Atheist Volunteers

Zagreb language and culture exchange meetup. Chat in many languages, meet new people and plan adventures together. Hey everyone! 👋 As spring arrives in Zagreb and the city wakes up again, we’re keeping Thursdays social with **Small Friday International Zagreb** ([SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/)) a relaxed international meetup where locals, expats, Erasmus students and travellers gather to chat, exchange languages, share stories and plan the next adventure. Think of it as Zagreb’s global living room with lively conversations, and that moment when a random Thursday evening decides to surprise you. ✨ Whether you’ve just arrived in Zagreb, been here a while, or live around the corner, you’re very welcome. 📍 **When & Where** 📍 **The Beertija** Pavla Hatza 16, Zagreb 🕗 **Every other Thursday from 8PM** ✨ Free to join: simply grab a drink and support our host bar 🍺🎸 ✨ Open to everyone: all ages, backgrounds and language levels 💬 **What Happens at [SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/)**? Expect a relaxed, social atmosphere where conversations flow naturally. 🗣️ La**nguage Exchange** English, Croatian, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Ukrainian, Russian… and often more. 🌍 **Cultural Exchange** Locals, expats, travellers and Erasmus students sharing stories, experiences and perspectives. 🤝 **New Connections** Real conversations, genuine laughs, and the occasional new friend. 📅 **Weekend Planning** People often end up planning hikes, concerts, trips, festivals or nights out together. No formal structure, no pressure, just people meeting people. 🌸 **Why Join in Spring?** Spring is when Zagreb truly comes alive. Magnolia trees bloom across the city, café terraces fill with conversation, and longer sunny days invite people outdoors. Locals stroll through parks, cycle along the Sava, run around Jarun and Bundek lakes, or escape to the nearby Medvednica mountain for hikes and views above the city. At the same time, Zagreb’s cultural calendar blossoms with exhibitions, concerts, festivals and theatre performances, while markets like Dolac overflow with seasonal produce: asparagus, wild garlic, strawberries and fresh flavours of the season. It’s the perfect time to meet people and explore the city together. And many of those plans begin right here, at [SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/). 🌍 🍺 **Why The Beertija?** Because it’s more than a bar, it’s our headquarters. Expect: 🌿 leafy terrace vibes 🎸 rock-inspired atmosphere 🍺 excellent beers 🛋️ relaxed living-room energy 🚭 non-smoking indoor space It’s the kind of place where you pop in for one drink and suddenly realise the evening flew by. 💡 **First-Timer Tip** If it’s your first time: 👋 arrive early 🙂 smile and say hello 💬 jump into a conversation Everyone was new once and that’s how all starts. 🌍 **Join the Crew** [SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/) is a community built by the people who show up. So if your Thursday evening could use a little more conversation, laughter and international energy, come by and join us. Bring a friend if you like, or come solo and meet new ones. ✨Ditch the screen, grab a drink, meet the world🌍 See you on Small Friday! 🍻 **SFIZ Crew** P.S. Spread the word https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb 🔎 **How to Spot Us** New here? Best trick is to swing by right at the start, that’s when it’s easiest to find the crew and jump straight in, or ask the bar staff about the event ✨ Need quick updates or can’t see us straight away? No worries, our [WhatsApp group](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/faq/sfiz-whatsapp-guide-keeping-it-fun-and-respectful) is where you can ask quick questions. 💖 #ZagrebGlobalMingle 💖

🇭🇷 U **Extreme Programmingu** koristimo **BDD** i **TDD** — prakse temeljene na automatiziranom testiranju. Svaki iole ozbiljniji softverski sustav zahtijeva više različitih vrsta testova. Na ovom razgovoru (više diskusiji nego predavanju) analizirat ćemo nekoliko varijanti različitih pristupa testiranju kako bismo bolje razumjeli njihove sličnosti i razlike. 🇬🇧 In **Extreme Programming**, we use **BDD** and **TDD** — practices built around automated testing. Any reasonably large software system needs multiple types of tests. In this talk (more of a discussion than a lecture), we’ll analyse several variations of different testing approaches to better understand their similarities and differences. 📣 Speaker 1: [Marko Bjelac](https://www.linkedin.com/in/markobjelac) ⏰ Schedule: \- Introduction \- What is a test? \- Discussion \- ⚡Lightning talks⚡ 🇭🇷 Za *munjevita predavanja* (⚡*lightning talks*⚡) se ne morate prijaviti unaprijed. Samo javite domaćinu na početku okupljanja da želite održati munjevito predavanje. Munjevita predavanja traju 5 minuta (ili manje) i mogu biti na bilo koju temu. Na pojedinom okupljanju će se održati onoliko munjevitih predavanja koliko ima zainteresiranih predavača. 🇬🇧 You don’t need to register in advance for ⚡*lightning talks*⚡. Just let the host know at the beginning of the meetup that you want to present a lightning talk. Lightning talks last 5 minutes (or less) and can be on any topic. At each meetup, as many lightning talks will be held as there are interested speakers. **🫵 You have a topic for a ZSC meetup?** 🇭🇷 Javite se domaćinu (Marko B) i sve ćemo dogovoriti! 🇬🇧 Get in touch with the host (Marko B), and we’ll sort everything out! Cover image: [Magnific](https://www.magnific.com/free-vector/flat-science-template-with-scientific-research-experiments-scientists-flasks-tubes-bottles-bulb_11061632.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=1&uuid=3a953207-aee0-4332-a989-6ba744b8e648)

