Hello!…or better yet, здраво! My name is Claudia, a newly admitted EVS participant for SFERA who comes from a big city in Transylvania, Romania, called Cluj-Napoca. For the next two months, I will be volunteering in this beautiful city in North Macedonia called Bitola, which, to my luck, is right at the foot of Baba Mountain.

If you are wondering how I ended up here, I will explain it to you. It all started with discovering the European Volunteering Service program through a friend who had already participated in it in Lithuania last year. I started being curious about what exactly this project meant, and as I researched more and more, I recognized it as a new challenge for me to stretch my limits once again and see how big my impact can be on a community while experiencing a new culture abroad. As for coming particularly to North Macedonia, it was fortunate to synchronize with a project that matched my interest in sustainability in a country I had never been to before and that I was ready to discover, and so far, so good.

If someone asked me to describe my first EVS week in Bitola, I would say it was cozy and “smiley,”  sprinkled with a bit of cultural shock. Maybe my choice of words seems a bit quaint, but I have my reasons for choosing these adjectives. But first, I would like to mention that, of course, there were some cultural shocks (as it happens most of the time), but I was expecting them. Nonetheless, it was not that big, given that Romania and North Macedonia are pretty close countries, so I could recognize some familiarity in the people I was seeing on the streets or the food I was tasting. My first week was cozy and “smiley,” mainly because of all the people I met this week. I am pleasantly surprised (and I think I will stay like this for the rest of my stay in North Macedonia) by how nice people are, no matter where you decide to go or what you do. I noticed this as soon as I set foot outside Skopje airport, where I had a bit of an adventure catching the buses so that I could reach Bitola that night. Fortunately for me, the airport bus driver spoke some English and was helpful enough that my adventure that night had a happy ending. Since my arrival to Bitola, I have gotten to know the SFERA family, familiarized myself with the project and the downtown area of the city, and I am grateful I can use my feet to get around easily. The furthest I have been so far is Pelister National Park, and at school I will have my weekly recycling and upcycling projects. The National Park was breathtaking, the snow was just enough to enjoy the views, and the EVS company was just right. The school where I will have my workshops seems like a fun place to try out new upcycling and recycling ideas, and I cannot wait to put them into practice.

As for challenges, I think the biggest one so far was the fact that the area is not very tourist friendly so I confirmed to myself one more time how important it is to learn at least the basics of Macedonian as soon as possible in order to survive appropriately.

Last but not least, I want to mention the local and unusual charm given by the busy cafe shops of Shirok Sokak, no matter if it is 01:00 p.m. on a Monday or 06:00 p.m. on a Friday. Basically, what I understood from it is that if you are not casually walking on the pedestrian street or having at least a coffee with your best pair of shoes on, at an outdoor table, at 0 degrees, chances are you will remain invisible. Also, it is worth mentioning the colorful bazaar, where you can find everything you need at reasonable prices.

More updates on my EVS experience are soon to come. Until then, I wish you a great and productive week!

Ciao!