Monday, May 29, 2017

 10 tips for conscious EVS


1Don't forget your glass cup with you before going to the coffee shop if you plan to order a fredo cappucino to take away (#greek life)


2. Think about your flatmates, neighbours, collegues, friends, if you cooked too much at home. Your extra left-overs can always make someone happy (#I appreciate when my flatmates have left-overs)

3. Don't you think that all those plastic bags they give in supermarket are too much? If you think that there is no reason to be given one plastic bag to carry one small bottle of water, always take your bagpack when you plan to do your groceries.

4. We tend to throw away a lot of paper at work. It happens easily when there's an issue with the copy. Why not collecting those papers to create your personnal notebook? Or your post-it if you need reminder.

5. Why not reusing the jars (food container) as flower pot?

6. If you want to get rid of clothes you're not wearing anymore ask around you who would be interested  (friends, association...).

7. If you break a dish, why not making a mosaic out of it? (#youtube tutorial).

8. Don't forget your tuperware before going out for a fançy dinner in town (just in case you can't finnish your dinner).

9. You can go to the market when the sellers are about to leave, they usually leave some fruits and vegetables that you can collect (it won't look glamorous but the main is that it is still eatable right? ... right?)






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Friday, May 26, 2017

How It’s Made

I feel like in that Discovery Channel show and explaining the receipe of my project :D

Let’s start:

-Having the raw idea (because you'd never know)
Have a general idea about the thing that you want to create, and let it free. Because you’d never know, maybe it will turn into something nicer and greater. It is good to have a basic idea but you should always be open-minded to any other developments.

-Risk assessment
With the general tools in your hand, make the primarily risk assessment as first step. You will have nice project guideline in your hand which is given by KANE. Fill up that form and reply all questions patiently and honestly. As much as you reply, you will see wrongs parts, mistakes and impossible ones in your ideas. So you will have good chance to eliminate them before taking the first action.
A good risk assessment will protect you from failures and wasting your time

-Brainstorming (first, go to people whom you trust most)
Sharing is caring. Go to people whom you trust first. They don’t need to be your best friends or closest ones around you. If you know them that they will be useful and most importantly if you believe that they are dependable, just go and share your ideas. Clever people will boost your imagination and help you to grow your “raw material” in your mind.

-Review (where is it going, is it still going as the way you want?)
Don’t get lost!
At some point you will see that you have been pulled from one idea to another and you will loose your way.
Stay focused!
Stop the car for a while and as yourself: What you exactly want to do? Don’t get lost in your enhanced environment.
Review all materials and ideas you collected and take the best of them. You don’t need to use all.
Less is more my friend!
Build your project only with best bricks. You don’t need to do everything. Just proceed with the qualified people and ideas.

-Go to beneficial people whom can “really” contribute
Now on this stage, you actually have to DRAW THE LIMITS. After this point, try not to change something. Once you start changing it little by little, in the end it will turn into something horrible (or better, I am not sure :D) In my case, I found over 15 stories, each of them were really good. However, I’d known my limits. If I had tried to make all of them, other ones couldn’t be that. Because I would distribute my precious time on many things, which can cause low quality on each case. Focusing increases quality. Again, DRAW YOUR OWN LIMITS.

-Review (satisfied with the direction?)
Be sure that, things will change on the way. Only important thing is, whether it is going as the way you'd like or uncontrollably to another direction, which make you lost and failed in the end. It would be good if you had a backup plan for each case. However, if you have time limitation like me, and if it is irreversible, just withdraw it and don’t look back.
Don’t let things distract you or decrease your motivation.
Keep in mind, one door closes and another opens.
Even sometimes closed doors are better, leave them like that…

-Risk assessment
Risk assessments are essential. After every touch, it is something you have to do. Risk assessments clear your path and lead you good direction. Always be honest to yourself and ask what are the risks for each action you plan.

-Create last boundaries (so, things won't mess up with another)
It is the time to draw the bold line. Erase the sketches and dashes around. It is a stage to see the picture clearly. You have to start imagining the final of the project. Does it look nice to you?

-Backup plan for final arrangement
Always keep your mood positive.
However, also keep your demon on your left shoulder whispering you “something will go baaaaadd, very baaaadd”.
Be like a cube A^3
This attitude will always sustain you Aware, Awake and Alert.
Your back-up plan will be safe inside that cube!

-Initiate
When you will ready, start taking action!

-Time table
Put your deadline and divide steps one by one until this deadline.
For example, I divided my process into 5 weeks:
*Primer talks with the people
*Collecting the stories
*Arrange meetings and create the stories
*Finalize the videos and brochures
*Last week, just review and relax, fix the problems if I have

-Create chart and list the items (that you need to achieve within certain time periods)
Create a chart with the key points of your project. Define them only with one word, as a reminder.
Keep this chart with you at all times, and scratch them as you finish one by one. This action also will boost your motivation and your mood.
Check it regularly if you are still on track!

-If you are ahead of schedule,
It is ok…..
You can look …………….ahead and proceed
:D

A personal opinion:

-Do it yourself, or delegate only people you are "certain" that they are capable.
You don't need to work with people you "like" but you have to work with only responsible ones.
With good people, everything will be juuuuuuust fine!



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Aaaaand, that was Ruya's last post on our blog! She left Kalamata, she's back in Turkey! You know we love you and we miss you alot! :) 

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Summer hits!

SUMMER IS COMING!!!
So as you know I'm from Spain and I live 24/7 with summer feeling! For me temperature below 12°C is like being in Atartica... and yes, I have to admit - for me, Kalamata 2 months ago was really cold! It was very crazy for my friends from north Europe. But now it is a time when my natural habitat temperature is starting! It's time to prepare yourself for SUMMER, And what better is than music?

