One month has passed since I arrived in Lorca.

Dear reader, no worries, I did start speaking and understanding Spanish, I’m not starring and panicking around all the time! I just thought of writing this article in English because otherwise I would have kept everything much more simplified, maybe too much.

During this month (and few days) I had the opportunity of living a whole range of emotions: sometimes I felt in a bubble, others in a Spanish tornado, there were days in which if I were asked how I was feeling I couldn’t even give an answer, because I had no clue of what was going on in my head.

This might scare you, dear reader, but you also have to know that I was never alone in all of this, and it never turned into a nightmare because I could hold on to numerous wonderful smiles. They were surrounding, encouraging and protecting me, all the time.

“How do you feel about going to an high school and organize a workshop with some classes?” “Well…I don’t know, I don’t speak Spanish yet! What if… How… When…”

No pasa nada chica! You’re gonna make it!”

Vale…”

And it goes alright. And you’re still alive afterwards. And then you start feeling involved, you want to feel involved and do your part. No pasa nada, try again, again and again, until it works.

While trying out and making mistakes, I had also time for drinking a beer with new friends, having walks on the hills of Lorca, taking drawing classes, going to exhibitions, travelling to Benicassim for an amazing on arrival training…I even had the time for watching a movie at the local cinema (ok, I didn’t get much of the dialogues, but the entrance was free 😛 ). A whole playground after all!

I am not always moving with the flow, sometimes the learning process is not that smooth, but…eeeeeehy, slow down reader, it’s an EVS experience! It’s a gift, a given time for myself, for the others, for the world of tomorrow, and I’m going to enjoy every single day of this journey, sea cual sea!

Beatrice Naldi