La revedere, iarnă!

 

It has been a very good month for me as I have been traveling around different areas of the Maramures region; Cavnic, Sighetu Marmației, Săpânța, Desești among others. Northern Romania has beautiful sites (some of them UNESCO World Heritage Sites) that are worth visiting and that, unhappily are not very well known.  This is the first month that we are living together with Gönül. For me it is an enriching experience to be able to live with her in the same house because I have not had many opportunities to converse with a person whose religion is Islamic or from Turkey. Thanks to this, I have been able to learn more about what is currently happening in Turkey, taste different typical dishes, learn new words in Turkish, as well as find similarities between Turkey and Spain. She is a very nice person, and her company makes our days at home more pleasant.  

This month we had a week of On Arrival Training for European volunteers who are doing long-term projects in Romania. In it I have discovered new curious facts about the country where I am doing my volunteering and I have also been able to meet different volunteers who are in different cities or towns in Romania that I hope to visit soon.  

I also had the opportunity to do a route in the snow in Rodnei Montain. It was the first time I used snowshoes for hiking. It is something that I had been wanting to try for a long time and although I must admit that for me, it was a little hard the journey, since I am not used to it, sometimes you have to put a little complicated challenge to overcome ourselves. I am very happy to have been able to have this memory and I recommend it to all those people who like hiking.  

On March 1 in Romania, they celebrated the traditional festival Mărțișorul, where they celebrate the arrival of spring. On this occasion the women receive small objects that they put on their blouse or shirt with a red and a white rope symbolizing spring and winter. It was quite fun to make the mărțișoare (small gifts) with young people from Baia Mare to offer them to the children from Oarta with whom we do English classes.  

This month has gone by very fast for me because I have been able to visit different places, learn more about other cultures, traditions, and people. For me this month has been a clear example of why it is worthwhile to do a European volunteering in another country.  

 

Maria Branco Bartolomeu – volunteer in the project Solidarity for a Better Future (S4BF) funded by European Solidarity Corps