Workaway--VOURVOUROU, GREECE
WHO WE ARE
On the far left is Joseph he is from Lille, France who is currently majoring in IT, on his free time he likes to sleep in hammocks, watch the sunrise, and plan music festivals! Watch out for Open Field festival, it may just be the next Coachella
In the middle is me, Morgyn a girl who could of never dreamed how much her life would of been changed by accepting this position in Greece, I am currently majoring in English and Writing with goals of starting teaching next year, I enjoy doing jiu jitsu, reading, and meeting new people from different cultures
Next to me is Laura, the sweetest Brazilian girl form a small town above San Paulo. She currently has her masters in architecture and urban studies, she has plans to back for her PHD and wants to be a professor! She enjoys writing and doing yoga in her free time
On the far right is Emma, a girl I will always hope to be friends with, I’m so thankful for the relationship we were able to build while here, she is a business major who lives in Paris, France she currently has an internship set up with Disneyland, Paris when she returns home and is the sweetest girl you could ever meet. Her hobbies include cinema, reading, and going sailing I am going to take her back to America so she may be my cook. If it wasn’t for her and Joseph most nights I would of just ate Ramen.
In the middle is me, Morgyn a girl who could of never dreamed how much her life would of been changed by accepting this position in Greece, I am currently majoring in English and Writing with goals of starting teaching next year, I enjoy doing jiu jitsu, reading, and meeting new people from different cultures
Next to me is Laura, the sweetest Brazilian girl form a small town above San Paulo. She currently has her masters in architecture and urban studies, she has plans to back for her PHD and wants to be a professor! She enjoys writing and doing yoga in her free time
On the far right is Emma, a girl I will always hope to be friends with, I’m so thankful for the relationship we were able to build while here, she is a business major who lives in Paris, France she currently has an internship set up with Disneyland, Paris when she returns home and is the sweetest girl you could ever meet. Her hobbies include cinema, reading, and going sailing I am going to take her back to America so she may be my cook. If it wasn’t for her and Joseph most nights I would of just ate Ramen.
The Work Experience
Everyday we wake up 7:30- 9:00am depending on your job assignment that day the breakfast usually done by Laura everyday. Having this responsibility she must wake up earlier than all of us, I used to feel she got the easiest job only to realize at breakfast one morning it might be the worst job to be assigned. You are running a one man restaurant, taking orders, making the food and serving. It leaves your rather exhausted by 11am. The other two jobs you could be assigned is gardening, or cleaning the rooms. I naively posted on my Workaway profile that I would love to work in gardening but had ideas of working in a home garden taking care of small plants. This was another level of gardening, sometimes you must pull the weeds, rake the leaves, or cut flowers. I think during the day I was assigned gardening is when I realized why I am in college. Manual labor is not for me and I respect and understand my dad on a new level after doing manual labor for this past month. The last job you could be assigned is cleaning the rooms, its exactly how you think of cleaning your own room, maybe a little more in depth but its mindless work after you figure out the routine.
What is workaway?
“Workaway is an international program that allows travelers to pay for their room and food by helping their host with household work needs, projects, or odd jobs. The program emphasizes cultural exchange between traveler and host. You can find opportunities and hosts by searching on the Workaway website.
Price is the most obvious benefit of using Workaway to travel or volunteer; you can avoid paying for food and board when you travel with Workaway. And besides the cost benefit, Workaway invites you to experience the daily life of diverse countries and cultures.
While you can experience the tourist’s version of different countries by visiting the famous cities and staying in hotels, Workaway gives you the opportunity to spend quality time in the home of locals. For example, everyone knows that the food you eat at a fancy restaurant doesn’t accurately represent homemade meals. By staying with a host you’ll be eating–and even living–in a way that lets you absorb new cultural views.”
https://www.volunteerforever.com/article_post/a-guide-to-workaway-for-travelers/
Price is the most obvious benefit of using Workaway to travel or volunteer; you can avoid paying for food and board when you travel with Workaway. And besides the cost benefit, Workaway invites you to experience the daily life of diverse countries and cultures.
While you can experience the tourist’s version of different countries by visiting the famous cities and staying in hotels, Workaway gives you the opportunity to spend quality time in the home of locals. For example, everyone knows that the food you eat at a fancy restaurant doesn’t accurately represent homemade meals. By staying with a host you’ll be eating–and even living–in a way that lets you absorb new cultural views.”
https://www.volunteerforever.com/article_post/a-guide-to-workaway-for-travelers/
Focusing on Community and communication
One of the most important lessons I learned while being in Greece is the importance of community. The intimate relationships I built with my Workaway partners because we are all working towards the same goal is something magical, something that will never be broken. We could never exactly plan what was going to come next but we knew that we had each other to take on any obstacle we might face that next day. I think thats the beauty of traveling, and life in general, you can set up a plan but at any moment things may change and you have to know how to adapt to that with yourself or with others around you. Greece is also where I learned that each of us have the wisdom we need inside of us. Too many times we count on someone or something that will bring the change we need. Being here I realized we all have the power for self governance, that we can be the change we want to see in the world without help from people in positions of power. I believe the government has fooled us for too long that we would be “lost” without them. The communities I have met here that are constantly looking out for each other and giving what they can offer to the group, are more self sustained than any working government system. A great example of this is my hitchhiking experiences I have been lucky to have here. People and even families are so willing to open their car door and share intimate stories about them and their background and help you get where you want to go. It’s something I’ve never seen, and am so grateful to have been able to experience. This trusting of others had opened up relationships I could of never dreamed of. One of them being a man named Costas who works at a honey farm. After giving us a ride home from the highway in Vourvourou where his shop is located he would constantly invite us out with his friends and I’d have to say some of my best memories are with them. Learning about their culture and being able to laugh at the rules in America that restrict and oppress freedom but seemingly no rules or laws to diminish danger.
