2.03.2013

Our suitcases are packed again. Tomorrow we are going for a volunteers training. One week in a hotel next to Naples. I am so excited! After almost one month here it will be so nice to meet someone new who speaks English.

Before that, we will take part in the International Party. Our job is to prepare some traditional dishes from our countries. We didn't spent much time in the kitchen, but looking for the special ingredients to make traditional food took as hours.  

Finally we have:

1) Kebap by Tugce – Turkey
2) Babka kartoflana by Dagmara– Poland
3) Gulyás e lángos by Dori – Hungary
4) Tarte tatin by Nancy – France
5) And a lot of dishes from Italy (my favorite Cannoli con ricotta e pistacchi)

Weekends in Sicily

Campobello di Licata, very very small city! For example when I go out for a walk it’s maximum half hour, after it the town is over!  An alternative transport is hitchhiking ;).

The Last Weekend...

Undoubtedly “ricotta” is the most famous cheese in the Italy.  And the last weekend our focal point was “How can prepare RICOTTA at home!”

We went to Canicattì (because Federico’s friends live there, and they show us to how to make ricotta) with Dóra, Dagmara, Federico & his family & me (Federico is our mentor  à and he is the best mentor of the world J).

How can prepare ricotta?

First take a big pot, after put inside goat milk. Make a fire. And start to mix with a kind of wooden ladle.  Milk temperature should be around 30-34 degrees, and then you add animal rennet (it was weird :S). Mix very well. After cover with cloths and wait 5/10 minutes.

Well done!

Put on a little perforated bowl for filter...

Buon Appetito J

Buon Appetito J

How Have I Started?

Willy (who is now our uncle and the worst “jester” in Sicily) has called me by skype, and he started to ask about many things. And I was so nervous, scared, and uneasy! At the and  he said that I should wait for an e-mail with results saying if I was going to Sicily or not. So then I was waiting... waiting... waiting... 'Till the next Monday (And yes!! Got IT!)

This is how I have started My Adventure With EVS!

PS. My first experience - ITALIANS ARE ALWAYS LATE!

                                                        The last picture in Turkey :(                                                                             

Happening

18-23.02.2013

It is raining, raining and raining. But the worst thing about the weather is the strong wind. We start to doubt whether we live in Sicily. In the office everyone says “Oh, remember this day, you will be miss that in the summer when the temperature will be 40 degrees high”. By now, I can’t wait for that moment.

Now, we are working together on the promotion of the project called Happening. It will take place in the summer in Campobello di Licata. We are looking for some organization which can distribute information among the young people in Europe.

Link: 
http://happening.kalat.org/?q=en/home

Primavera

17.02.2013

Today is a beautiful sunny Sunday.  A good reason to take a walk around the town.

Only fields, first flowers, sometimes houses and… dogs. It is a kind of plague. They are everywhere. But not small and sweet. They are big, aggressive and without muzzles. The situation becomes uncomfortable, when one of them start to run after us. He gives up but we have no idea how to come back home. Definitely not by the same road as we came ;P

In one of the gardens works a man. We ask him if there is any other possibility way to the town. “Yes, you can go this way. But maybe you would like to drink some coffee with me?” We agree, of courseJ

After a while he suggests to take us by car to the city. During the drive we are talking about food - one of the favorite subjects in Italy. “Do you have any plans for the dinner? Maybe you would like to eat some delicious pasta?” he asks. Of course! So we come back to his summer house and eat great dinner with him. After that he gives us some plants from his garden. It is a very nice meeting.

Half hour later we are standing at the crossroads. And now what? Some car is coming, so we ask if this is a road to Campobello. “Yes, I am going there, so get in!”

Wow, thanks.

It was an amazing weekend with unexpected but very pleasant meetings.

Canicatti

16.02.2013

Sometimes in our live we have to say goodbye. Today Sonia finished her intership and is going back home. We’re going with her to Canicatti to the bus station.

