New volunteers - new stories

The beginning of September brought new volunteers from all over Europe, who were discovering a different culture, the culture of Romania. We had a busy start:  we built our teams, met our  mentors, visited the NGOs we will work with,  had workshops and training in order to learn more about the project, and in the very last part of the month we  joined a training in Bucharest.

This sounds a little vague, isn’t it?
We would like to share with you more details about how last month felt  like for us international volunteers. 
The induction part came not only with curiosity and excitement but with a lot of joy! Because we love playing, we used that amazing tool for knowing each other better, destroy any intercultural barriers and build connections between each other.. because we will have a long journey together. 

We are here for each other always! Volunteers standing up for volunteers! In this beautiful adventure are taking part other important persons as well, the mentors of each volunteer. Volunteers met their mentors and... magic happened, they got to know each other, got to know a good friend from this new and amazing country.

The activities carried out in the first month, helped us seeing the good in others and realizing we are pretty lucky to have such amazing people around. The team-building only reinforced this feeling.  We spent 3 days away from Cluj-Napoca, in the mountains, where you can only hear the sound of  nature and the call for adventure inside us. Beside the funny and unforgettable moments, we found out a lot of information about the projects. After the ending of this amazing 3 days one thing was sure: we were one step closer to do our job better.. and we can always count on our team.

Let’s go further! The second week came with a challenge: learn Romanian!! Sounds exciting? In the opinion of the volunteers it was, for sure. But who said that learning a new language is boring? We made sure we had fun in the process of learning this new language. At some point we had difficulties for sure, but when you are thinking about the amazing things you can do in your project especially if you use the Romanian language, motivation appears instantly.

It was the time to make other friends as well, so we headed to meet our soon to be colleagues at the NGOs.  A lot of places to go, a lot of people to meet and the vibe of excitement floating in the air, and thoughts of the best is yet to come in our minds.

Having fun, learning the essential for our projects, laughing a lot, were only a few things that happened in the first 3 days of our third week.  We felt that we have no patience and can barely wait to start working in the organisations.

The fourth week was about to begin.But what was different about this week? The place, the team, the staff.. in one word: everything! After a looong way from Cluj-Napoca to Bucharest, some of us were for the first time In the capital of Romania. 

Our group joined many other volunteers from all over Europe.. and not only! Such an intercultural environment, isn't it? But this didn’t stop us learning together about what EVS/ESC means, about how important we are in the projects we have chosen and much more. Briefly, we learnt more than we could have imagined. After 5 intensive days of learning, learning, learning, we were packing to go back to our new home.

The first month came to an end. We have deposited everything that happened  in our minds and hearts. A lot of beautiful things are on their way, so stay tuned  to hear our stories and get to know more about our experiences.