Ciao a tutti!
Kyriakos here, the Greek volunteer!

Lots of things happened and many situations occurred. Impossible, preposterous, sensible, reasonable, already confusing, delicate, special, miserable and shameful, disquieting and frightening, happy, unhappy, slightly touchy, very touchy, no-win, fruitful, profitable, hopeless, hopeful, dull, entire precarious, portentous and incalculable, hard and the list goes on and on.

To be clearer, almost all the negative characterizations are for the one and only “trying to get vaccinated in Italy as a foreigner but domiciled in an EU member state” situation. I will not discuss it further but with the precious help of the association we carried it of. Let’s move on!

CRE Esploratori in Brisighella is over. I met many children with completely different personalities but I received a lot of love although I was there only for two months. During these two months I tried to bring the children in contact with Greek mythology and ancient Greek culture. We learned about god Dionysus, his followers and his sacred thyrsus (a wand or staff of giant fennel covered with ivy vines and leaves, sometimes wound with taeniae and topped with a pine cone or by a bunch of vine-leaves and grapes or ivy-leaves and berries) and then about Crete, the Minoan civilization, Phaistos disk, king Minos, the Minotaur and the labyrinth of Knossos, Theseus and Ariadne, and all this new info was brought in life through inside and outside creative activities.

The first thing on my “where I want to travel” list was a trip to Siena and I did it! Almost four years after my stay in Siena, I had the chance to go back there. <slight pause for a moment of nostalgia> Andrea, the Valencian volunteer, was with me and with her help I realized another personal goal, the “be a tour guide in Siena” goal sharing as much information as possible in two days (mostly good food spots).

Another moment of great interest and joy was the handmade “pasta fresca” night under the guidance of Angelo il Grande. The final result? Tagliatelle al burro e tartufo nero.

An unprecedented moment was my birthday. It was the first time that I celebrated this day without my family and it was a bit odd. “Oddness” started with a surprise from Mathilde, the French volunteer, caring my very first birthday quiche (instead of a cake) made by her, and continued in our weekly reflection blowing the candle from my very first birthday magnum mini package of six (instead of a cake). The celebrations ended with a birthday pistachio ice-cream cake.

That’s all for now!
See you next time!
A dopo allora!