Here is some actual summer music to make you feel like you are in Malibu 😉😉
Hope you like it!

Miley Cyrus - Malibu

Kygo, Selena Gomez - It Ain't Me

Zara Larrson - Don't let me be yours

Little Mix - No more sad songs

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Friday, May 19, 2017









Here is I created a google map with the path we did while our 4 days trip in Mani region!

--> Kalamata -- Oitylo -- Neo Oitylo -- Limeni -- Aeropoli -- Diros 

<-- Diros -- Pyrgos Dirou -- Aeropoli -- Limeni -- Neo Oitylo -- Karavostasi -- Thalames -- Stoupa -- Foneas beach -- Prosatio -- Petrovouni -- Kardamyli -- Kalamata























On the map you can see places where we camp, path we went, nice photos and spots where you can have amazing view!

Use it!


Thursday, May 18, 2017



Memories from the festival in Nedussa



thanks Tea for photos <3



Let's jazz it up!


Dim lights, the sound of a saxophone, a strong alto.
Last week Kalamata was a destination for jazz lovers from all over Greece. On the weekend, the annual International jazz festival started in Kardamyli and a couple of days before that we got a sneak peak in Kalamata.


Although this charming music filled the air, many didn't know how to move in the rhythm so they would bring back the feel from the age of swing. Luckly, in Kalamata there's a group of Lindy Hop dancers who offered a free lesson on the streets. With their colourful dresses they lifted the atmosphere! After we managed to get the hang of the basic step, it was time for some practice with live music. A band from all the way across the Atlantic brought us the sound of jazz. New Orleans in Kalamata, who would've guessed?! As we danced away in the night, we had our mind on the upcoming days and a trip to Kardamyli.



Now, Kardamyli's population was probably at least doubled as people from all over Europe (plus New Orleans) gathered for the festival. On every corner you could hear english, german, dutch, norwegian... After another lesson from the Lindy Hop dancers, The Shoeshine Boys took over the stage. They said how it was their first international concert and they looked like they were enjoying the greek atmosphere far away from Oslo.


Sometimes it's hard to properly express a feeling in words so here's a video in which Ingrid Lucia joined the band on stage! The graceful jumpying figures in front are the wonderful Lindy Hop dancers I keep mentioning.
 



Need I say more?

Yes, I do. The festival lasts for a week. And it's every year so plan your next May carefully!

Monday, May 15, 2017

Long weekend in Poland



How I spent my last two weeks?


The answer is very easy: AMAZING. 

I was back at home and I could spend nice time with my family and friends. My parents and sister had free days at work, because it was a long weekend. Weather was awful, especially if you want to compare it to Kalamata’s sunny days! But it didn’t matter for me. My trip was long, but I forgot about all inconvenient moments, when I ate homemade dinner, prepared by my mom! 😊  




First thing I did, was taking pictures and sent them to my flat mates in Kalamata! I was so happy I’m home and finally I have my own room with huge bed, fridge full of food (not only one shelf) and bathroom only for me. You really can’t imagine how happy you can be, when you don’t have to share everything with others!  😊  





After one week in Poznan I went back to Greece. But this time I took my sister with me! We spent nice time together, enjoying the weather and good food. We stayed in Athens for one day, so she could see most important places in the capitol. We were in Greece many times, but that was her first time in Athens, so we were both very excited! 



















Then we went to Kalamata where we were doing… sweet nothing 😉 Lying on the beach is the only thing you should do on holidays!




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Saturday, May 6, 2017

Spot your opportunities and grab onto them!


Sometimes you don't have to go anywhere to be given an amazing opportunity and it's just a matter of recognizing it on time.

Last week in the exact same building I work in every day, an interesting training course took place and I had the possibility to attend. People gathered from different countries to learn about online portfolios and their role in today's society.


Every person had his own reason for participating and they had very different backgrounds - from students to youth workers to microbiologists and economists! Different aspirations, different ideas. We were quite a colorful bunch. After getting to know each other and exchanging our fears and expectations about the upcoming week, we started to think about online portfolios. What exactly are they? Where can we find them? Why are they used? Soon we realized that if we wanted one for future employment, we should have a CV on it as well. Thankfully, one whole afternoon was devoted to that topic. We got some guidance from a wonderful woman with a lot of experience who patiently answered all of our questions. Also, we discussed writing letters of intent and got some tips for job interviews. How amazing is that! :D The following days were dedicated to a more practical approach and we were reviewing portfolios of others, noticing some good practices as well as those which we would have to avoid. After the discussion we started working on our own portfolios on a very user friendly platform. Maybe it didn't give us as much options as we would like in some areas, but it looked professional and gave us enough freedom overall. I was thrilled to devise and build my pages and tweak the design to suit all of my needs. In the end we realized how much work does it actually take to assemble the complete portfolio. All taken into account, the trainers were very satisfied with the results.


To take a rest from the computer screen, we were analyzing the needs of youth and ways they could benefit from an online portfolio. We touched the topic of education and carefully drew the line between different ways to learn: formal education, non-formal education and informal learning. Furthermore, we had a session about emotional intelligence and how influential is it in our lives. We got another bonus as well – a short yet very important lesson about optimizing our portfolios for search engines. As we were slowly reaching the end of the seminar, we brainstormed and wrote proposals for possible projects involving the knowledge we gained through that week. We discussed the ideas and maybe, at some point in the future some of them will be realized. The week ended with hugs and emotional goodbyes.

By actively participating in the seminar, we took one step closer to establishing our online presence. Motivated and full of inspiration, we are continuing towards our dreams.