Last month, last EVS emotions, last days in Ribadavia…

Incredibly fast year, thinking about it everything passed in a blink of an eye! Who was saying a one year project is a very long term? It is actually flying away - I just got used to everything around me as if I am home… and it is time to go. Already the sentiments begun with moments of remembering, good-bye parties and promises nothing to be forgotten. It won’t be.

This beautiful spring month of March was the last one I officially had in my project’s duration. And it was simply amazing! It started and vanished with visits here and me visiting around. Just like all the rest of the year  and somehow more intense, as for being a great ending of  great period J First to visit me in the moment when all the nature was waking up for the spring, all colored and fresh, was a friend from my hometown, also a traveler and dreamer. He got involved together with us both with Santa in a Wine tourism course in English, organized by the Distance University of UNED. That was an interesting new experience, we spend couple of days in a romantic chateau producing high class white wine, and our task was to make the people relax and speak in English, but together with the walks and the wine-production process presentation that they made for us, it was all a nice weekend. While Nasko, my friend, was still here we also had a visit from the volunteers in Santiago and A Coruna, gathering of the big happy EVS family, playing some music, diving in the lake, walks – all the pleasant activities going together with over 25 degrees heat. Of course the dinner tradition was also followed carefully with the first open-air dinners on the balcony  “a la plancha”.

In the first days of the month I visited Porto once more to see Sashka, whose project was ending already, and Aija. It seemed as a little reunion of the Morroco team plus some crazy Asturians, with whom we were all involved in organizing an Asturian evening with a dinner in Casa da Horta, the cultural association with a cosy vegan restaurant where Aija used to work. It was short, rainy visit, but my admirations of Porto grew more and to the traveler’s diary were added also Tuy and Valenca – the two neighboring border villages on the both sides of the river Minho (the two of them really charming),  which I passed on the way.

Next free days I went to Vigo with my local friend Mercedes (a unique woman, a pleasure to know her) and her daughter, to see the city properly after being here only passing on the way to the beach. We made some walks, museums, fortresses – all that was included in a nice weekend by the coast. With Merce we made also few walks around here, as she is the same explorer as me and we went to investigate beautiful paths in magical forests by the little river Maquians, that also passes through part of Ribadavia. Next on the list was Pena Corneira – an incredible geological fenomenon, hills covered with huge oval rocks, as if it was a stone forest and one of the highest points around Ribeiro. Also this month she brought us to the archaeological site of San Cibran – a pre-roman village from the Castro culture, a visit that revived the sleeping archaeologist in me (yep, that’s my university degreeJ)

Actually, there was one moment when so many things started happening at the same time. Two special friends from Bulgaria, Katerina and Ina also arrived here in the end of the month and got involved in the little craziness of life I had in the last days of March. At work with the end coming closer the tasks were growing in number and after all that was the real deadline if we wanted to do anything more while being here. So the ideas kept on being born and realized, starting with  presentations of Bulgaria and Latvia in the English classes. That was something we wanted to do from the beginning of the project, but never fit into time and schedule, so we finally made it in a short and educational way, but successfully. Then followed a youth forum organized by OMIX in the school, with all the students coming in one of the three sessions in the two schools of Ribadavia – the primary school and the professional college. We presented them the Casa da Xuventude and the opportunities for the free time and for education – both formal and informal, they can find there, also the Youth in Action program and EVS. For me it was a big step speaking in front of more than hundred students in Spanish, something I have barely done in Bulgaria. But after all the tension passes, you realize how useful are big challenges like this one.

Literally in the same day we made the opening of an exposition we were planning a long time ago and completed as an idea this month. Three volunteers, four pictures each – altogether 12 works united by the title Ribalandia. Me, Santa and Aleksander tried to express what the year here meant to us, what we saw and experienced. I will publish all these pictures in a separate post. This was the first time I was showing in an exhibition something mine, after just the news that some other pictures I was sending to Italy were participating in an exhibition there. It is a nice feeling of doing something good and sharing, at least with the friends that came to celebrate with us and few girls that came especially from Pontereas to see the exhibition. For me it was success, because it was one of the few things we finally managed to do together as a team with Santa and Sasha (even though he is back to Estonia for months already).

Then, after doing some good job (and quite intensively), it was of course time again to make a little trip, and I joined Ina on her way to Aveiro in Portugal, as she was about to make a week there as a WWOOF volunteer in a city garden in the local University. We passed again through Tuy and Valenca, then saw the majestic sunset above the ocean from the train (that could never be forgotten) and reached Aveiro – the Venice of Portugal, famous for its channels and boats, to see it at night. The weekend was all about gardening, village life, great people and good musical jam-session, also the first nights outside for the year, around the fire. We had great time and I came back happier than ever. And it all only became better when I received a call right upon my arrival in Ribadavia from Shell, a dear friend from my Erasmus times from Ireland, telling me that she is also coming to see me in my Spanish home … the next day. So little time and so many emotions! Few days were never enough for me to show my guests all the little miracles of Ribalandia, even though it is a small village with nothing to do in the end of the world J But Shell could be part of one of the last dinners we made at home, and spend together with me a lot of time in my favorite places along the river, following the tradition to play the guitar all the time. She also came in the perfect moment to accompany me to go to Islas Cies – one archipelago of the few Galician islands that is being my travel destination already a year and finally could be reached this Semana Santa. Yes, it happened that we spent our Easter on a paradise island, with one of the most beautiful beaches in the world (according to some statistics) and amazing views of the ocean, the seagulls and crystal waters. Sometimes I stop myself and think - have I ever thought before that a voluntary service would make it possible to be in places like this, places taken out from the dreams. Directly after this we took the bus from Vigo to Porto to stay with Shell in another of my favorite places. I realized I am in love with this city and Portugal in general and so happy for choosing Galicia for my EVS – this way I felt a lot of Galicia, Spain and Portugal at the same time.

And after all these intense emotions, here I am again at my sweet home on the last floor of the Tower, preparing Final reports and trying to figure out of a conclusion how to put in few words all that I have been already sharing here in the blog for a year.  In the end of each project the volunteer should make except for the official Youth in Action report their Youthpass. We are supposed as well to organize everything in the most comfortable way for the upcoming volunteers, which we won’t be able to meet. And now are the last days of doing all these big tasks together with many little ones, connected with leaving a place called Home.  Days to prepare also myself for new beginnings, because I mostly believe in beginnings, not in endings. Days to organize a way to come back here soon to see again Ribadavia and how the life goes on after we’ll be away. Days to meet everyone and to say good-bye. Days to think over everything… or better to stay away from thinking J Days to feel and appreciate.

The fairytale of Ribalandia was in all I have learned, all I have seen, all I have experienced. A year ago I had no idea where am I going to, how it is going to be, what is there waiting to discover. Now I know that basically this all depends on you, on the person itself and how they see the things. Recently a friend said “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”. I opened my eyes and heart for all that was experiencing and the reward was the miracle of my EVS. Of course, there were bad moments, hard times, misunderstandings and so on, which I would never mention neither in the blog, nor in front of someone, because I don’t believe they are more important than all the great things.

So, as last words I want to thank to everyone that was part of my EVS year – Manuel, Santa and Aleksander, all the other EVS volunteers, all my friends that came to see me, all my local friends (amazing ones!!!) and the people I met on the way. Thank you! And as I wrote already in the first posts: The best is yet to come.

I couldn’t expect more. I couldn’t get more. Hasta siempre, Ribadavia!