After that we decide to visit the town. Three volunteering girls, at this moment the only three tourists in Canicatti I suppose… The weather is simply beautiful, so we can hang around the old town to admire the local architecture. Suddenly, one man stops us. He recommends us to visit the museum which we can find near here. Ok, why not. We go in the direction that he showed. But as we walked 20 meters he call us. Is this that place? I don’t see any museum. Then he open the door to the garage. And there… a miracles!:)

Hand-made wooden furniture, clay pots. This place belongs to the family for generations, in the past it was a smith house.

In the next moment the owner take out two pairs of new trousers from the box. And ask if I want them. Oho… I knew that I have to buy something… but no, he says it’s for free. Is this a joke? No, please take it.

What a generosity! We leave this place with smiles and gifts that we were not expect and go to the market. Dora, admirer of the fresh food, decide to buy a cucumber. Trader asks: Only one? Oh, take it. You don’t need to pay.

I start to really love this place.

It is coming to 15, so we decide to go back by hitch-hiking. We don’t know how long we have to wait for someone to stop and take us. We are waiting… 2 minutes! :) We know that hitch-hiking is very popular here, but this surprised us completely.

Last days of the carnival

9-12.02.2013 

On every street you can find cheerful children wearing costumes. Most of them have face masks and T-shirts of their favorite football team. Funs of Juventus are the majority here.

One of the traditions in the carnival is shaving foam, but cars not people. Children have a lot of fun and by the way clean car.

In the evening we decide to go for the carnival party. What a nice surprise! Everyone is in disguises.

We get invitation for a dinner from our boss. We should be in his house around 21:30.

21:30? For me it is so late to eat :P But after we get this message,  there’s a new one: be after 22:00… it begins to be interesting.

We come around 22:30 and… the food is just start to be cooking! In the meantime I try to prepared the table. Ok, eight person, it shouldn’t be hard, not eight… nine? Ten? Eleven? Finally, there are fifteen of us.

We start eating… after midnight! And eating took us 5 minutes. Unbelievable. I have never thought it is possible to eat so quickly.

This culture of eating in Italy is something totally different from the one in Poland. 

Here breakfast is just a coffee in the bar. The first real meal is lunch about 13:30-15:30. And then a big dinner after work (20:00).

I can’t imagine to leave the house without breakfast. I also always take a second breakfast to work with me. And eating after 21? How can you sleep after that? 

First day at work.

8.02.2013

First day at work. Of course we are late. This is due to the fact that we haven’t developed a good system to use a bathroom and kitchen by everyone in the same time. But we noticed that here it is not a problem.  15 minutes? If the bus or train is late 15 minutes it is good. Here time doesn’t exist, or maybe exist but on different rules.

In the office we work with Willy, person who will be a teacher and uncle for us for the next 10 months.

First two rules.

1. We can speak with him about all problems and aspect support and help.
2. Eating time is sacred for him, so he won’t pick up the phone even in cause of fire. No phones, no sms.

Before we start our normal job we make some exercises to know better each other.

Everybody get cards divided into six parts. In every part we have to draw ours thoughts regarding with other people’s countries: Poland, Turkey, Hungary, France, Algeria and Spain (Willy’s country). At the first moment it seems easy, France, Spain… hmm… but what do I know about Hungary? Or Algeria? But the biggest surprise is when you see how they imagine your country. Poland… in every picture is the bottle of vodka, snowman or a big question mark. At this moment I realized that I’m here not only to get to know new culture but also to show them mine. I hope that, if we make this exercises at the end of my volunteering again, the draws will show much more.

After lunch, we have some time to walk the city. We try to remember were are located the most important buildings, like doctor’s house, Italian teacher’s house and the nicest part for us – shops. Why the nicest? Because in every shop when we come to say hi, they offer us their products: vegetables, cheeses and… sweets J It is carnival, so on shelves there are: chiacchiere, schiacciata fiorentina, tortelli. Mmm….

Catania

7.02.2013

I have a little time for myself before the bus to Canicatti. So I decided to visit a city. Catania. Big, noisy and so… Sicilian.

