As part of our European\nSolidarity Corps program we were invited to the On-Arrival Training\nfrom the national Agency of Greece in the beginning of October.\nTogether with the other new volunteers from all the different\nprojects around Greece we were accommodated in \u201cThe Ranch\u201d. \u201cThe\nRanch\u201d is like the name says an oldwestern village located in\nCorinth on the Peloponnese near the little village Sofiko. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For us this meant to take\nthe ferry from Chios to Athens on friday evening. After a more or\nless comfortable night we arrived there with the beautiful sunrise in\nthe morning. With the whole day ahead of us we decided to discover\nthe city of Athens a bit. Our first stop was of course the stunning \nAcropolis. From there we moved on to Syntagna square where we were\nlucky enough to came in perfect time to see the traditional change of\nguards. Next to the Syntaga square is the national garden of Athens\nwhich was a great place to enjoy a restful break in shade. Filled\nwith new energy we made our way to the best Loukoumades store in\nwhole Greece (as Jason promised us) called \u201cKrinos\u201d. Because we\nstill had some time left we also visited the \u201cMuseum of the City of\nAthens\u201d to learn more about the capital and it`s history. But after\nthis it was time to meet the others at Metaxourgio metro station from\nwhere we were driven to \u201cThe Ranch\u201d by bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Ranch\u201d is\nsomething pretty extraordinary. It`s not only the whole western vibe\nbut also the beautiful nature of the place which makes it so special.\nIn the five days we spent there we got to know the 21 other\nvolunteers and their projects. Through different workshops we learnt\nabout Erasmus+ in general and our European Solidarity Corps program.\nThe seminar also informed us how to write our own projects and gave\nus the opportunity to develop and express our ideas. During the whole\nseminar we talked and discussed a lot about what we are doing in the\nmoment and what we want to do in the future. It was also the\natmosphere of \u201cThe Ranch\u201d which made it so easy to exchange\npersonal thoughts and ideas with other volunteers. So in the end we\nleft the seminar with new friends and even more motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because our farry back to\nChios was only in the evening of Thursday we had another day in\nAthens. This time we started with the \u201cNational Archeological\nMuseum\u201d which exhibits the stunning \u201cMask of Agamemnon\u201d and the\nfamous \u201cStatue of Zeus or Poseidon\u201d to mention only two of its\nartifacts. After this really good visit we walked to the Plaka of\nAthens which is the oldtown of Athens next to the Acropolis. The rest\nof the day we just wandered through the streets of the Plaka and also\nviewed the impressive \u201cTemple of Olympian Zeus\u201d. Exhausted but\nhappy we then took the ferry back to Chios. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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