Category: Set the tempo

As most of the long-term ESC volunteers from the project Set the Tempo are gone, we are glad that they have left behind some fantastic local volunteers who are happy to share their experience of working with them in the youth centre Aradului.

Read the testimonials here:

I really enjoyed being a volunteer at the youth centre. I am so glad I chose to join because I got the chance to meet new amazing people like Katsia, Arus and Emilia, and all the participants in our activities. I am so happy because I could do the things I am interested in and implement some of my ideas, such as the Eco Club. The youth centre brought me a little bit of hope and some happy days during these hard times. 

Alice Oprea

 

It was my best choice. I think choosing to be a volunteer here changed me as a person. How I see things, how I deal with problems and challenges, how I talk to people I just met. Katsia and Arus are the people I want to thank for this experience the most. Without them, nothing would’ve been the same because they were there for all the activities, and they were behind them as well. 

Emilia Mihuț 

Here at Aradului Youth Center, I had a wonderful opportunity to engage in our community. Especially at the art club, where I got to learn and evolve my drawing skills with the help of the amazing volunteers. Even though we started meeting online, it still feels like we are together and sharing each other’s drawings. 

Diana Ghilezan

The art club really helped me draw more often, meet new artists and explore my creativity through drawing themes. Overall, it is a nice experience, and I think more young artists should attend it. 

Anisia Falniță

It was an awesome experience!! I met a lot of cool and friendly people. The vibe was so cosy and inspired me to create!! The space was beautifully decorated, and we had music in the background, which fit perfectly with the atmosphere. I really enjoyed the time spent there!! ✨💞 

Thea Marconi

I had discovered the Youth Center Aradului in the summer of 2020 when I got involved in the project named “CiviCultura” (theatrical workshop), which was an amazing experience, and I think that was the moment when I had met Katsia and Arus, the most friendly and serene people you can ever meet. At first, I didn’t have any idea about the place of the CiviCultura event, it was a cosy place, and I didn’t pay much attention. After few weeks, I understood the concept of having a place for youth in order to develop different skills for =free= or just spend some quality time learning in a social context. Amazing. I started to follow them on Facebook, and from there, I discovered the future events that got my attention: Public Speaking workshop (this was my favourite so far, the girls coordinated the activity so well, I didn’t even feel the distance made by online events, it was so real, it was the activity that I would love to repeat, also big up for Daniel Bocsan, the man who taught us the ‘power of words’ ), Yoga Sessions online (nice activity to maintain the health) and the Art Club (where creativity is blooming). From each activity, I learned something, and I am very thankful for the experiences they have offered me, for the friendship, for the skills. 

Eliza Cheşa

 

My experience with Aradului Youth Center is a very positive and nourishing one. To begin with, Katsia and Arus were very open and curious about my proposed ideas and very dedicated to making them happen once we agreed to start yoga classes. Their commitment and cooperation were admirable. The facilities we used are well looked after and well managed. Not only we managed to create a community where we moved and shared experiences; I feel like I gained life-long friends. Thank you for the opportunity to collaborate with you! 

Oana Rotariu

 

Centrul de Tineret Calea Aradului helped me make new amazing friends, learn many things, and offered me a community where I can exchange my ideas and learn from others. Having the chance to be in a creative and friendly environment really helped me step out of my comfort zone and say yes more often to new experiences. Meeting the volunteers and getting to know them made me more aware of how lucky we are to be living in Romania, as many of us don’t realize this (me being one of them). I found tremendous value in getting to know more about different cultures and seeing that even though we might have different traditions and ideas, we are more alike than we think. I really hope that the youth will take this chance provided in their neighbourhoods and step out of their comfort zone; it will really expand their horizons. 

Ionuț Vișoi 

We are so glad that Alice, Emilia, Diana, Anisia, Thea, Eliza, Oana and Ionuţ felt great and fulfilling to work with the ESC volunteers. If you are interested in taking part in the local community work, feel free to contact us. 

“Learning Patience can be a difficult experience, but once conquered, you will find life easier”  – Katherine Pulsifer

As a person, I was never really involved with Erasmus+ projects — I always had a preference towards projects and conferences that were made by universities and other organizations. 

