22 May 2025 Volunteering organisers meeting

Summary

Meeting Purpose

• Define the goals, structure, and focus of the Girona Buddies volunteering initiative.
• Create a clear plan to propose to others (like Tessa, Mary, Monica, Laura) for feedback.
• Choose initial organizations to partner with and outline next steps.

Key Goals Discussed

• Give back to the community.
• Improve the perception of expats among locals.
• Foster integration and connection.
• Choose projects that are low-barrier, consistent, and meaningful.

Main Topics & Decisions

1. Structure & Scope

• Limit scope early: focus mainly on Girona (not surrounding towns for now).
• Volunteer projects should align with Girona Buddies’ values (connect, promote, nurture).
• Aiming for 1+ event/month, e.g., cleanups if no formal opportunity is available.
• Avoid complex 1-to-1 arrangements due to safety/liability issues.

2. Initial Opportunities

• Brigades (river & park cleanups) identified as ideal: easy, accessible, already running.
• Consider helping the Brigades with publicity and event coordination.

3. Time Bank Collaboration

• Offers access to local (mainly Catalan) needs and requests.
• Consider a small pilot, like helping Pablo teach sewing or English.
• Needs careful framing and explanation—volunteering should be clear and low-friction.

4. Local Engagement & Perception

• Want to actively improve local perceptions of expats.
• Ideas include promoting language learning, respecting local norms, and helping local businesses.
• Surveying locals (via Time Bank or other channels) about their "pain points" could inform future actions.

= 5. Communication & Identity

• Group needs a name—something meaningful, accessible, and welcoming.
• T-shirts, badges, or logos could help with visibility and identity during activities.
• Consider a short cultural “primer” for expats to promote respectful behavior (e.g., greeting customs, queuing).

Next Steps

• Paul to create a list of name ideas using ChatGPT.
• Sheri to draft a survey for locals about expat perceptions (via Time Bank).
• Ruth to contact the Brigades WhatsApp group to arrange a first joint volunteering event.
• Yvonne to convert the guidelines doc into a Google Doc for collaborative editing.
• Plan to launch the first official volunteering effort in September, with prep work over summer.

Transcript

Kelly: [About AI transcriptions] ...using AI to summarise the meeting. It's not always like spot on, but it's like close enough. And then you can always then go back and like reference, like find like, okay, does this, does this like summary feel spot on? I thought the summary was pretty good though, from that meeting.

Paul: Yeah, I thought it was amazing. Yeah.

Kelly: This technology.

Sheri: I think it's amazing. I mean, just AI, period.

Kelly: So you sent the transcript to a, to...

Kelly: Yeah, you just like, yeah, use like ask, you can kind of upload something to ChatGPT and ask for a summary of it. And it spits out something that, and it can like ask, you know, do you want like a detailed summary? Like a medium summary? Like a super high, like, it's really, it's crazy. I love it. I know.

Sheri: I don't know how I've worked without AI in my life. Yeah. Now that I'm retired, it comes up.

Kelly: So we were doing a little kind of update, context update, because I think Ruth and Yvonne were at the last meeting that we had with Tessa, that we had over at the Center Civic.

Yvonne: Where I got my own gold.

Kelly: Yes. And so Sheri wasn't there. You [Paul] weren't there. But I think you've caught up, like we were sort of, I think that meeting was, I guess just sort of putting some ideas on the table. Kind of at a, almost structurally, like what the volunteering effort could look like. But I thought maybe we could start with, because I think we have a limited, it sounds like maybe we have an hour. An hour? Yeah. Because I have a doctor's appointment. I need to leave here around four.

Yvonne: Okay.

But I think that an hour should be enough.

Yvonne: What's our goal for the meeting?

Kelly: Yeah. Well, let's talk about that. I mean, I was thinking that one thing could be good is actually to talk about what the goal for the volunteering effort is. Like what does success look like or what do we, I mean there's sort of the obvious of giving back to the community. But I think that there could be other important things that we want the volunteering effort to accomplish. And then there were sort of three flavors, and I think the guideline document refers to this, of like the contours of the structure that we could take for a volunteering effort. So we can kind of talk about that. But to me, ideally coming out of this, we would have sort of a proposal, I guess, of what pretty tangible, what should be in scope, like which of the, not necessarily we want to go with these organizations, but what should the volunteering effort look like? Or focus. The focus. And like pretty clear proposed next steps. And the only reason I say proposed is I think it would be great to then feed that back to Tessa, Mary, Monica, Laura, like the people that aren't here. But with like enough clarity where they can actually react, like, because it's like very clear what we discussed and what we, at least in this room, agreed is the right path forward. And they can add to or say, hey, but wait, you didn't think about this. So that's, I guess, my thought about what we could try to accomplish today. Does that fit with what you were thinking?

Paul: Yeah, I think my idea was to just agree on how to manage the volunteering and what the steps to now to kind of start people volunteering, what opportunities there are. And yeah, that's pretty much what you said. Okay.

Kelly: Is there anything I left off?

Yvonne: No, I mean, unfortunately, my brain goes back to business. But I don't, I certainly don't want to encumber efforts. But more saying, oh, does this fit within this box, which it's a loose box, but still a box so that we are not everywhere all the time. And I think it can accommodate individual interests to organize as long as it fits, does it meet the whatever, connect, promote, and nurture, whatever that is, which almost anything would, would, and you can claim so. But then knowing that, you know, if you post something, and I think that's going to be the, well, not the hardest, but the most structured to put in, you know, who is it? What is it? Where is it? And who to contact?

Kelly: Yeah.

Yvonne: So you go, well, I'd like to volunteer, but I really want, I have a question. And so if you take on one or Tessa takes on one or I take on one, it's communicated well and it's responded to well. So it looks, at least it appears, that we're organized. Yeah. And I think that's, if anything, structure-wise, that could be, allow anybody to come in and say, oh, I know what I need to do. I have this goal. I want the, what were their names now? The bank. Oh, the bank.

Kelly: Yeah.

Yvonne: I put in that that would be difficult to fit in unless you're going to get their structure or work within their structure.

Kelly: Yeah.

Yvonne: And I'm not sure volunteers are ready to have interviews or get on board.

Kelly: Yeah.

Yvonne: So I was a little fuzzy about using that except, you know, say helping them promote something. Yeah. I feel like it fits in our structure of, you know, just tell us when, where, how, and who.

Kelly: Yeah. Because I think another, I agree with you. I feel like the, well... Let's put an end to that and come back to it and talk about, I think, the, maybe like what the goals are for...

Sheri: Should we start with your document [Yvonne]?

Paul: I thought it was a really good document. Did you use AI to help write what we were writing?

Yvonne: No.

Paul: You wrote it all yourself? I was really impressed. It's great.

Yvonne: It used to be my job. Kelly and I used AI. It used to be my job.

