Tanti auguri di Buon Natale e di Felice Anno Nuovo da parte del vostro Euro-team a Varese!

Vi auguriamo ancora tante belle esperienze nei vostri Paesi di accoglienza e di provenienza per l'anno nuovo!

Baci

Massimiliano e Chee-Mei

Eccovi tutti qua!! Siete i VIP del giornalino del Cesvov di novembre 2007... che viene inviato a moltissime associazioni della provincia di Varese! In fondo trovate la versione in pdf, per poter leggere bene l'articolo!

 http://www.go4europe.it/public/Giornalino_Cesvov_nov_2007.PDF

So… Hanna is gone. It has already been a month. How time flies! She did leave an empty space at Casa Grizzetti!

At Cesvov we have been really busy with the EVS program. Every week young Italians are coming to ask us information about how to go abroad, what the program is, etc. 3 of our candidates have been selected to go to Spain, Portugal and the Czech Republic !! There are also more local associations who want to work with EVS volunteers. We are really happy that things are moving this way..

 I can’t believe it but now I am also writing for the last time, as my EVS experience comes to an end. Time has flown so quickly! I know it is a common thing to say but it does really seem like yesterday that we arrived at the airport, not knowing anything from this region, from the language (at least in my case), wondering who we were going to meet, how our project would be, how the other volunteer would be …

It has been a wonderful experience. The project at Cesvov gave us the chance to see different realities, to take part in very diversified activities and to discover fields that weren’t familiar to us. And for myself personally, Cesvov has given me the opportunity to continue collaborating with them as they have offered me to stay and keep working on the Youth Program and other initiatives to promote the culture of volunteering!! I feel very lucky and I thank them for trusting me! There comes the new beginning!

And the best part of this is that……………….............................

I don’t need to pack up all the things that I have accumulated during 9 months!!!!!!!!

Now I am writing you from Tuscany to speak about my last two weeks in Varese.Perhaps it will seem strange to you that I haven't written this text at the Cesvov, but I really had so much to do during my last days of the EVS that it has been impossible for me to write the diary in those days.But don't have fear, I did not have to work more than usual in my last days, but I was extremely busy in salutating all the friends and people with whom I have worked together. Chee-Mei once said: " Hanna is only in the kitchen. She is cooking for people, she is making the dishes, then she is going out and she doesn't really sleep." This sentence, looked upon it now, can only be confirmed. It has really been like that and it was often stressy, but at the same time a great pleasure for me!

I think, that until now I haven't yet completely realizzed that my voluntary service has been finsihed now and that in a few days I won't be living in Italy.That's really a great pity and every once in a while, it makes me really sad.

I will miss a lot all those who I have got to know in Varese, but I also think about returning to visit them in the future. At this point, before I forget, I should mention our great cena at Casa Grizetti, which was a big success. We cooked a meal with different plates from our home countries and invited a couple of people from the Cesvov, SOS, the Finestra and so on. As it was still quite warm, we ate in our garden, how wonderful!!!Then, on my last day at the Cesvov we went out for brunch with the whole group of all the emolyees and we ate very well in a little restaurant in Varese. The same day, I also had to prepare my luggages and this was terribile.I had to realize that I had accumulated so many things during these 8 months, that it would had been impossibile to take the same fly as at the arrival. I can be happy to return in Germany with my own car. But also that will be charged, mamma mia!!!!!!

These are all practical things and I will see all that when I will be returned at Varese on tuesday. Then, I'm absolutely glad to see Rocio and Chee-Mei again, so that we can eat something together and say goodbye...

I kiss Italy with which I have fallen in love and I want to thank all the nice people which have done so much for me during my stay in Varese!!!!It was an unforgettable time!!!!

It is now September, everything goes back to normal after the holidays… Varese is again full of cars and people, especially young people who haven’t started school yet.

During the holidays, I got the chance to visit Tuscany which offers indeed great landscapes and very interesting cities!! Both of us also went back home where we enjoyed seeing our families and friends. We were happy to come back to our little house in Malnate and to see each other again though!

The first weeks after the holidays have been pretty quiet because some of the associations we go to were still closed. At Cesvov we have been busy preparing all the documents for the 2 new volunteers who will arrive in January. And other young Italians have been asking us information on the EVS. We are happy that this program is becoming more known to Varese ’s youth!!