So, when I was accepted after 4 months of waiting in the project Set the Tempo, I was quite happy to change my pace of daily working. I was so glad to change my demanding and full schedule to a more relaxed one. Volunteering has always helped me feel better and relax as I can see the results of my work almost immediately.  

But sadly, I was wrong. I was happy to see again some people that I already knew. I was eager to meet them and to start working in order to bring forth a positive change. But looking back to this year, the change was minimal.   

Waiting for a great start 

In the first month of the project, we were basically waiting for the other 7 volunteers to arrive so we can start to work. This resulted in the fact that our work was almost nonexistent and we were almost forgotten. The second month of the project brought forth the first quarantine, by which we were forced to stay inside with strangers for 14 days.  

After that, the work started tentatively. It became apparent the difficulty that people that actually care to bring forth a change and help, have to deal with many parasites. Parasites that, as I observed, are sucking the good work that the youth sector could do in the communities. (Often, when I think of those people, I think of leeches. My mind goes back to one of my favorite series of books “A Series of Unfortunate Events”. In the 3rd book, the aunt of the poor orphans is eaten by cannibal leeches.) There are many other work sectors that are getting money from different grants or, in our case, from the European Union. So yes, the people that want to get money doing almost nothing are leeches, in my humble opinion. 

Creating connections 

During the first few months, I had the chance though to cooperate with some really nice people that motivated me. Although I don’t like to use the word “friendship” I started feeling very nice and happy working with them. I also want to point out that I did not have a partner. We should have been working with partners, but mine did not arrive till November. Talking about a project that started in March, this aspect did not look that good for me. My work was more solitary than anything, but in the whole duration of the project, I did not feel like I was a part of a team.   

Work at its finest 

Summer came and we were finally able to go out and start working in the youth centers. Of course, you can understand the state of them after being closed for a year (Spoiler Alert: it was not good). Everything needed to be repainted, the mold needed to be cleaned, the windows needed fixing, the floor as well, nothing was ready and everything was pretty bad. Little by little I started working on that. The help I received from the organization was very limited. Thank God, I had a really nice volunteer helping me with some things. As such the project progressed, and through many hours of work, I managed to have the center ready. I had the first event done before all the other youth centers and I was very proud of it.   

Holiday 

Then I went back home to Greece for holidays. Honestly, the best time I spent on the project was the holiday that I took back home. But then I went back and work continued to be difficult for only one person. From August till October the work continued happening although my motivation was almost nonexistent. At this point, we had many arguments with the organization, and many things suddenly appeared for us to do that we had no knowledge of. The only thing that I was actually enjoying was my work with the volunteers and the neighbourhood that I was working in. I met some very nice people there that really made me happy that I came in the project.   

Losing motivation 

But in the first days of October we were again forbidden to do events in the youth centers. So everything had to be done online and the work became boring and it lost all meaning for me. Of course, at that time everyone was tired of doing online school and online university. I saw from my volunteers firstly, that they did not want to participate in these kinds of events, so I decided to not force anyone. I just did the events with very few people. 

In the first days of November my partner also came, after almost 9 months of waiting. He was a very nice boy and we started to work. And then the second and third quarantine came, where I had to stay in the house for a whole month. With that, my motivation died and went to Hades to the underground world and it is still there, keeping Hades company.  

Honestly, I do not have anything more to say about the last few months of the project, only that I miss working with the people of the community. It was hard to admit that online events do not work and my soul is being sucked out because of them.   

Thoughts for the future 

Right now, I am waiting for the project to finish so I can continue my life like before. Certainly, I gained some friends and a lot of patience. I think I really saw the ugly side of the youth sector and what it contains. Now, after this experience, I am much more certain that whatever I start has to do with community work. I will try to build a good foundation with people that really care about their communities. I am anxious to see the results that this project will have in the continuation of my life. Hopefully, I will collaborate with some of the people that I met. I am really hopeful for these collaborations and for the future.   

365 or maybe a few more days passed by, but I feel it was just instant when I’ve just arrived and now it’s time to say goodbye.  