[8 minutes]

Kelly: I feel like the other thing, and I'm not sure if it, maybe it fits in, I mean Sheri and I have chatted a little bit about this because Sheri's background is communications, and I feel like the other thing that there's a real opportunity specifically to use the volunteer effort or have kind of sit alongside the volunteer effort is having it positively impact the perception that Native people in Girona have of the expat community. I mean, not that that's the primary goal, but it feels like there are all these, there's some negative perceptions that need to be seen to be contributing, and I think that really aids the perception of the community.

Sheri: Well, and brings it together, makes it more cohesive, and we want to be seen as part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Yvonne: And with the objectives, those are the ones that can change as we go, because that's maybe the first quarter, first year, second year, so that's a good one to definitely start with.

Kelly: Yeah.

Yvonne: And how you measure it would be more about that later.

Kelly: Yeah. Well, but I think it's, to me it's part of, part of this is as we think about who we pick, like what organizations we pick to support, are we getting vibes from those organizations that they want us to help, that they could be helpful in promoting, but making people aware of expats' involvement.

Yvonne: Right, right.

Kelly: So it almost then becomes something, for me at least, that kind of maybe it filters through, because if it's an organization that's like, yeah, if you guys show up, great, but if you don't, you know, if there's not some sort of, I guess enthusiasm and sort of willingness to meet us part way, to me it's less exciting to tee those opportunities up for people in the group to participate in. But you almost, you want, you want an organization that's a bit savvy about its kind of, their own PR strategy, and that we're part of that messaging. Am I getting, am I, am I like, I feel like I'm using, I'm operating without a communication to lessons.

Sheri: I got a little lost in that, but I understand you overall. Yeah, I understand you.

Yvonne: Yeah, and that's a good one to have that's measurable. Yeah.

Paul: Is there a list of volunteering organizations? Because I started making one on the volunteering page, on Guide to Girona, but there's not that many, there's the brigades, and they clean rivers and they go to different places every week.

Yvonne: That was the one that I thought of. Yeah, I thought that would be ideal. Yeah, which was what?

Paul: It's called the brigades, it's got a longer name officialy.

Kelly: Are they the ones that had the opportunity that Tessa posted, or was that a different?

Ruth: No.

Kelly: Okay.

Yvonne: Yeah, but the one before that that you didn't get out quite in time, it was the river cleanup.

Kelly: Yeah, yeah.

Ruth: Yeah, it was that one. Those guys are pretty easy to join up. I've gone with my son several times. It's easy, it's a friendly, you go and you just, you know, you get over it.

Paul: How do you find the next one that they're doing? Do you go on their Facebook group?

Ruth: I'm in their WhatsApp group.

Sheri: How often do they have it?

Ruth: I have it on silent, because it's another group.... They also do things outside of Girona as well.

Paul: It's every week, I think.

Ruth: Yeah. Beach cleanups, and things.

Paul: But if we could get the next one which is going to be in Girona, and then announce that to the volunteering group, and say "Who wants to put it as an event?" And put the details.

Yvonne: Yeah, and certainly, always coming back to, Girona Buddies volunteering group supports us, you know, so that we keep tying it back to, so it's not just another event, right? Does that make sense? Girona Buddies, because you have some great events, but they're all over, you know. If they see that the subgroup is promoting that through the meetup, then they'll say, oh, I want to find out more about the subgroup, and then maybe join. Not subgroup, the group. The volunteer group.

Sheri: I do think we should have a name, by the way. That's my communication background talking. And it should be something, it can be underneath the Girona Buddies, but it should be more about helping expats, or, I mean, I'm not even an expat, so, you know.

Kelly: Do you think there's like a Catalan, something in Catalan that we could...

Yvonne: Well, nobody would understand that if you're an expat.

Kelly: Well, I was just thinking, what was the...

Yvonne: No, you're right, but, but then the next question why we speak Catalan. Yeah. So, maybe, yeah. Mislead some of the volunteers.

Kelly: So you're saying, like, a subname?

Sheri: Some catchy name that people will start to identify with this group of expats that's working hard to integrate itself in the community and do good things. Whether that's cleaning up the river, or helping language learning, or...

Ruth: We also talked a little bit about that in the last meeting, a with cyclists, and maybe having something that people wear, or have on their bikes, to show that they comply and know the... Well, this is actually, like...

Sheri: The rules of... Yeah. If you don't have volunteers out there handing out new rules that the city has, then you have on the t-shirt with the name of the group, or you associated with, we're out here, because we're that group.

Yvonne: We're volunteers. Unite!

Sheri: But I do think it should be something that is wording-wise that makes the point that we are nurturing connections. But being local, or striving for...

Ruth: Something that works with maybe all the values.

Paul: I use ChatGPT when I need an idea for a name. This is what I always do.

Yvonne: Yeah.

Paul: When I don't need something with a name for something. Well, something with Girona Buddies, or something like that. Girona Buddies.

Should I just do that? If you give me, like, a couple of hours after this meeting, I'll give you a little list of names.

Sheri: Yeah, we need a name. We should have something.

Kelly: I know, and I think this is maybe the origin of this idea is Monica, or maybe it's you, but the idea of... You even take it as far as... as Monica's described, like, efforts that she's been a part of. And I guess she hasn't, Monica hasn't been to any of these yet, but she and her husband Cameron worked in the Foreign Service for the U.S., and so they, like, have been, like, traveled all over and constantly were moving to new places where they had to, like, integrate. So she said, like, she's been a part of something where, like, the people literally wore T-shirts when they're out doing their volunteering. So it kind of, again, like, helps connect it back to the group and the effort, and it reinforces it. It knew we're not there yet, but I liked that idea. I don't know.

Sheri: It's down the road. I mean, something. Yeah. A baseball cap or whatever.

Yeah. Yeah.

Paul: Sure. What kind of volunteering things did they do when they were...?

Kelly: Oh, I think, like, there were things that were about, kind of, community beautification, like, cleanup efforts, like, maybe, like, painting. I mean, probably a pretty wide range. I mean, Monica started doing murals, like, painting murals on, like, metal security gates for businesses.

Ruth: I don't know if that was about me, is that right?

Kelly: Yes. Cameron was there. Yeah, Cameron was there. Yeah. So, and actually, we did a survey within the volunteering group, just a really short survey to see what people's interests were, and kind of community beautification and kind of cultural institutions or events were the two things that kind of floated to the top in terms of areas of interest for the group. So, I think to the extent that we can pick organizations that kind of align with those interests. I mean, I think the other great thing about, kind of, community beautification, like, whether it's, like, river cleanup or park cleanup or whatever, I mean, you don't really have to have any skills, special skills. It can be something where you show up and just... For a couple of hours. For a couple of hours. So, it's very low friction.

Yvonne: Yeah.

