ESE izkušnja: Slovenian Experience

Objavljamo zapis ESE prostovoljke Barbare o njeni izkušnji v Sloveniji v času epidemije.  V februarju 2020 se je CZM ekipi v okviru projekta Evropska solidarnostna enota pridružila prostovoljka Barbara. V okviru svoje prostovoljskega dela se je lotila pisanja bloga, kjer bo delila svoje izkušnje in poglede na prostovoljstvo in čas, ki ga preživi v Sloveniji, hkrati pa se je lotila tudi raziskovanja različnih priložnosti za mlade. Več informacij najdete TUKAJ.

Slovenian Experience

Hello again! When I was told about making short posts about my experience in Slovenia, never in a lifetime I’d have imagined that I was going to make a post about »My quarantine in Slovenia«.

Many people would think that my experience was ruined because of the current situation, but truth is, it gave me the time that I needed. So, imagine if even in this case I do not regret taking part on this project, how good can be in normal circumstances.

During this… month (I lost count of days the first week) I had time to do so many things: I discovered beautiful places around the hostel, time to write on my own blog, to read, to watch movies and TV shows, to cook and learn new recipes… I guess the same that all of you have been doing. The only difference, and I bet you won’t win me in this: I have been living alone in a hostel! I mean, I already have something really interesting to tell my friends in Spain! 😉

I am not going to lie, it has been hard sometimes: I am far away from my family, alone in a new country, too much (mis)information, people sick all around the world. But I took this time as a learning-experience and I have embraced both the good and bad times, understanding that there is no one without the other and that is okay. This situation has made me learn many things in a short period of time, and I am actually grateful for that because I am going to take them with me for the rest of my life. Things that in normal circumstances in Spain I would have never learnt or took the time to think about. Just for this reason, I think coming to Slovenia was the best decision I have ever made.

The main things I have done to cope with the situation:

-Meditate (a whole lot of this). This allowed me to think about what I want to do next, and what I do not want for me in my life.

-I did exercise at home. It is not me who says so, science says it: doing exercise makes you happier. And it is true, after doing exercise I felt so good that for the rest of the day that I did not have to think about coronavirus

-I learnt new vegetarian recipes. I also took this time to reduce my meat consumption. Best time to start reducing my impact on mother earth 😊

-I am trying to do my first puzzle ever. I always wanted to work on my patience skills and, for sure, this is the best time to do so.

-I went for walks (alone, remember social distancing) and I got to see more of this beautiful place, enjoying the spring, my favorite season. It is official that I am in love with Slovenia.

-Do nothing. With all the media telling us how important is to do things and being productive, I started feeling anxious when I felt like doing nothing. Until I understand that doing nothing it is as important as being productive, because at the end we should do what our body feels like doing in that moment. I started listening more my body, and doing whatever it felt right in that moment, and I do not have to feel shame or guilt for that.

-Writing a “positive diary”: this has helped me a lot. With so many bad news, all the time talking about coronavirus… I started feeling really negative and sad. So, I decided to write down things that made me happy during these days, positive feelings. Because I do think that even in the darkest moments it is possible to find things that make us laugh.

I feel really proud of what I have accomplished until now; it is true that I can’t wait everything to go back to normal, but I am trying to enjoy as much as I can this time without thinking too much about the future.

I am sure you are more than used to these landscapes, but I am not, and every morning that I open the window and I see this and it is sunny, I smile:

So maybe you can also can take time to appreciate the beautiful place you live in 😊

And that is my second post about my experience in Slovenia, a different but also a special one.