Lettera dalla coordinatrice

Mi intrometto in punta di piedi nel blog delle “mie ragazze”, che hanno saputo trattare argomenti molto interessanti e difficili con competenza e semplicità allo stesso tempo, aprendoci la porta e mostrandoci la loro bellissima esperienza di volontarie europee a Viterbo.

Questo blog credo sia non solo un ottimo mezzo di promozione dello sve (servizio volontario europeo) ma anche una sorta di info-kit preparatorio per chi si accinge ad affrontare una qualsiasi nuova esperienza, un viaggio, un nuovo lavoro, una nuova vita. Perché dentro c’è tutto quello che bisogna sapere per prepararsi ad un cambiamento: la paura di iniziare un nuovo cammino, il timore di non essere all’altezza ma allo stesso tempo la voglia di mettersi in gioco, il brivido della sfida e lo spirito di avventura, l’emozione di fare per la prima volta qualcosa di nuovo.

E’ stato bello seguirvi da lontano nell’affrontare questo anno, vedervi cambiare, prendere consapevolezza, crescere. Arrabbiate quando qualcosa non andava, rassegnate per l’ennesimo bus che non passava, meravigliate dalla bellezza del nostro paese che ci avete fatto riscoprire attraverso i vostri post su instagram.

Palestina, Georgia, Ucraina, Portogallo, Germania e Ungheria, 6 giovani così diverse tra di loro per religione, cultura, esperienze personali hanno vissuto e lavorato insieme, svolgendo attività di volontariato in favore di persone con disabilità. Mi piacerebbe che chiunque potesse sperimentare la profonda apertura che ci avete trasmesso in questo anno. In questo momento buio per il nostro paese, in cui si alzano muri, si chiudono i porti e le menti, siete la dimostrazione vivente che sì, è possibile coesistere, comunicare meglio, comprendere meglio l’altro e riconoscerlo come essere umano.

Il mio breve post è per dirvi grazie, nella speranza che questo blog continui ad essere il luogo in cui vorrete esprimervi sempre, così potremo leggere ancora i racconti di voi e delle vostre vite.

Ho scelto la prima foto che abbiamo fatto tutti insieme al vostro arrivo, vi auguro una buona vita, siate sempre il cambiamento che volete vedere nel mondo, portatelo nelle vostre case, nei vostri paesi e siate orgogliose di quello che avete imparato e che ci avete insegnato in questo anno.

Cinzia

After EVS

Time Passing, it has been two months since I said goodbye and took my bags and left. No matter how much you thought about it and said that it will be okay, reality is not like this. The truth, after EVS everything is different. The way you think will become different, the way you see life, friends and even yourself. When I applied to the program everyone who is involved told me that you will change, and that after this year you will become different, but no one told me that saying goodbye means that I am letting big part of myself behind me, that one day I will wakeup looking to my family and say that they do not understand me, that I want to go back to the people whom I did not make any effort to explain what I am going through. After EVS I learned one of the basic things in life; that no matter who you are or from where you come we are connected. I never thought I will write these words and say that a person that I spent ONE year with, understand me more than my life time friends.  But one thing I will always give credit for EVS, no matter how long I live and where I end up in my life, EVS gave me a friend that when I am down all I have to do is to pick the photo she gave me and look to her smile.

I started to write this in order to tell you how is it after EVS but through out me writing this I realized that what I am actually trying to do is to tell my FAMILY around this whole world that I miss them, that every day I am spending in my country is a reminder that the person I am now is the one who they helped converting. That I missed our long night conversations, our arguments, our kitchen and mostly our small dates. So, to my BLACK hearted girl you were my backbone in Italy and not having you here with me showed me how much I am thankful for you. To my MAMA you were my partner, my first and time can not take this from us. To my ALTA the one who’s always right, let me tell you something you were right! To the amazing eye girl, you gave the chance to be me even when you did not like it so, thank you. Finally, to the mystery of my journey thank you for showing me how really people see me.