Kelly: But as we think about the organizations, like, it might be good to, like, also, if we had picked, you know, like, two, three, four. To me, the thing is, we should pick a limited number so we can properly support and get that frequency. Because if we spread ourselves too thin and we can't... Keep it up. Keep it up. It's kind of counterproductive for what I think we're trying to accomplish, which is to really show that we, as a community, can be there to support and participate in the broader regional community. So, I'm not sure what... So, we're trying to find those areas to... I think so. We should be finding some place that's excited about the possibility of us participating.

Yvonne: Of working with our students.

Kelly: Yeah. And Tessa expressed, like, I think she's excited to... She was excited by the meeting that you guys had at the Juninet. And I think she's excited to, when she's physically able to, to do more to kind of help go out. And if we need to have meetings with other organizations, she's happy, I think, happy to do that.

Ruth: Was that a Girona Buddies meeting?

Paul: There was a Girona Buddies meeting with someone from the council. One of the councillors frnom the council. And she, this councillor, has something to do with this thing called Girona Cuitat. Which is for old people. And then her assistant was there. And it was in a place called La Caixa. Which is a place for old people. I just walked past it every day, I had no idea what it was.

Ruth: MaryAnn had the last event that she did. We had the first one there.

Paul: Was that the Welcome to Girona thing?

Ruth: Yeah, we had that one. The first one we did, we had it in La Caixa.

Paul: Interesting. Yeah, it was. So, the guy who runs La Caixa came into the meeting. He was impressed with the fact that there's 700 people in the community. And he said, "Are all these 700 people, they all live in Girona?" And I said, "Yeah, they all live in Girona." But, I mean, probably half of them live outside or in other countries. But, like he said, we could have an office once a week there as well. But Tessa's got the contact. So I've got to get in touch with Tessa.

Ruth: Do you kind of have like a base point, maybe, that we could use this out?

Paul: He was really enthusiastic and said that this place is your home and you can feel at home. But Tessa's the only one with the contact.

Ruth: Could that be used for maybe a base for the new people coming to Girona and they want to find out information?

Yeah, for sure. Like what we were talking about.

Maybe not so much the volunteering side. Yeah. Where do I go?

Where can I get help on getting information about schools for kids? Yeah.

Paul: The only thing is it's not the most welcoming place because you can't enter if you don't work there. There's a security guard and you have to talk to him first and then he accompanies you in. So it's not an idea I would do. It's the kind of thing I'm thinking of doing a community centre.

Yvonne: Yeah, okay.

Paul: Because it would be more accessible.

Yvonne: Yeah, okay.

Paul: There's the Central Civic Barri Vell and there's another one as well.

Ruth: Which one?

Paul: Santa Eugenia.

Ruth: Yeah.

Paul: The guy that I work with, he says that many of the rooms will be used for free. So that would be good. Oh, there's something else I wanted to add. Because we were talking about goals. Maybe it would be a good goal to do at least one volunteering thing a month. And then if there's one month when we can't find an organisation to help or to work with, we could just say let's do a litter cleanup in a park. I passed a park a couple of weeks ago that had a bunch of litter in it and I thought this would be another thing that Yvonne would be interested in cleaning up.

Yvonne: Yes, you know what my husband calls me now? The butt queen. Because I bring home all those little cigarette butts or I pick up pigeons.

Paul: The butt queen. Interesting.

Yvonne: Someone saw you in the butt group. Good afternoon.

Sheri: Well, I think we're just kind of jumping around here. So one of these talking about being more selective about what kinds of organisations or things that we connect with. I mean, on here well-being of others, environment, animal welfare, cultural events and institutions. I was wondering, well maybe, I know we want to start limited I think. So, you know, maybe not animal welfare immediately. But I also thought it would be important to support native businesses, like maybe helping them to promote their business to us or to help them like with their website. And I didn't know if that would be like small business support. Yeah. And I don't know if those people, then I noticed that in your document, you know, we have these people kind of coming, qualifying themselves through an organisation. And I didn't know if maybe there is a business organisation that these companies would belong to that we could help support. So I'm throwing it out there more as an idea and thoughts about how I can be helpful and I don't know how to sort of plug that into our framework. In other words, helping someone with their English translation on a website that they're trying to attract or help them with their messaging to approach people like us and sell their goods and services.

So I would just throw that out as an idea. I'm not sure where that would fit in the current draft.

Kelly: Yeah.

Sheri: And do we need to tweak it for that kind of stuff or is that something we wait, do it down the road, you know, I'm open to whatever.

Kelly: I like that idea because I think that there's a group of people who have, that kind of taps into the skill set that we bring in a different way.

Yvonne: I would be excited to be part of something like that. And there has got to be a small business association around here.

Sheri: Yeah. Well, and I really feel like if we're trying to improve the perception that locals have, we need to sort of identify what their pain points are.

Yvonne: Sure.

Sheri: So, you know, we know they're frustrated with cyclists. We know they're, well, I don't know what else we know. We know they don't like Airbnbs.

Airbnbs. Yeah, I don't know what we do about that. So that would be helpful too.

I mean, I don't know, maybe Jerome Buddies, or maybe Time Bank could do a survey. I mean, I assume that Time Bank is all locals, you know. You mentioned that 20% of the people you think are probably Native Americans.

Paul: Yeah, that was an estimate. Yeah, yeah.

Sheri: Shot in the dark. But it would be helpful to kind of know what their pain points are to know how to, what organizations we can support that hit that. I assume that cleanup and beautification was sort of a no-brainer.

Yeah. In which to help them speak English, I think, you know. Yeah.

Paul: There's a thing about Time Bank, which probably not one of you know, actually. We only make Tesano because, Tesano, you know. So we signed up Jerome and Buddies to the Time Bank.

Right, right. As like an organization. And then we can log in to the Time Bank website and see all the requests that people are making on there.

And also the offers as well. And we can make requests and offers. But like, if you get a list of all the requests that people are making, it's mainly Catalans who have signed up.

Then that might give you an idea of what people want.

Sheri: What kinds, do you know what kinds of requests? I mean, is it like, someone put a light fixture in my house? Or is it I need help with what kinds of, I have no idea what's in the Time Bank.

Paul: Yeah.

Sheri: The kinds of inquiries.

Paul: When I get home, I can do like a screenshot or a PDF and send it.

Sheri: Are they in categories or buckets or anything?

Paul: It's just a long, long list. I've been sorted by date. And it's the most recent one first.

And the ones I remember are like, people want people to practice English with. I think we did suggest that to you.

Ruth: What was his name that came to mind? Oh, is it Pablo? Pablo.

Kelly: Pablo.

Ruth: Did we suggest that? Yeah, I made us an offer anyway. If he needed a teacher, if a teacher was sick and he needed a substitute.

Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because that would involve, yeah. James and Irina, maybe, I think the class that they were teaching, they were then going to be away. And we, after the fact, of course, said, oh, that's a bummer because we probably could have found somebody in the group that maybe could have substituted for them instead of having to cancel that. I think that's, to me, like, I have a whole kind of question about how we best engage with the time. Because it feels like such a great opportunity, but it's a little, it's different than just sort of the straight-up volunteering. And I think it requires some thought and planning to make the most of that opportunity. And not to say that we shouldn't, but I guess we have to figure out, do we want that, this group, is that in scope for this group? Do we want to sort of take that on and say, how do we make the most out of that opportunity? Because my perception, and maybe I'm wrong, is that for many of the people in the volunteering group now, they really wouldn't know how to engage or what it is or what to expect. I mean, I was even thinking, should we kind of do, like, a meet-up that is introducing the time bank, but then we have to figure out, well, how does it even work? What are we pitching here? Because it's, I think... I mean, it seems like something you consider.

Sheri: Yeah. And we know it's there. Yeah. And I was wondering if it would be useful from a research standpoint just to... Tap into that. Yeah. Research, you know, do a survey with their members to understand what... Yeah. Or, I don't know, maybe the tourism board knows, or I still don't know which one it is, but through the university, the tourist folks, maybe they have a... Yeah. ...to sort of survey people. But the time bank does seem different, and it's...

Kelly: Yeah.

Sheri: ...interesting, but...

Kelly: It's interesting because it's such a great way to get to engage, like, one-on-one with native people in Girona, but I feel like it needs... The opportunity needs some explanation, and so far the things that have worked, I feel like that worked well within the context of Girona Buddies is when you can, like, really communicate clearly, like, it's this, like, here's what we're doing, here's when, here's what you need to do, here's who you need to, here's how you participate, i.e. sign up, show up. Like, it's distilling it down to that level, and I feel like right now we're not... The two things don't... We don't have the time bank opportunities to tee up in that way for the Girona Buddies people to act on. Mm-hmm. And, like, so there's a lot of friction right now, probably friction and lack of understanding of even what the time bank is. How do we start? How do we...

Yvonne: Yeah. Because I know that, you know, I want to volunteer. I don't want to... Nobody has to owe me anything for it.

Sheri: Yeah, yeah.

Yvonne: You know, the time bank is...

Sheri: And it's a whole other thing.

Yvonne: Yeah. I don't speak for the law.

Sheri: Put a pin in it and do your thing until it makes sense.

Kelly: Yeah. Yeah. Or, you know, someone else can take on that, like, some other level. Yeah, sort of saying, like, oh, let's figure out how we help the Girona Buddies community, like, tap into and take advantage of and contribute to the time bank.

Paul: Mm-hmm. My potential with the time bank, because there was one day when I logged in and I saw a big long list of requests from people. And then I took a screenshot and posted it to the volunteering group and said, can anybody help with any of these things? And I got... Two people replied and there was one girl who said she could help someone with their English and a guy who could help give someone a massage because someone on the time bank wants a massage or something else. Learn about massage. So I don't know what's happening with that. I've sent these two people the details. Yeah. Because on the time bank, I'm sure you've got all the contact details as well. So it's pretty simple, right? You just copy the phone number, give it to the person who wants to do the volunteering, and then let them get in touch with the person who needs help. And then the other thing is, the way the time bank works is you get every hour you work, you get an hour back. So you can then use the hours that accumulate to get help from other people. And I don't know what...

Sheri: Of course, right as you're saying that, being an American, I'm like, oh my gosh, the liability involved. You know, Girona Buddies to be suggesting someone go, you know, do a massage or fix a light bulb. And then something goes wrong and it's like, whose fault is that? I mean, we didn't vet, did we vet the person who...

Yvonne: Yeah, that was one of my points on that. We wanted to get in that framework. Yeah.

Paul: It's like people meeting one-one-one, people meeting some strangers in their houses, to give a massage.

Kelly: But I wonder, because the other thing that Paolo was talking about was the idea that one of the ways that people contribute is by teaching classes if they have a skill. And maybe like that would be something where we could tee in, but that is not necessarily a volunteer offer. I mean, that's, I think, it's like you give something and get something back part of this that's a little tricky. I feel like it's just, there's a complexity to it. Not that we can't surmount it or like it's something that we could get past, but it feels like a little, the administrative effort of it is a bit greater maybe than some of what we're talking about where we identify a few organizations and it's a like show up and do something kind of opportunity and we can tee that up. And like it can also be the case that multiple buddies can come and do it. So it's not that you don't necessarily have the issues that you might have when you're providing, when you're doing something for somebody that you want more on a one-on-one basis. but I feel like there's something there with the time bank. I feel like it's just harder to parse it and figure out how to like make it match with what we've known to be successful so far with Girona Buddies, which is taking the friction out of the process of allowing people to show up and do language learning or show up and volunteer or show up and have drinks with and get to know new people. Yeah. I'm just not sure we're there yet to be able to really take full advantage of the time bank opportunity.

Yvonne: I agree that, you know, like identify that one section where it was Pablo is looking for three people to teach how to sew. You know, and probably that, where they can get in touch with Pablo.

Kelly: Yeah.

Yvonne: Being that, again, conduit between a need and a possibility.

Kelly: Yeah, so maybe it's like one, it's a slice of the time bank opportunities and not getting down to the level of they're like individual people that want individual things and trying to connect individuals.

Yvonne: Yeah, I don't even want, I wouldn't even, for liability's sake, I don't even want to do that within Girona Buddies themselves because who, you know, knows, comes in. If it's a non-profit, then it's worth it. Yeah. I mean, we've had a couple of people we've had to kick out just because, or it's just one person.

Paul: You're American, you're American. You're American.

Yvonne: Yeah.

Paul: Okay, so I don't think about these things. I know. I'm not American.

Sheri: We're all about the managing the risk and liability.

Yvonne: Oh, yeah.

Paul: Okay, that's good. There's people thinking about that. Yeah. I don't, that's something I don't think about.

Sheri: Okay. Good. We'll keep you safe.

Yvonne: Yeah, we've done a better job of that already, haven't we?

Paul: I think there was one, yeah, one guy we had to kick out because of misbehavior.

Yvonne: Yeah, yeah.

Paul: One drunk. And that was like, he was doing it in public places, so everybody. Yeah. Everybody could see. But there is that risk.

[38 minutes]

Sheri: Do you have a code of conduct?

Paul: Yeah, we do, yeah. There's one woman called Bea, who made me write a code of conduct. It's like one of those things. It's like, "Paul, you need is a code of conduct," and it's like okay. Just keep her happy. It's come in pretty useful, actually. Yeah. It's like, if someone breaks a rule, just send them a screenshot and say, this is a rule you broke.

Yvonne: Yeah.

Kelly: I'd rather do that. What if we could solicit the community for ideas about the specific organizations that they would like to have volunteer opportunities with? I don't know. I'm just trying to think of how do we get more engagement.

Ruth: I follow Som Sostra, that is the charity that helps with homeless people in Girona. And they said that they posted something that the Chilean community were cooking and providing meals that night for the homeless.

Sheri: Oh, nice.