Say goodbye to the city that completed the warm environment for a year for me, goodbye to the organization that supported us till the end, goodbye to the youth centre that in a short time became a place for expressing and understanding ourselves, goodbye to stores, malls, streets, goodbye to the culture that gave us lots of feelings, happiness, and joy and finally, goodbye to the people who have made this year for me, people or maybe just a person who became the biggest achievement for the year for me. 

After all the things I have tried to count, I don’t even know if it can be possible to count the number of things I studied and the experiences that I got. But I still can name something: the experience I have got was the best opportunity to see myself in different fields and to build myself in a professional and personal perspective. Which, I can truly declare, I did completely.   

Besides all these, I also remember how many times I got upset during this year, and how many times I told myself that this is it. Sometimes, I even thought to simply leave the project, but something always pushed me back, and now I am so happy about that. When I look back on how my personality was a year ago, and how it is right now, I feel much more developed, grown, and flexible.   

I really wish that my story becomes a source of motivation for you, the one who is reading it. And I hope that in the future, I will have the chance to read your story as well. 

I remember stepping into that huge building, Casa Tineretului. My baggage was heavy and so were my feelings, faced with the fact that I did it, I came back. It looked like nothing has changed. Dimmed lights were illuminating the walls, the echo of my steps was filling the space and the memories began to return in bursts. 

Happiness was mingled with anticipation and I stood in front of my decision, wondering if it was right. 

One year later I got my answer… 

There is no proper way to sit down and write about how this year felt for us, neither about what we have learned or what we have not. After all, it is still too early to define the range of our prospect to emerge all the gained knowledge, isn’t it? But at least I can try.  

What matters is what we all have inside of us. The change that came and will follow us back home. In the last days we could only wipe our tears and let the family go, all the members at their own side. That is life, that is what you learn. We learned to overthrow the differences that we, just a couple of months before, were holding on so tight. We recognize the glare in all the constructive discussions, or how we like to call them, fights. If this one year would become two, and we would have one more chance to be here and do what we do, we would obey the decision to stay united and loved. But it is just one year. And transience overtook us faster than we expected. 

Things to appreciate

Thereafter, we will learn to appreciate the moments, the big ones and the ones that at first sight seemed small, to give them the value that they deserve. The difference between them is deceiving. We will learn about the stories coming from our youth centers, and how the work continued many years after. The young people will have a shelter and a safe space to discover others and themselves. The same way how we did while bewildered going to organize public speech on the topic of human rights. The yearning feeling of going back and getting just one more slice of that cake made out of knowledge will consume us, and we will learn that the decision was right.  

Details are important, mrut jan. Smells, aromas, and side notes that you leave in the kitchen. But there will always be some malaka, which will not know if he left an empty glass on the table. And it’s possible that that glass was filled with jin tonic and a lot of ice. The ambulance could pass next to your window each time when you’re speaking on the phone, and people will not understand how. And sometimes you will hear someone singing in the living room, or while showering.

From across the street of Aries 19, late at night, when the whole Timisoara is sleeping, you could see one or two lights still being on. And there were some shadows on the curtain. These shadows have their dreams, oddly they keep them sometimes, but many times they share them. Those shadows would often be late from a common meeting and will need only bi dakka bi dakka to join. They laugh. A lot. And cry. And then laugh again because there was always a hug and a bad joke to suppress the silence.  

But believe me, no, really, believe me, all this will matter to you only when it’s time to leave.  

It was five in the morning when I arrived after 6 months. I was feeling that I am at home, I was feeling that all the memories that I have left would come back again.  

This year will always stay with me. It was something that had both extremely good and extremely bad days, but as I am always saying, we should realize the positive side of the coin. Every day of my life in Timisoara I got something new, something beautiful and meaningful. 

I am taking with me for my life this whole year and this amazing experience that gave me things that I will be grateful for in my future.

I feel like it was yesterday when this story has started. When I look back, even just for a second, I remember so clearly my arrival: I was entering a room which wasn’t giving me any warmness at all. But right now, when it’s time for me to leave, the same room is giving me so much warmness and it became so close to my heart, that it is so hard for me to leave it behind.  

