Keeping Up with Parco!

24 February - 9 March

Now, let’s talk about our adventure in Rome. On Monday, February 24th 2025, two of the volunteers, Natália (me) and Ebru made the journey to Frascati, Rome, for our on-arrival training.

Here we were warmly welcomed by many other volunteers working in various parts of Italy.

Remembering everyone’s names was a bit challenging at first, but there were many activities to help us to get know eachother better.

But one of the main reasons we were there was to share our volunteering experiences with others.

The next day, we participated in team-building activities to see what it truly means to work together as a team. In the evening, we explored Frascati a bit more and enjoyed drinks with our new friends.

Wednesday was a beautiful day spent in Rome. We visited some iconic landmarks together and also checked out the "Europa Experience" to learn about the European Union and its role in our lives. In the afternoon, we split into smaller groups to work on activities focused on intercultural learning, and we visited more stunning places, including the Vatican.

On Thursday morning, we shared our experiences from the previous day and dove deeper into topics like conflict resolution, emotional management, and the rights and duties of volunteers. We ended the evening with a little party to celebrate the amazing time we’d had.

Friday arrived, and with the last bit of energy we had, we talked about our goals and ways to support eachother. Even we made plans to visit each other’s volunteering towns. Hopefully, those plans happen!

While we were in Rome, the rest of the team back in Monesiglio was focused on recruiting new volunteers for our project.

Over the weekend, they came to the local library in Cortemilia to support with projection about Carnival. It was about Carnival tradition straight from Cortemilia: L’orso di piume. Although there were some technical difficulties, it turned into a fun evening.

At that time me and Ebru traveled to Venice to experience Italy’s most famous carnival.

Venice was a city full of beautiful bridges, canals, and people wearing the craziest and most fancy costumes.

We supported local artists by purchasing masks, which helped us get into the carnival spirit.

After the weekend in Venice, it was time to return to reality in Monesiglio. Much of our work focused on recruiting new volunteers and creating promotional posts for the events we had attended.

On Wednesday we had Italian class, where we prepared fun activities, like learning how to describe ourselves through dating apps and exploring common Italian phrases.

On the same day, we welcomed Lisandra, a new volunteer from Portugal, who brought new energy to our team.

We wrapped up the week with a knowledge sharing, but this time it was held in Bergolo.

It was a sunny day, so we spent time outside, engaging in activities in a garden that helped us connect the idea of a sustainable garden to our own lives. We even created our own ecosystem through fun activity, which made us realize the importance of everyone involved.

In the closing activity, we focused on our senses—sometimes in life, we focus too much on what we see and forget to experience the world through all our senses. It was a very relaxing experience.

In the evening, the people of Bergolo prepared a small dinner to celebrate Tony's birthday. We gathered around a table full of food and celebrated together.

The next day, I flew home for a little holiday to take my university admission and spend some time with my family.

Now, you can look forward to updates from the upcoming weeks as we roll into spring with even more adventures!

- Natália