JANUARY - FEBRUARY - MARCH
Three more months of my EVS have passed and as much as I wouldn’t want to admit it – that also means the end of my volunteering in OBC and starting a new chapter of, honestly speaking, adult life. Because long term volunteering projects is a like a pink, fluffy bubble, that gives you a sense of adventures and new experiences, but in the end you still notice that it’s a bubble, that, even if popped, will land you nicely on a big, fluffy pillow. But, unfortunately, it’s not the reality, not in a long run.
So here I am, after 12 months still in Croatia, planning how to extend my bubble and stay in Croatia a bit longer, at least for the summer. Because I’m not ready to say goodbye yet. Not because of the feeling that there will always be someone who will support and take care of you even if you fuck up, but because of the people and opportunities, that I see here. And let’s be honest, country where it’s sunny 129,57 days per year (a super reliable resource called “google”) does make a Latvian happy. And a view to the mountains is also not so bad. Besides, I’m finally starting to put together the puzzle with pieces called “Croatian grammar” and I’m not ready to just leave it right there.
So here I am, after 12 months still in Croatia, planning how to extend my bubble and stay in Croatia a bit longer, at least for the summer. Because I’m not ready to say goodbye yet. Not because of the feeling that there will always be someone who will support and take care of you even if you fuck up, but because of the people and opportunities, that I see here. And let’s be honest, country where it’s sunny 129,57 days per year (a super reliable resource called “google”) does make a Latvian happy. And a view to the mountains is also not so bad. Besides, I’m finally starting to put together the puzzle with pieces called “Croatian grammar” and I’m not ready to just leave it right there.
Well, yes, so as you might have already guessed, this in another story of how EVS project turns into “I fell in love in this country and I’m not ready to leave yet..” I’m not saying that I won’t come back to Latvia in any close future, but I feel like I have to give it a shot – put some effort into trying to get a job here and, who knows, maybe finally being able to held a conversation that extends ordering just a burek/pizza/kebab/etc. in a bakery. Croatia deserves at least that much effort from my side. If it won’t work out – well, hell with that, at least I’ll have no regrets. That’s also the reason why the last few months after coming back from New Year's holidays in Latvia haven’t been that easy, as, I must say – the pressure is on. The adult life with a bunch of uncertainties like where will I actually work, live and basically what will I do after my project ends are quite constanly letting know about themselves. I’ve been checking out different opportunities and sending my CV’s to different positions quite regularly, but, well, it hasn’t been an easy thing to find a job that would really be worth staying for in a country where all you hear is people around you saying how impossible it is to find a job here. For locals. Yes, even more than in Latvia. There are still some opportunties that I’ve been working on, but I’ll probably know anything more only in the beginning of the May. So if you do read this – please, let me breathe a bit and don’t ask me another question of “So what are you gonna do this summer? Did you find a job yet? Where will you stay after end of April?” At least wait until mid-May. Then I might be more able to answer to your as well as my own questions. Because uncertainty is one hell of a thing to deal with, especially in a long term. But that’s what makes life interesting, right? |
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So after all this blah-bery-blah about my future (my appologies if it was too long, but I had to put my frustrations out somewhere), I can try to light up the atmosphere and shortly run through what I’ve actually been doing for the last three months.
January was quite fun – after my flight back from Latvia, I spent a day in Budapest and then went straight to Bulgaria, Sofia where I stayed for a couple of days with my friend Katrīna from Latvia in another EVS people apartment. Sofia seemed awesome but unfortunately it was freezingly cold outside and all of us cached a cold, so it was more like a cozy movie-food-tea kind of thing with even some productive moments with Erasmus project writing. So I’m definitely going back again. Next time in summer though.
After coming back to Zagreb, as it was already mid-January, I jumped straight into project writing, as the next Erasmus deadline was coming close and finished writing a youth exchange for next summer. Keeping fingers crossed it will be approved.
January was quite fun – after my flight back from Latvia, I spent a day in Budapest and then went straight to Bulgaria, Sofia where I stayed for a couple of days with my friend Katrīna from Latvia in another EVS people apartment. Sofia seemed awesome but unfortunately it was freezingly cold outside and all of us cached a cold, so it was more like a cozy movie-food-tea kind of thing with even some productive moments with Erasmus project writing. So I’m definitely going back again. Next time in summer though.