I hope I will have the opportunity to share with you another experience story of mine, but until that, just enjoy and get motivated from this story. 

In summer ’19 I got involved in a great adventure. I was among a hundred volunteers from different parts around the world who came to Timisoara with only one purpose. We built 5 youth centres in 5 neighbourhoods of the city, in order to help the local community of young people. To be honest, I was not very familiar with volunteering programmes in Europe and just by a lucky sequence of events, I discovered for myself a new world. We worked hard that summer and left with the feeling of fulfilment, satisfaction and hope that these spaces will become centres of culture, creativity and innovation in this small, but beautiful and historically important Romanian city. 

The Change

When FITT opened the call, I was really excited to come back and actually be the one to see The Change in the community. I was happy to be accepted and could not wait to start working in my Centrul de Tineret Aradului. I imagined the upcoming year to be full of great concerts, cozy gatherings, and many other kinds of events. I imagined a lot of things, but the reality turned out to be in its own way. 

Right after signing the volunteering agreements, the global pandemic took over and put us in lockdown for two months. It was a great time for distant learning and self-development, as well as for planning the activities of the project. 

However, it was hard to plan anything because the situation was so unclear and the air was literally filled with fears and anxiety. 

Cleaning and renovation

In May, Romania entered the state of alert and we were allowed to finally go out and start working in the youth centre. Complete abandonment of the building resulted in so much dirt, dust, and destruction, that me and my Armenian partner Arus, needed about two months to make the youth centre look decent.  

Besides all the cleaning/renovating, me and my working partner were trying to spread awareness of our project, in order to get the acknowledgement and receive help from the locals. We recruited many local volunteers among teenagers and students in the community. We tried to involve them in the organisation of the youth centre as much as possible, but most of them disappeared, due to both the pandemic and their personal reasons. Generally speaking, the local community was not very active and receptive towards the youth centre. 

Emilia and Alice

However, two local girls, Emilia and Alice, have really put their hearts into the project. Thanks to them, I feel that my presence in Timisoara had meaning and purpose. These girls initiated two amazing projects (Art Club and Eco Club) on the base of the Aradului youth centre. They brought life into the youth centre and invited their friends. This way we managed to get at least some trust in the neighbourhood. Moreover, these two girls will take care of the youth centre after our projects ends. 

It is good to leave something important and close to your heart with a complete assurance that all these efforts will not be abandoned and forgotten. 

Even though many kinds of socialization were restricted, me and my working partner managed to get to know many people and get involved in different projects with a number of local NGOs and private companies. We have managed to get the awareness of people in the neighbourhood and had a lot of help from them in organizing the activities. Later, when all events in physical space got forbidden again, they helped us create online projects, which had relatively low participation, but otherwise, went awesome. 

Final thoughts

To be honest, I have been thinking a lot about the project and the purpose of it. We spent most of the time at home, actively coming to the youth centre only in summer. 

Did we accomplish our mission, which is “to set the tempo” for cultural life in the neighborhoods? Is it possible to do so when human connection is forbidden?  

I do not have a clear answer to this question even now. What I know for sure, is that we did make a change. Maybe not in the neighborhoods, but in the people, who were helping us and participating in our activities. When I hear words of gratitude and appreciation (and that did happen quite a few times), my heart is filled with meaning and purpose. 

After all, despite all challenges and disappointments, I know that the decision to come here was actually the best possible option. I feel grateful for myself and all people around me for this experience. Now it is time to move on and explore life. However, volunteering will always have its special place in my mind and heart. 

Some of the ESC volunteers from Timișoara participated for 3 days in a volunteering shadowing programme in Craiova, where they exchanged experiences and good practices with local volunteers and presented their projects to each other. They also had the chance to visit and explore a new town of Romania.  

A city which revealed a lot of beauty, especially the beauty of people living in it. Our visit to Craiova has been refreshing. It was a trip which helped me to recharge my batteries and meet new people. The favourite part of this trip was definitely sharing all our different experiences. Some of the people who we met truly reminded me of my initial motivation to come to Romania and be a volunteer. And reminded me that some things will never change. Being part of youth work and exchange programme is always a unique cultural experience which as many people as possible should embrace. It opens the door to another comfort zone, another dimension of knowledge, passion and experience.  

