I first heard about European Voluntary Service during a Blablacar journey from Brest to Rennes in northern France.
An excitable fellow passenger spent almost
the entire 3 hour drive telling me all about her life changing experience she
was having as a volunteer. I was astonished to learn that such an opportunity
existed; even more so that I’d never heard of it! As soon as I got home from
that journey I jumped straight on the computer, and typed in those three magic
letters E V S. Little did I know, I too was about to embark on a life-changing
journey….
Flash forward 6 months. After what seemed like an eternal
flight from London, I arrive, dazed and confused at Madrid-Barajas airport. I
walk through the sliding doors expecting to find my tutor Cristina, struggling
to remember her face from the Skype interview we’d had months previously. After
making eye contact for a couple of seconds too long with a few potential
Cristinas, I give up and go outside to see how warm it is. ‘Hmmm I could get
used to this!’ It crosses my mind to get practicing my Spanish straight away
and ask someone “donde está Majadahonda?” just in case Cristina doesn’t show
up. But how do I pronounce Majadahonda again? I decide to have another go at
the arrival lounge.
As I walk back
towards the sliding doors, I notice out of the corner of my eye someone holding
a card with a British flag printed on it and ‘Bienvenido Sam!” written above
it. Ah that must be Cristina, but who’s this grinning blonde girl with her? Of
course, it’s Greta my fellow volunteer from Lithuania. Immediately, my nerves
disappear and we chat all the way to Majadahonda. On the way, I pluck up the
courage to ask to Cristina to pronounce it as slowly as she can. Now I’ve got
it!
Cristina takes us to our new apartment and we meet our
housemates Martha and Juliet. Once the ‘besos’ and ‘encantados’ are out the
way, Martha looks at me and says something very quickly in Spanish, everyone
laughs… loudly. I join in pretending to understand the joke. Greta and I
exchange a look of bemusement and then the tour of the flat begins. I think I
got away with it this time but I it makes me realise that my Spanish is going
to need some serious work.
The following day it was time to meet the rest of the team
at the youth centre. We were greeted with beaming smiles and warm embraces and
given a tour of the building. Though making small talk in Spanish was a
challenge, whatever lingering anxiety was quickly extinguished and I knew then that
this was going to be a great year.
The first few months of the project flew by as Greta and I
settled in nicely. From making new friends from across Europe at the on-arrival
training to starting our intensive Spanish course, from exploring Madrid at the
weekends to getting to know our students at the English conversation workshops,
our full-on schedule kept us incredibly busy. Before we knew it, it was
Christmas and a chance to reflect on everything we’d learnt so far.
I went back home to the UK and bored my family and friends
with perhaps too much detail of my time thus far in Spain. I realised that
despite a few minor imperfections, the experience I was having was an
incredible opportunity to learn many new skills and to grow as a person. Though
it was hard to say goodbye once again to friends and family, I was eager to get
back to Spain.
The second half of the project seemed to go by even quicker
than the first. Though our Spanish course came to an end I was gaining more and
more confidence speaking this wonderful language. We started with the English
Book Club in January which turned out to be a great addition to the project, a
chance to make new friends and of course to read some brilliant books.
Arriving back in Majadahonda from a weekend trip to France
in March, I realised that I was starting to feel very much at home here. Our
conversation workshops were improving week on week, I was meeting loads of new
people, my Spanish was coming on leaps and bounds and after a long, wet winter
(by Madrid standards!) the sun was starting to shine again. In just a few short
months the whole thing would sadly be coming to an end.
It is only now, with the project drawing to a close, that I
am starting to appreciate the excitement and passion of the girl who introduced
me to EVS during that fateful Blablacar journey back in France a year and a
half ago. it is starting to sink in just how much I have learnt this year. From
simple Spanish slang words like ‘chungo’, ‘majo’ and ‘molar’ to using video
editing software, from running a book club to learning all about how EVS works,
from writing a newsletter of international opportunities to improving my
confidence in public speaking, the list goes on and on.
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