A challenge!
Living in CICD is a very interesting challenge. Every day we have to live with many people with different ways of thinking, different cultures and different opinions. Here I learn a lot about respecting the space of the other, being flexible and accepting the differences of each one. Time management is not always easy because time flies here. We are always busy with Gaia tasks, with classes or with the rota (cooking, baking, dishwashing....).
All this it is also a personal and intimate discovery about learning to face our fears and insecurities. I love the whole experience, but it's not always easy and that's why I chose the word challenge.
Cristiana Garrido
Travelling in CICD
I’m Celia and I arrived to CICD in November of last year. Until today I’ve been doing my Gaia programme, collaborating with the school for being able to start my programme and going to India. This is actually happening in some weeks.
My Gaia period it’s one of the most intense periods of my life. Here, you have many responsibilities and many ideas that should be managed in the little time that we have.
Collaborating in the clothes collection for the College I’ve transformed into a much better driver than I was when I arrived here. I’ve learned how to use many tools which were unknown for me and to make a lot of things for myself. Before, I used to ask for a professional to, for example, repair my bike, my car or my kitchen, but now I know that working as a team and combining the knowledge and experience of many people you can have unexpected results.
It’s while living and doing things as a group that you find the best and the most difficult things here. Living the Gaia period in a community like this gives you the opportunity to share many different points of view and ways of life in a small space. It gives you the opportunity of feeling the days as months and to travel around the world while you are seated chatting around a fire.
This way of running a house so many people together made me understand words like respect and tolerance in a deeper way. The patience for making agreements with many people who have different, colourful and strong minds is essential, and mixed with the tiredness of the work and the English winter darkness has been all a challenge for me sometimes. However, the will of agreement and a peace in our common living has been always stronger than our individual minds.
Celia Lopes
My feelings in CICD
I came here exactly 20 days ago maybe for some people it seems a little time, but for me it is enough time to be sure that I didn´t make a mistake coming here.
I felt really love for this place since the first moment I arrived because it is all green,very big, everything is open, it is like living in the middle of the forest!! You can see nature everywhere!!!! For me to breathe fresh air from the window of my room is like a dream!!
We are many people living together. We are living in separate buildings and in rooms fully equipped.
We all share the house work and the responsabilities. Every week the rota is organised with the tasks. This is fair because everyone has to do something for our school and home, and then you can feel more a part of this. I really like how all together we run the school!!!
There are many tasks to do in running the school. Some are more physical and for others you need to to think and have patience. This is fine because we are learning a lot of different and new things everyday. I am glad for this. For example - we are from different places and it is nice because we can share our culture, food and of course our way to see the things.
The most difficult thing for me it is to find the time for being alone with myself, because here everything is very intensive and I am a very social person but every day I need my space too.
My biggest challenge I think it is learning better English. I need this, but here we are many Spanish people and it´s easy to speak Spanish with them.
I am very happy to be here. It has always been my dream to go to India as a volunteer, but I had never imagined being in a school of cooperation like this and I am so satisfied with my decision because I am sure it will be an experience that will make me grow in all aspects of my life.
I don't know which person I will be in the future, but for sure I won't be the same person who came here 20 days ago.
We need to remember that we are very lucky people for be here learning a lot of things!! We will never forget this experience so LET´S ENJOY IT ALL TOGETHER!!!!
Irene Sánchez
