Arrival in Murter and first impressions.
A night bus to Croatia’s capital, a few hours of waiting in Zagreb’s bus station, five hours’ bus to Vodice, a 30 minutes’ drive to Murter. Here I am. Through the journey, I couldn’t remove my eyes from the bus windows, looking at the snow-covered landscapes. I knew there wouldn’t be snow anymore near the Adriatic Sea. I was right: the view radically changed an hour away to Murter. From mountains to Mediterranean landscape and vegetation. Rocks, trees, bushes and billboards along the road.
Sarah, the other Argonauta’s volunteer, warmly welcomed me in our shared appartement, on the first floor of a local’s house. Around here, the different floors of houses really are noticeable, as she pointed it out to me. It is indeed not rare to see that one floor equals one time of construction and one type of material used for the walls. For my first meal, she cooked a traditional Jordanian dish, very yummy 😊
Monday, January 23rd, Nela and Suzana welcomed me in Argonauta, with informal questions about ourselves and with the famous Napolitanke, wafers with chocolate filling (“des gaufrettes fourrées au chocolat” or “vafel proizvod s čokoladnim punjenjem“, as written on the wrapping). A few minutes before noon, we walked across the street to go to Caffe Leopold, that we can see from the office’s windows of Jedro (in front of the marina, boats, sea and some hills in the background). Here, the coffee break seems to be a true tradition. And, as we entered the café, the tobacco’s smell surprised me: in Croatia, people smoke inside the bars and cafes. The kava is served with a glass of water, for my greatest pleasure, and the čaj with lemon and honey. In the afternoon, Sarah and I strolled to Raduč, an hill from where we can have a view of some Kornati’s islands. The day after, I had to go to the groceries’ store, not to only eat food from the bakery (though it tastes really good). In front of the door, a few seconds of hesitation: how should I greet the sales assistants? Bok ? Dobar dan ? Dobro jutro ?
And so went the first days of my first two weeks in the small town of Murter, on the island of the same name. In the morning, 6 hours in the office where I slowly get used to Argonauta and try to better understand how it works and how I could take my part in its projects. For now, I will mainly assist the organization with its communication (on social medias, with video editing, taking pictures, doing English translations…).
In the afternoon, I walk across the island with Sarah. Well, except for the few days of laziness where I stayed at home. The landscapes are splendid, as show the pictures below.
I’m looking forward to the on-arrival training, which will take place in Orahovica, on the Eastern side of Croatia. It is “only” 500 km away but a 2 day-trip is required to go there!
Rose, volunteer from France
About the ESC : The European Solidarity Corps is a program of the European Union to strengthen solidarity in various areas: from helping the disadvantaged and providing humanitarian aid to engagement for health and the environment in the EU and beyond.
The program offers young people the opportunity to respond to the needs of the community, make a concrete contribution to society, and in the process gain invaluable experience and develop new skills. The program is also intended for organizations active in the field of solidarity that want to involve young people in their activities.