A word to all of you who is reading this, EVS is much more that a volunteering program. It is a total life in one year, and no matter what are the consequences after it, it is a choice that you will not regret.  Because after it you will have a family other than your own family.

written by Rana

Scusa, non capisco

It’s another gloomy and rainy day and I am once again thinking about the challenges I have come across during my year here in Italy. Expected challenges such as unexpected ones. Since this is the last month of my European Voluntary Service I would like to reflect on the last eleven months of my life.

This is me

A challenge I prepared for has been the Italian language. Not that I have mastered the grammar, sayings and local dialects but now I can at least express my opinion and feelings on a basic level. Everyday communication with friends, clients, co-workers and especially strangers has gotten increasingly easier. Although I still struggle with nervousness when it’s my time to speak up. This self-consciousness is not only language related, however still limiting my contribution to any conversation. Anyway my problem with social encounters is not to be the topic of this article.

A few months ago I gave this limitation a name: language barriers. Excited to finally fully experience a term, my English class in school and me discussed about thoroughly, I often struggled with sentiments of loneliness. Furthermore, I felt being treated unfairly such as anger at my poor learning-progress. Of course I was not the only one who encountered communication problems because they did not or only poorly speak the language. However, after I tried to get rid of my worry of not being able to understand any Italian person any time soon on my own, I opened up and shared my feelings. The response was understanding and some helpful advice I would like to share today.

Here are some tips and tricks that helped me conquering the challenge of learning a new language.

Tip #1

To start communication there is no need for many words. Start to learn how to ask questions. By asking questions you overcome the fear of saying anything at all.
Begin with questions like: “What is this thing called?”, “How can I say [insert word/phrase] in [insert language]?” and “Can you please repeat?”.
Step by step you will learn more and more words that you can use in your everyday life. For example, to form new and more complex questions. Don’t be afraid to say something wrongly. Which brings me to the second advice.

Tip #2

Encourage people to correct you, when making mistakes. Especially when talking to a native. In this way you will learn the correct way of saying something. Even quicker than realizing you have been telling everyone: “I’ve just cut my hat!” instead of “I’ve just cut my hair!”.
Most of the time people won’t correct you, for whatever reason, so animate them to do so!

Tip #3

Use every source of media to get a feeling of the language. By “feeling of the language” I mean the rhythm, pronunciation, different meaning of a word depending on the context and of course new vocabulary. Your resources could be the radio, newspapers, books, movies, songs as well as YouTube.
Even only listening to natives while sitting in a café and understanding half what they say, you still see their body language and facial expression which play a crucial part in learning and using a language.

Tip #4

Relax! As far as I heard, no matter how many languages you have already learnt, the beginning of the process is always frustrating and it feels like you are not improving fast enough. Nevertheless, you can trust on determination, consistency and therefore time and yourself to overcome this language barrier.
Learning a language in this context of living abroad and being forced to communicate in [insert language] is an experience that will have a definite impact on your character and self-trust.

This is me socialising

To conclude my thoughts and advice on learning a language while living in the country it is spoken, I would like to say that despite all the bad feelings, I truly enjoy it. After a while you understand more and more and are increasingly able to express yourself. This will help you feel less trapped in not being understood by anyone. My father always says that you have truly internalized a language when you can reply to sarcasm in the given language. A general understanding of sarcasm is nonetheless required.

 

Written by 
Lina

A walk to learn

AliceNova has another center in Montefiascone where I was working in the last three months. In this center they do different activities with adults and kids with disabilities. One of the activities they realize is “attività sul territorio” where the clients have the possibility to visit several cities in the province of Viterbo.This activity gives them not only the opportunity to discover new places but to LEARN. Learn to use the bus, learn to read the road signs, learn how to behave on the streets, learn about the dangers that one can face when walking, learn to cross the road, learn more about the culture and history they live in and that surround them.

