I am alive! (Just in case you worried because I haven't written for so long)
As you might know I went on a mid-term seminar two weeks ago that is obligatory for every European volunteer and when I came back I needed to cure a bad bad...bad cold. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...
As you might know I went on a mid-term seminar two weeks ago that is obligatory for every European volunteer and when I came back I needed to cure a bad bad...bad cold. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...
The hostel "Las Batanes" and four volunteers from Austria, Italy, Portugal and Macedonia
"Isabell, look! Our mid-term seminar will be in November!"
"And where? Hopefully somewhere in the south."
"I think it's gonna be in Madrid"
"Awesome! I love Madrid! And it`s at least more southern than Galicia, haha"
"No, hold on...it says NEAR Madrid."
"Oh."
"In Rascafría"
"Where?"
"No, wait...NEAR Rascafría..."
"Oh..."
And this is how we realized that our seminar was going to be in the middle of nowhere. Far from everything. NEAR a village NEAR Madrid with the beautiful name of "Rascafría".
Literally: Rasca - iciness, fría/frío - cold
"And where? Hopefully somewhere in the south."
"I think it's gonna be in Madrid"
"Awesome! I love Madrid! And it`s at least more southern than Galicia, haha"
"No, hold on...it says NEAR Madrid."
"Oh."
"In Rascafría"
"Where?"
"No, wait...NEAR Rascafría..."
"Oh..."
And this is how we realized that our seminar was going to be in the middle of nowhere. Far from everything. NEAR a village NEAR Madrid with the beautiful name of "Rascafría".
Literally: Rasca - iciness, fría/frío - cold
We met with all the other participants in Madrid where a coach waited to bring us to Icinesscold. The weather was rather nasty. Cold and wet. And yes, there on the mountain, a few hundred meters higher, there was snow!
We had the whole hostel for us. Over 60 young volunteers from 21 different European countries. This promised to be an exciting week.
I will not bore you with all the details about the seminar, which in addition would fill pages because it had been some intensive 5 days! Let's see if I can cut it down to the most important....
We were splitted up in 4 groups. Each group jad a colour (Yellow Team! Go!) and a personal supervisor and mentor for the following days. In these groups we worked on different topics to evaluate our voluntary service so far using diverse techniques to find the best way of analysing the good and bad things about our EVS and how we could improve it. We evaluated all the different aspects in detail to become aware of what we give and what we receive, the best and the worst, the reasons, the possibilities. The staff was friendly and there for us if we had any doubts or questions. I think I was very lucky with my group (Yellow Team! Go!) because the atmosphere seemed to be confiding and supportive.
We had the whole hostel for us. Over 60 young volunteers from 21 different European countries. This promised to be an exciting week.
I will not bore you with all the details about the seminar, which in addition would fill pages because it had been some intensive 5 days! Let's see if I can cut it down to the most important....
We were splitted up in 4 groups. Each group jad a colour (Yellow Team! Go!) and a personal supervisor and mentor for the following days. In these groups we worked on different topics to evaluate our voluntary service so far using diverse techniques to find the best way of analysing the good and bad things about our EVS and how we could improve it. We evaluated all the different aspects in detail to become aware of what we give and what we receive, the best and the worst, the reasons, the possibilities. The staff was friendly and there for us if we had any doubts or questions. I think I was very lucky with my group (Yellow Team! Go!) because the atmosphere seemed to be confiding and supportive.
| I actually already before the seminar often tried to relfect everything I'm doing here, but I think the seminar gave me another motivation boost in terms of making the best of the project itself. During the seminar I became aware of the fact that everything that surrounds the project work itseld is absolutely great, also compared to what the others told about their project conditions. The flat, Sabrina, the food and money, the time schedule, the tutor...only the work in the office is not quite what I expected. I guess I'm simply not a person that enjoys working in an office (which is something I learned, now!). However, I have the freedoms to shift the work to making more workshops and classes. All that it needs is initiative! Initiative! |  |
What I enjoyed the most about the seminar was the possibility to get in touch with so many different poeple from so many different countries. We did some activities all together, were in a group with these people, ate at the same table with those people and shared a room with some other people.
I talked, discussed and laughed with guys from Italy, Portugal, Austria, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, France, Macedonia, Armenia, Germany, Czech Republik, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Belgum... and I simply loved it.
I talked, discussed and laughed with guys from Italy, Portugal, Austria, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, France, Macedonia, Armenia, Germany, Czech Republik, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Belgum... and I simply loved it.
"The aim of the European Voluntary Service (EVS) is to develop solidarity and promote active citizenship and mutual understanding among young people." - http://www.europeanvoluntaryservice.com/what/purpose -
To be honest with you, to me this was more like an excuse for just having a great time abroad without spending a lot of money. However, now I have to say that there is a whole lot more to it.
I really feel that meeting all these people from countries I wasn't really interested in before, I might have known the name of but actually not much more, from countries that didn't really have a "face" for me, where nobody was living in...meeting all these young people helped me to a whole new understanding of these countries a new view on people, internationality and Europe. It helped me to appreciate the luck of growing up in a safe and rich country and it rose my interest in getting to know all these other countries better. I feel that I grew a bit more during this seminar and I can only recommend to take all the opportunities they offer you and have experiences like I'm having here! You won't regret it!
To be honest with you, to me this was more like an excuse for just having a great time abroad without spending a lot of money. However, now I have to say that there is a whole lot more to it.
I really feel that meeting all these people from countries I wasn't really interested in before, I might have known the name of but actually not much more, from countries that didn't really have a "face" for me, where nobody was living in...meeting all these young people helped me to a whole new understanding of these countries a new view on people, internationality and Europe. It helped me to appreciate the luck of growing up in a safe and rich country and it rose my interest in getting to know all these other countries better. I feel that I grew a bit more during this seminar and I can only recommend to take all the opportunities they offer you and have experiences like I'm having here! You won't regret it!
The cathedral of Segovia We did an evening trip to Segovia to do an activity of visibility of the Youth in Action programme and to have dinner in a restaurant there.
To get to this beautiful town we had to go over the mountains and we passed...Winterwonderland
To get to this beautiful town we had to go over the mountains and we passed...Winterwonderland
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