Living in times of change

*UPD*: Unfortunately, I had to edit this post delete all the nice things I have written before about one of the YouTubers who participated in BlackLifeMatters protests. I just can't keep a rec for a channel, whose creator things that it's acceptable to fight discrimination with discrimination and bash Eastern European women on numerous occasions. I never supported discrimination and will not support it now. I'm absolutely disgusted by the whole situation and don't want to have her name on my blog. 

In my country people love to quote an old Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times (times of change)”, even though, as far as I know, it’s highly unproven that a Chinese curse like this ever existed. In any case - I never agreed with this. 

We live in times of change and we need to appreciate it. We can see the history being made and can even help make it. For example, I’ve participated in two revolutions and, as horrible, tragic and difficult as it was, I’m happy I got to see everything with my own eyes. To be one of the people that change history is a huge honour and a huge responsibility. But also it’s in some way a blessing, as all your experiences and opinions are your own. 

As I love authenticity in everything, I don’t believe in sterile blogging, separated from real life and serious topics. It will never work for me – I’m a human rights activist, I volunteer a lot and work in the social field, I’m doing my PhD research on domestic violence and it’s a huge part of my life. So, as the result, it is also a huge part of my blogging life too.

* I’m not going to go into details on my experience of blogging during the revolution – for many reasons it was not a nice experience. Let's just say that I had reasons to delete my old posts when I moved my blog to this address. Maybe once I will dedicate a post to it, but for now, I still remember it all too well (including quite ugly comments and accusations I received while describing my life at that time). 

What is EVS?

As I mentioned in a few of my previous posts, the first time I came to Sicily for a volunteering project. Actually, it was a complete accident, but yeah, some people call it coincidence, I call it fate.

After returning to Kyiv from Thailand, I was very happy to be back home. Well, I was very happy for about a month. After that, when all the emotions faded, all the Thai presents were gifted, all the delicious food and all the Cambodian coffee was finished the reality kicked in (even though I still have dreams about that coffee…)

I realised that I’m back to where I started from - in my room, just that now it was decorated with lovely Thai lights. And somewhere there, far-far away, the world continues to be interesting and full of adventures. Just that someone else was living it, not me.

Don’t get me wrong, it was my decision to leave Thailand and go back home. It was a great experience, but for various reasons, at this point of my life, I can’t see myself moving to Chiang Mai permanently. But the desire for adventures was already fully awakened and wanted to dance.

So I started researching volunteering opportunities – my newly grown sense of self was telling me that I shouldn’t even be bothered with searching for a job as I will not be happy in a corporate environment anymore.

My article about the life of Palermo

A few weeks ago I got an offer to write an article about Palermo and the way it embraces diversity for a Ukrainian cultural magazine. 

Of course I agreed. Palermo became my second home two years ago, and I have a lot of admiration for the way people here find ways to live together quite happily, even in the face of economic crisis, all types of migration and high levels of corruption. 

Sicily is one of the most diverse regions in Europe - not only due to migration, but also to comparatively low prices and developed civil society, that brings here many international volunteers, interns and Erasmus students.

So I wrote an article about all the projects I personally am involved with and the ones I know about, about block parties and Palermo Pride, about Catholic church that invites Muslim community to pray, as they currently have no mosque and works with LGBTQI organisations to organize manifestations against hate crimes, about international volunteers that make workshops on urban gardening for children from underprivileged neighborhoods and many other things that I see with my own eyes every day.

Unfortunately the article is available only in Ukrainian, but if there's any interest in this topic, I'd love to write something regarding this topic also in English. 

You can read the article by clicking on the link:

PALERMO: THE PLACE FOR EVERYONE

Travel essentials - part 1

I know that there are so many people that always wanted to travel, but never had an opportunity. Trust me, I was there - the first time I saw a sea I was 14 years old, and I've never left Europe until I was 28.

But the wonderful thing about traveling is that it doesn't have to include three plane flights and different continents, and it's okay to start small. A trip to another town can be a great experience and bring you a lot of positive emotions, meetings and a better understanding of your own country.  

When I lived in Chiang Mai, any trip I wanted to take, be it to Vientiane, Bangkok or Siem Reap, always came with quite a bit of preparations. All of them came with at least 6 hours bus ride, so my travel necessities always included a travel backpack, packed for at least 2 days, some food, a travel pillow, a pair of socks, a hoodie for overly conditioned buses/trains and a lot of other things. 

Since I came to Sicily, I cannot stop saying thank you to the universe – I can take so many of my “One -Day Trips Around Sicily” it’s mind-blowing. In 3-4 hours I can get to another side of the island, even if I need to change trains. As Sicily has so much to offer, it takes me basically no time to reach Greek temples and amphitheaters, ghost cities, volcanoes, salt ponds of Marsala, hot springs of Segesta, beautiful beaches, ski resorts and hiking routes. And I gladly take any opportunity to see new places.

I usually travel with the small studded backpack you already saw in many of my posts, as it is one of the honorary citizens of my “Trusted WEARdrobe”. Its size is absolutely perfect for a day of travel – not too big, but fits all of my necessities.

Asos backpack - my travel mug (bought in Lidl) - a pair of sunglasses - my Kindl Fire tablet in the Angkor Recycled cover (I bought on a night market in Cambodia when I lived in Asia three years ago and had to bargain for it like crazy) - my phone and a pair of headphones - my one and only bomber jacket (DIYed from a men's sweatshirt - let me know if you are interested in a tutorial) - the small notebook I bought in Budapest (my friend Racha and I have matching ones - what a great project it was!) and the pen - the only lip balm I can use (Nivea/Labello Pearl shine) and the smart lipstick from Kiko  

  

Here is what I normally put there to discover Sicily: