Leaving the nice Slovenian countryside behind, the OBESSU Bus Tour set the GPS route to Rome. After hours and hours we arrived at the famous UdS shared flat and old archive: warm welcome and political discussion spiced up with Italian cuisine!

We all enjoyed relaxed Italian time, but when the time came for action, everyone was ready to get active and loud standing up for their rights. In those days, UdS was preparing national demonstrations for the next days: school students, students, trade unions and many other associations would gather to demonstrate against the government planed reforms on privatization of water supplies and education budget and latest economic development inItaly.

We joined UdS for preparation meetings and talks about the situation and action planning for the big demonstration on the 16th of October. The first action took place at the biggest university inRome; the second in front of the Italian Parliament where it spontaneously developed to a walk through the streets ofRome.

On the third day of the Bus tour inItaly, we drove toNaplesand presented OBESSU during a regional meeting of UdS.

After all the preparations, the day of the 16th of October arrived and we were amazed to see thousands of people standing up for their rights. This has been just the first of many demonstrations planned for the following months. Witnessing that students recognize the importance of present actions and decisions for their future was a great motivation for us.