Ruth: And I just took a screenshot and I thought that's something new there. I don't know how. Yeah. How does that work? How do you get involved? How do you become a group that then can help with that?

Kelly: Yeah.

Ruth: Because the homelessness has increased a lot.

Yvonne: And your thought of soliciting the groups for ideas on content, or organizations, as long as you ask, "And Do you have the contact?"

Kelly: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yvonne: Oh, I've heard of five different ones. I have absolutely no contacts, but they sound good.

Ruth: Yeah. It would be the contacts that would be asking for getting in touch with everybody.

Kelly: Yeah. I just thought maybe like that there could be somebody that – there could be ideas that maybe we haven't even thought of. Oh. I mean, that group has sort of been sitting – I mean, we had the meetup a few weeks ago. And there have been a few things teed up of needing to clean up like a park or the river cleanup. It would be good to kind of start...

Ruth: Start the ball rolling. Get involved, get hands on.

Ruth: Yeah. But the thing I will say is that kind of things start to slow down before the summer. Yeah.

And in the summer period, you know, associations, it might be a bit more difficult. Yeah. True.

Kelly: And what we could – Well, do you think we should wait and like aim to like kick something off more in September or does that feel too far away? I mean, I guess we could do a few more things before – because I agree with you, like August is totally dead and we might as well not be here.

Ruth: Or could we get the contacts and try and get something set up to start? Yeah. In September.

Sheri: And I would really advocate for trying to find a way to survey, again, locals, counties about their pain points and what they think.

Kelly: Their pain points specifically as it relates to the –

Sheri: The expat community. What is it that bothers you about the expat community? Are you for – I mean, ask them a survey. Do you have a negative or positive perception or don't know? And then sort of drill down and identify, well, there's, you know, more trash around. There's, you know, cyclists or – But what if there are too many of these people? And then that's what should funnel, I think, into what organizations you support to try to solve those problems.

Sheri: So that you're connecting the dots and it's really matters to them versus what we care about.

Kelly: Yeah. It's what they care about. That does feel like the kind of thing that we could ask Pablo to – if he could send something out to the Time Bank members.

Sheri: I mean, just to see what their profile is. You know, if he has a sense for age, you know, sex, how long they've been in the community. I mean, if he has any profile of those people.

Kelly: Yeah.

Paul: That's a good idea. I was thinking we could make a Google – what's it called? Google Form. And then post it in Girona Buddies. But your Girona buddies is like 80% foreigners.

Sheri: Exactly. It's not the right audience.

Paul: If you put it in the Time Bank WhatsApp group, because they have a WhatsApp group, and there's maybe 300 people in there.

Sheri: Yeah.

Paul: And then it's like 20% of them reply. Yeah. Yeah?

Sheri: Yeah. I love that idea.

Paul: Do you want to make a form?

Sheri: Sure. Yeah, absolutely.

Paul: Okay.

Sheri: And we'll translate it, I'm sure. Yeah. Well, Pablo can translate it. I mean, are you fluent in Catalan?

Paul: Well, ChatGPT can.

Sheri: Yeah, yeah. Although I would want someone else to look at it. But yeah, but I'll draft something. Yeah. I'd be happy to do that. And then I'll send it. Yeah. For input. I'd love input. I'm sure I won't get it right the first time. So, but I do think short, sweet, and identify what the...

Kelly: Yeah. And that's a great idea to tie back to the, to the pain points.

Ruth: For example, if they say, if the locals say, we really need another cyclist around, you know, how can we then turn that around to the common, to helping?

Sheri: Handing out the new regulations on the street. You know, getting to people out there that are cyclists. As cyclists go by, here are the new rules. Have you read them? I mean, you know, I see cyclists all the time. We know we're parts of cycle groups of people, I'm sure, who would be happy to take an hour and stand in Old Town, and as the cyclists are going down, handing out the regulations. Stopping them and saying, "You're supposed to walk by." In the places where it should be done. I mean, helping with enforcement.

Yvonne: And I like the idea too, you know, having to identify them. Sure, so we're not just some stranger coming up to you and, you're a bad person, you're someone else.

Sheri: Yeah, totally. Hey, I'm a part of an organization, I cycle too. It's really important, you know, we've got to improve our image with people who are not being great.

Ruth: On that side of it, maybe we should also be working on a name, as you suggested, a name that even we have badges or tags or something.

Sheri: Definitely.

Ruth: Or a very simple t-shirt that, you know, we get printed easily, that unifies us to work. That is just that area. Because that's definitely one of the points, I think, that we did.

Sheri: And I think it was a fiction. You know, again, it doesn't matter what I think. And how big of a problem it is. But if they perceive it as a problem, then it's a problem.

Ruth: Oh, yeah.

Sheri: You know, and certainly there is room for improvement.

Ruth: At the meeting in the university, there was the girl that was there from Age in Spain, was it? Is there any way we could get involved with setting up groups that could accompany maybe the older society, the older generation of expats that are here in Girona that maybe are feeling isolated or need help to, I don't know, go to the chemist, but still maybe don't have the language skills.

Paul: Age in Spain is an English speaking group. That's what I mean. So connecting older generation expats. what I was talking about was joining with the locals. But I'm just thinking of maybe another volunteer opportunity.

Sheri: You're just being nice. Yeah. Super helpful.

Ruth: Yeah.

Paul: There's this one woman who I was talking to about Age in Spain, and she was telling me there's five different ways you can volunteer.

Kelly: Oh, wow.

Paul: I forgot what they are, but one of them is that you can talk to someone once a week on the phone just to stop them from getting lonely.

Kelly: Yeah.

Paul: But there were four of them. I've got them written down on my laptop. But that would be an easy way to... And then Tessa was telling me a couple of weeks ago that Age in Spain ran out of funding, and they might not be able to carry on. But that's, yeah. But it might be good news for us because then you could fill a gap, which would be unfilled.

Sheri: Yeah. Well, and I think if we start with the survey, find out the needs, and then find the organizations, I mean, I think it'll, then you're setting up a framework for a committee to at least be able to say, yes, that fits, no, that doesn't fit, you know, good idea, but it's not really what we're trying to do here, you know. And then you can get to a point where you can help other expats when it's so successful, but, you know, starting out, maybe it's more targeted.

Ruth: Yeah. Well, I could contact the Brigade group, I mean, the WhatsApp group, and ask them would they be interested in a group of expats coming to help out on a regular basis.

Yeah. That would be great.

Paul: How did you get added to the WhatsApp group? I guess you just turn up and ask the guy who runs it if he can add you.

Ruth: I ended up on television myself. We went the second time, we went, we were down at the river behind the hospital, and TV3 were there, and they were, they came over and they recorded it, they were asking me, interviewing me, so I was speaking on the television.

Paul: Can you imagine everyone wearing Girona Buddies t-shirts? And then TV3 was there, and then oh man, the publicity from that.

Kelly: Oh, yeah.

