After (almost) finishing with the cold winter I can finally start enjoying the city with a lighter jacket! Winter has been cold but cozy with a super warm room, loads of hot beverages and of course the shine of the beautiful Bratislava Christmas market. 

To those who are lovers of tea I can totally recommend buying a few bags from the amazing Sakura tea bar, that has such a huge variety of teas! One more highlight worth mentioning of the winter that I passed in Bratislava is the lovely events of Nova Cvernovka. This is a creative cultural space that has a different program of events and happenings every month. There are even parties or concerts happening on a weekly basis. A memorable and new event for me was the silent disco. I have never attended a silent disco before in my life and the experience actually was quite fun and definitely healthier for the ears. So I can definitely recommend a night out or even, if your Slovak is good enough, a cultural event in Nova Cvernovka.

However, now the weather is slowly getting prettier and I can feel the spring entering. The energy is very different from the winter and I feel ready to do even more activities, enjoy the outside and ready to make plans come true. It is high time to enjoy walking or running outside and see how the nature is flourishing. The changes of nature are astonishing. I live in Raca and there is just the loveliest place to walk and run just at 10 minutes walking. I try to walk daily outside, preferably in the morning and I try to also get some running done every now and then. There are huge vineyards and loads of nature in this place and of course some mountains. My next step is to borrow a bike and bike to the next village but I would rather do that with other people too. The most incredible thing is that in these fields you can find a small café-restaurant with the friendliest owner. The buffet is all colorful with plenty of sitting outside but also there is a quite big inside area. They serve coffee and sweet Slovak dumplings with plum jam, which is my preferred order. But also you can find beer and proper food, which is what a lot of families or friends get after a long bike ride from the neighboring villages. It is just the most amazing place! With the spring entering I can feel my excitement rising and I am also welcoming future projects related to my volunteering because they are on the field I mostly love, which is the Circus Arts. After passing the winter I feel that now the life has become more stable for me. I am putting more focused energy into my weekly tasks; the weekly kids’ circus classes, the training, the studying for my circus workshop and the development of my personal project. I am not searching how to do the things anymore because I have found my rhythm now. Therefore, I am striving to make the things even better than before! I want to bring quality in my work and I want to progress here physically and mentally as an artist and of course as a person. But most importantly I want many lifelong friendships from this ESC program and want to make this an unforgettable experience.  Anyway, still the cold of the winter was a challenge for me, which I am very happy and proud to have successfully marked as done!

Text a fotka: Christina Bakain

Christina je dobrovoľníčkou programu Európskej komisie Európsky zbor solidarity na dobrovoľníckom projekte v organizácii Cirkuskus pod koordináciou Bratislavského dobrovoľníckeho centra. Projekt bol podporený z programu Európsky zbor solidarity.