Normally I have no patience to do posts like this, but this year I felt
like doing it. This year was very difficult for me. I had a lot of
disappointments, rejections and doubts, but, at the same time, I had a few
really great accomplishments I’m really proud of. So yeah, difficult, but very
important. I wish there was a way to grow and learn in a less painful way, but
that’s just life, I guess.
Let’s go!
January
January on Sicily started with a wonderful
snowstorm – first in more than 30 years. The days were quiet cold and sad –
people from my project were leaving. I was happy I was staying, but we started
this wonderful adventure all together, and saying goodbye is always hard for
me.
On January 6th (which is my Christmas
Eve) I went on a day trip to Isola delle Femmine – a small town one hour away
from Palermo – and made this photo, which became one of my favorites.
It became a part of my first photo exhibition
“Sicily is…” that opened in Palermo in the end of January. Also we hold the
last art exhibition for a project Sunia Geel 2 (against domestic violence in
marginalized communities) in which I was involved for 10 months and that in the
long run gave me inspiration for my PhD research project.
February
In February the new group of volunteers came, I got
a new amazing roommate (I’m very lucky – I only had two, and they both are
absolutely great), got involved in new course of workshops and took photos
during the Arabic cultural night.
The official end of winter we celebrated with a great
sunny trip to Monte Pellegrino - a beautiful hill facing Palermo with the
sanctuary of Santa Rosalia, the patron saint of the city. I love this place so
much I’ve been there more than 10 times (two of them hiking). Even looking at
this photo makes me emotional – what a great memory to have!
March
In March I finally did the thing normal people do
during their first days on Sicily - went to Agrigento. Yes, I know, after whole
11 months! It was a one day trip and we managed to see only The Valley of the
Temples (a great monument of Greek culture and art), but it was amazing.
I will for sure go back there next summer – to see
the city itself and to finally go to Scala dei Turchi.
Later in March I had two more short trips: to
Sferacavallo – to enjoy a bit of spring sun and eat delicious fresh seafood
dishes…
… and to Santa Flavia, where we wanted to visit the
rests of the old Greek temples, but never found it (these things happen to me
more and more often). Instead we had a really great day in the sun – walking
around, seeing the town and sharing a beer while waiting for a train back.
Also in March we worked a lot on the course of
workshops for young migrants. We were speaking about Italian job market,
creating a CV, soft skills needed for a successful job interview etc. This is
the job I really love to do and I was very happy to co-create something that
was interesting and useful for all of us.
And the most important part – in April we started
working on Saathi, our project on
responsible tourism!
You can check our website here and become our friends on our Facebook page.
It’s still very much a work in progress, but we hope to have our first trip to
Nepal in spring!
April
This I remember very clearly because of two
significant events – Easter week and Nepal earthquake.
The week of Easter always was very important for
me, and it is especially important now – I haven’t been home for Easter for
three years. In 2013 I spent it in Chiang Mai, in 2014-2015 – in Palermo. And I
really love the way I spent it last year – with rooftop barbeques at friend’s
apartment, hanging out with friends and going for long trips around the city.
For example this one, to the most serene place in
Palermo – villa Malfitano.
And the earthquake was also a very important thing
for me. It’s always difficult to see things like this happening, but it’s even
more difficult when it can touch something important to you. We planned to
start Saathi trips with a trip to Nepal for many, many wonderful reasons. But
after this tragedy, instead of working on promotion, we, of course, started
conceptualizing a fundraiser to help rebuild schools in distant regions of
Nepal. Unfortunately in the end I was only able to help with some poster design
– I had to return to Ukraine in May.
Prayer
for Nepal in the Temple of Ganesh in Palermo
May
May started with one more amazing rooftop barbeque
(1st of May tradition) and continued with lots of walks and gelato
parties.
Until one of the most difficult days of my life,
when I had to say goodbye to Palermo.
We took a night train to Catania and spent the
night in the airport, because I had to take a very early flight to Istanbul,
and then, after 10 hours of waiting, one more – to Kyiv. I will never forget
Ataturk airport and the hours I spent there, crying over the edition of “The
Island” by Victoria Hislop (of course, not because of the book). But yeah,
things like this eventually make you stronger.
Back in Kyiv I went on many lovely events, trying
to distract myself from the fact that I was no longer where I wanted to be.
Preparations
for Kyiv’s birthday
June
In June my friend from Vilnius came to Kyiv, so we
had a really great time all together. We were taking long walks and having
countless cups of coffee, and it was amazing. In free time I was writing and sending
out tons of applications in hope that someone will finally respond.
July
In July I came back to Palermo for two weeks as atrainer in an Erasmus+ TC Can&Do.
It was an absolutely great experience and I had the time of my life. But coming
back home was even more difficult than before…
August
August was once again full of applications for
different projects. I was also writing a research project for my PhD
application, gathering all the documents, as well as taking the TOEFL test and
going for interviews for Humphrey fellowship. In the end I wasn’t accepted for
the fellowship without any feedback, which is sad, because I would really love
to know what I need to work on. But I’m not sad about not being accepted –
right now I am where I’m supposed to be.
In between the applications and translation of
quiet a long book I went on a few nice road trips and picnics with friends, but
the month in general was difficult, chaotic and sad (because one person can
only this many rejections).
In the end of August I was finally rewarded for
being persistent – I was invited to the seminar in Armenia. It was a perfect
match – the subject was very interesting and useful for me, and I knew I have a
lot to contribute, because I had a lot of experience in this field. So I bought
a ticket and my work-filled life started becoming a bit more interesting.
/
September
In September I went to Armenia and it was one of
the best projects and one of the best trips in my life.
The seminar was great, people were amazing, and I really
LOVED Armenia. We worked a lot and learned a lot, but we also had a lot of fun –
taking trips to Yerevan, discovering the city, visiting Echmiadzin,
having great traditional food, hiking in the mountains (we lived one hour away
from Yerevan in a mountain resort).
I also got to see my lovely friend whom I’ve met
last year on a study session in Budapest. My tip for traveling to places you’ve
never been before – local people can show you the place through their own eyes
in just two hours. I will never forget this bar with super delicious wine.
Thank you, Susanna!
October
October was very long. I had interviews for my PhD
scholarships and I got both of them, which is still surreal for me. I turned
31. I spend a lot of time with my mom and with my friends. I also watched a lot
of Friends on TV. It was both happy and unhappy month, which I would love to
remember only as this lovely sunny day, full of walking, talking and being
happy.
November
In November I was collecting documents for my visa,
buying tickets, checking every little thing one million times, because visa
restrictions are ridiculous these days. Fortunately I had no problems, and,
after sad goodbyes (very, very, VERY sad, I hate doing this!) I came back to
Palermo.
So now, for the first time in my life, I’m living in a student
dormitory (which is quiet nice, I must say, nothing like the ones I saw in
Ukraine – even the memory of those hallways give me shivers), working on my
research and visiting interesting seminars.
I also fulfilled my promise to myself (and to Santa Rosalia)) and went up
Monte Pellergino again, this time by myself. It was actually okay, not as
difficult or as long as I remembered from the first time. But anyways I’m happy
with myself!
December
Last month of the year was really intense, in the
best possible way. Rooftop lunches, reuniting with parts of our last year’s
gang and having beers with volunteers from other projects, that also plan to come
back here, having a great time at Parco d’Orleans, cooking delicious food,
studying, celebrating and enjoying the most wonderful pink Sicilian sunsets… In
my humble opinion, this was the perfect ending to 2015.
Thank you, 2015, for everything you taught me and
gave me. And hello, 2016. I’m very excited to meet you and already have HUGE
plans for you! Let’s roll.
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