After being back in and in where the weather was horrible (rain, cold, wind!), we are glad to be able to enjoy days of sunshine here in ! This weekend, we had a nice day at Como and in the mountains around the lake with 2 EVS volunteers friends. We did a nice little walk up to the first refuge of the path. And in the evening, we all went to the Beer Feast in Venegono Inferiore, a little village near Malnate. Hanna got the chance to get ready for the Octoberfest in Munich where she is going to study this year!

Now the news of us here from Varese ! Everybody is already in holiday, at the sea, in the mountains…The city is really quite calm besides some teenagers hanging around. But in a few days also we will go in holidays making a tour around , making adventures…

During the last two weeks I said goodbye to many people with whom I used to work together in the different associations because of the big summer break in which the associations are closed. At the Finestra, for example, we had a closing party where we had a lot of fun, but some of the handicapped people also had to cry. Indeed, it was a quite moving moment for all of us.

At the Cesvov we had a really tensed time because we had received a lot of applications for the EVS and we read them all, valuating them attentively. It was absolutely not easy for us and our tutor to make the final choice. And it was hard putting apart such a plenty of CV’s thinking of the great delusion we are creating for the appliers. But making that selection has also shown  me what  a big fortune Chee-Mei and I had having been selected almost for the EVS one year ago.

It’s really strange thinking of that and imagining others doing our job  which has become a sort of our own. We have become extremely involved in our activities and associations so that there has been growing a great personal engagement and a  strong feeling of belongingness to the places we go to.

It’s because of that that it would make me glad to hear from the next two girls how they will get used to their tasks, how they will handle with the situations I have been in and what their impressions and feelings are being here in Varese doing the voluntary service.  I hope, they will have a good start and get quickly used to everything which will be new for them!

Now, I will finish and leave you “alone”!

 You will hear from me soon!

Before I tell you how Hanna and I experienced the World Cup Final, I would like to write about an important event of SOS Malnate in which both of us took part.

From Friday 7th to Sunday 9th SOS Malnate has organized its “Campo Scuola” It was an event in which volunteers from first-aid associations and groups of civil protection of the region could attend theoretical lessons on how to deal with emergencies and big emergencies in particular (for example an earthquake), how to coordinate the different rescue services, …

Moreover, they have had the opportunity to put what they had learned in practice during different simulations. Hanna and I have taken part in the administrative organisation of the Campo. We had to register every participant and also the visitors. During the drill itself, we helped the group who was managing the dispatching of the various rescue crews and the radio communications. It was very interesting for us to be in the middle of such a drill! Neither one of us has ever been in such an environment and we feel lucky to have had the opportunity to participate at this event! On Sunday, there was the last final drill which involved all the rescue crews, their ambulances, 20 persons pretending to be dead, shocked or wounded (they were also made up and really looked wounded!). It was quite impressive! Altogether, the atmosphere was very good. The only thing is that it was sooooo hot being in the SOS uniform under the hot sun!!!!!

 The Campo Scuola finished on Sunday afternoon. After having helped around to dismantle the camp and put everything away, Hanna and I just got time to go back home, rest a bit, take a shower and leave again for THE big event of the evening…………… the WORLD CUP FINAL against France!!!!! 

We went with some friends of Hanna to the centre of Varese , where they had set a big screen and we watched the game in the middle of a square full of tifosi italiani! The atmosphere was great, we were surrounded by Italian flags and we cheered together with the Italians. Both of us wanted to win….

Hanna supported the Squadra Italiana even if they had beaten in the semi-finals. She didn’t stay too disappointed of their defeat J The tension during the game reached its climax during the penalties….and then came the relief, the joy to have won and… the party!!! Everybody was jumping around on the square and in the streets! We drove around in the centre of Varese , honking together with all the other cars, and letting the Italian flags flow from the window. How lucky we are to be in the winning country of the World Cup! 

Here the news from Varese ! What has been happening in the middle of June ? Firstly, it has been very, very hot so that we had to suffer a lot, because here is always such an oppressive heat… There is not much to tell about our work, because we’re already in a kind of daily routine and the things are going on at the work as they have begun. In addition, I don’t want to annoy you with all my little stories about the “bomboniere”…

I will tell you a bit about the “Festa Sociale” in La Finestra which has been in the weekend from the 16-18 of June. The “Festa Sociale” is a festivity in which the association organizes a kind of “open day”. Everybody is invited to participate and to discover what the activities of the association are actually about…Friday evening there was a big dinner organized for all the volunteers, which was a very special moment because we were all sitting and eating together with the disabled children and adults who are in the centre of the association Finestra. Sunday afternoon I could help within the games that we were playing with the handicapped people. Altogether, it was a very nice celebration with a plenty of social moments and a lot of fun!

