Up in the mountains

Greetings and salutations!

I didn’t post for a long time that has its reason. Many of you know that I’m at a new placement, and I waited a few weeks to have new experiences and to form an opinion about this place and the people I met.

Well, I made it to the other end to the country, wich is very true: now I’m in North Italy, and in the northern corner of it, really close to the french border.

The place is called San Germano Chisone, it’s a small village near Torino, with about 1400-1800 inhabitants. This is in Piemonte, that has its own dialect. I would like to make a note here that I don’t understand anything in piemontese. The village is beautiful and super clean, a real classical countryside. 

My favorite houses :)

I never lived in the mountains before, I guess there is a first time for everything. I’m happy that I can try this out too. I love being here a lot. We have the peace of heaven here, that is only disturbed by the bells or the voice of the animals (cows, sheeps and goats) when they forced to walk front of our house.

While in Scicli I barely saw any green, there is tons here.

San Germano is literally in the Alps, the mountains are so close that you can go there on feet (!), the stronger ones can try to go with bicycle.

This little pony is our love

The view from work

They are hilarious

As I came here, we started off with a little hiking. We went up on a smaller mountain, where we found a tiny village (or a ranch?), where we saw only three houses. It was worth to climb the mountain for the view. We kept joking whole day that what would we do if a wolf would attack us here, until we encountered a bear sized dog that walked us out from his private area. Well since the houses had no fence or no warnings, it’s possible that we were really in a private area. It was dusk already when we left but it was easy to find the way back to San Germano next to the Chisone river. I’ve heard that the locals know a way to walk through the mountains to France. I wouldn’t feel confident even with a map, so even if I go, I’ll take the bus.

Well back to the present! Or past? When I arrived, my future boss came to pick me up with Viola –let me introduce Viola, who is a hungarian volunteer here- and we went by car to our home. We have quite a nice home, I love the original parquettes, and since I’m here, nothing became broke. After Sicily this is a luxury itself.

I have a habit of approaching people after the first impression. I had a very nice first impression here about my boss, I felt that everything will be all right. Next day she took me to the Elderly Home, where I work. She showed me around, she told me everything, where to find who in the home, we talked about what my work will be, and I even got a chance to meet the director, who was very kind to take me in after I don’t know how many volunteers. Here, in this program, we are three volunteers, but out of us there are many others who do volunteer work.

Let me introduce a little the institute. Not just the inhabitants, but also the placement is very old too. In 1893 the pastor said that „for those elderly, who has no home or family, we have to give the possibility to live in peace and prepare for the eternity”. After foundraising they opened the place (a nursing home) in 1897. If you count quickly, you can see that this home is 120 years old. It can be seen on the work. Everyone does an absolutely professional work. These people aren’t hatchlings. Most of my collegues are nurses, there are two types of them here: those who do the basic nursing, like bathing and helping in toilet, feeding, making the beds and those, who do kind of doctor type of work, giving medicines, do checkouts, etc. There are also three physiotherapists here, who do gymnastica and walking the elderly every day. Then there are two ladies, one of them is my boss, who are organizing the programs and social events for the elderly. There are many activities: Bible hour for catolics and valdensians, gymnastica, pet therapy, gardening, singing-karaoke together, they also organize the community games, sometimes we make a little „trip” nearby. For me it’s shocking that they don’t spare on the money and energy to take the disabled folks with them. There is a special small bus where also the people in wheelchair can travel. Then there are more types of fests, sometimes the local hunters choir comes to give a concert, and once a month we celebrate the birthdays. There are also many people working in the kitchen and the food here is the best I've eaten in my life, no kidding.

