If someone had told us our world would be confronted with a pandemic at the beginning of 2020, we would probably have replied with a shrug and disbelief.

No one would have ever guessed that within a short period communities from everywhere would be forced to adjust to major changes caused by the coronavirus outbreak – lockdown and travel restrictions, and social distancing among other things. We are currently going through very challenging times due to the COVID-19 epidemic. We are worried about our well-being, jobs, family, etc…

But instead of going through this turbulence with eyes wide shut, we can try to see what good we can extract from this difficult situation. And, again, it can all start with one simple question – ”What can I learn”?

Let us learn to unlearn and get reintroduced to our true selves so that we can walk out after the lockdown as a new person into a new world with new experiences and challenges.

Well me as a volunteer who is currently living in Spain, Malaga  I can sure tell you this lockdown was filled with challenging, horrifying, and happy moments. So instead of being sad, I decided to look on the brighter side of this quarantine such as the fact that I upgraded my cooking skills by cooking various kinds of meals such as traditional Macedonian food, desserts, some “new invented recipes” and they all tasted AMAZING or at least that’s what my roommates said.

Doing different kinds of DIY masks and beauty treatments or should I say, self-care.

Meditation, reading books, even playing chess with my roommates who were far better than me.

I was keeping contact with my family whom I miss the most, talking with friends because these are the things that keep you positive and that matter in these times.

The time was passing by really fast and after 45 days or so (I lost count) we started going to our nursing home where we volunteer to help them with the gardening work because unfortunately, we can’t be with our beloved elderlies for their own safety even though we miss doing crafts, singing, the smiles on their faces, the overall happy atmosphere we hope that soon we will be reunited.

All I can say was wow, the fact that I was outside in the garden covering all in mud made me realize how grateful should I be for the things that were surrounding me, such as the fresh air that I missed, the smell of the flowers, the 59988 cats that were walking around the garden, the people who we work with, etc..

Often we take things for granted we focus on the more materialistic things, we are always in the rush and never stopping just for a minute and just be GRATEFUL for our life and the simple yet important things surrounding it.

Now enough of my spiritual guru moments, I would also like to share with you the Wonderful makeover of the garden that we made together with the workers in the nursing home, unfortunately, I don’t have a before picture but 2 months and a lack of people maintaining it I leave it to your imagination.

We planted, tomatoes, peppers, carrots and so much more, we even have a drop by drop system so that watering the plants will be easier in the future.

So far I am feeling great and happy and just satisfied with everything, Malaga is now entering the phase 1  and the lockdown restrictions are getting ”softer”. Now I will finally be able to go by the harbor and enjoy the view and smell of the sea while waiting for better times.

I would like to thank my fellow volunteers/roommates for always keeping it positive and together

Our coordinator Inma who was always by our side helping us with whatever we needed and giving out unconditional support as always! The same goes for the director Christina and everybody from the Asilo, we are grateful for all the help and love that we are receiving.

So this was my overall experience in the quarantine as a volunteer in Malaga, Spain.

Until next time!

Galina Grkovic