I am 99, 99 % sure that instead of reading the title of this article you were singing it in your head. Just as you cannot get «Somebody that I used to know» out of your head, participants of the most awesome Summer University (SU) by AEGEE-Salerno cannot get the SU memories out of their hearts. And frankly, they do not want to. Because sometimes memories can make our day better, can’t they?
For example, when you are woken up by the alarm clock or the cat in the morning and you are giving yourself a few minutes to collect your thoughts and think about the upcoming day, memories take you to back the end of July, when an unforgettable SU started. It was morning in a nice youth hostel and participants had the best alarm clock ever – the charming voice of Stefano Corvino, president of AEGEE-Salerno at that time. When he walked in the room with a small guitar in his hands you thought it was a dream in which you were woken up by a handsome Italian prince!
But it is time to wake up and face reality! You are doing everyday stuff – shower, «what am I going to wear» time, and while preparing your breakfast you start smiling, because just realised that you miss Italian breakfast with lots of coffee, toast with jam or Nutella and one hot dish in addition – juicy and provocative gossip about everyone from a special «Tichi-ti box». You miss everyone’s «after-party faces» and sparkle in their eyes saying «I know who you kissed last night». You also miss the tradition of watching best pictures from previous night taken by Benjamin Pavia, AEGEE-Valletta, who took billions of them! You miss that trekking to the top of the mountain, that could be exhausting, but with comments of Kabir Troisi, current vice-president of AEGEE-Salerno, it was really fun. Although the rhythm of the whole event was frantic, our organizers were vivacious and caring. I never saw them in a bad mood, they were always with us, smiling, having fun with us, trekking, cheering us up, discussing, answering all our questions and taking care of us. And by the way they were lucky to have such participants! For example, we had a personal doctor in our team, Sogdiana Ishankulova, AEGEE-Moskva, who saved my Ukrainian stomach, Dutch and Hungarian heads and Spanish arm.
Oops, you are a bit late for studying with all these memories getting in the way – at home time seems to run a bit faster than in Italy. Italian guys are never in a hurry; they are enjoying their life and living life like a minute has 180 seconds. In my opinion, they are upbeat and enthusiastic people, who can always help you although not many of them are good in English (therefore the Italian language course was really useful for us). On our ceramic workshop in beautiful Vietri sul Mare, small but expensive town near the sea, we had very nice and handsome teachers who showed us how to make and decorate plates. Public transport was never on time but as a true Ukrainian girl I got used to it. Furthermore we used it only once. Fortunately, for moving from camping to the gym and back to hostel we always had a comfortable bus and at nights our organizers took us to clubs by their own cars which was very nice of them.
From a window of your car or a public transport vehicle you can see city sights and you remember that some time ago you saw gorgeous and ancient Pompei, surroundings of amazing Paestrum, terrific Naples with its historical spots, tiny streets, incredible churches and small fountains which saved us so many times when we were dying under the hot Italian sun. Advertisements for «Bounty» chocolate bar suggest you to taste paradise but you have already been there – four fantastic days camping in the villa Marina di Camerota, best place to get a nice tan. It took only a few minutes to get to the clearest blue sea. And the cherry on top was night swimming under the full moon, after the hottest European night. Beyond all questions, it was better than «Bounty» can offer!
And now it is October and you are at the university, sitting in history class, trying to concentrate, but words like «castle» or «fortress» will immediately take you to the most amazing place you’ve ever partied at – a real ancient castle on top of the hill. It was only the second evening of our SU and everyone was looking down thinking «I cannot believe my eyes! Am I really here and not in a dream right now?» The atmosphere of that evening was totally amazing and romantic as organizers decorated the place with candles beforehand. Real band was playing for a while, we had our first Sangria and we were sure that it was going to be legendary! Our «small» group of more than 35 friendly and open-minded people enjoyed talking and dancing that night. The starting phrase «Hi, I am… from… and you?» was in the air and from the very beginning participants and organisers were always ready to discuss any topic, such as politics, education, relationships, movies and all the jazz. And we became closer everyday.
«Hmm, is it lunch time already?» You are at the cafeteria. Those pleasant memories took you away for a while again. Your best friend sees that pizza is meal of the day and asks you not to say that it is not real pizza, as it is not Italian. And yes, he knows that you have tried almost 40 tastes of the most delicious gelato (ice-cream) in the summer. And he remembers all the details of your cooking experience, when, along with the others, you prepared gnocchi, the traditional Italian dish. Your friend is lucky because you forgot to tell him about the grill party that you had with meat and sausages and the cheapest calimocho.
Truthfully though, you have to do sport a bit because after Italian dishes you might have some extra kilos, as every evening I felt as full as a tick (especially that wonderful night when we were trekking to a small village where local people prepared dinner for us. Sitting on the steps near an old church, eating delicious pasta and enjoying Italian girls’ dancing – what could be better?) And as you are entering a gym you start imagining how many people could live there. Oh, it is okay, after SU this happens to everyone. This experience of sharing a gym with 50 other people and all kinds of sounds will give you a huge scar.
On your way home after an ordinary day you watch the stars in the sky. Sometimes it is difficult to see them because of city lights, and maybe the brightest stars you have ever seen were in the sky on that special last night in Salerno; when all participants and organisers went to the beach, and we were sitting in a circle near bonfire and trying not to think that incredible adventure «Non solo sole 2012» is almost over. But even then there was no time to be sad, as participants had a surprise – a poem written by the talented Anna Stepankova, AEGEE- Brno and a contest for organisers from the creative Aljaz Gluhar, AEGEE-Nova Gorica-Gorizia, and other guys, to show that we were grateful for all what they have done for that 15 days!
You must admit that all these memories can make your ordinary day better! That is why SU by AEGEE-Salerno is one of the best and most popular SUs. Even after two months sitting in Kyiv with Carsten Bettac, AEGEE-Mannheim, who I met in SU, it was really hard to decide what the best day of the whole event was. All of them were totally awesome and for those who were with us this summer will agree that «Non solo sole 2012» is totally the SU where you should go!
Written by Anna Pykhtina, AEGEE-Kyiv
Thanks to Sogdiana Ishankulova, Viktor Asadulin and everyone for contributing with photos!
