Vilnius, Lithuania

After my EVS days in a city of bread – Altamura, I wrote several rough drafts, more like notes, memories, inspirations, and snippets of things that are overlapping in upcoming paragraphs.

Yes, my Italian friends from north part told me stories about how every morning very very very early you can see small trucks leaving Altamura city filled with best bread in whole country and delivering it all around Italy. They also told me, I should be more careful in the south, as it’s not like north part and I should find reliable locals and use their advices in everyday…what ? why ?

When I look back I notice that at the beginning it all seems like chaos. No matter how many preparations I did, still very sudden and unexpected big bang troughs me to most unlikely place. It all started with this last minute panic rush. Was I too picky? While searching for perfect one? There are sooo many different EVS projects all around, but none of them really catches my eye. And those who do – are already taken. Why nobody needs me??? Ok, it‘s only a week till November deadline. I have to make this work. There is this moment when I need to speak with the smartest person around – myself. The monologue goes something like this:

– Natalija, please forget your wishes about specific country or region, forget field of activity, forget the length of time. You are thousands miles away from home now, working your ass off. But next year, you need to experience something of another kind. The best plan – is no plan. Just go for it!

So I opened the database, I did not made „filtration according...“. Just wanted to see all possibilities, and I believed in recognizing the One when I see it. And surprise surprise: it clicked! When I saw LINK project offer – I just knew this is the one I’m going for, even if at the first glance, it didn’t fit most of my previous requirements I had. It’s funny because it’s true. When you see the One (in any field of interest) somehow all your previous judgments fall apart and it all combines in a beautiful mess and gets under your skin.

In a few days documents started flowing through interspaces of wireless technologies. I was chosen and I accepted it. When later, after some time of volunteering, I was talking with Lucia, she mentioned – they selected me, because I point out my enjoyment of doing handcrafts. It’s nice to know, because I’m amateur in this, but you never know, which capabilities might be noticed by others.

Later, just before the start of volunteering, was the point when the fear and uncertainty in me and my capabilities came across. What if I won’t be good enough? What if I won’t satisfy their high expectations? Will I manage? Those doubts seemed like a ten store building height tsunami. Hold on hold on hold on hold on… And it passed away. As my ex-EVS friend told me with a surprise:

– You worry too much, take it easy. Don’t you get it? This whole program is done for participants in their best interest. You’ll see yourself, so enjoy it, take the most of it and give back all you can.

And now I can confirm it 100 percent – it’s true. After the project, when someone asks me to tell how my volunteering was, they usually are interested in what I did, what I saw and of course, how much I traveled. Yes, I can tell you all the short version, that might impressed some, like: I did saw Colosseum and Vesuvius volcano, I walked on the streets of Pompeii and Naples, stood in the middle of Vatican square, crossed Ponte Sant'Angelo bridge, swam in Adriatic sea, smelt various natural spices and herbs in fields, heard inspiring music, learnt traditional dances, tasted best cuisine, spoke on local radio, was teacher assistant in school, organized English language course... I could go on and on as this is easy to tell, to measure, to evaluate. I can put lot’s of plusses in my bucket list and make it just a little shorter.

However, this whole surface exploring stuff comes to point of „who gives a sh*t“, when the talk turns to people. It all would be pointless if I would not meet them. Who? Them! The people, who fill in the streets with their steps and everyday life with their stories. Who bring back to life main city square in the evening after day of rest. Who are traveling by and somehow unexpectedly get stuck and crash onto our volunteers couch. There are so many new connections done during EVS: locals, travelers, other volunteers, co-workers, their family members etc. All of them make different marks, some are like touching the water – it lasts a second and disappears like it never existed; others are like footprints on the sand – they stay for a while but disappear eventually; but sometimes, if we are lucky, we meet people whom are like cravings on a stone – no matter how many time passed, they won’t disappear and cannot be forgotten.

At this very moment, here and now, while writing these words, just some hours before Scriptamanent deadline strikes, I do remember each and everyone from my last year adventure in Altamura, as they left a mark in my mind and heart that cannot be erased. At the end, it‘s all about people, connection, community. I might not seen 7 wonders of the world yet, but I definitely got to know people who are miracles in land of Italy.

Think globally – act locally. In Puglia region, I saw people who support small business, like bread shops and bakeries, market sellers with their local production, hairdressers, and cafes. I remember how I discovered that in some cities Italians managed to get rid of fast food chain restaurant, because they showed how much it is important for them to treasure what they already have: their food culture background, to be themselves and stay unique. These local actions are worth a lot of respect. As these days we are in a hurry all the time. This kind of modern society point of view gets into more and more communities. People are wishing fast satisfaction one after another, without really understanding what it is all about and how they are harming themselves and future generations.

Maybe that is why, some of the best free days I had, were spent together with Birgit, Ponja and Angelo, riding bicycles around Altamura and using all possible senses to explore. When they showed me countryside and I got to see and taste some things for the first time in my life, like picking almonds and walnuts from trees, fresh mulberries or some eatable flowers I don’t even remember name.

Moreover, I got this impression about the youth who go to work, study in universities or just live in other cities: they have strong and positive connection to small town of Altamura. As whenever they have time, they come back and not just to visit family and friends. No, they reunite and create something worth sharing and spreading around their home town. They give inspiration and commonsense to others, they manifest their actions: we do not abandon you, we do not have a need to escape, we will always come back to our roots, and this place will never be forgotten. This kind of interconnection I saw and felt in Amnesty International 50th anniversary event in Altamura and during Youth Exchanges organized by LINK .

At the end, it took me some more time, than I could have thought, to become more and more conscious about what it is and how it is happening around. Like words that flutter from our mouths in our own native language can make such an unpredictable, but still amazing and meaningful transformations. My Italian HO was LINK and obvious what does this name signification is, if you know English language, but wait a minute, LINK also has a connection with my native language, as those same 4 letters in Lithuanian means „towards“, it shows a direction an object is moving. And here comes another linking word, that gives strength at times of nostalgia, it is „greeting“. It doesn’t matter if I give or I get a greeting connected to my EVS and days in Altamura; the object and act itself in Lithuanian is „linkėjimas“, that literally is a connection of 2 words „towards“ ( in Lithuanian: link) and „walking“ (in Lithuanian: ėjimas).

So, as P. Coelho writes, if I want to see the signs the whole universe will help me in showing my path. I might have walked thousand miles just to get back to where I started in order to see the same things, but from the other point of view.

So, what am I walking towards and what kind of connections will it have with my past actions?