Last April, our former member Liza decided to explore new life bubbles with a two-month ESC volunteering experience in Barcelona (Catalunya). Now that her stay is over and she had some time to reflect on her journey, we asked her to share with us a final reflection of her experience during this period:
What did you discover about Spanish/Catalan culture/way of living? What surprised you? What was pleasant and what was difficult?
“I was in Spain for three months, including my two-month short-term European Solidarity Corps volunteering, and I explored Spanish and Catalan traditions and culture slowly day by day. In my work I was mostly engaged in intercultural teams, but during the last two months I was also involved with many Spanish and Spanish-speaking people living in Barcelona.
I experienced working in the garden with people of different ages, preparing performances and performing on stage, participating in classes and workshops, sewing lessons and some events with people living here, so I am sure I have so much left to learn about their culture and traditions, but these are some of things I learned:
First of all, in my experience in a big city like Barcelona, the stereotypes about Spanish time and Spaniards being always late is a huge myth. It was so funny how I was told by everyone before coming to Spain that there is a huge difference in time understanding and that I had to have that in mind, when in reality everyone was very polite and precise with timing, in the workflow demanding the same approach of being always on time and respectful with that.
The curse and the blessing – open, chatty people always wanting to talk to you or say something no matter the place, time and the ethics.
I feel that this stereotype might come from slower places where there is no big rush, but Barcelona is definitely not the place for a slow, calm life. The curse and the blessing – open, chatty people always wanting to talk to you or say something no matter the place, time and the ethics. I loved the people, looking in each other’s eyes and being non verbally and verbally open to help, to talk and discuss random things together.
However, what was difficult for me is that I faced a lot of boundary overstepping and harassment on a daily basis, which unfortunately made me a bit more closeted. Still, people with whom I was meeting consensually were polite, open minded and supporting.
It was the first time for me working and talking so much with older people, and I became very good friends with some of them, which is not common for me in my usual life, since I don’t know places of interconnection between young and older people in my city. It was amazing to see how they were very sincere and cheerful discussing life, and with them and I always felt welcomed!
What made me really happy is the diversity, the diverse representation and acceptance in different places. I felt safer expressing my queerness, holding my partner’s hand and talking about this topic, which is usually a bit harder for me depending on the place and the community circle I am in. There is a bigger LGBTQ+ community and a lot of opportunities to go to safe places and activities: I went to a queer yoga place, queer fights, concerts and much more, that I didn’t face before.”
What did you discover about yourself through your experience as a volunteer and the teamwork with other colleagues? What are your top 5 lessons you take from those 2 months?
“My learning points were very broad and it is hard for me at this moment to put everything into the right words, but I will try to share impactful things for me: the first one is that I started seeing certain manipulation behaviours more clearly, and also the result of manipulation I have faced in my life through the media, community, and systems I lived in on my personal values and beliefs. I have identified many illusions and unethical beliefs I used to have regarding my life and the view on the world, and now it is easier for me to identify inner hierarchy and repression dynamics, manipulated beliefs and goals.
I have also seen the difference of community and people bubbles affecting me, my thoughts, and my behavior. I have seen how different I can be depending on if I love/don’t love the place/people, how I act if I disagree or agree with different people. How sometimes I feel bored, disrespected and unvalued with some people and at the same time exciting, smart and valuable with others. Community matters.
Some things are incomparable and it is okay, we don’t actually live in the binary world. I want to go further from my binary and black-white thinking, accepting that every experience is diverse and full with so many conditions, situations, emotions that there is no fairness in comparison.”
Would you recommend an ESC volunteering experience to other people? Why? Why not? What do you wish you had known before starting yours?
“ESC is a great way to discover the world and the surrounding things. I would definitely recommend it to people and wish more people could experience the beauty and depth of the world, which can be sometimes far away from our usual routine life. I wouldn’t want to change or know something beforehand, because this was the greatest opportunity to learn it.”
Thank you TUDANZAS and Shokkin Group for your support! This experience had a big impact on my personal and professional life!
Jelizaveta Anushkina