Paul: Yeah, that would be really good. I think that the Brigades would be the perfect place to start, because it's something easy. I thought it was picking stuff out of rivers, and that you need to bring your boots, and you need to, but they actually, there's only one guy who picks stuff out of rivers, everyone else just picks it up...

Ruth: They do have gloves, and they give you bags to bring your own, but yeah. You don't need any special equipment, you're not getting knee-deep in rivers if you don't want to, and it's safe. And not always in Girona, but quite often in Girona, so you don't need to have a car if you want to do it.

Paul: I saw that on the last one they did, only three people went, but normally they get maybe ten people. Because their publicity is pretty bad, because I was looking on their Facebook to find out what the next one is, and I had no idea, and then the last one I did, they didn't publicize it, they didn't have any posts to say where it was.

Kelly: See if we can help them with that.

Paul: Yeah, I was thinking that.

Yvonne: No, I think that's a, yeah, support a group to make them grow, because they're going to stay here, and not everybody will stay with Girona Buddies.

Sheri: Can I ask you guys quickly what pain point ideas you might have?

Yvonne: Besides the cyclists?

Sheri: Yeah, besides cyclists, trash, or you know...

Paul: Language is one. Because Catalans are worried about their language being ruined by foreigners, and they would rather that we speak in Catalan.

Sheri: Anything else?

Kelly: Well, Girona, I mean, I guess... Girona is a real estate... Yeah, they have a real estate that prices up a lot.

Ruth: Yeah, and then things going up, like the cost of a coffee. Anyone else in the room?

Kelly: Local businesses closing, and like... I mean, I guess this is an offshoot of cycling, but things that are either tourist or cycling-focused opening in places of what used to be local businesses.

Paul: Erosion culture as well?

Yvonne: And I was thinking of how, when visiting Catalonia, how are you supposed to act? I mean, yes, you're being polite, but there are some... Don't try to say, how's it going to everybody, because they'll think you're crazy. Rather, you say, "bon dia". Or just a short list of how to behave. Culturally acceptable behavior, I don't know how to call it, but...

Sheri: Well, and maybe even, you know, the handful of, like you said, Catalan phrases, and ours is Spanish, but besides "merci" and "bon dia". But, you know, maybe as a rule, we should have more of those phrases.

Paul: It's a good point, because when I went to the doctor's clinic, the first time I had to go to a doctor's clinic alone, I walked in and everybody looked up at me, and I just sat down as I normally would back in England, just sit down, but everybody... I had a feeling that everyone thought I was rude. And then I figured out why, because I didn't say "bon dia" or "bona tarda". Because I realized that, because after that, everyone else who came in, they all, they said "bona tarda" to everyone, and everybody said "bona tarda" back to me.

Sheri: Was this a waiting room for the doctor?

Paul: Yeah, it was just the doctor's waiting room.

Sheri: Oh, interesting.

Paul: Because in England, you don't say hello to everybody. You don't want to disturb anyone, you just walk in and sit down.

Yeah, of course.

Paul: But here, it's rude.

Sheri: You don't do that? Yeah. In a waiting room, you do that?

Kelly: Yeah, like people won't know, you see people that walk in and...

Sheri: I figure they know each other.

Kelly: If you're starting your meal in a restaurant and somebody walks past you...

Ruth: A teenager walks past you?

Kelly: Yeah, I don't know. I think they think it's rude if you don't... Because if you make eye contact, and somebody's just gotten their food, I think they think it's rude to not acknowledge that and wish them a good meal.

Ruth: Or the queue system. It took me a while to work out that they don't queue up, maybe, so much. You go into the butchers, and you have to ask the whole room who is the last person to then know who you're behind. Then it doesn't matter where they stand in the shop, you just know that you're behind that person. But that was...

Kelly: That's another...

Sheri: Do you usually ask usually ask?

Ruth: Yes, "qui es l'ultim"

Sheri: You know, and... I just kind of watch and wait until I think everyone else has gone, and then I'm like...

Yvonne: A primer, I guess, is what I was looking for. Yeah. Expat primer.

Paul: That'd be good. Maybe it could be a website. Maybe... Guide to Girona.

Yvonne: You mean there isn't one? There isn't a integrating into Girona?

Kelly: No, but we're working on that.

Sheri: That was raised by the tourism people at the first... At the board meeting I went to. So, apparently, all of the information exists, but in a lot of different locations.

Oh, that's right. And so they need to pull it all together.

Paul: I think it's the events happening in Girona. This is not related to the volunteering in any way, but all the events happening are all in different places.

Sheri: Yeah, yeah.

Paul: And so we're working on it now. There was one guy who contacted me a couple of days ago, and he said the idea was to make a newsletter of all the events happening in Girona. And I don't think people read newsletters anymore, but it's a good idea.

Ruth: And the agenda of Girona?

Paul: It's missing a lot of stuff.

Ruth: What did you ask?

Ruth: Sorry, on the Girona website there is a diary, I suppose. A schedule.

Sheri: If I knew it was the Holy Grail, I would read it. I just can't figure out that there's a source of truth.

Kelly: It does feel very splintered. Places to figure out things.

Paul: Well, my girlfriend uses the Agenda website, and just yesterday she found something on there. It's like an event at a library, a free event where they were reading books. Which is great. But there's so much stuff that's happening in Girona that isn't on there. And I don't have a clue how to put the Girona Buddies events on there.

Ruth: I don't know how you would do that. I know MaryLynn got the fair that she did. So it would be a good to ask her.

Sheri: So is someone going to contact Pablo?

Kelly: That's true. She said couple. Yes.

I could do that.

Sheri: Ask him if it's... If we can... If he's a good...

Yeah, if he's okay to... If he thinks it's a good idea. Yeah.

Sheri: If his people would know members.

Kelly: Yeah.

Sheri: Members would...

Kelly: Yeah. I can reach out to him.

Sheri: I mean, that's a good way to get to individuals.

Kelly: Yeah. I feel like it's probably... It must be like a reasonably good cross-section. Certainly, like it's... It feels like the easiest population of natives to easily access.

Sheri: Right. So you'll ask about if we can do it, if he thinks it's a good... Maybe if he has a profile.

Kelly: Yeah.

Yvonne: Knowing that you have to leave, I think we've got a couple of things going for more information. I think we can still do the butt patrol as needed. Yeah? Tell me which park it is, and we'll... Yeah. We'll do it.

Paul: Is that official name for it now? The butt patrol?

Sheri: I think that's hilarious.

Ruth: But in the background, definitely maybe... I don't know. You guys in marketing or things like that, maybe reach out to anybody for a name or a logo or something.

Yvonne: Catchy. Catchy. Yeah. And let's promote the brigade. I mean, let's use that as the first... I'll try. Let me try to do that. That seems like a good one to do.

Kelly: Yeah.

Yvonne: Yeah, and then at least we've got something going. Yeah. Still.

Kelly: And something that's sort of like low... It doesn't require like specific skill. It's like showing up.

