My name is Xavier Puig, I am 26 years old and almost a week ago I returned from living my “Polish dream”. I use quotation marks because people say that dreams are something that one has always wanted to do and experience, but no, that is not my case. I use the word knowing that leaving from Spain had never been my dream, but it has been something so beautiful and, like a mirage, fast and strange, as if one were not aware of everything that has lived, that I can not find another word than “dream”.
And I had never thought of leaving my comfort zone for a while. I have always been in Sabadell, my hometown, with my friends, family, etc. As a historian, when the opportunity arose to live near Auschwitz, which I am passionate about, but which I saw as an idealized and distant destination, I had to think about it and rethink it. But yes, finally yes. Fear invaded me, but it was time to be brave and take the opportunity that was given to me, and so I did; and could never have chosen better.
I remember the day we arrived at Wola, a small town in Silesia – in the southwestern part of Poland – inhabited by 8,000 people and many wild animals. I also remember my first day of internship work in Pszczyna, known as the Vienna of Silesia for its cobblestone streets and the influence of Germanic architecture throughout the otherwise beautiful city. There I have developed different tasks for 3 months, although my main task was to control the well-being of the rooms I supervised. Although at first everything was a bit dizzying, especially with my co-workers, the vast majority of whom did not speak English, they immediately made me feel comfortable with the situations that arose, always laughing, always learning. However, with a little initiative and good work with my colleagues, I was able to carry out different tasks related to History, what I am really a specialist in. Also very related to German, a language that I love and that, today, I continue to study and learn. And I am grateful that I enjoyed it.
In conclusion, I can only have good words towards the experience that has made me grow the most in my life, and I consider that the latter have not been few. For three months I have learned to live with myself; to discover what I know about how to live alone, and that this did not mean that I was alone, because you are making friends and acquaintances throughout the town, very special people with whom you would go to the end of the world; that human beings, despite not speaking the same language, can understand each other, we just need a little will and desire, and that knowledge will come later. It always comes later.
In short, I have learned that I found my dream in the place I least expected.