With each step and with each walk they learn a little bit more. As learning goes beyond a classroom, this activity definitely gave me the opportunity to see how important and efficient this way of learning can be.  Since some of these young adults have difficulties to remember and to be focused, this practical experience makes them put in action the things they learnt with the operators. And of course, it’s a great chance for the clients to strengthen and improve their relationship with the workers.

We have always known the benefits of walking for one’s health but who would have thought that it could bring benefits on one’s learning and social skills as well?

 

 

Written by: Inês

 

Montalto – “Uma casa portuguesa”

I’m writing this post because today was a special day in the little kitchen of the Ortostorto farm, one of the places that I’m currently working as a volunteer.

In the Ortostorto farm many activities are daily developed, such as the kitchen laboratory where the clients learn how to cook and work independently in the kitchen.

Inspired by the training in Sermugnano where we volunteers were encouraged to share our cultures and customs in our work-places, I decided to give it a try.

 

Since one of the things that Portuguese and Italians share is their love for food, before the farm close for Easter celebrations, I aimed to bring them a little bit of Portuguese gastronomy.

 

The menu of the day was “Bacalhau à Brás” e “Ervilhas com ovos escalfados”, or as I and Fed (one of the clients) were calling: “Cibo Portuguese”.

 

 

As always, the kitchen was filled with enthusiastic workers. I was surrounded by laughs, Portuguese music and smells that took me home.

 

 

I’m very glad with this opportunity because nothing makes me happier than cooking for others and seeing them enjoy it. And I can happily say that the Portuguese food won their hearts.

Written by: Inês

Let’s play Dixit

On Friday we had a traditional party evening (with senseless music, alcohol, short conversations and lots of smiling faces). Then, all of a sudden, someone put a reasonable remark: “Let’s play Dixit cards!”

I ‘ve never been a big fan of this kind of entertainment, but this is an absolutely different case. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the Dixit cards. Personally, I saw them here in Italy for the first time. At first, it seems nothing more than a simple game, but if you seek deeper, you’ll probably discover that it’s more than just a game, or life itself is nothing more than house of cards, in which every single card with its special illustration demonstrates a specific story, emotion, feeling, mood or practically anything else.

The main principle of the game is that you have to find an exact definition of the card that you’re holding in your hand, in order to express its hidden meaning, but you should try not to be very obvious because if everyone guesses your intention, you’ll get minus points. So you have to keep some “secret” for yourself, which is sometimes not so easy. When there’s another person’s turn, you have to guess their cards as well. If you get the plus points, your rabbit (which symbolizes you) will be more close to the finish line.

I think that the main aim of this play is to increase the skills of self-awareness and imagination in human beings, especially in children, but it also gives you a unique chance to observe the perception of other people. For example, what does the word “isolation” or “happiness” mean for somebody? The answers are always curious. With this play you can get to know someone’s  personality better than with those short conversations on the balcony. The most important factor is that you cannot lie in this game, you cannot choose the other way than sincerity, otherwise you’ll probably lose your game.

So, as I was playing, I had this shabby association with life. We all have our unique stories, feelings, attitudes, even the most boring and ordinary people, we all have these… Sometimes we want it so god damn hard to find this definition and express ourselves, to cover our emptiness. But as in this game, we have to be careful not to be so obvious, otherwise, we’ll get an enormous minus point – pain.

Sometimes our words tell exactly what is in our heart, at this point, we are obsessed with the short-term feeling of happiness and our rabbit is slowly going to the finish line. On this road, we’re meeting lots of different people, sometimes we learn something from them, feel the rhyme of the universe better. Sometimes we’re crawling in the dark, maybe we also fall into the hole by accident. So we are sitting on the deep bottom of the hole, without any hope and light in front of us. But finally, we always manage to go up, through this obstacle, gathering the last pieces of our strength and continuing the way to the destination, because we were grown up with the knowledge that defeat is a tragedy and the losers are bad types. At last, someone is always first, the other one is always behind the stage.