Yvonne: Right, right, right.

Kelly: Getting to be outside.

Ruth: Have a good one.

Yvonne: We'll send it to you!

Sheri: Well, and the only... The other question I had just with the document was just the city of Girona as far as the locale and adjacent communities, if it's really adjacent communities, we should probably just identify. I don't know what...

Yvonne: Well, I didn't identify them on purpose because there's roses out there on the meetup groups and the cycling is out of town, so I didn't want to say "within a five square mile".

Sheri: But maybe we should. Maybe it should start small.

Yvonne: Well, I think we can intentionally start small. I mean, just by saying we're going to start small and say we're going to do it there.

Kelly: We're going to keep it in Girona and then maybe if the brigade had something where they're going to do something in Selbra.

Yvonne: Right, right.

Kelly: Like we could float that balloon to the group and see... Yeah, exactly. Like basically don't promise anything to them, but a group like that that sort of...

Like if we already have an existing relationship and sort of test the waters of... If we did something, tried to do something in a community out near Girona but not in Girona, do we get any takers from the group that will go and do it?

Paul: I think limiting it to Girona, at least initially it's a good idea because that's where most people are and the group is there. You'd get the most response. Just like before, do you think everything should be bilingual? English and Catalan and then you'd have a bigger audience, more people being able to understand the messages. But the problem is putting everything in two languages becomes a lot of stuff to read.

Sheri: Well, that's what you have Google for. Well, and I don't think... that it's important that anything we put out to Catalans is in Catalan. But putting things in the Girona Buddies group, I mean, unless there are Catalans in the group that would be offended or that you think, then absolutely we should. But otherwise, until we're dealing with the Catalan audience, I wouldn't make it harder than it needs to be. And while ChatGPT is great or Google Translate, you still should have a native Catalan look at it doing something stupid.

Paul: We started getting Catalans joining, a lot of Catalans joining the last week, couple of weeks. I think one or two of them don't know, don't speak English, but they're in the groups. It's like 60% of Girona are Catalans. And if there's no... If this is the only volunteering WhatsApp group, like general volunteering, then it could become huge if it's bilingual or even just in Catalan. Or maybe if Girona Buddies gets really big, maybe then have just two volunteering groups.

Sheri: Well, and I think that's... I mean, it seems like a mission that we want. You know, under the volunteering piece, you could always have this organization that we're talking about, and then you could have another. Or maybe it morphs. I mean, you know. And, you know, it will grow organically. I mean...

Kelly: Yeah.

Yvonne: With a little help from our friends.

Sheri: Yeah. So if you can tease out any of those Catalan people that might be interested in taking the survey, that's always an option too. Even if we get five more or seven more opinions, you know, we always ask them when the time's right, when we have a survey or whatever.

Paul: Put it in a general chat, what is 500 people, and then it's like 20% of those are Catalans.

Sheri: Well, if you know a Catalan and want to share it with them, or trying to, you know, write something up that says we know, you know...

Paul: I can tell you a list of Catalan groups.

Kelly: Do you think the Catalans that are in the group are more likely to be, like, the spouse of somebody, like, of a non-native person? Like, is that... Do we have any... Do you have any sense of, like, what's attracting the Catalans that are joining the group? Who can't speak Catalan? Or what they're hoping to gain by joining?

Paul: Yeah, it's interesting. So, I think, so last, like, week, I put a video on the Girona Buddies Instagram of the Temps de Flors.

Sheri: Of what, I'm sorry?

Paul: Of the Temps de Flors. Oh, yeah, yeah. And then it was, then, like, we posted onto the Temps de Flors account. And then that's now the most popular post on the Girona Buddies again.

Paul: And it had a ton of Catalans coming to Girona Buddies because of that thing. Because they saw that Girona Buddies had this video.

Kelly: Okay.

Paul: And then, like, yesterday I had a Catalan, it was a Catalan meetup. And it's run by a Catalan woman called Keyt.

Kelly: Oh, yeah. I really want to come to that.

Paul: Yeah?

Kelly: Yeah. Now, it's just, the timing is tricky. I need to sort out my schedule. It seems great, though.

Paul: It's getting bigger as well, slowly. Like all the language practice meetups that we do, like, English one, Spanish one, Catalan one, it's the most successful thing, because it's just every week the same time, the same place, the same time.

Kelly: Well, we haven't talked about that today, but I feel like that's the other, I mean, I don't know if that goes towards how much that helps, kind of, the perceptions of the community. But, again, it feels like something that most of the community could, like, has the skill to do is to participate in, like, whether it's, like, a meetup for English learners. And there's other people that we know, like Lorraine is doing the, yeah, like, well, she's doing English on Wheels, which is, like, a program in, I think, like, that's been set up with one of the schools to help give, like, older kids the opportunity to practice.

Sheri: Oh, that's awesome.

Kelly: Catalan. So that feels like a whole other kind of area where Girona Buddies could really make a big impact is, and I think Mary brought up this, like, she's, like, she feels certain that there are, like, all these older Catalan women that have, like, taken English classes or are taking English classes and would love, like, a safe environment to be able to practice. Yeah, yeah.

And so I think she, like, feels like, wow, like, maybe, and I know Mary's participated in the meetup for people, I think, English learners. I don't know if she, she probably isn't now because I know she's traveling, but I think she has.

Paul: She did, yeah.

Kelly: She did.

Paul: She's one of the organizers. We have a secret hidden English meetup organizers group. It's like the volunteering organisers group.

Kelly: Yeah.

Paul: But the English one, it works really well because, like, every week or every month, like, people just say who can come and organize it that week. Then we have a list of people. And because that, like, hidden subgroup works really well, that's what I thought, that's why I think this volunteering organizers subgroup could work well as well.

But, yeah, I mean, I'm in a group of, it's a WhatsApp group made for Catalan middle-aged women because I just want, I just add myself to as many groups as I can. And then if I put in there that there's a free English meetup every week, then some of them might go.

Sheri: Yeah. Oh, and there would be great people to take the survey as well to find out what the reception is.

Paul: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know if they would let me post it because I don't say anything in there, just... You're lurking.

Just lurking, yeah.

Yvonne: Yeah, you're not a middle-aged Catalan woman unless I checked, so...

Sheri: Yeah, maybe I can join as a middle-aged... Try to help and ask them to take a survey. I mean, any way that we can get to locals would be great. I love that.

Paul: I'll try and get you invited somehow. It's called the Spartans.

Sheri: Okay, how did you discover it?

Paul: I asked this guy that I know who I was talking to about Girona Buddies, and he said, oh, I'm in one that sounds like that, but it's for Spanish people. Is it Spanish or Catalan? I don't remember. And then my ears pricked up and went, oh, can I join that? Because I always want to join any group just to see how they organize things.

Sheri: Okay.

Paul: And yeah, he...

Sheri: And so your translating is just in the WhatsApp where you translate now?

Paul: They're messages.

Sheri: Yeah.

