(Some) endings and new beginnings?

As I’m writing this, I’m just at the Stansted airport, ready for a new adventure. The past nine months flew so quickly and this morning I left Cardiff full of emotions, mainly positive ones!

The MSc Food, Space and Society is a really unique programme because of its content focused on food security, food sustainability, and consumption. April and May were two really crazy months, assignment deadlines, working on different projects and eventually beginning to work on my dissertation. My research is on community gardens in Prague and I will explore their link to food sovereignty (ie. the people’s right to decide about their food systems). Community gardens are really cool places in the city – anyone can come (it depends on the type of garden though) and grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs. It’s also a communal space where residents can meet, share ideas, etc. Many gardens organize different community activities, eg. Community cooking, workshops, yoga. However, there are many views on the meaning of community gardens and some scholars see them as places of neoliberal co-optation, being used for services that the state fails to deliver. So I’m spending the summer in Prague, doing interviews with participants of different community gardens and then writing it all up. Unfortunately, because Master’s programmes in the UK are one year long, we have only two months to write the dissertation.

During the spring, I and other students from my course were asked by the head of the school to make suggestions for improving the school’s café. Currently the café does not serve freshly made coffee and food and it does not offer many healthy options. Basically, it is not a very attractive space where to go for lunch. To find out what students and the staff are interested in, we carried out a survey where we mainly looked at whether there is a demand for healthy and more sustainable food, including hot food options and having freshly made coffee. The results from the survey were positive in terms of our suggestions. At the moment, we are writing a report, summarizing results from the survey and giving some recommendations, that we will later present to the head of the school.

After submitting all assignments at the end of May, I went with my friends to discover another part of Wales, probably the most beautiful one – Snowdonia. There are beautiful beaches and mountains; just like from a fairy tale. We climbed Tryfan and it was probably the most difficult hike I’ve ever done in my life. There were no signed paths which would show you which way to go. The only clue was that somewhere in distance you saw people, so then you assumed that there’s a path that way. I was really scared at some moments, but we managed it and felt a sense of achievement after coming back down to our car.

And what does the future held? So in September I will submit my dissertation and then the doors of adventure will open in front of me. Last week I booked a flight ticket to Costa Rica. Visiting Central America has been my dream for many years, so finally I’m going there! I want to see another part of the world and enjoy some freedom before getting a 9 to 5 job. What am I going to do there?, you may ask. I want to volunteer at organic farms (ie. Woofing when you get food and accommodation in exchange of few hours of work per day), do a yoga teacher training and then start teaching yoga. I would also like to find some organization addressing issues of food security/food sustainability and work on some projects with them. I will see what opportunities are out there and where life takes me.

I wish you great summer and many adventures ahead!

 

smiley
Konce a nové začátky?
Konce a nové začátky?
Konce a nové začátky?

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