Hi, I’m Gabriele. I’m from Italy and I'm 23. I graduated last April in Modern Literature, and I tend to say “yes” to experiences that take me to countries whose names, a week earlier, I could barely pronounce correctly.

After a 10-month Erasmus in Spain, another semester in South Korea, some time in Denmark, and a CV that reads like a chain reaction of yeses, I decided that the most logical next step was… volunteering in Bulgaria.

People keep asking me: why?
My answer is always: why not? (And because staying still for too long makes me more uncomfortable than a 6 a.m. low-cost flight, but that’s a minor detail.)

Before leaving, I was the perfect combination of excitement and that quiet internal panic that says, “Okay, but what exactly am I doing?” By now, though, I’ve learned that if something scares me just enough, it’s probably pointing in the right direction.

Arriving in Blagoevgrad felt almost cinematic: night, fog, mountains surrounding the city, different air, a language that sounds like a continuous tongue twister. My first thought was simple: “Alright. This is definitely not Sicily.”

What surprised me most was the calm. After living in places where everything is fast, bright, hyper-organized, where efficiency feels like a philosophy of life, the rhythm here feels more human. Different, yes. Less interesting? Not at all.

I expected something completely unfamiliar. Instead, I found a place that watches you for a moment, perhaps longer than a moment, and then slowly lets you in.

In the first few days, I started working with the team at ABS, taking part in orientation sessions, event planning, and supporting the events themselves. After years of attending Erasmus events, it feels strange, and unexpectedly satisfying, to stand on the other side of the process.

One small but memorable moment happened during one of the first events, when I realized I was explaining logistics to students who looked exactly like I used to look during my first Erasmus. There was a brief second of mental confusion: “Wait… when did I switch sides?” It was strangely funny, and also a reminder of how fast roles can change.

What have I appreciated most so far? The conversations with the other volunteers. There’s always a moment when you realize you’re all there for roughly the same reason: to grow, to understand, to contribute.

I’m beginning to notice small cultural details: the way people greet each other, the pace of the day, the value of pauses. Adapting isn’t new to me. Between Sicily, Tuscany, Spain, South Korea, and Denmark, I’ve collected quite a few invisible rulebooks, but every place has its own unwritten logic. The key is to observe before you interpret.

Food deserves its own paragraph: banitsa? Shopska salad? The verdict so far is extremely positive.

What stands out is the sense of community and the atmosphere of the city, university-centered, yet relaxed. Interactions with locals have felt genuine. Even when language becomes a barrier, smiles remain remarkably effective. Traveling has taught me that communication is never just grammar.

I’ve already started picking up a few Bulgarian words, enough to survive small daily interactions and, to show effort. Even simple gestures, like understanding when to nod instead of over-explaining, become part of the adaptation process. The biggest adjustment hasn’t been practical, but internal: slowing down my own rhythm to align with the environment around me.

In the coming weeks, I want to step fully into the heart of the project, contribute in concrete ways, and bring some of my previous experience in event organization, youth work, and group management. Years as a soccer referee and volunteer have taught me more than one might assume.

Alongside the collective activities, I also plan to develop a personal project about social roles in everyday life. In every group, friends, classmates, colleagues, people often fall into certain roles: the funny one, the serious one, the responsible one, the quiet observer, the one who takes the lead. Most of the time, we don’t choose these roles consciously; we grow into them, and others start expecting us to behave accordingly. My goal is to explore how becoming aware of these structures can give us more freedom within them. Rather than trying to eliminate roles completely, I’m interested in understanding how to inhabit them consciously, how to manage them instead of being managed by them. Because sometimes growth doesn’t come from escaping a structure, but from learning how to move within it with intention.

A personal goal is to grow in my understanding of leadership, a human, non-hierarchical kind, and gain a deeper perspective on this part of Europe that we often overlook.

If I had to describe this first week in one expression, it would be: Productive disorientation.

A concept that describes a state in which the temporary loss of one’s usual reference points, routines, certainties, consolidated beliefs, becomes a catalyst for new ideas, innovative solutions, and greater creativity. Disorientation, instead of paralyzing you, interrupts your automatisms and forces you to reorganize your perspective.

For me, it means this: when you step outside the context you know, when your automatic coordinates disappear, you are compelled to observe more carefully, listen more attentively, and think less rigidly. Disorientation not as paralysis, but as possibility.

So thanks to the ABS team for the warm welcome, to the other volunteers for the first shared laughs, and to myself for continuing to choose paths that are not necessarily the easiest.

For future volunteers, if you’re about to arrive: don’t rush to understand everything immediately, leave some room to be surprised. That’s usually where the interesting part begins.

Connect with me:
Instagram: @gabriele_sutera
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielesutera

Disclaimer:This article is created by Gabriele Sutera Sardo - participant in the ESC Project 2025-1-BG01-ESC51-VTJ-000346370 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, co-funded by the Bulgarian National Agency of Erasmus+ Program Human Resource Development Centre.The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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