Paul: I can understand.

Sheri: He's fluent in both. Are you in Catalan and Spanish?

Paul: Enough to be able to understand the messages.

Sheri: Good for you. That's awesome. How long have you been here now?

Paul: A long time. How long? Eight years now.

Oh, that's great.

[1 hour 8 minutes]

Kelly: Like all these older Catalan women that have taken English classes, or are taking English classes, and would love like a safe environment to be able to practice.

Yvonne: Yeah, yeah.

Kelly: And, so I think she like feels like, wow, like maybe, and I know Mary's participated in the, the meetup for people, I think English learners. I don't know if she, she probably isn't now, because I know she's traveling, but I think she has.

Paul: She did, yeah. She's one of the organizers. We have a secret hidden English meetup organizers group. It's like the volunteering organisers group. But the English one, it works really well, because like every week, or every month, like people just say who can come and organize it that week. Then we have a list of people. And because that like hidden subgroup works really well, that's why I thought, that's why I think this volunteering organizers subgroup could work well as well.

Kelly: Yeah.

Paul: But yeah, I mean, I'm in a group of, that's a WhatsApp group mainly for Catalan middle-aged women. Because I just want, I just add myself to as many groups as I can. And then if I put in there that there's a free English meetup every week, then some of them might go.

Sheri: Yeah. Oh, and there would be great people to take the survey as well, to find out what the reception is.

Paul: Yeah, yeah. I don't know if they would let me post it, because I don't say anything in there. Just...

You're lurking. Just lurking, yeah.

Yvonne: Yeah, you're not a middle-aged Catalan woman unless I checked, so.

Sheri: Yeah, maybe I can join as a middle-aged woman.

Yvonne: Yeah, you can join.

Sheri: Trying to help and ask them to take a survey. I mean, any way that we can get to locals would be great, I love that.

Paul: I'll try and get you invited somehow. It's called the Spartans.

Tessa: Okay, how did you discover it?

Paul: It's this guy that I know who I was talking to about Girona Bujddies, and he said, "Oh, I'm in one that sounds like that, but it's for Spanish people." Is it Spanish or Catalan? I don't remember. And then my ears pricked up and went, "Oh, can I join that?" Because I always want to join any group just to see how they organise things.

Sheri: Okay. And so your translating is just in the WhatsApp, where you translate?

Paul: Their messages? I can understand.

Yvonne: He's fluent in both. Are you in Catalan and Spanish?

Paul: Enough to be able to understand the messages.

Sheri: Good for you, that's awesome. How long have you been here now?

Paul: A long time. Eight years now.

Sheri: Good for you, that's awesome.

Paul: Yeah. Well, my Spanish is worse than my Catalan. I just gave up on Spanish when I arrived because everyone was speaking in Catalan.

But now, thanks to the Girona Buddies Spanish meetup, I've started learning Spanish. I practice Spanish at home, so that when I go to the meetup, I'll be able to express myself better. And I've been learning with ChatGpt. I get to give me quizzes to learn the past tense.

Sheri: Oh, that's awesome.

Paul: Yeah, that's really nice.

Sheri: Okay, I'm ready.

Kelly: I think this is good. I think we've loaded in, have some real next steps. Hopefully, the transcript and the AI generated summary will do a good job picking this up. We can always add, augment it, if it's missing anything.

Sheri: Well, and maybe if we need some milestones, let's hope to roll something out sometime in September.

Kelly: Yeah.

Sheri: As far as knowing what organizations, or at least having identified the organizations by September. And then maybe by the end of September, having an opportunity maybe by October set up to put. Sort of take the summer to get organized. Get the survey results. Get the survey results. Identify the organizations. Come up with a name. Do some research. Come up with a name.

Yeah. Yeah.

Paul: Well, when I get home, I'll take the transcript and just give it to ChatGPT so they can come up with a name. We'll come up with a name and we'll come up with like ten ideas.

Kelly: Okay.

Paul: Great. This is how the world works now. AI does everything.

Yeah. Okay.

Sheri: You just have to tell it that the name has to connote being a non-native resident, and not using that word specifically, and trying to integrate with local community. Other thoughts on the name?

Yvonne: Well, it's more than just integrating. It's that giving back.

Kelly: Yeah.

Yvonne: Caring. Helping. Yeah. Contributing. Yeah. To the community. In a meaningful way. Yeah. Awesome.

Great. Okay. Perfect.

Kelly: Thank you. Good job. Yeah. We made good progress. I think thanks to having the guidelines as a starting point.

Yvonne: And they can just be working guidelines. I mean, you know, go in there and, you know, I'll put it on Google Docs next time. It's just a link to it. I'll put it in Google Docs. And so, you know, we can go in and change it as we go.

Kelly: Yeah.

Yvonne: New data.

Kelly: I think it's helpful also that we've kind of said let's park, or only do a sliver of what we can do with the time bank instead of trying to fully digest and make every use of that. Yeah, definitely. Let's walk before we run on that. Yeah. And then I think kind of punting all together on, like, anything that's about orchestrating connections, like one-on-one connections within Girona Buddies is, I think, beyond the scope of what we want to try here.

Yvonne: Right, right, right.

Paul: I think that was my initial idea, was to create a time bank within Girona Buddies.

Kelly: Yeah. Yeah.

Paul: But, yeah, I think that that could be the final thing.

Kelly: Yeah, definitely that could happen. But I think this will be, I think, just getting, like, a rhythm where we post an event, and we can, like, reliably get, like, the right number of people to show up and participate. And, like, we get, like, some goodwill from the organizations that we choose to partner with. And they'll know, like, hey, when we let Girona Buddies in on an opportunity, or when we invite them to something, there's a group of people that reliably show up and participate.

Paul: I think the secret of organizing things is doing it regularly. So if you do it once a month, or more frequently, then it begins to build up. Because every time you volunteer, you can post a photo and say...

Kelly: But I also think, yeah, I bet that once we start, and we have, like, these opportunities, and, like, other people in Girona Buddies sort of hear, and they know, like, oh, what's this volunteering group? Oh, well, the volunteering group is, like, twice a month. Like, there are, like, these opportunities, and they tell you when and where, and it's something fun and simple, and you get to be outside, and you get to, like, hang out with other Girona Buddies, and maybe you get to practice your Catalan, because there's going to be, like, natives there. And, because I think it's, I mean, a lot of these can be fun opportunities. Yes.

Paul: That sounds ideal to me. That sounds perfect. Because to be able to say that the volunteering group is doing something once a month, so what are they doing this month? Oh, they're doing this thing.

Kelly: And then afterwards, like, they're going to go and have a beer together, or, like, go to the cafe. So it's, like, a kind of combination volunteer, social.

Paul: And learn Catalan as well.

Kelly: Yeah. All in one. Mm-hmm.

Yvonne: So which part would you recommend that's really best? Which part of the park?

Paul: Oh, the park.

Sheri: Which park?