Arts Lab 6.0: Salma ElGendy - Month 4

This month flew by, probably because it included the very-much-needed two-week Christmas holiday. Right before the break, I believe we were all running on fumes after an intense period filled with events, tight deadlines, and a wave of sickness that seemed to hit everyone. Personally, I was completely drained and really needed the rest.

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The last week before the holiday was eventful to say the least. I got very sick and ended up in the emergency room and what I thought was a casual cold, turned out to be a throat infection, which explained the excruciating pain. I got an IV Fluid and Aerosol Mask treatment, after which I felt significantly better. That evening was quite funny tho, I’m not sure what they put in the IV Fluid but it made me unusually talkative, everything made me laugh and I just could NOT stop telling everyone about the cool bright yellow antibiotic pills that I got prescribed (which disappointingly turned out to be pastel yellow the next morning).

If we put aside the fact that I felt very sick before that, it was actually a pretty hilarious day not gonna lie 😂

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The next day we had the Iași Exhibition at Negru Cafe. I felt good enough to go but I only stayed half the day to not overexert myself when I was still so sick. We also got the residence permits that day, which was a very happy occasion because I could finally book my tickets to go visit my cousins!

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The last day we spent together before the holiday was nice. We had a meeting, then we got some snacks, watched some videos on our next museum, the Rroma, and then we had the Secret Santa reveal! 

I’d suspected who mine was and I was so happy that it turned out to be Cosmina. She’d been a perfect Secret Santa and her final gift on that day was an AMAZING custom-made hoodie that has “Milk Tea or Tea with Milk” and a bear printed on it and there simply could not have been a more perfect gift for the milk tea fanatic that is me :’) 

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Starting my holiday, I had a couple of days before my flight so I just spent them doing absolutely nothing 😌 Packing my backpack was quite the challenge, but thankfully I managed in the end.

The trip was a bit exhausting because I could only find a very early available bus to Bucharest so I arrived too early and had to wait 12 hours in the airport, but I kept myself occupied with calls to my mum, K-dramas, snacks, and even a nap.

I don’t think the experience of having no Passport Control to go through will ever be not fascinating to me after this. It was very surprising to just get through the Security Check then simply walk to the gate with nothing else in between 😂

Waiting at the gate, there was a coffee machine with people standing to buy different types of coffee, then getting Nesquik with milk to their kids if they had any. I was kids, kids was me. I got Nesquik with milk for myself too, only because I couldn’t find Milk Tea, obviously.

The lack of Passport Control on the other side was just as fascinating. 

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I had a really great time with my cousins and it was nice to just be on a break and not think about anything else. We did a lot of things and visited many places and it still felt surreal every time I turned around and saw them with me.

The only downside to the trip was that I slipped on glassy ice and hurt my elbow. BUT, the upside to that was that I changed my flight to a later one and got to spend a couple extra days with them.

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After returning, I still had two more days of holiday, which I also spent doing, well, almost nothing, just relaxing, recovering from travelling, and doing my laundry.

We re-started on the 6th with one of them looong meetings we’re used to. Discussed upcoming events and planned for what’s next.

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Sona’s mum coming here was a highlight! I think it made us all feel more at home. She was the loveliest person ever, and the food she cooked on the Armenian Night was just chef’s kiss. I think we all wanted her to stay longer :’)

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Our current focus is the Rroma Museum. I’d be lying if I said that I did not feel disheartened by the fact that my arm injury means I cannot work with clay. It had been the museum I was most excited about and I had a whole idea and plan mapped out for it but it was all gone in a moment. However, I’m trying to see this as an opportunity to expand my medium and explore a new method of expressing myself– perhaps I can discover something I never knew I was capable of.

My personal artwork this time is brochures for the exhibition. Even though digital art is probably my least favorite form to use and I always feel like I can’t get as good ideas in it as when I think in clay, I decided to approach it with an open mind and try my best to create a great artwork. I am almost done and I have to be honest, I’m getting excited to see them printed and hold them in my hands. I hope everybody likes them too and the visitors find them interesting and informative.

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We visited the school we’re collaborating with for this museum a few days ago and honestly, I feel like this is the most welcomed we’ve felt in a school and seen interest from the students, so it was a positive visit and I’m looking forward to what we’ll do together. I genuinely hope they enjoy our workshops and can’t wait to create amazing artworks together.

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The next big thing at the end of this week is that we’re travelling to Bucharest for the Mid-Term training. I’m actually excited about it, I hope it turns out fun and not as boring as the On-Arrival 👀

I think the trip itself will be fun too, since we’ll all be taking the train together and it’s a long way. We also get some free days afterwards to explore if we want and that’s a nice bonus. I haven’t decided yet what I’ll do after the training, but even if I don’t go anywhere, it’s nice to have extra time to just relax, especially since we’ll be continuing the residency after we return as well.

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It seems like the remaining months will go faster than those that have already passed and in no time, we’ll find ourselves at the end of the project. I feel like I’ve been thinking about that a lot recently and it’s making me wonder how things will be and how the final version of myself will look like at the end of this project. I hope I manage to make the most out of the remaining months and to keep stepping out of my comfort zone to learn as many skills and experience as many new things as possible before this project comes to a close.

Four months down. Three more to go.

Report written by Salma ElGendy, she's from Egypt and she's one of the 14 volunteers participating in Arts Lab 6.0, a project co-funded by the European Union through the European Solidarity Corps program.