\*\*\*\* Practice Foreign Languages with Native Speakers \*\*\*\*\* === \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* at the Language Conversation Table \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* === \*\*\*\* Practice Foreign Languages with Native Speakers \*\*\*\*\* === \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* at the Language Conversation Table \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* === The caffe Cukeraj provides us with a back-room reserved just for this event, where we get to practice Croatian and other languages three hours for free.The entrance is free, but to be sure that Domenico will continue to host us, please have at least one drink when you're coming.at Cukeraj, Petrinjska 61See you soon!P.S. IF U HAVE ANY PROBLEMS FINDING THE PLACE BE FREE TO CONTACT THE ORGANIZER: +385953913346 \*\*\*\*\* Vježbajte Strane Jezike sa Izvornim Govornicima \*\*\*\*\* === Za organizaciju događaja se ne mora nista platiti. Radi korištenja prostora u kafiću (koji se nalazi u dvorišnoj zgradi) , bilo bi poželjno kad bi svatko naručio barem jedno piće. Nedjelja 18:00 - 21:00 sati Cukeraj Petrinjska 61

Open Heart Meditation Sessions with Amrita Rani (Live Online on Selected Thursdays via Zoom) You are warmly invited to join the Open Heart Meditation Sessions with Acharya Amrita Rani — a living space of awakenings and direct experience. These sessions are created both for beginners and seasoned practitioners who wish to deepen their meditation practice, stabilize awakening, and walk the path of enlightenment with guidance and support. Whether you are new or experienced, each gathering offers a grounded structure to help you build consistency in daily practice and grow in confidence on your spiritual path. At the heart of Open Heart teachings is direct recognition. Through the Two-Part Formula and precise meditative guidance, you are supported in shifting from self-based mode into selfless awareness, again and again, until cessation of suffering takes place. A central and deeply transformative practice in Open Heart is guru yoga. Through guru yoga, the practitioner directly connects with awakened awareness through devotion, transmission, and experiential recognition. With the help of this profound method, one recognizes their true selfless ease, the natural, effortless state beyond space and time. Alongside guru yoga, the sessions include insight meditation (Vipashyana), tantric methods, dynamic concentration, trauma-healing techniques, and foundational practices such as Bodhicitta prayers. Each session includes guided meditation, space for questions, reflection, and personal support. Rani’s meditation sessions are held live on Zoom on selected Thursdays from 18:30 to 20:00 (CET). Recordings may be available for continued integration and practice on her YouTube channel, The Sweetness of Enlightenment. Participation fee: 15 € per session Please make your payment in advance via PayPal before joining, to Rani’s PayPal account: kaisaeskeli@gmail.com Upcoming Thursday Sessions for Summer Season: 7.5.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 14.5.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 4.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 11.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 18.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 25.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 2.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 9.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 23.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 30.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) Zoom link for all sessions: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89766267672 Welcome all! Visit our home page for more information www.openheartofallbeings.com

**Navigating the challenges of exiting hyperscalers in favor of EU cloud providers.** Are you in a toxic relationship with a major cloud provider? It’s expensive, overly complicated, but somehow... comfortable. Are you staying just because it's a known safety zone, even though the monthly bills and architectural overhead are causing constant anxiety? It’s time for a group therapy session. At this meetup, we are opening up the floor for an honest conversation about breaking up with big hyperscalers (AWS, GCP, Azure, Oracle Cloud) in favor of European alternatives like Hetzner. Using the metaphor of psychotherapy, we will dissect why exiting a comfortable but restrictive environment is so difficult, the real risks of staying, and what the path to infrastructure recovery actually looks like. **What's on the Agenda?** **Facing the Dependency:** Why do we stay with hyperscalers and how do you know when it’s time to leave? **The Developer’s Journey & Open Source Contribution:** A deep dive into the builder's mindset. Eduard will share the backstage story of creating a custom solution: * Why he decided to write a dedicated plugin instead of relying on existing workarounds. * The tech stack used, the development process, and the actual time investment required. * How to promote an open-source tool and the real-world feedback/impressions from active users. **Case Study:** A practical look at the **Hetzner Rancher nodedriver provider**—a plugin designed to make provisioning and managing Kubernetes clusters on Hetzner simple, smooth, and trauma-free. **Meet Your Therapist (Speaker)** **Eduard Bulai** – Coming all the way from Romania, Eduard is the very first international speaker to join the Karlovac Developers group. As the CEO of [zsys.ro](https://zsys.ro/), a boutique infrastructure engineering company, he brings 15 years of deep infra experience to the couch: * One half of his career has been strictly focused on OpenStack, Kubernetes, Rancher, Canonical MaaS, and Juju charms. * The other half was spent managing the full lifecycle of deployments on AWS, GCP, Azure, and Oracle Cloud. Having authored a custom Rancher plugin to bridge the gap between enterprise orchestration and European hosting, Eduard has lived through both sides of the cloud spectrum and is ready to share the raw, unvarnished truth.

