I am working in ACARBIO for more than 1 month now and the fact that I am writing my first diary entry today tells a lot about how busy these 5 weeks have been.

Since my arrival I am engaged in the project Make It Blue in Minori, a wonderful town at the coast. Most of all I enjoy the company of the volunteers from all over the world, who participate in this project. Together, and under my supervision, they are cleaning the beach and the sea of the city. With them I had amazing conversations about cultural differences, future plans, sense of life and about a lot of nonsense while cooking, eating, working and relaxing together. Sometimes it was very stressful to bear responsibility for such a varied group of people and to make sure they are on time, separate the garbage and fulfil all their tasks. Especially in the week I took over the role as a campleader as well which meant to be part of the group, not only control but participate in every task while checking the others at the same time. Finally I don’t want to miss this experience because I learned a lot about organisation, responsibility and communication.

Furthermore I had some great days discovering the Amalfi coast, on this picture I spent a day at the beautiful island Capri with 3 workawayers and friends. In some evenings we went to local festivals, we watched fireworks and ate a lot of typical napolitan food. One highlight was the Lemon Festival in Tramonti which I visited with the team of Acarbio and the group of volunteers. Every dish included lemon such as a delicious lemon pizza.

To close this text I want to mention how much I appreciate the mentality of the people I met. I am not used to such openness and friendliness of strangers and I already felt home after just a few days. After such a long time spent at the beach everyday I am now looking forward to the new project we are organising in Tramonti.

(Maike Jebasinski)