In the marvellous Land of Oz, L. Frank Baum mentions that ‘’everything has to end, sometime’’- but this means nothing -compared to what has passed prior to the end.

And so, the story is the same in my case too. After ten months with highs and lows, it is time to say a huge ‘’Arrivederci’’ and an even bigger ‘’Ci vediamo’’ to my beautiful Palermo….

It is hard to leave behind things that actually have defined me as a person and shaped my character. I do not think I would change anything during my stay in Sicily, as everything taught me something different and level me up as a person. Yes in the begging, it was difficult, and yes, I was even thinking of leaving but if, these entire negative thoughts would not exist, and then the end would not be such a sweet one.

During my stay here, I had the opportunity to work with few of the nicest, funniest and most professional people that I could ever meet in my entire life. I feel extremely lucky for this opportunity and would suggest it to any young people.

The most challenging thing was to work on things that I had a slight idea about before. It was important, that during my EVS in the CESIE office I had the opportunity to get involved in many different tasks and add my personal input. I will remember this experience for many years because it gave me valuable lessons in all aspects of my life. A part of me will always be here.

It is crazy how things change from time to time. There were times that I was thinking I would not make it until the end and now I am here pretending that something is on my eye and I am not crying.

I would like to thank each one of the people in the office, that gave me the opportunity to continue and evolve, as well as for the fact that they believed in me.

Anastasia Panitsa

EVS volunteer within the Erasmus + project “No one is out”

What is EVS?

EVS (European Voluntary Service) is an international volunteer program funded by the European Commission. It enables all young people legally resident in Europe, aged between 18 and 30 years, to carry out an international volunteer service in an organization or in a public body in Europe, Africa, Asia or South America for a period ranging from 2 to 12 months.

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