Friday, November 27, 2015

September in Czech Republic


September has been a busy month and has gone by so fast! the first two weeks were full of Czech Language lessons and fun activities with the other volunteers! we went to a summer camp for a few days to do some basic training for our activities, and practice our Country presentations as I would soon find out I will be doing my presentation A LOT! hahah

I made myself at home in a flat which I share with 2 other volunteers who are really nice, I like my room as its cozy and has little messages around it from previous volunteers. for the first few weeks I baked a lot of cakes! and the 8 of us often gathered for movie nights and get togethers :) I also decided to buy myself a cheap second hand bike as I decided I wanted to begin cycling this year and second hand bikes are cheaper here than in England! I went for a few bike rides and managed to end up in Poland by accident as well! we have all been for meals and tried some of the local foods! my favorite is Smažený sýr which is fried cheese! yum!

I began my normal time table after we finished our intensive Czech course (which we continue every Friday now for the rest of our year) I work in Schools 3 times a week helping kids of various ages with their English lessons which I really enjoy as the kids are very friendly. I also help mothers with conversation classes twice a week. Sometimes we help in the art department or the mother care center decorating the youth center. We attended different clubs at the center too such as belly dancing and art clubs :) having a great time so far! bring on the next 11 months!

 

 This is the part of the blogg from our EVS volunteer Charlotte. Want to read more ? Follow here blogg at http://sharlaloumali44.tumblr.com/

Monday, November 23, 2015

Summer volunteering at Festival International de l'architecture ZOME in France

Anie is one of our many volunteers that went on a project this summer. Look at the pictures from her summer and read about here experiences at Festival International de l'architecture ZOME.


On the whole, I enjoyed myself so much and I cannot wait to sign up and go on another one this summer. It has been rewarding and so much fun, I have made friends for life, learnt about culture, language, music and all sorts from all over the world and my cooking skills have definitely improved! - I was very worried at the start of the camp as to how difficult it would be to make friends and integrate but the leaders were amazing and ensured that we were engaged at all times, had our time to ourselves but that we were having fun and were safe. The organisation ensured that we were all safe and looked after at all times and I miss this camp a lot 


 
 This beautiful scenery is what we started with...


And this is what we created.


This photo was taken on our first day at the project and we were getting to know eachother a lot better through the team building exercises and little games. Who knew that we would be so inseparable after just two weeks? - In this picture there is someone from Korea, Albania, France, Germany and Tunisia. What a mix and that is not even everyone at the project!


Cooking together was just one of the fun activities (and hardships) we took part in over the camp - we tried foods from everyone's hometown, invented our own new things, burnt many a thing and even celebrated with pancakes when something tasted so nice. The community all worked together so well and mealtimes have never been so fun with so many people in the kitchen always waiting to give a hand or just provide some entertainment!


This picture was taken on one of our first days together and we are all pointing in the direction which we think we should go - that is to say that yes - we got lost but that made the walk even more fun! Everyone was there with a helping hand and the views were just stunning. I learnt a lot about French culture and made one of my closest friends from Russia at camp during this walk - we still speak everyday and we will be meeting up soon - hopefully at another program like this! 



This is another walk but it shows just how much we progressed - we found the waterfall eventually and although the weather was rubbish, it was extremely emotional as it was one of the last days of the program! 


The festival that we set up was amazing - here I am with my German friend, Soren dancing to some South American salsa music on stage - another one of the amazing cultural activities that I was able to try! 



Through the camp, I was helping people put up stalls, tents and learning about culture and I happened to make friends with French children and learn a little bit more about how they entertain themselves! Here we are where she is telling me about all the great food they eat at school!


Anie