But what happens when the game is over? Nothing at all.  As one famous Georgian song says: “The king and the pike are thrown in the same box.” The most important is the process, the way itself.

 “The feeling of the passion is creation not in observation of what you’ve created.” (Guram Rcheulishvili)

So, I have no idea, how my white rabbit will survive its road, but one thing I know for sure when I get back to Georgia, I’ll definitely take one Dixit card with me.

Sopio

 

“Tirare fuori e non mettere dentro”

Mafalda, il mentore

Persone venute da lontano, persone arrivate lontano. Ungheresi, italiani, stranieri. Le loro storie scendono dolcemente, goccia a goccia. Guardate i  cerchi sull’acqua che creano! Di seguito, vi presenterò i personaggi più importanti del mio progetto di volontariato. Prima di tutto, una ragazza italiana che oltre ad essere il mentore per me e gli altri volontari, è un’ispirazione e una buona amica. In lei si trova creatività senza limiti, empatia, iniziativa, cuore e spirito.

Ci siamo conosciuti a giugno 2015 – su Internet. La sua foto la mostrava con faccia dipinta, colorata. In quanto fan delle belle arti, mi sembrava un’ “anima gemella”. Così ho deciso di scriverle un’e-mail, sconosciuta: “Secondo te il corso che organizzate andrebbe bene per me? Sono una giornalista, vorrei tornare in Italia e non ho idea di come procedere dopo la mia laurea. La mia motivazione è adeguata?” E mi ha risposto gentilmente: “Iscriviti!”

La prossima scena, gennaio 2016. Mangiavamo pizza accanto ad una fontana a Roma, questa volta incontrandoci personalmente. Parlavamo dell’impatto del corso estivo e poi è emerso che ci sarebbe potuta essere una continuazione, una collaborazione a lungo termine. Si cercavano volontari stranieri per un programma annuale coordinato dalla loro organizzazione. Di nuovo, mi ha detto: “Iscriviti!”

Passavano i mesi, e io facevo a Budapest cose simili a quelle che lei faceva in Italia. Ho coordinato programmi per giovani stranieri e ho scritto articoli. Poi ho partecipato ad un altro training a gennaio 2017. Lei era  formatrice, io ero partecipante. Ci siamo fatte l’occhiolino. Per la prima volta abbiamo parlato del programma di volontariato per cui avevo fatto domanda l’anno prima e che è stato approvato. Ho annuito quando mi hanno chiesto se sapevo chi sarebbe stato il mio mentore: “Non solo lo sarà in futuro, lei lo è già.”

È arrivata la fine di giugno 2017. Ci sedemmo sulle scale di una piazza medievale. La notte è arrivata. Qualche ora prima ero scesa dal treno. Lei mi è venuta a prendere alla stazione e mi ha accompagnata con la macchina al nostro alloggio. “Ti aiuterò a comprare la carta SIM, aprire il conto in banca, e ti mostrerò la città. Andiamo!”

Poi un salto nel tempo: prendiamo una tazza di tè da lei a dicembre 2017. Parlo della mia attuale vita da volontaria e condivido la mia ultima idea. “Voglio fare mini interviste con le persone più importanti della mia vita qui. Sarei contenta se tu fossi la prima. Puoi raccontarmi chi è Mafalda in questo momento? ”

– Una persona alla ricerca di un equilibrio – ha cominciato con una bella melodia di lingua, in italiano. – Sento di aver fatto molti percorsi importanti, ho imparato tanto, ma quest’anno é stato molto difficile. Succede in questo tipo di lavoro se non ti prendi cura di te; perdi la motivazione. E questo è un lavoro che se non stai bene con te stesso, non puoi fare. Perché se uno non si trova in una buona condizione, si può finire anche per fare potenzialmente male agli altri, perché è un lavoro in cui bisogna darsi molto, bisogna ascoltare. Proprio per uscire da questo periodo un po’ buio, ho cercato di sperimentare e portare nel mio lavoro sempre di più tutte le cose che mi fanno stare bene tutti giorni. Inoltre, quello che mi è venuto di scrivere per una breve presentazione di me, per un infopack: “I’m a compulsive doodler, impro actress and wannabe singer, that tries to support people in finding a way how to express themselves, their unicity and the things that make them be them, so their stories.” Ed é quello che mi piace del concetto di educazione: tirare fuori e non mettere dentro.