After just two minutes walking I enter the fish market. For me, who normally does shopping in a shopping center, it is a magic place. Traders are shouting and try to convince that their wares are the best. 

And the food! Some of the fish I see for the first time in my life. Some I’ve eaten but it is hard to recognize them. There is a big difference between buying the frozen fish from the supermarket and this place where some of the animals… are still alive!

 

Another thing is the way how the wares look like. The elaborate pyramids of brightly coloured fruits and vegetables, stacked evenly with the highest precision. We still have a lot to learn…

After a few minutes, a little stunned, I leave that place and go to see the rest of the town. Just round the corner I am staying in front of the cathedral. It is really impressive. Beautiful baroque façade. And there is a great surprise for me, because inside it is even more magnificent.

Unfortunately, the St. Agatha’s Festival  which takes place on 5^th of February is already finished. However, after two days it is still possible to see some of the huge alter  inside the cathedral.

The rest of the time I dedicated to spend for visit the rest of the city. But two hours are definitely not enough for this amazing place. With every corner and every street I discover something new: old church, palace… orange tree with fruits?! Yes, that surprised me the most!:D Especially that yesterday in Poland it was snowing…

I wish I could have more time. But I promise to myself that I’ll be back here one day.

I’m sitting in the bus and leaving this place. Streets, houses… the city disappears behind my back and first  what I see is She. L’Etna. Large, dark, mysterious. Yes, definitely she makes people respect her. At the foot of the montain the orange trees grow but at the top there is snow and ice. I can’t take my eyes off that view. The volcano disappears after one hour - when the bus enters the tunnel. 

Two hours later I am in Canicatti. First thing that I notice is the bus of my Italian organization. Small, yellow bus with big sign ‘KALAT’. I am sure that this vehicle can remember the hippie times…

Just one minute after I see a man with polish flag coming to me. He gives me a hug and kiss. It is nice, but also little strange for me.  Normally when I meet someone for the first time, I shake his hand. But soon I learn that it is a part of culture here. I have to get used to this.

I really admire drivers in Italy! Narrow streets, speed of light and… car horn sounds.  After a few minutes I’m feeling like in a carousel. In the meantime we take a person of hitch-hiker.

Before I came here I tried to learn some words in Italian, but now I see that it is useless, because here everybody speaks Sicilian…

Home sweet home.

The apartment is at the first floor of the school building. Three rooms, kitchen, bathroom and… five girls!  Soon we find out that our biggest problem won’t be different languages or ours cultures but to share a bathroom and hot water.

As I said we are five. Two interns: Nancy (from France), Sonia (from Algeria) and three volunteers:  Tuğçe (from Turkey), Dora (from Hungary) and me (Dagmara from Poland).

Since now, they are my new family.

Buongiorno Italia! Buongiorno Sicilia!

6.02.2013    Buongiorno Italia! Buongiorno Sicilia!

I still can’t believe that I am here. Little surreal and scary but now I’m starting my new adventure with volunteering. Ten months in this island. Without family, friends and Polish language.

However, three minutes in this country proves that it is hard not to like this place.

Firstly, the situation at the airport.  To get to the town it is necessary to take a bus, but at that moment (it is after 22:00) the ticket office is closed. So I’m going to the bus without any doubt that I can buy ticket there. Of course not… :P

“So what can I do?” I ask the bus driver. “You can go without the ticket” he says. Really? How nice.

“And can you just inform me when my stop will be?” (and I show him the name of the city on the map).

“Sorry, but the bus doesn’t go to this place.  But you know, I can stop in this place (and show me on the map) it’s much closer to your hostel.”

Wow. Grazie mille :)

I would like to stress here that this conversation was… in the Italian language! ;D

Buonanotte. 

Campobello di Licata

Campobello di Licata: How to get there?

->airport Gdansk -> airport Munchen -> airport Catania -> bus to the center of Catania -> hostel -> bus to Canicatti -> car to Campobello di Licata

Yes, it is in the end of the world…;D