Before coming to Palermo, I was studying and working in Paris in the field of cultural and social projects. A friend of mine, who had done an EVS in Albania told me his experience and I found it as an excellent opportunity to change my life abroad and grow in the personal sphere.<\/p>\n
I had had the opportunity to travel in diverse continents, but I had never stopped in a place and I think that there is a big difference between travel and live in a country.<\/p>\n
Living in a place means to confront with another way of life, another culture, another language, but also to be part of a local community. With my EVS, I have met local people as well as young people from so many other countries and cultures and, in this way, share and discover a lot of diverse points of view and ways of live. This is really an opening experience.<\/p>\n
I am participating in \u201cAble like you 3\u201d project which deals with adult people who suffer from mental disability.<\/p>\n
My first day in the association \u201cVolta la carta\u201d was the carnival day, so when I arrived everyone was dancing and I was welcomed with smiles and curiosity.<\/p>\n
Once we finished dancing, a lot of people came to me in order to getting to know me deeper and it was funny for me feeling as if I were the focus of attention.\u00a0 Before coming here, I felt a little bit anxious because I didn\u2019t know how to deal with disabled people and I can\u2019t speak very well Italian, but when I arrived I realized that everyone loved me without knowing me.<\/p>\n
They are able to break the ice, and after a huge amount of kisses, questions and jokes, I felt quickly part of this community. Although I was always doing things with urge, I took my time to observe them and it was very interesting to understand every behavior and to find the right way to communicate.<\/p>\n
Right now I\u2019m working here at \u201cVolta la carta\u201d some months ago and I have to say that I really feel a part of them. Every day we do a different activity. For example, Monday morning there is \u201cVolta la carta\u201d radio. First, we do a drafting committee and then I help someone to write his\/her own article for the radio website.<\/p>\n
On Wednesdays, during cooking activity we prepare all together the lunch. They choose the menu and everyone receives a task. Pizza, couscous, lasagna, involtini\u2026everything is possible!<\/p>\n
Now, I\u2019m at the end of my EVS experience and I\u2019m starting to think about everything I will miss. Every morning when I arrived to the association I see the smiles of everyone who is waiting for me.<\/p>\n
Morning is in fact a ritual. I kiss some of them, someone else makes me a coffee and we talk to each other, making fun just before starting the activities.<\/p>\n
I have developed a particular relationship with some of them and now I know\u00a0 them very well, in order to find the right words when they need moral support or help.<\/p>\n
The best part of this experience is undoubtedly the human side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before coming to Palermo, I was studying and working in Paris in the field of cultural and social projects. A friend of mine, who had done an EVS in Albania told me his experience and I found it as an excellent opportunity to change my life abroad and grow in the personal sphere. I had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":57746,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26913],"tags":[],"unita":[],"class_list":["post-53073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-experiences"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t