Come assist Van Buren Shelter (https://ymcacolumbus.org/locations/vanburen) staff in serving dinners and cleaning up on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. Dinner for the women is 5-6 pm and for the families is 6:15-7:15 pm. There is ample free parking available in the shelter's lot. The recommended area to park is in green in the image above. There will be a new entrance for the time being. We are asking all volunteers to enter through the Donation Dock door, the orange mark on the image above. This door is located between the Single Adults and Family Shelter. You will see 2 large garage doors with a large green trash compactor in the center. Please head to the closest garage door to the building wall, with a ramp leading up. There, you will see a door with a sign stating instructions on how to enter the building. Please ring the doorbell, and a staff member will come and escort you into the building. If a staff member takes longer than 5 minutes, please call the front desk at 614-689-2020. This is a new process for us, and we do not want to keep you waiting! We appreciate your patience as we navigate this temporary change. The shelter needs a volunteer count the day before the event so sign-up ends Monday at 4:50 PM. Afterwards some of us go to the Omnipresent Atheists Weekly Meetup in progress to have a bit to eat or drink (http://www.meetup.com/omnipresentatheists/). Volunteers must be 14 or older. Since we will be working around families, the YMCA does not permit volunteering by individuals with convictions for violent or sexual crimes. The YMCA reserves the right to run background checks on volunteers. For questions, comment on this page or contact: Andrew, awhit12@yahoo.com, (614)937-5802 (cell). Please let Andrew know if you volunteer anytime other than our COUNT events so that he can count your hours toward our service record.

Some trained COUNT volunteers work together once a month at RMH (http://www.rmhc-centralohio.org/volunteer.php) as Housewarmers (usually on the 1st Sunday from 1 – 5 PM). Some schedule other shifts at their convenience. You may try this out with less fuss by following a "Fast track" or go through the normal process. Fast track • Arrange a time to shadow a COUNT volunteer. Call Dave Nohle at 614-268-9558 (cell). • Show up and try it out. • Complete application, etc. later. Normal process • Complete an online application (http://rmhc-centralohio.org/volunteer/). • Attend orientation in advance. • At orientation you will complete forms agreeing to keep family/patient info private and allowing a background check and tour the facility. • Complete one training shift. Daily shifts are: morning 9 AM - 1 PM, afternoon 1 - 5 PM and evening 5 - 9 PM. • Schedule shifts online using the on the RMH scheduling system (http://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/?FROM=32895). The Ronald McDonald House (RMH) provides housing and meals for families with sick children. The Columbus RMH is the largest in the world with 137 rooms. COUNT has been volunteering there since May 2014. Housewarmers work with RMH guests to provide a home-like environment - greet, assist with family needs, answer phones, give tours, assist with checkin/checkout, prepare guest rooms after checkout, clean facility, laundry, restock supplies and staff the front desk. RMH Housewarmers volunteer at least one four-hour shift a month. All Housewarmers must complete an application and agree to a background check before they can be full fledged volunteers.

We may pick a specific topic and post in advance or may discuss current events and various ad hoc topics . We would love to spend time hanging out and getting to know one another. Atheist, agnostics, other non-theists, and atheist-friendly people are welcome to join us. Note: COUNT operates a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/COUNT.discussions (http://www.facebook.com/groups/COUNT.discussions/) to promote discussions among members and visitors.

Jimmy V's Grill & Pub in Grandview Heights. You are responsible for your own meal/drinks. We usually don't have any agenda other than eat, drink and talk. :) If the weather is nice we will be on the back patio, otherwise we are in the cigar room. This group has been meeting every Tuesday evening for over a decade. Many attendees do not RSVP on meetup. Please don't let the small number here discourage you. Anyone/everyone is welcome to come. We'd love to have you join us. COTA bus #5 comes to W. 5th and Wyandotte Rd. And it's a minute walk to the restaurant.

Sleep in on Sundays. When you've had your fill of pajama-time, roll out and have some tasty brunch with your fellow Humanists!

A time to make signs, pack swag bags, and have fun together in anticipation for the Pride festivities the week after.

We will be marching again this summer at Pride. Come ready to show your Pride and stand-up for every human's right to love, respect, and family! * **Step-off:** 10:30AM * **Route:** TBA * **Lineup info:** TBA