Communication and how you speak to others plays an important role in this whole experience. I admittedly have been known to be too prideful. I believed I knew what was best for myself and others around me I wold take this “hero” position like I was alone in a battle and the only one who could bring the group to “salvation.” This trip changed me, it killed the ego I had for myself. I believe ego will be the death of us all. We need to start listening more to the community and not to our own emotions that can be blurred by past judgements or trauma. Putting others before yourself without compromising yourself is the easiest way I can frame this. I’m so thankful for everyone who made this experience for me, making me a new person, a stronger person who is finally learning to trust others again.
Communication and how you speak to others plays an important role in this whole experience. I admittedly have been known to be too prideful. I believed I knew what was best for myself and others around me I wold take this “hero” position like I was alone in a battle and the only one who could bring the group to “salvation.” This trip changed me, it killed the ego I had for myself. I believe ego will be the death of us all. We need to start listening more to the community and not to our own emotions that can be blurred by past judgements or trauma. Putting others before yourself without compromising yourself is the easiest way I can frame this. I’m so thankful for everyone who made this experience for me, making me a new person, a stronger person who is finally learning to trust others again.
NIghts out in greece
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Start anywhere follow it everywhere.....
How will I effect change? Everyday working to be the change I want to see in my community. To be the one who has a helping hand out to others, one who listens, and takes peoples thoughts into careful consideration. I believe this has been the most powerful lesson I've learned through this class and the work I’m doing in Greece. Listening to the needs of your community and allowing everyone to be a leader. I never realized before taking this class how much I always like stepping up to speak for others as I used to believe if they weren’t speaking up they had nothing to say. This is completely wrong, there needs to be a platform in place where people are able to step up and say the things they would like to, to speak for the change they would like. When I start teaching I will always stress this lesson I have learned, that everyone has an ability to lead the conversation. I want to start the year by asking students what they want to learn, from me or other students. I want my students to always be curious and learn the things they are interested in. In some way I want the students to shape their own curriculum. This is scary because then you aren’t coming in with much of a plan, but I believe this will be the beauty of all of it. There is so much beauty in chaos. As we saw in Walk Out Walk On in the section about the warriors without weapons in Brazil who worked to create a community center and a garden for the individuals residing in the community. When her bricks were torn down from her staircase, this wasn’t a reason to stop building but instead a learning opportunity. Giving a base gave someone else the creativity to create something totally new. This is what I would like to give to my own students, creating a base for education and then letting them come up with their own books we should read, and leading their own discussions. I do not want a class schedule as I want it to be ever changing. Allowing students at the beginning of the year and throughout the year to put their input in and form the curriculum that will best serve them.
But, before I become a teacher I plan to still effect change in the community I’m living in now. I know I have expressed a lot of resentment towards Portland, but I’m realizing turning my back on a community who needs members who want change will do nothing but progress the problems going on in Portland. This is something else I have learned during my work here, to not turn your back on someone or something when things are too difficult. Relationships and problems within a city can be so complex, here I realized there will always be authority you don’t like and people who mistreat you. These are all external issues you can not control but, you can control the following action. How you react/respond to the situation is what will bring change. You have to be in the system to fight it. No change will be brought from the outside. It is how we adapt and become “resilient” which shows people our power we have within ourselves and influences change.
The combination of this class and the work I have been doing has made me a new person. I no longer question who I am, or the ability I have to make change. I realize it's in every single one of us, and I'm so grateful to be somewhere like Greece where I get to see this in action everyday. The relationships I have made here with my Workaway partners and different people in the community will live in my heart forever. The relationships that can be formed when you are all working for the same goal is something magical. And that’s exactly what’s happening here, in Lofos and all of Greece there is a better version of the world we are all fighting for. And I can't wait to come back to America and see the change I can make with my new found knowledge. There will be moments of weakness but when things get hard I can close my eyes and be surrounded by my friends in Greece that have become a family to me and see the good in the world once again.
But, before I become a teacher I plan to still effect change in the community I’m living in now. I know I have expressed a lot of resentment towards Portland, but I’m realizing turning my back on a community who needs members who want change will do nothing but progress the problems going on in Portland. This is something else I have learned during my work here, to not turn your back on someone or something when things are too difficult. Relationships and problems within a city can be so complex, here I realized there will always be authority you don’t like and people who mistreat you. These are all external issues you can not control but, you can control the following action. How you react/respond to the situation is what will bring change. You have to be in the system to fight it. No change will be brought from the outside. It is how we adapt and become “resilient” which shows people our power we have within ourselves and influences change.
The combination of this class and the work I have been doing has made me a new person. I no longer question who I am, or the ability I have to make change. I realize it's in every single one of us, and I'm so grateful to be somewhere like Greece where I get to see this in action everyday. The relationships I have made here with my Workaway partners and different people in the community will live in my heart forever. The relationships that can be formed when you are all working for the same goal is something magical. And that’s exactly what’s happening here, in Lofos and all of Greece there is a better version of the world we are all fighting for. And I can't wait to come back to America and see the change I can make with my new found knowledge. There will be moments of weakness but when things get hard I can close my eyes and be surrounded by my friends in Greece that have become a family to me and see the good in the world once again.