Since last week we are feeling that the end of our time in Romania it is coming closer and closer. We already started to say goodbye to some of our Evs friends in Baia Mare. The time flies and we did not notice time passing by so quickly. Now, the final moments have arrived and we suddenly have to handle our time with care! The last month of this project is there, and we are now planning our last shared travels, the very last activities and the last great moments together. It was not always easy but we are ensured that all the up- and- downs made us stronger. We can also smell the upcoming adventures and this is also exciting; our motivation for activities is rising.

This week we had special guests in our flat. The Jonathan’s parents honoured us with a visit. Cecilia and her sous-chef Angelika grasped the opportunity to prove their cooking skills. Sunday was pizza day! The making of the pizza was of course only possible with a secret recipe from Cecilia’s family. Delicious again! The result was a very cosy evening and long conversations on volunteering and being a youngster in nowadays Romania. The next day, the van Varik family and Angelika went to ski in Suior. The skiing was considered an unique opportunity by the Dutch visitors. The traveller did come, after all, come from a country without mountains and may not get the opportunity to ski in a long time to come!

In the schools, the last few days have been dedicated to Europe and the European Union. We challenged the children with a Quiz and our “Missions Impossible” list of activities. The kids had a lot of fun and we even more so! Handling the youngsters does not pose a problem anymore and bridging the language gap it is becoming easier and easier.  As a team, everything from preparing and planning to doing activities and working with children has become fluent and natural. We also spent multiple hours filming scenes for our final video and writing pages for the ebook. Both will be revealed in a few weeks.

Knowing that all our current activities  will be among our last, we are filled with nostalgia and are definitely not looking forward to leaving this place. During the next ten days we will make the final big travel around Romania and Ukraine. Because of that next week will not feature a blog. But do not worry, we will not forget the readers! We will update you afterwards. We are sure that we will have tonnes of adventures to share.

How to survive visiting parents:

• Invite them in your place to eat pizza.
• Present skiing opportunities (and reap the rewards).
• Surprise them with your superior insider-knowledge.
• Pretend to speak fluently Romanian.
• Enjoy the moments you share together; both with friends and with family.