So here I am. After a cancelled flight and a long queue at the airport counter, and with my luggage full of warm stuff (after all Winter is not so far), I touch the Belgian ground for the first time in my life. They say there's always a first time for everything, so let it be this one. But Brussels airport is not my final destination: for I'm immediately heading to Antwerp, some 30 kilometers towards The Netherlands. Sitting on the comfortable express bus my brain starts to get acquainted with a completely new language, and soon realizes it can't catch a word of it. Good start. This simple statement is followed by a simple but logical question: what the hell am I doing here?
It feels like I'm about to cross a boundary, and a totally new experience is just round the corner, and of course it's not only about the job: spending some weeks at Designers against AIDS means also getting a feel of a new culture, a new place, new (hopefully yummy) food. But first what makes me so excited about this project is the chance to work with a no-profit organization that aims at raising HIV/AIDS awareness among youngsters. Is it because I myself know so little about this world phenomenon? Or rather because at a first glance I like Ninette's (DAA founder) way of seeing things? Somehow idealistic and concrete at the same time...Or maybe it's one and the other and much more. Now the very important thing is that I'm here and wish to give my contribution to a great idea. I really do hope that this will be a reciprocal exchange, as I expect to learn a lot from my experience at DAA, but first time has to pass and rain has to fall...

So finally let's do things in the "proper" way:

Hello everybody! My name is Gianluca and I'm officially the new DAA intern! :-)

p.s.: by posting a pic of mine I had to sacrifice myself, but I'm sure it's for the good cause...

p.p.s.: and yes, you can read what's written on the t-shirt, although the pic was taken in front of a mirror. How's that possible?