Updated on September 27, 2015
Three years of MARE
MARE Project is celebrating its third birthday. I love to see the child grow up, as activities develop and become regular and diverse. In Ieranto, every summer more people seem interested by guided visits and information about marine life and protection. The idea of a little “giornalino” has become a regularly published poster, distributed in the whole peninsula. The facebook page we tried to manage without a stable internet connection has grown into a professional looking blog with many articles. The environmental education activities, introduced last year, seem to be a concept everybody appreciates. Every year, new ideas appear, and the Project is going in a good direction, preserving its beautiful personality made of improvisation and spontaneity.
MARElini 2013
For me, it’s the third year I’ve been visiting the MARE child and family. I remember how it taught me many things and let me grow up a bit more when were living together two years ago. It is always a great pleasure to involve myself again in the activities I used to do, to get to know the “new” MARElinis, meeting inspiring and motivated young people from all over the world (not only Europe!), to celebrate the reunion of many friends that form my Italian family. E vabbuó, yá… Hearing and making fun of pronouncing typical Napoletan sounds, and slowly slowly the Italian language is coming back to my mind. I enjoy the time in Ieranto, either on kayak informing the incoming boats about the park, or speaking to visitors during guided visits, trying to support the volunteers and staff in their daily work.
MARElini 2014
But mainly, I try to understand who are these eight people that decided to commit themselves to an adventure made of wildness, sun, mountains and sea. They seem a very good team to me, with a lot of potential. I kind of find among them some of the legendary MARE spirit, made of international thinking, living together, exchanging ideas and ways of living that generates a unique cultural richness.
Every year, every single person is bringing so much knowledge, experiences, points of view to the project…a diversity that ends up to seem normal because it is there every day. This diversity means a giant opportunity for initiatives and enriching transformations, ideas and projects, new ways of working and sharing common values on a daily basis…together with a project that in his specific meaning leaves a huge space for creativity, it’s a unique opportunity everybody should seize. To help the MARE child grow up into a life-satisfied adult.
MARElini 2015
Steph
Updated on September 16, 2015
A Trip to the South… Agropoli & Sapri
From our beautiful landscape we moved a little bit to the South to create really nice collaboration with another marine park which is a part of Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni (www.cilentoediano.it).
Besides this event we had 2 free days for exploration, what is around us. We decided to do 2 trips – one in Agropoli and other in Sapri.
Agropoli
Way: Vallo della Lucania -> Agropoli; How: Train; How much: 2,70 €; Time: 20 min
From first thing we were totally impressed was the sandy beach. We used to have rocky beaches. We spent long time just relaxing on this nice soft type of beach. Agropoli is known for many historical buildings, e.g. the castle, which is on the top of city. The castle was used as real defensive fortress with loopholes and surrounding moat in order to impede the arrival of the enemy in every direction. Over the centuries its function changed – it became a private residence of noble families.
Sapri
Way: Vallo della Lucania -> Sapri; How: Train; How much: 3,70 €; Time: 50 min
We did not plan to go to Sapri. We just reached train station with “OK, let´s go somewhere with train which is going the first!”. Very nice surprised we visited Sapri. With street art on buildings, with little stony beach, with park like oasis over the way to sea, with shot of vodka for 1€ we discovered unique and cute place. I am still touched by seeing the large mountains which are around.
Updated on September 13, 2015
Music of M.A.R.E
MARE is a project about protection of the environment, in which each of us comes from a different country, with a different culture. But there is something that unites us, and this thing is music!
Music is a key element in the lives of people: it brings out feelings and it is a cultural element of all the worlds regions. We, the Marelini, enjoy music every day. But we enjoy not only the music that we listen in our countries: We also love the music that this country, Italy, offers us.
Examples: Imen can enjoy Enrique Iglesias, Britney Spears and Beyonce with the same joy with which she enjoys Nirvana and Metallica.
Kristaps is fond of “The Beatles” and “Queen”. Instead, Andris is a classic type, and he likes the traditional songs and legends, such as “Dolcenera” of Fabrizio De Andre and many others. Kaya listens to metal music, but also enjoys with Imen commercial music, that does so much damage to the ears of some of us (sometimes not being content with listening to this music – they also sing for us … thank you !!!).
But there’s one of us who really loves music and he has it in his veins, that’s our little-big Yanal.Yanal arrived from Jordan with his enthusiasm and his guitar. And no day goes by in which he does not surprise us with his guitar lessons. He feels the passion of Spanish guitar and can play amazing classical music of Francisco Tarrega and Andres Segovia, among others.
