My first days as a volunteer Volunteers say
The first days of a spanish volunteer in the city of Trento. Travelling from Spain to Trento, discovering the city, the language, the fauna and more.
I’ve been in Trento for 5 days already and although it may not seem like much, time goes so slowly when you’re experiencing new things. Maybe that’s why years seemed so long when we were kids. The 9th of October was the first day of my journey and also the longest day of my life. It all started at 3am taking a car from Cordoba to Malaga’s airport, where I took the plane to Bergamo and said goodbye to my parents. Then, from Bergamo I took a bus to Trento, where Marco picked me up and brought me to the apartment I’ll be sharing with two other volunteers. Finally, after all of this it was almost 11pm but I had safely arrived to my destination!My journey was that long cause it involved ten hours of waiting for the Flixbus that would bring me to what now is my home. I guess it’s not the norm to wait for 10 hours to be able to take a bus that brings you to Trento, but it's 2020 and the threat of COVID-19 has made all situations abnormal. As I still don’t know the language, it’s quite hard for me to consume local news but I’ve challenged myself to read at least one article a day to get used to the language and learn new words. Luckily the situation in north Italy seems to be under control, everyone is calm and wearing their masks on the street and inside shops. I can’t believe I decided to move to a different country in the midst of a global pandemic!I’m already adapting to what will be my home for the next 12 months. One of the things about Trento that had me scared was the cold weather, but I’m dealing with it better than what I was expecting (I actually forgot to put on my coat for two days in a row and didn’t freeze to death) What I was actually not expecting and no one warned me about is the amount of spiders that live in houses. I’ve already asked about it and apparently it’s quite normal that a few dozens of big sized spiders with long legs are installed in your home, some people have even told me that it’s better that they’re there cause they eat mosquitoes. For now I have decided to respect those I cannot see but spray with insecticide all the ones that show themselves, I feel like we can reach a pacific coexistence if we mantain our distance.A couple of days ago I had the opportunity of take a walk around the city for the first time and I completely fell in love. From every point across the city, if you look between the buildings, you can see the impressive mountains that surround it. Whilst walking on the city center, which is completely car-free, I arrived to the Piazza del Duomo, where a few buildings have external frescoes dating from the XV and XVI century, I couldn’t believe seeing the tridentines walk without raising their eyes to observe those magnificent walls. I also have been going to the office for a couple of days now and the people from Inco are making my adaptation so much easier. I even got a recommendation from Patricia to visit a free expo and I plan to go this afternoon. I haven't mastered italian yet and visits to the supermarket have become an odissey, although “scusa” and “grazie” are already part of my usual linguistic reflexes. My biggest victory so far this week is that I managed to explain to the supermarket cashier that I wanted the form to get the supermarket’s card and althought it was not easy, I got it. I still have so many challenges to face and lessons to learn in this city. This is just the beggining and I can't wait to know who I’ll be and how my experience was when I write again in 12 months, the curiosity is killing me.
I’ve been in Trento for 5 days already and although it may not seem like much, time goes so slowly when you’re experiencing new things. Maybe that’s why years seemed so long when we were kids. The 9th of October was the first day of my journey and also the longest day of my life. It all started at 3am taking a car from Cordoba to Malaga’s airport, where I took the plane to Bergamo and said goodbye to my parents. Then, from Bergamo I took a bus to Trento, where Marco picked me up and brought me to the apartment I’ll be sharing with two other volunteers. Finally, after all of this it was almost 11pm but I had safely arrived to my destination!My journey was that long cause it involved ten hours of waiting for the Flixbus that would bring me to what now is my home. I guess it’s not the norm to wait for 10 hours to be able to take a bus that brings you to Trento, but it's 2020 and the threat of COVID-19 has made all situations abnormal. As I still don’t know the language, it’s quite hard for me to consume local news but I’ve challenged myself to read at least one article a day to get used to the language and learn new words. Luckily the situation in north Italy seems to be under control, everyone is calm and wearing their masks on the street and inside shops. I can’t believe I decided to move to a different country in the midst of a global pandemic!I’m already adapting to what will be my home for the next 12 months. One of the things about Trento that had me scared was the cold weather, but I’m dealing with it better than what I was expecting (I actually forgot to put on my coat for two days in a row and didn’t freeze to death) What I was actually not expecting and no one warned me about is the amount of spiders that live in houses. I’ve already asked about it and apparently it’s quite normal that a few dozens of big sized spiders with long legs are installed in your home, some people have even told me that it’s better that they’re there cause they eat mosquitoes. For now I have decided to respect those I cannot see but spray with insecticide all the ones that show themselves, I feel like we can reach a pacific coexistence if we mantain our distance.A couple of days ago I had the opportunity of take a walk around the city for the first time and I completely fell in love. From every point across the city, if you look between the buildings, you can see the impressive mountains that surround it. Whilst walking on the city center, which is completely car-free, I arrived to the Piazza del Duomo, where a few buildings have external frescoes dating from the XV and XVI century, I couldn’t believe seeing the tridentines walk without raising their eyes to observe those magnificent walls. I also have been going to the office for a couple of days now and the people from Inco are making my adaptation so much easier. I even got a recommendation from Patricia to visit a free expo and I plan to go this afternoon. I haven't mastered italian yet and visits to the supermarket have become an odissey, although “scusa” and “grazie” are already part of my usual linguistic reflexes. My biggest victory so far this week is that I managed to explain to the supermarket cashier that I wanted the form to get the supermarket’s card and althought it was not easy, I got it. I still have so many challenges to face and lessons to learn in this city. This is just the beggining and I can't wait to know who I’ll be and how my experience was when I write again in 12 months, the curiosity is killing me.