After coming back to Zagreb, as it was already mid-January, I jumped straight into project writing, as the next Erasmus deadline was coming close and finished writing a youth exchange for next summer. Keeping fingers crossed it will be approved.
In the beginning of February my friend Beāte from Latvia that I accidentaly met in Prague last October came for a visit and we went to see Plitvice National park not so far away from Zagreb. Instead of frozen waterfalls and big amounts of snow (that was still there 2 days before our arrival) Plitvice park greeted us with feeling of Spring and first green grass. We still found some frozen waterfalls though, that were a bit delayed with the melting process.
After Plitvice and couple of weeks in Zagreb my next trip was to Rijeka – right in time for the Carnaval in the end of February. +15 degrees, a big dose of sun and enjoying coffee in different locations of Rijeka was just what I needed. Rijeka was amazing. And again - the saying that the best trips are the ones you don’t even plan proved to be right.
After Plitvice and couple of weeks in Zagreb my next trip was to Rijeka – right in time for the Carnaval in the end of February. +15 degrees, a big dose of sun and enjoying coffee in different locations of Rijeka was just what I needed. Rijeka was amazing. And again - the saying that the best trips are the ones you don’t even plan proved to be right.
Time spent in Zagreb was great as well, as all the time there are several open workshops, zumba classes, free concerts, exhibitions and much, much more. I even managed to go to a fashion show presenting the new collections of Croatian and Serbian designers. Night started out in a super fancy atmosphere surrounded by the rich & famous young generation of Croatians and ended up in bar called “Frog/Žabica” dancing by cheesy Croatian music and turbo folk. And I must say, however terrible turbo folk is, it was much more fun than being surrounded by fancy people who don’t put their phones down even to engage in a conversation with friends that they’ve came together with.
In the beginning of March together with some more people from Outward Bound we went for a weekend to our educational center in Veliki Žitnik, where we used the time for hiking a bit in Velebit mountains, dancing zumba and doing a bit of yoga and meditation. One weekend can fit it all. A great boost of energy.
And in the mid-March I also managed to go to visit my friend Lāsma in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Meeting a lot of inspiring and crazy people, wandering around the city and Tivoli park, and dancing until the morning to the most awful turbo folk music (but in a best possible company which made it super fun) - Ljubljana showed me a different side of it, that I didn’t notice during my last visit in June. It was great!
In the beginning of March together with some more people from Outward Bound we went for a weekend to our educational center in Veliki Žitnik, where we used the time for hiking a bit in Velebit mountains, dancing zumba and doing a bit of yoga and meditation. One weekend can fit it all. A great boost of energy.
And in the mid-March I also managed to go to visit my friend Lāsma in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Meeting a lot of inspiring and crazy people, wandering around the city and Tivoli park, and dancing until the morning to the most awful turbo folk music (but in a best possible company which made it super fun) - Ljubljana showed me a different side of it, that I didn’t notice during my last visit in June. It was great!
And even if it might seem like I’m just travelling and going to different events all the time – there’s also a big part of working going on that I might leave out of the story just to keep it shorter (I’m still quite, quite bad of it). Apart from managing different projects, I’ve also developed my skills in marketing, project writing, creating promo materials and presentation skills, as one of our activities in Zagreb involved doing workshops in schools about Erasmus+ and volunteering opportunities, all together around 20 of them. I also had a chance to help out in youth exchange project for kids from social institutions, that was quite useful and new to me and go for a rock climbing in a place close from Zagreb.
So yes, basically, what I wanted to tell with all these blog posts during the last twelve months – go out there and risk! Risk going out of your comfort zone, risk talking to people that you feel awkward to and risk going for the things that matter to you. Because after all, it’s mainly just you that will have to deal with the consequences that your own actions and choices creates.
"There is no reason to not be who you want to be. Because there is noone to please."
Anna
So yes, basically, what I wanted to tell with all these blog posts during the last twelve months – go out there and risk! Risk going out of your comfort zone, risk talking to people that you feel awkward to and risk going for the things that matter to you. Because after all, it’s mainly just you that will have to deal with the consequences that your own actions and choices creates.
"There is no reason to not be who you want to be. Because there is noone to please."
Anna