Today is the last post I write in this blog after a whole year here recounting my experiences in Italy and other European countries. I’m not going to deceive anyone, to be honest, but writing these lines has been harder than I expected because leaving everything I’ve experienced, the new friendships, the places, the moments… a whole year cannot fade away so quickly.

Today, the 2nd of February, just one year ago I finished packing everything to come to Faenza on the morning of the 3rd, I was carrying my suitcases with my things but I was also carrying an invisible suitcase full of fears and insecurities that has been emptied with time and to start living a new life with peace of mind. On the 3rd of February 2022, a totally different David arrived, who will return to Valencia on Monday the 6th, neither good nor bad, just an improved version of the one who arrived because of everything he has learnt during this year. I have grown personally, socially, artistically, I have gained independence, I have travelled, I have met new cultures and I have opened doors for new opportunities that I hope to be able to tell you about soon.

I leave very happy with my work in the association, although like everything in life, it has not been all roses, but I am not going to talk about that because it is past….. I am very grateful for all the opportunities that have been offered to me to grow in any field, in addition to those that I have sought on my own, I am also very grateful to my coordinator Danai, that although we have fought many times because we have a similar character, and because you know that he can not be quiet, has always been there at any time and situation, helping me to grow and to give the most of me and making me discover how beautiful is the work of the “youth worker” and make me see how everything is organized from within; and Ina, my mentor during this year, that Pepito grillo who helped us in everything, who helped us with the paperwork, who discovered new places for us, who took us all on excursions together to other cities, who tried to create a good atmosphere even though it was impossible, and although he said that I didn’t like the group reflections, it was a lie, I did like them a bit; I only have good words for these moments we lived.

As I cannot stand still, before returning to Spain I had to see Rome, the beautiful Rome, because I could not go back home after a year without seeing the capital of the country. I have no words to describe everything I saw during those days there, wherever you looked there was a work of art. I would say that it is my favourite city I have visited, because in reality my favourite city is MY VALENCIA, and I would love to live in Rome but the fact that it is not a flat city and that it is all uphill is what puts me off. I was able to see friends I hadn’t seen for a long time, meet new people from other countries in the hostel and share our experiences and sing karaoke at the hostel. You will call me crazy but travelling alone is discovering new realities of the same place. You will think that this is my last trip around the world before I go back home but it is not like that, I still have one more city to see before I leave, and that is Pisa, which I will see just before I take the plane back home, back to reality.

After such a long time here, the return home will be strange because it won’t be for a week as I had been doing until now, but it will be indefinitely (indefinitely because I can’t stay still and I want to continue discovering the world). Now it’s time to focus a bit and look for work, save, travel, keep creating art and keep looking for artistic opportunities at local, national and international level, see my friends, go out, enjoy myself, see my family, etc…

Before I finish, I would like to say something to new volunteers and people doing a similar project. Live it to the fullest, focus on yourselves as it is a year of personal growth, if you have a problem with someone, talk to that person before it becomes a bigger problem, go out, relate to more people, don’t keep quiet about things you don’t like, opportunities don’t come by themselves, you have to fight for them but if they help you it goes much better.

As they say, this is not a final farewell, this is just a ‘see you later’ to what has been my home and my life for 368 days in Italy. I know for a fact that I will be back, sooner or later (in this case sooner as I wrote a project and it has been accepted and I have to go back for a couple of weeks to implement it) to live in this country that has given me the opportunity and the courage to follow and pursue my dreams.

SEE YOU SOON AND THANK YOU
DAVID G. CARRASCO