A few photos about the institute

The terrace

It's not easy to move

Our little internet room aka the volunteer office

Work outfit

To the institute belongs a little park with a small lake and many flowers. One of my task is to walk the elderly who are in better shape in the park or on the terrace. Of course many of them are like, oh I have no mood, and it’s cold, but we take them anyways, and then they are very happy. In a bad weather we don’t bring them outside of course, then we just take a few rounds inside, or just talk with them. Thanks to this, my italian improved like a firework, because I spend most of my time with talking. Or with listening. It took time aswell to understand them, because many of them cannot articulate well anymore or they’re missing teeths, not talking about when I speak with the sick people who themselves have no idea what are they talking about. When I don’t understand what they say, then I just smile and try to give an answer based on their gestures and toning. Most of the time it works. It happens that they notice and say that „well you didn’t understand this”, and then I say, that „well, really, I didn’t”, but all together I learned well to communicate with them. I had to get over my shyness, my fear, my anxiety, that what if I don’t say something correctly, or what should I talk about, but no need to overcomplicate this. The elderly are very grateful for every moment of attention and kindness. This makes the work very comfortable. Last week I had a touching moment: I learned how to feed the people who cannot eat alone, so I go every workday to feed lunch and two times a week dinner. Usually I feed the same person, when I have the time, then I take someone else too. Well one evening I go to feed dinner as usual, my poor lady swallows very hard, that day she had a lot of trouble eating, but I never make her hurry. I always blow a little air on the food, so it’s not hot, and then give her in small pieces. Sometimes she falls asleep between two spoons of food, so I really need the patience with her. When she finally finished eating, the lady used all her power to pull her hand under the blanket and held my hand and touched my face. She doesn’t even have the energy to speak, this is the only way she can express herself. Well I was so surprised, because I didn’t know from her look if she likes me at all or if I’m doing the feeding all right, but from this, I knew that she is very grateful. For these moments it is worth doing this whole service. Another nice moment was when a lady told me that I’m an angel fallen to the Earth from the skies.

My tasks for the mornings arw quite simple. Three times a week I make the beds. Don’t imagine it like how we do it at home. Once, the italians make the beds differently than us, on the other hand, we have to make the beds for people with special needs. First comes the sterile sheet, then the two versions of traversa, that I don’t know what is it called in English but it is for if they pee in the bed, the whole stuff doesn’t become dirty, after this comes the normal sheet as a blanket, but have to tuck it very precisily, after this comes the warm blanket, then the cover, pj, pillows, pull up the fence, bedsheet to arrange, optionally comes another traversa or blanket and tadaaa, it’s done! Have to make 40 of this every day. I’m okey with this task, because first, I have no problem with monotone work, second, it’s good for my OCD, third, as an introvert, I’m not getting exhausted of talking to many people. Twice a week I help to clean up the leftovers of the breakfast, I have to collect the dishes on two floors and take it to the kitchen. Of course there is always at least one person who finishes eating after I left, but that’s it. Afternoons, as I said, I take the folks outside or go feed, or I participate in a community program with them. So it is quite easy to go, for me no stress, good because there is a feedback right away, and I love it, because I can help people who are in desperate need. My collegues are nice and cool, I can’t have a bad word about any of them, also our boss respects and loves us. The whole job and placement has some kind of consistency, that is also very good. Our work shift doesn’t change, except if someone is on vacation, we have to get done the others work but it doesn’t burns me down.

Few more words about the institute. Once, it is incredibly clean. But it is so clean, that we could eat from the floor. I’m being serious, it’s unbelievable. (Maybe you can see it a bit on the pictures.) The whole institute has a very friendly, cozy, welcoming feeling. It’s a place where it’s a happyness to enter. The furniture, the fine pastel colored walls are all part of this. The whole thing of course would be empty without the attitude, the cast of mind of the collegues here. They make this institute to what it is. Money talks but… clearly it is not a coicidence that this is the highest level Elderly Home in Italy.

So how do I feel here?
From above you can think I’m fine. Very good at the workplace. As long I work, everything is ok. But not a single day passes without thinking of my previous placement, Scicli, the Casa. It’s funny how human brain works and trolls us. Many times I just have flashbacks, so many scenes are playing front of me. Let me make a list, may someone will be happy for it: I see Mauro with his smile front of me, as we work in the kitchen and making jokes. I see the girls front of me as they dance and sing. I hear in my ears the boys shouting while eating. I see the others entering for the morning coffee and (for me) speaking very fast about the days cases. I see Piero with his smiling eyes and all-time helpfulness. I remember Concetta and our good talks about the world stuff. I recall the italian lessons, and the good laughs with Ivana, who had great battles teaching some italian for us. I see Erica front of me in the door of the Casa, who asked me on a random day „You go away? (Vai via?) and I said yes, hugged her, and left… I remember you, Beni, Nora, Hanna, Lisa, Grace and Adaw, and that we never again go to 97 and don’t cook together. It’s been fun nights. But the sicilian wine… man, I don’t miss that! :D