Different places can really wake up something unique and still common in us – a sense of belonging and unity. This is what I felt during these 3 days, nicely spent with people I liked very much. I’m sure we’ll meet again, and until then… I hope we keep creating the change and magic through the places we go. (Milica) 

I was on my way, it was long, it was beautiful… Timisoara: this city has a special energy. It might be because of the stories, because of the colours – whatever it is, you are always feeling safe, you are always feeling that you will miss it. It was 8:40 PM when I arrived to Craiova and the people that I was feeling close to were there to pick me, waiting for me. I hate waiting, but there is always a mystery. At 9 PM Katsia arrived: Here I am, going to say that she is my 2020. WIth every new city, there are new colours and people, there is always the positive side and the energy that we need.

One week later I was on my way back to Timisoara, again a long way, again by train. One of the good thing about trains is that you have hours to think, you have time to be open with yourself, you have time to look around. Whenever I am travelling somewhere, I am collecting memories, people with their stories. Imagine that with you, in the same train, someone is going to meet the important human being in their life or someone’s dream is coming true. As I said, there is always a mystery.

Երջանկությունն է ստեղծում ճանապարհ Երջանկությունն է թևեր տալիս ։ (Arus) 

What was your best cartoon character? Why did you like this when you were a child? Was it beautiful, fun, or colorful? I asked this question for myself, and I had no idea. I don’t know why. Maybe I didn’t love it enough to remember. My generation remembers how sweet Teletubbies were. Which one was yours? Thingy,Winky, Dipsy,Po or maybe Noo.

Maybe you can fınd yourself ın the cartoon character you choose. If you think a little bit, you will understand how much you have in common with it. Furthermore, you had chosen this as a child…

According to studies, people who have favorite cartoon characters as a child, ıt has been concluded that they grew up with several characteristics in common with their cartoons character. ı am thinking of one cartoon which ı remember and ı still lıke green areas in there where Teletubbies were playing, walking, falling downhills. When ı came to Timisoara for the first time, the parks here seemed like there and of course, I have been feeling like being in the Teletubbies. I felt free to lıke Teletubbies when ı walked around the Bega river…

I wonder which cartoon character is best for you? What kind of connection do you establish between yourself and your best cartoon character? Let’s make sense of the best of our childhood to this day…

2020 was so different than what we expected: shortly after coming to Timișoara (Romania) through the ‘Set the Tempo’ project, the pandemic started – and what happened next really challenged us. We stepped out of our comfort zone and adapted ourselves and our activity to the context. We’ve learnt a lot, tested different kinds of activities in order to make the youth get involved and we rediscovered ourselves and our potential. We managed to make it ‘till the end, keep the good stories and lessons, and most important, we’ve spent the winter holidays in a new, unexpected way.

Read our winter holidays’ stories below: 

I used to view Christmas through the lens of cynicism and point out the hypocrisy of the Christmas Spirit in relation to how people are for the rest of the year. While the observation isn’t entirely false, I’ve come to realise that we, instead, should be grateful not only for the opportunity to have days off from work, but also for the fact that Christmas serves as a reminder of values that we should try to cultivate also in our busy, everyday lives, when it is not the holiday. And when it is not the holiday especially. (Daniels, Latvia) 

As a Muslim person who has taken part into the Christmas celebration for the first time, it was a brand new experience that I had with my friends and people that I care about. 😀 Muslims don’t celebrate Christmas, but we have similar celebrations during the year. So I am used to family and friends gatherings and celebrations, but not with the gifts part. So when I found out that we have to buy gifts, I said to myself “ohhh sh*t”, not because I don’t like to buy gifts, but because my budget doesn’t allow me to do that, especially when I have a lot of special people around me that I want to give something to. Even if it is not that useful (as the cat pillow that I gave to Nadia and she showed that she liked it – only god knows if she did), I want to give them something that will make them remember me.  

