A Summer University has two sides, two views: participants and Local Organizers…
I was ready to meet new people, visit new places and experience all sort of things. Not knowing anything about AEGEE, I started looking for options. After an hour of google-ing I stumbled across AEGEE. And my oh my, did I hit the jackpot! Eighty Summer Universities to choose from in every European country you can think of. But, for me, there was only one choice. Italy, la bella Italia. I applied for three Summer Universities, all in Italy. That’s how serious my addiction is. I expected to experience the culture, the Italian food, the weather and the history. My summer turned out to be much more than just that.
Italy was the background to a much bigger event. The participants from Turkey, Russia, Finland and Spain, to name just a few, were the true focal point of the event. To learn about making Spanish Calimocho (wine mixed with coke and sugar) or being jealous about the warm school lunches students get in several countries while at university, makes it more than a group of people gathering to drink, laugh and see things. I never expected to bond so tightly with group at the end of the Summer University. I feel like I have made friends across Europe where I’m always welcome and that feeling is entirely mutual!
The “army” of organizers were always happy, excited and a great addition to experiencing the Italian culture. Without them, the concept of Italian time (five “Italian minutes” is the equivalent to sixty “non-Italian minutes”), the porchetta-sandwiches and the hidden gems of Italy would have stayed a mystery to me. My thanks to all of you!
Another special place is reserved for the (in)famous Gossip Box. This super classy cardboard box with a hole where anybody can put in gossips, who-kissed-who’s, jokes and dating tips was the entertainment during the trips from the HQ (gym, camping, hostel, you name it) to the activities. At first, I was skeptical about it. I mean, what’s so much fun about gossiping? So, the first few nights I, possibly under the influence of a few drinks, put in some bad jokes… Not so successful. But as the parties grew wilder and the people grew closer, the gossip machine started to become the center of our attention. The amount of jokes, rumors, and vague hints grew bigger by the day. Great feature and a guarantee for roars of laughter, shock or disbelief!
Then – Italy. This Summer University takes you to see Places with a capital P. It makes me jealous of the Italian people to have the Amalfi Coast amongst others so nearby. Eating pizza in Naples, drinking limoncello during the European Night at the beach just dimly lit by candlelight and the stunning and breathtaking views of Capri are worth the trip alone. Combine this country, the great places and the fantastic people (participants as well as organizers) and you have a recipe for success. This Summer University would be a tough act to follow! The title (Non Solo Sole – The Never-Ending Story) couldn’t be more appropriate. It’s a never-ending story, for it is engraved in my memory for eternity and I have no problem with that whatsoever. Ciao Italia and to the great participants we’ll meet again!
Dennis van Leeuwen (AEGEE-Leiden)- Participant
Blurred feelings, fifteen days in front of you. Too many names to remember and you wonder if you will remember all of them in the end. The end of something, that I bet, none of us can perfectly explain. What happened? I can see your smiles, I can also feel your fears on the first day and also the second, the fear of not being accepted in something really weird . Once I read that everyone is a freak and if life is a freak show, well Summer University is definitely a hole filled by freaks, it’s a hole where anything has the possibility to happen. It’s useless to make a list of all the things that could or could not happen in that colorful hole. Organizers and participants, fifteen days that slowly fade away. Slow motion of faces, fast movements of arms that take other arms, hugging each other for any possible reason. Everything is exaggerated, you live in a bubble that could blow up at any moment, but unexpectedly, everything stays in its right place, in balance between love and an unwritten future, in balance between more than ten countries, more than ten different cultures, in balance between fifty people all of them with different eyes, different iris that have seen millions of things before coming to Italy, and now, those things are mixed with our culture: this is our power, a tiny little thing that can change each world we are living in. Sometimes people ask us what AEGEE is, what this Summer University project is, and we cannot answer, we are not able to give a real answer to this question, I am thinking about it, I am thinking about the fact that maybe this kind of questions is inappropriate, you should live it with eyes wide open, it is like what happens with love, you cannot explain it, you should just feel it, and if you can explain your heart’s beating, that’s not love. “Non Solo Sole-The never-ending story” in Salerno… The name is quite long, fifteen days, instead, are not that long. Each day just hides itself in another; and time, yes, the time is almost like you live just one big, great day made up of billions of hours, billions of feelings. It’s like you live on a merry-go-round for 24 hours and suddenly, after 2 hours of ups and downs, you can’t just focus your attention on one real thing, your eyes are full of little sweet tears, your arms are able just to hold a puppy, your heart is liquefied and inside of it there is sugar, almonds and dozens of memories mixed with that blurred feelings. Summer University is pure love, pure sugar, pure purity. Now, take your luggage, fill it with your clothes, freedom and your best smile, and then take everything off, you need nothing, just land somewhere in our arms and lose yourself.
Bianca Savo (AEGEE-Salerno) – Organizer