– Come puoi descrivere il tuo lavoro?

– Il mio lavoro per l’Italia non esiste nel senso che effettivamente non è riconosciuto. Quello che faccio io sono attività di formazione, facilitazione per giovani ed adulti, diversi tipi di gruppi e background. Sono specializzata in formazione per educatori, quindi principalmente lavoro o con gruppi di giovani o con gruppi di educatori, insegnanti, operatori, nel campo dell’educazione non formale. Cerco di creare degli scambi dove le persone possono imparare attraverso un rapporto alla pari, sopratutto attraverso un approccio esperienziale,  quindi molto basato sul fare, riflettere su quello che si è fatto, e scambiarsi e confrontarsi con gli altri. Principalmente lavoro sui temi della comunicazione, dello sviluppo personale, mi piace appunto portare  tutte quelle metodologie creative, artistiche che fanno parte nel mio background personale, dal teatro alla scrittura, il disegno, il canto, ultimamente tanto il gioco. Anche ho un forte background in gestione di gruppi interculturali dove la diversità è molto forte, dove le persone tra l’altro usano spesso una lingua veicolativa che spesso è l’inglese. Quindi di conseguenza, in realtà per me è anche abbastanza strano lavorare in italiano, comunque con gruppi che appartengono allo stesso gruppo linguistico, allo stesso background, perché sono abituata a molta varietà con i gruppi con cui lavoro.

– Chi è una ispirazione per te?

– Non parlerò del presidente della nostra organizzazione perché sarebbe banale, ma per me la figura del mentore si chiama Katrin. Lei è una formatrice austriaca che ho conosciuto ormai quasi 7 anni fa. L’ho sempre vista come una donna incredibilmente forte ma vulnerabile. Per me lei è stata un modello assoluto. La dolcezza e allo stesso tempo la competenza che lei porta ai gruppi, il modo in cui si apre, tiene lo spazio e ti consente di aprirti, mi sempre ha affascinata. È una donna coraggiosissima, con una grandissima intelligenza.

– Come dovrebbe essere il personaggio di mentore, secondo te, in generale?

– Idealmente è una persona che è lì per offrirti un orecchio a cui poter parlare, aiutarti a rilevare elementi della tua storia, del tuo processo e aiutarti ad unire i puntini. Ognuno sceglie che cosa vuole condividere con il proprio mentore. Magari ti aiuta nel farti le domande giuste ma ovviamente le risposte le devi trovare tu. Però è un processo di iniziazione, un processo d’autovalutazione che secondo me è molto importante sopratutto al livello di appprendimento.

Dopo la intervista, nel frattempo, siamo entrati nell’anno nuovo. Lei è a Roma, io sono a Viterbo. Siamo venute da lontano, siamo arrivate a lontano. E ancora siamo per strada.

Lilla Gősi

Non solo cucina

Diana

 

 

 

Nella mia esperienza SVE (Servizio Volontario Europeo) tra tante attività ho avuto la possibilità di lavorare nel laboratorio di cucina…

… come vedete nel VIDEO.

L’attività del Centro consiste nell’imparare a comprare e preparare in modo autonomo  tutto quello che serve per il pranzo per tutte le persone presenti.  Devo dire che la cultura italiana è impregnata della tradizione culinaria e qualche volta mi sembra che il tempo trascorso durante il pranzo sia considerato “santo”. È l’opportunità per tutti per parlare e condividere.