Just imagine me giving Marietta a gift and forget about Aigly – I am sure that I will be their next morning topic in their Greek language. I tried my best to buy some gifts, and I know that I didn’t manage to give to everyone. But the good thing that I realised is how hard it is to be a Santa Claus. I understand why Santa is not giving gifts to all people: not because they are bad or they did something bad during the year, but because he runs out of budget, so he creates that bad people list as an excuse.  

At the same time, I was soo happy because I was expecting to receive a gift, and I got one. Just imagine this story if I didn’t get one – a lot of drama. The day that we got our gifts I was so happy, you cannot imagine: I have been looking for an hour under the tree till I found mine, I opened it and it was a perfume and a box of chocolate. It was so nice and I loved it so much, even if I was thinking at that moment if my smell really stinks. And of course, nothing works perfectly with me: the perfume was a woman perfume, just imagine. But still, I loved it and I took it as a sign – so thanks Santa, even if you missed my gender. In the end, I want to say that I had a lot of funny moments that I will share beside a woman perfume. (Ali, Tunisia) 

Life may be cold and hard, but we should take time to admire the dazzling charm that lies within it. 

This Christmas was complicated for me. Right out of a one–month quarantine and with a lot of personal issues to solve. I really wish I could have had the actual chance to live Christmas in my beloved Timisoara properly. But of course, we knew from the start of this outbreak of the virus that this would not be the case. I might have not gotten to see how families and young people traditionally and usually spend their Christmas and New Years’ Eve in Romania, but at least I got to spend them with beloved people, and as a bonus point, I got to go to the mountains and see snow! As the last few hours of this unique year were running away, the place around me, already slightly white, started becoming whiter and whiter. It’s as if the harsh wind blowing outside my window was relentlessly taking the last minutes away and giving soft snow crystals in return.  

I was really grateful for starting my new year with everything my eye could see around me being white. This is a view I do not usually have back in my country, and made my Christmas more special. The warm crackling sounds of the fireplace, the soft, calming silence of the whiteness around me, the spicy dryness of the wine used to settle our wishes for the new year and the awkward, with a slight suspicion of worry, but also with a content hopefulness smiles of our group were the first sensations imprinted in my mind for 2021. And the rest followed when I took a walk in the deserted white road by myself, enjoying the fresh freezing coldness of the atmosphere and the creepy yet peaceful lack of sounds that a thick layer of snow tends to attribute to its surroundings. 

I hope to keep the bright beautiful image of the glittering melancholy around me in my head for the time to come. My Romanian Christmas may not have been traditional or wild, but it definitely reminded me a truth of life I always need to hold closely: life may be cold and hard, but under the right ray of sunlight, we cannot help but notice and should take time to admire the dazzling charm that lies within it. (Aigly, Greece) 

If Corona had not been in here, the winter holidays would have been better and everything would be different, but still it was cool. It was the first time that I celebrated the New Year in a foreign country, and for this reason I had a chance to observe the Christmas and New Year season during my holiday. I am so happy being part of these. I saw sparkling streets and shops actually everywhere. All of them gave me energy. When I saw people with gleamy eyes, I realized that they were so excited for the New Year. I was sharing this feeling with them.  

In the first week of the holiday, I was just listening to myself. I was doing things that I like and rest. When the weather was good, I went walking around the Bega river. This city has a calming feature. The second week of the holiday I decided to trip to other cities: Cluj, Craiova and Braşov. The best part for me is train traveling, because of the amazing view. Romania has beautiful green areas. When I was passing the railway, I enjoyed the scenery at the same time I was listening to my favourite podcast series. My traveling was good. I am looking forward to my next trip. 😀 These cities and people too had the same sparkling places and feelings. I would like to see Romania without Covid during the Christmas and holiday season… Why not, maybe, next year, in 2022? (Ceren, Turkey) 

Winter is not a season, it’s a celebration.  

The colours that I find in winter give me extraordinarily feelings. The moment when I wake up and look from the window makes me feel relaxed.  

Besides these fantastic feelings, there is another huge reason that I love winter. This is because of the New Year and Christmas. This is the right time for everyone to gather and one more time to remember that the time is passing, and we have another opportunity to leave the bad vibes and enjoy and start from the beginning. This year, the New Year and Christmas were more special for me. This special feeling had two reasons: first time far from family and enjoying the time in a nice environment. 

