EVS project M.A.R.E. 2nd round.
8 volunteers, 4 countries – Germany, France, Latvia and Spain –
met in Nerano’s scuola to gather their energy.
For the next 7 month they are going to take care of the marine environment
of the baia di Ieranto…

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1st encounter.

4th of April, arrival to Italy, interest and excitement about the project, marine environment, nature’s beauty, new culture and… new people.
First meeting, different accents of English, first attempts at getting to know each other better. And first thought:

– Thank God they are normal people.

1st accommodation.

Exploration, creation and recreation of our new living space. CLEANING a lot. Making a unique atmosphere for inspiration and feeling at home.
Some musical instruments in the living room, ecological books in the library corner, kitchen as a meeting place and dining room’s walls full of “Good appetite” and “Cheers!” in different languages – this is what the volunteers’ place looks like.

Thoughts about communication.

“Between what I think,
what I want to say,
what I think I’m saying,
what I say,
what you want to hear,
what you think you hear
what you hear, what you think you understand, what you want to understand, what you understand… There are at least 10 chances that we will not understand each other… But let’s try anyway.”
– Bernard Werber  

 “1st time eating mozarella” or “Strange national meals”.

Kvass, camelles, tortilla de patatas, franzbroetchen… buon apetito! First strange meal shared together to learn about each other. And enjoy our first piece of fresh (!) mozarella. Soooo good!

1st time with the hand in the earth.

The first earth under our nails, to start planting our first autonomy.
Working all day, fighting with hard Nerano ground to prepare it for new plants – vegetables, spices and flowers. Hard-hard work, but what could be better than eating basilico from your own garden?

Garden work makes you happy…
after it is finished.

1st breath of Nerano air.

From Marina del Cantone to the top of the village, from the sweet sound of the sea on the stones to the fresh wind of San Constanzo…
Walking through small and charming little streets, Nerano and its territory is the perfect place to discover a nice landscape while training your legs and breathing skills.
Hard, but worth it…

1st statements about volunteering.

Asking volunteers who they are and what they do can be tricky sometimes. Mina and Alba did a great job and (finally!) we know the difference between a volunteer and a paid worker.

– Volunteer work = ecological work?
– Hmm… Depends.

1st meeting with the team of the Punta Campanella park.

Sympathetic moment shared between traditional European food and presentation of everybody.
It has been really interesting for our group to understand the concrete actions settled by the park to preserve the marine biodiversity and make it better known by anyone.
Monitoring of the undersea fauna and faura, evaluation of the eventual damages caused by human activities, raising educational environmental campaign – for kids or adults. Hard work! We feel proud to give them a helping hand these months, and to carry with them the same message of respect towards the environment that surround us, and let us live in such a beautiful place.

To be continued…