Ma questa attività ha un senso più profondo e non è “solo cucina”, perché ha anche forte capacità di sviluppo a livello psicologico. Allora, proviamo capire perché il laboratorio di cucina è importante per lo sviluppo dell’aspetto cognitivo di una persona. Prima di tutto dobbiamo conoscere quali sono i processi cognitivi, che sono: la percezione, la memoria, il pensiero ed il linguaggio. Soffermiamoci gradualmente su ciascuno di essi:

1. La percezione: acquisizione sensoriale dell’interazione tra le persone ed oggetti di diversi materiali, temperature, superfici, colori.
2. La memoria: sviluppo della memoria visuale, auditiva e operativa tra il ricordo dei piatti che ci sono stati preparati in precedenza, il loro nome, le fasi della loro preparazione.
3. Il pensiero: sviluppo dei lobi frontali della corteccia cerebrale attraverso l’utilizzo dei piani con le fasi dell’elaborazione per la cottura dei cibi (in immagini o scritte). Si forma anche il concetto delle diverse fasi del processo e delle categorie (verdure, frutte, stoviglie ecc.). Si crea così la visione integrale del processo che è portato alla conclusione.
4. Il linguaggio e la comunicazione: le attività si realizzano in gruppo, di solito nel laboratorio partecipano da 3 a 6 persone che devono mettersi d’accordo per arrivare ad uno scopo comune (preparare il pranzo). Questo facilita il mantenimento delle funzioni del lobo temporale sinistro della corteccia cerebrale.
5. Sviluppo dell’emisfero destro della corteccia cerebrale :

• I concetti matematici tra il calcolo dei prodotti e la quantità che serve, il numero di persone che saranno a pranzo, la quantità delle porzioni fino ad apparecchiare la tavola e contare le stoviglie.
• I concetti temporanei. Il lavoro con l’orologio nel tempo della cottura per capire quanto tempo ci vuole per cucinare un preciso ingrediente oppure un cibo in relazione all’orario del pranzo.

E tra l’altro…..

6. L’abilità manipolativa. Il laboratorio di cucina è pieno di attività motorie che servono per sviluppare la micro-motricità: tagliare, lavare, pizzicare, mescolare, triturare ecc.

Ed infine…

Così vediamo che il laboratorio di cucina offre un ampio campo per lo sviluppo e la correzione delle funzioni psichiche. Inoltre cucinare è un’ottima motivazione per tutti perché come dicono nel mio paese “chi non lavora, non mangia”.

(L’articolo, la foto e il video sono stati fatti da Diana Gomez.)

 

How to keep the fire

Lilla

 

 

 

After years of constant moving, finally, I could stop in Italy. Before, I had been changing place, country, apartment, role, profession, language. Attempting to recreate the bondless happiness of half year Erasmus in Firenze, my first definitive foreign adventure in 2012. Since then, only five years passed, but I feel like a marathon-runner, who has discovered precious pieces of her puzzle wherever she went.

I remember:

• the colourful bungalows of Whitstable, crispy seaside walks and biking, eternal green fields, white cliffs, the ample, majestic Canterbury Cathedral, my cat-ladys and all the supportive, nice people who were keeping me in line on my lonely hero’s journey, studying in England (… and last but not least, I remember the shortly deceased master chéf, RIP, Antonio Carluccio with whom I had a super short interview; his simple humbleness was a big honour and a real wow – as he said, the secret of good food and good life is using maximum 3-4 strong but likewise good ingredients);
• museuming, “flâneuring” and immersing ourselves in arts in that Parisian spring with my group of inspiring, international friends (… and of course, how could I forget our Hungarian-vegetarian-philosophical community and the first steps towards a sustainable  household? );
• trying to slow down and BUILD (numerous things, in so many areas, with the hope to improve and open up the world) in Hungary, while exploring more my motherland; commuting, hiking, volunteering, training, writing.

