Lina's first days in Kalamata

I arrived on Monday evening. In Athens I met another volunteer, he is from Ireland. His name is Fiachra. It was nice to meet him. From Athens we traveled together, it was much easier and more fun, but still the last part of the journey from Athens to Kalamata was really very tiring. In Kalamata we were greeted by two French gentlemen, who helped to reach our flat. Later we joined the party in the Youth Center. There was a lot of volunteers from previous projects that are ending now. It was nice that we had the oportunity to meet them, even if it was only one evening. So my first day was really very long, tiring, but with a lot of excitement.

The days and nights are really very hot in Kalamata. So the next day, after we got the maps of Kalamata we went to the beach. The water was really very good. In the evening the volunteer from Slovenia – Erika – has arrived and the French gentlemen made a wonderful dinner for us. The day after we also had some meetings at the Youth Center and tried to find and remember our way home. In the evening we joined a party in the park, which was against nazism in Kalamata.

On Thursday and Friday we had a small on-arrival training course in “tree houses” somewhere in the mountains. There we met other short-term volunteers. It was a really wonderful place. Apart from the on-arrival course we tried Greek food, and some games. At night there were so many stars in the sky. More than I had ever seen before. It was amazing. The number of ants in our tent was just as impressive, but they turned out to be quite polite and by the morning, they left the tent only for us.

When we came back from tree houses the next day we went to the Polilimnious waterfalls and lakes. It was also a wonderful and amazing all-day trip. There we saw a small Greek village and could feel the small impression of Greek life. On Saturday evening all volunteers from the tree houses came to visit us in Kalamata. We showed them around the city that we already found by ourselves – including the beach. The next day – Sunday – it was a day for relaxation.

From Monday we started our work in Youth Center to full-fill a lot of forms and documents. Everything is new and unusual.