I had been told that the people in the balkans are warm and welcoming… going there for country visits made me experience that!
In Croatia, I met people that were happy to teach me their language, that were patient enough to repeat several times till I got the words… I met people that love to party – and that go crazy when the croatian music starts to play (and I even learnt some parts of songs)… I met people that are very aware of their past, that feel the weight of the years of war – but that are happy with the improvements and positive about the changes that are happening in the country… I met people that are proud of their country, that wanted to show me the beauties of Croatia… people that were interested in talking to me, that came and approached me during their conference to ask more about my country, to share their ideas, to ask for opinions, ideas, feedback…
There, I lived for 2 weeks with 2 amazing girls from the MC that made me feel at home and became some kind of “sisters” with whom we were sharing gossips, stories, ideas and plans for the future… :) Also, I went for 1 weekend to the coast with one girl from the LC… that took me to her house, to her family… showed me her village, shared her life… and took me to some of the most amazing landscapes I’ve seen in Europe…
And I met AIESECers that know what they want to achieve and what they have to do… and have very good ideas on how to do it! I met OCPs that really want to make changes, OCPs that wanted to learn the most that they could during the conference and that are still in touch with me to tell me about the progress of their projects! I left Croatia happy to have met those people, amazed with the beauty of their nature and positive about the future of AIESEC in Croatia… Guys, you just need to do the things you know you have to do! ;)
In Bulgaria, when I arrived to the MC Office, I saw:
Sweet, no? :)
There, the MC boys took very good care of me, cooked for me and shared chimarrão (in spanish: “mate”) with me! In Bulgaria I also felt like at home – I was already saying “I’m going home, now”… ;)
In Bulgaria I had night city-tour with 2 crazy and funny friends ;) – and what was supposed to be a 1h walk, became also a typical bulgarian dinner (with the most delicious food I’ve tried in Europe! I really like bulgarian food!!) and end up in a retro-party in a disco! I was also taken to the mountains, to see some of the beauties of the country – and in 1 day, I visited 3 of the 100 places that have-to-be-seen in Bulgaria!
In Bulgaria I heard stories of people that overcame obstacles and succeded, I got to know more about their ambition – for this term and also for their future – and I realized that my role there was just to share some ideas and work with them to make their great plans happen!
Then, I took the bus to Macedonia… and at halft past midnight, in the bus station of Skopje, I met 6 happy AIESECers, holding the AIESEC banner and waiting for me. Even if that was the first time they had ever seen me, they jumped around me, hugged me and gave me a brazilian “tchu-tchu”! Cute!! :)
In Macedonia, I was on a tv show talking about AIESEC, I gained a mom and an uncle ;), I went to a Kafana and saw how party looks like with the people from LC Skopje
And what about AIESEC in Macedonia? I was really impressed by the clarity that they have about their ambition for AIESEC in Macedonia… those people really want AIESEC to Make Sense in their country… they really see the relevance of AIESEC in their country and they want to work hard for the things to happen!
The MC team in Macedonia has people that are very new in AIESEC, that don’t have so much experience, but that have all the willingness to make changes… they also have people with very good working experience in their area and that are bringing the knowledge to AIESEC… they have a very tough current situation, but they have people that are committed to make changes! With them, we talked about AIESEC in 3 different GNs (that are represented in their diverse MC team), we discussed the possibilities they have, the tools they can use… and we created an Exchange Growth Innitiative that will Let the Sunshine In :)
There, I also met with a very intelligent LCP, that has a very clear plan and very clear means to achieve it. She leads an EB team of only boys and an LC that currently has more than 90 people! They want to do more exchanges in this term than AIESEC in Macedonia has ever done in the past 7 years… and from what I saw there, I’m sure they can do it!
I’m right now on my way back to Budapest… with Slovenia and Bosnia still in front of me… If the visits there will bring me similar warmth and positive energy, I’ll be sure that the balkans are the best countries to work with!! :)
Thank you, guys! You will rock the house!
Barbara