Since I was getting paid for working as a journalist and coordinating youth voluntary projects (asking, listening to and sharing amazing stories of amazing people), after a while, I got tired of  walking in my challenge zone and fighting. Because a lot of  times, I faced barriers difficult to overcome and tackle.

So the main reason behind my decision to apply for the EVS was to change perpectives, and share stories as a volunteer who lives, works, writes in Italy. (In most cases, about Italy, and till now, in most cases, to Hungarian readers in my weekly blog.)

Moving  worked out well for me. I am happy. And I believe, it is because you cannot feed a fire solely with fire itself. And so, if I were fire, this storyful reality would be my wood and air: the lands, the people, the work and the fact that in this EVS project I can not only collect stories, but experience, try, do and live through them! For instance, I will never forget the day when we started harvesting olives in the farm with locals. Hard to express how much I enjoyed every step. Likewise, our everyday activities make me glad: learning the language, personal and collective stories, about the past, regional history, good practices etc.

Back to track, in a nutshell, I was coming to this EVS in Italy hoping (that can seem a childish wish at first glance, but after all, that is really how it happened!) to find my heart, be able to balance, and keep the fire. Because, during this previous, intense, shifting period of my life, more or less, I had always found motivation, work, objectives, place to live, people caring about me and people about whom I cared. However, that little pulsing organ deep down, in the hustle and bustle, came too close to stop, and not to give a curious leap, not even hearing another new story again.  And for a storyteller, this is definitely not a good sign.

Till now, life proves me. My EVS project has given to me more positive things than I could ever dream about.  I am surrounded with great people who would catch me if I happen to fall. I learn something exciting and new every day. And important,  I found my heart. Or probably my heart has found me. We may never know the truth. But that is already another chapter of the story.

 

 

 

LIFE Choice

“Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.”
Keri Russell

My name is Rana Ramadan. I am a twenty-four year old Palestinian girl. I graduated from University in the year of 2016 with a bachelor degree in Materials Engineering. Right now, I am one of six girls (which you all know by now) that are participating in an EVS program.

Rana

To spend a year, far away from your family and friends, to leave your daily life, pack your bags and just go to a different country to live, this is what I call a life changing choice.

What drove me to take part in this program is different than the other girls’ motivation. For me this was a first step in my future career. It was the thing that I wanted for the rest of my life, to work with disability, to be part of this magnificent world. I remember the day I saw the program invitation on the sending organization’s web page. The deadline was already passed, but there was something that drove me to send an email to see if I can still submit my papers. I was really happy when I received that I can send the documents despite that they were already in the interview step. Anyway I sent them and after three days I received an invitation for an interview. To be honest my hopes where not that high, but I did my best, and here I am. Six months after this interview and a choice that changed my plans, my perspectives, my dreams and my whole life, I am sitting in the living room of our apartment, near the city center of Viterbo, writing to you about my experience.

EVS started for me as a way to open a new door for my future in a career point of view, but after four months I end up to see different things in life. I met five girls from five different countries, backgrounds, mentality. We had our ups and downs, we laughed and cried. The amount of new things that we experienced in this small period of time makes me think about how much we can learn from each other’s life stories, how much we can help each other by a small word, a hug or even a smile.
EVS is not only a time that you will spend doing a specific activity that was written in your agreement. It is a decision that changes your life in a way that you never imagined it can be. It is a chance to see the world in the eyes of other people; to understand other cultures, lives, believes, and to make new friends. This is not a step that you need to think much about. It is something that all of us need in order to grow up, to know ourselves, to build our personality, and to be humans towards each other without a previous judgment. It is amazing just to wake up in the morning, knowing that today there is something new that you will know about yourself or others around you.  This experience so far taught me one of the most important things about myself. It taught me that sometimes the change you need is just behind the corner but you need to open your eyes to see it. EVS was this change.
So, if there is something I want to add before saying goodbye is that be your own change, work hard to accomplish your dreams and never think, that the small things you are doing right now in your life doesn’t count, because in a couple of years, or maybe days, these choices will turn to be a life changer.