Merry Christmas, with love.

And like in a dream one day you wake up again in your bed, the one that used to be your bed. You are back in your home country, living with your parents again, the same people, the same streets. It is true? Your EVS is over.

In my On Arrival Training they told me how hard to adapt to a new country and how hard it is to re-adapt to your place once you are back. And it is real.

I won´t go to the school to make snowball fights with my kids anymore, they won’t came running after me to give me a hug, and I wont live under the same roof with the other volunteers neither and I will keep watching their Instagram stories in the place that once was also my home.

Stagiu de voluntariat in Spania

Apel voluntari! Cautam un voluntar disponibil pentru un stagiu de voluntariat de 12 luni in Spania (langa Madrid), incepand cu ianuarie 2019. Ecocompartimos, organizatia de gazduire, gestioneaza un magazin second hand si coordoneaza activitati educative cu copii din comunitate. Sarcinile voluntarului includ activitati non-formale cu copii, dar si activitati in magazin. Cei interesati pot obtine mai multe informatii la centrulgreentin@yahoo.com

Exploring Romania

One thing that I’m sure is that this is the country I have explored the most by myself, really even more than Spain.

The flexibility of my project allowed me to travel a lot, and as the members of others NGO´s had different schedules, I did some of the trips alone, what was also a big challenge for me.

In Romania I had travel, by boat, by car, by train, I did hitchhiking, couchsurfing, finding the most complicated conventions in blablacar to get from Baia Mare to Craiova in the shorter time…

I visited so far every important city and I want to remember it.

With my first roommates we rented a car and did an amazing trip in the mountains, the road of Transalpina and Transfagarasan with those gorgeous views.

A friend from Spain came to visit me during my holidays, and we made a trip from Cluj to the Danube Delta crossing Romania from part to part by car and also the river by boat, I think is one of the most beautiful experiences I had.

5 Decembrie - Ziua Internationala a Voluntariatului

Am marcat Ziua Internationala a Voluntarului prin intermediul unui atelier de reciclare realizat cu elevii Scolii Gimnaziale Lucian Blaga din Baia Mare. In cadrul atelierului, voluntara EVS Esther Perez i-a invatat pe elevi cum sa transforme un pet intr-un ghiveci de flori. Spre seara, impreuna cu Fundatia de Voluntari Somaschi si cu YMCA, am participant la flashmob-ul - Diferiti, dar impreuna pentru o lume mai buna.

This is my life now

It’s been four months since I arrived to Romania, a lot of things happened, a lot of things changed. In myself, in my project.

As I increased my stay in the EVS while my roommates finished their project two months ago, suddenly was like starting again, new house, new roommates, new schedule…It wasn’t easy, I felt that I wasn´t home and then I was even further from home, it was like getting out from your comfort zone and then increase it even more. But from the beginning, I got used to it. I meet new people and had a lot of adventures and misadventures. Sometimes I try to imagine how had been my life if I just decided to go back home when my previous roommates did it too, but I think, I wouldn´t had learnt so much, almost nothing. Cause the beginning its excitement for a new country & new culture, but after two months, it becomes to be your life, not a short dream, you experience it very different, you have also daily routine and slow down to appreciate also the small things that are surrounding you.
Esther Perez - EVS volunteer
Volunteering&Sustainable Development II - Erasmus+

EVS in Maramures

In cadrul proiectului Volunteering&Sustainable Development II,  voluntara EVS Esther Perez Palao implementeaza activitati de educatie non-formala cu elevii Scolii Gimnaziale Oarta de Sus si ai Scolii Gimaziale Bicaz. Astfel, impreuna cu Esther elevii celor doua scoli au participat la ateliere de pictat tricouri, crafts sau la diverse jocuri in care s-au dezbatut concepte precum dezvoltarea durabila, drepturile omului,democratie.

Proiectul Volunteering&Sustainable Development II este finantat prin programul Erasmus+

 

It is hard to say goodbye to EVS

Looking back now it looks like everything went by really fast. What was initially a step into an unknown country has now shifted into a feeling of belonging to somewhere. Living here for two months has definitely left its mark on me and was now starting to feel like a home. From routines to more planned and scheduled activities, from hanging out with friends to having fun with the children, I was definitely getting accustomed to this life.

One of the major differences in comparison with my first month here was the relationship and the interaction with the children from our project.