I never saw anyone before play “Recuerdos de la Alhambra” with so much passion and commitment to musical beauty. In his 19 and a few years of practice behind, he seems born to play guitar. In fact, I think that he could make something great in the world of the music …
Furthermore, every day that we work at home or we have the day off and we do not go anywhere, we learn a bit more about the culture and the Italian language with the help of our Daniele D’anielo, our friend and mentor, who showed us a bit ‘of Italian music and Napolitan bands, like 24 Grana, 99 Posse, Jovanotti, Rino Gaetano, Vasco Rossi or Vinicio Capossela …
And if that were not enough!!! … Alvaro Adame, Marelino and volunteer of the last year, returned home two days ago and gave us the classical guitar which was played in Project MARE 2014! THANK YOU! Now we have one more at home.
You could say that many days, thanks to the music we listen alone or with others, helps us to keep more sane in this big world of crazy … because, in reality, if not for the music, there would be more reason to go crazy. (Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky).
Posted on September 11, 2015
A day in Campo boe
What is campo boe? It is our new activity…that ended last week. You might ask why we write about it only now? In short, I had the rights to writing it and for different reasons (mostly, cause I was lazy) it wasn’t done until just now. But that is not the answer to my question! Campo boe. Campo boe takes us deeper into the works of AMP”Punta Campanella”. We had the possibility to be of need to two other park workers: Luca and Nicola. In turns, one of us with one of them, worked on the official park boat in the one and only park buoy campsite (Located in the base of Montalto).
How does campo boe function? There are 27 buoys in total. They are intended for public use in exchange for a small contribution to the park of 10-20 euro’s (depending of the size of the boat). After, the money is used to keep the buoy campsite in good order. The purpose of this campsite is to encourage people not to use the anchors of their boats, which are big foes of the plant posidonia (a vital part of marine life and biodiversity, in Mediterranean sea). By having the possibility to use a buoy instead of an anchor, we ensure that the posidonia, and together with it: the sea life is kept safe and the place is beautiful and in relative peace.
Our day in campo boe goes like this;
- Wake up. Obviously. Get dressed, have some food, which for me means coffee.
- Get in the car (with the people who are going to Nerano to start their day in Ieranto bay).
- Get out of the car in Nerrano and go down to the beach of Marina del Cantone. Wait for Luca or Nicola to pick you up.
- Get picked up by one of them. Arrive to the nearby buoy campsite.
- Help the people to attach their boats to the buoys. Give out tickets and in return receive a contribution. Help anyone in need, for we are in charge of the site. Inform people of how the buoy site works and why it is important to preserve it. And most importantly, be professional while doing it.
- When the clock hits 16:30, we finish up and with great speed, which I particularly enjoy, head to Massa Lubrense (where the office of AMP “Punta Campanella” is located)
- In Massa we part ways until the next time.
All in all, the job is nice and has its benefits: the people are nice and often treat us with a cold drink, a coffee or a fruit. And most are interested to hear of the activities of volunteers and the project MARE, in general. People enjoy the place, for thanks to the part played by Posidonia, the site is cleaner and livelier. The campo boe opens up at the beginning of June and goes until the end of September. My hope is that soon we shall see one more campo boe, at some other part of The AMP Punta Campanella.
Updated on September 17, 2016
M.A.R.E. family !
Such a strange feeling ! 3 month before I even didn’t know this persons. And now, they represent the biggest part of my life. Feelings are so intense here, unreal. We live all together, we work together, we cook together, we laugh together. There is no more « I » but « WE », M.A.R.E community.
I am the kind of lonely person and here no more time for being alone and find myself like I used to do before, and I even don’t miss it ! I always want to talk with every one of us, want to know them more, to understand every ways of living.
We are all totally different, coming from different countries, different characters, but we all feet each others ! WHY ? Still a mystery for us. In this short period we built very strong relations and a welded group. Daniele our mentor would say that it’s thanks to him and all the activities we made every Monday ;) It’s true that to share some pieces of our life and feelings helped a lot.
Since this summer, we also realized that MARE family is not only the 8 of us, but there are 13 others MARElini all around Europe from the 2 last generations before us. Some came to visit us, always happy to meet the news MARElini, always sharing their knowledge and previous experiences about the project, always bringing and sharing theirs particulars skills (beers making / graphic design etc). Others will visit, other maybe in the next future, for a MARElini festa …
I am very happy and proud to be part of this huge adventure (the biggest of my life so fare, obviously), and to be in this 2015’s generation of MARElini ! I love you crazy band !
