yes, it is a city full of contrast, but a contrasts that made this experience unforgettable.
Starting from some realities with which I have collaborated – like Ubuntu kindergarten and Ciauli Agricoop, an agricultural cooperative, made most of my everyday life. Working with kids is never easy, especially when you have a language barrier and when the age is everything from 6 m.o. to 11 y.o.. It was a very challenging experience but I got an unique view of what it is like to grow up in Palermo, struggling with homework, reading Italian or simply playing with other kids. I will always have memories of children’s hugs, smiles and joy in their eyes. I had the privilege to taste amazing locally produced fresh fruits and vegetables in Ciauli Agricoop. The taste of the tomatoes, susines, oranges, mandarines, zucchas, finnochisand many more will always stay in my mouth and remind me of the Sicilian sun that makes everything taste so wonderful. I had the privilege to participate in a traditional tomato passata making and taking seeds of ancient varieties of tomatoes and even making jams and marmalades out of onions, lemons, oranges and apples. I got to know local farmers and amazing people that work in Ciauli that kept telling me stories about the differences between different varieties of oranges, the family tree of tenerumi or water shortages and problems that this causes for agriculture. This all inspired me to create a Zero waste cookbook as my personal project. A book full of recipes for cooking, cleaning and decorating using what we already have – like green leafs to make pesto or soup, citrus zest to make cleaner or refresher or a potato that can clean glass to perfection!
Finally, I had great memories travelling around Sicily. Sicily is so beautiful that you cannot put it in words, from wonderful oriental east with beautiful cities of Siracusa and Taormina, Etna as a big mamma that overlooks the whole island, to south and the greek footprint in Valle dei Temples in Agrigrento to Palermo’s surroundings – amazing Cefalu, Monreal, Partinico and Palermo, city where you can experience everything – good and bad.
All of this would not be the same without my flatmates and other friends I met in Palermo. The dinners together, fun, memories, playing games and dancing will always make me smile and my heart warmer. People are what makes the volunteering experience unforgettable and I am grateful I have found strangers that I can call my friends at the end of these 6 months.
Tea Logožar
ESC volunteer
CESIE ETS – Youth Unit