In all those days - I should mention here - I was particularly occupied with the world cup and the matches of Italy . I don’t think that I have already explained that I am making the reporter during the world cup and that I am regularly called by German radios which are interviewing me about the atmosphere and feelings of the Italians. It’s quite fun doing this, even if it’s still a moment of great excitement! The other weekend from the 24 of June Chee- Mei and I had a really beautiful time with another girl, called Olcay originally from Turkey , who is also doing the EVS in Italy . On Sunday we went to the lake of Como and visited a little, but very smart village, called Bellaggio. It’s really worth going there even if I have to say that this is a place where almost all the tourists are going…We also refreshed ourselves hanging our feet in the cold water, wonderful!!!

Returned at home, we decided to eat in “our” restaurant which is very close to our home and we ate “buona pasta al pesce” and took “panna cotta & tiramisu” as dessert. So, you see that we are doing very well and we are lacking nothing! Referring to my last weekend, the first weekend of July, I really have to emphasize the beauty of the mountains around Lecco , another town at the lake of Como . I went there spending a whole day in the mountains, hiking, climbing and relaxing…As I am a fan of alpinism I think that I will repeat these kind of excursions in the coming weeks! We’ll hear us soon, arrivederci….Forza Italia!!!!!!!

These past 2 weeks have been quite quiet in terms of work.

Our project at the Informagiovani in Malnate is going on well! We are still busy with organizing tourist information on different regions of . There is so much material!! We have been helping with the preparation of the presentation of the “Bilancio Sociale” (Social Report) and the “Carta dei Servizi” of the Cesvov. Those two publications that inform the people about what the activities and services of Cesvov are,  have been presented at the Insubria University in Varese . It was an important event for the Cesvov.

Another important event – this time only for Hanna and me – was our exam of Italian language!! We had prepared ourselves and went there confident J.  The first part (listening, grammar and writing) took the whole morning! After that, we had to wait in line for the oral part. This was the most difficult part as there were a lot of other students! Hanna was a bit luckier whereas I had to wait till 3pm to go and talk for 10 minutes with the examinator!!! Anyway, we are happy it is behind us now and are waiting impatiently for the results! These will only be available at the end of September though!

The World Cup has started!! As Belgium didn’t make it to the final stage of the championship (we are much better at tennis!!!) I am free to support and the “Azzurri”!!  Hanna has been busy preparing herself to be interviewed live by some German radios who want to know more about the atmosphere in during the World Cup. She will be their reporter from ! But she will tell you more about it next week…

What’s going on in the world? We’re doing very well….there are a lot of special events in these weeks that we are participating in and we are very busy. But the weather is also fine, even if we haven’t yet the real big hot summer of which you are probably dreaming when you are thinking of Italy !

Two weeks ago I had the great possibility of visiting the Scala, the famous Opera, in Milan . I went there with the people of the Finestra and we saw a very well-made ballet “ La Bayadère ”. In the weekend I was helping at the preparations of the annual exhibition of the Finestra which was held in the little Chappell of San Matteo in Malnate. It was a very sunny weekend and we could present the artistic works of the disabled boys and girls of the Finestra outside of the church. This event was a big success!!!! That weekend we had also a special guest in Casa Grizetti. The mother of Chee-Mei has been visiting us for a couple of days and I hope she really could enjoy her stay in the province of Varese . Chee-Mei took her to the Lago Maggiore, there they visited its little islands and they once also went to eat in a real Italian Agriturismo. I, for my part, had a really beautiful day on the beach of Liguria , where I went with a group of friends. For me, it has been the first time this year swimming in the sea, and perhaps it has also been the very first time in my life that I’ve been swimming in the sea in this early period of the year…

I hope I will go there another time in the coming weeks…

The weekend of the 2nd of June , The Festa della Repubblica, has been - as many others in April - another long weekend. My whole family came to visit me on their way to Liguria where they will spend one week holiday. I’ve spent very nice day with my little brother and my little sister playing mini-golf, eating ice-cream and swimming in the Lago Maggiore. Sunday they had to leave and I had to start studying for the exam which will be tomorrow. Altogether, I would say that Chee-Mei and I, we are trying hard to give our best to be prepared to take our exams.