Hello,

First of all I would like to introduce myself, my name is David, I live in Valencia (Spain). I’m 22 years old, I studied Fine Arts at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and I finished my degree last July. I love visiting museums, painting, practicing sports, cooking, visiting new cities etc. I consider myself as a  happy, outgoing, dedicated, hardworking, emotional and enthusiastic  person. I am a long-term volunteer (1 year) in Faenza with Assoziacione SE.M.I as part of the Erasmus+ programme.

Who was going to tell me, just a month ago while I was finishing painting my passion prove, that today I would be writing these lines of presentation for the blog.since the 18th of January, the day I received the mail ``YOU ARE SELECTED'',has been like a roller coaster of emotions and my life has changed completely in a very short time. Between the work in Valencia, the paperwork, the last minute shopping, the preparation of the suitcases, the farewells, etc… I could not assimilate this adventure until the moment I saw myself wrapped in 1000 backpacks and papers at the airport of my city at 8am ready to board the plane, then I said `it´s time´´

When I arrived in Bologna I was more lost than an octopus in a china shop, luckily I met a Spanish girl, THANK YOU stranger girl for saving me… We got on the Marconi express, it was a literal roller coaster, I’m not going to deceive you when I say that I was a bit scared. When I arrived in Faenza I felt free and I could say that I was finally in my new home after so many attempts to do a long-term project.

These first weeks have been a bit chaotic, a lot of new information, a place we don’t know, a language I understand (more or less) but don’t speak, living with people I don’t know, too many places to get to know,… but well, everything needs its time and space.

Faenza is a beautiful and charming city, with a special touch for its buildings and streets in the old town. I have noticed the big change of population between my city and Faenza, sometimes you appreciate the disconnection of living in a big and busy city like Valencia but other times, you miss being always busy from one place to another.In addition to modifying the meal times because in Spain, as everyone knows, we have a reputation for eating/dining late although for us Europeans it’s the ones who eat too early, but it’s all about getting used to it and for the moment we’re doing very well… we’ll see how my return home will be. Also, living in a different city and country, these first days I’m comparing a lot the prices of everything but I think it’s something normal in everyone when you start something like this although I know that in a few days I won’t care because I’ll know everything better.

I think it’s time to bring this post to a close so that I can continue it when I can say more interesting things about this experience. Thanks