This winter, the New Year brought a lot of amazing feelings for me. And the light of winter is going to make me want to keep, protect and build more and more. (Alisa, Armenia) 

The light of winter is the poetry of patience.  

Every time when the season is changing, the feelings are also changing. Sometimes they all look like the same changes, but the feeling that we have in the winter is a bit different: one of the lightest weathers that make everyone happy and fresh. This season has a Christmas and New Year, and this is the secret of its light. You will ask why? Because this lets everyone find what they want, to struggle for what they were waiting, to get new powers, and finally to search the feelings that they still need.  

It is a season that brings a lot of love and happiness, and that makes everyone feel that they need to hurry in order to enjoy the life. (Rachad, Lebanon) 

Another country and another tradition. I did not know how these holidays will go on for me. Uncertainty has passed when I understood that holiday spirit is following us no matter if we are home or not. While putting a star at the top of our Christmas tree I felt a small dose of family. Even though nothing and no one can replace them, it still had been close enough. I spent my time with my new friends, and in one warm and nice atmosphere. I guess that’s how every Christmas, even the one your country is not celebrating, should look like. I’m thankful for this experience and will miss it back home. (Milica, Serbia) 

During the pandemic and all restrictions related to it, it’s hard to enjoy winter holidays as they are. Normally, this time feels so magical, like something changes in the air. Usually, it really does. The smell of cinnamon and apples from hot wine and the sweet scent of hot chocolate are wandering around and at the same time bringing joy, excitement and warmth in people’s hearts. After all, Christmas is not just about food and free days. It’s about love, forgiveness and sense of the community. 

Well, this time it’s different. We didn’t have a chance to enjoy the celebration at the Christmas market, as well as we didn’t have a chance to share the joy of holidays with others. We didn’t get a chance for a lot of things.  

However, some magic did happen. Our youth centre had a collaboration with Lemon Shake, a small business of a guy with a hot chocolate stand. Every Saturday, we were coming in front of our Aradului youth centre and giving a cup of hot chocolate or hot lemonade (oh, that thing is really tasty) to everyone, who was passing by.  People of all ages, from small kids to old grandmas, had a wide smile after I was coming to them with a cup of hot chocolate and loud „Sărbatori fericite!” That feeling of making somebody’s day better was so pleasant, that I couldn’t stop being happy for the rest of the day. Although these winter holidays were not typical at all, I feel glad and grateful that we managed to bring some magic to the local community. (Katsia, Belarus) 

2020 stories, 2020 life, 2020 hope… 

Here I am. With my story, with my hope, and with my energy.  

It was a sunny and long way; it was a beautiful and meaningful day: I took my bag and my long way to the destination that I choose. A place where I had honest people with good vibes and positive minds, a place where the silence was giving me the desire to fly and to feel that I am wild and free. 

If Esenin would be with me, he would say – Все начинается со взгляда. Всегда and yes, dear Esenin, I agree with this philosophy.․․ Passing by beautiful places and historical castles, villages and cities I got my new motivation, my new energy and having all my favourite artists with me and my bag, I arrived. After 9 hours of driving, we arrived: I started my new year with my people, with new information about Romania and Romanians, about this historical country. 

In my beautiful Armenia, we are saying that with every new year, there is a new luck, there is a new chance. So cheers, my dears, cheers to your new dreams, new hopes and new stories and don’t forget to find what you love and to let it kill you. 

Իսկ որպես վերջաբան մի կարևոր մեջբերում այն հիշողությունից ,որը թղթին եմ հանձնել օդանավում 2019 թվականին Տիմիշուարայից  Հայաստան ետ վերադարձի ժամանակ։ 

ես ինձ կորցնում եմ ու գտնում եմ այստեղ, 

ամեն կորցնելուց այնպես եմ ցավում կարծես երբեք չեմ գտնելու ,  

ամեն գտնելիս այնպես ապրում կարծես երբեք չեմ կորցրել ։   

Arus Jan (Armenia)