My name is Tornike Togonidze and I had a wonderful one year EVS in the beautiful country of Slovakia, so I would like to share some feelings, emotions and experiences that I had during this time.
I became a member of the Non Governmental Organisation "Georgian Youth For Europe" in 2013. I was involved in several exchange programs in Georgia just before going for Evs. It was my firs time going abroad, so my sending organisation made a pre departure meeting and explained everything. Later, they helped me get a visa.
My hosting organisation was friendly and everybody treated me like a new member of the family they gave me Slovak language lessons and they have never been late. Also, for delivering pocket money on the .first one month at new home was little bit difficult I had to get used to a new culture, new people, new traditions, and a new language, but after the first month I felt at home.
What about work and free time We had to work from 30 to 35 hours per week, so if you worked 7 hours during 5 days and if you also worked in shifts during the weekend next week you would have 3 free days to visit the surrounding sights not only in the capital city but also in neighbouring countries.
One of my favourite parts of EVS was On arrival and Midterm trainings when you with other EVS volunteers from all around Sovakia meet and get to know each other. We had a little bit of a delay because of the new Erasmus plus project, but it was worth the wait. During this time I met new people from all around the world and got to known lots of different cultures and traditions gained new friends. We were like family, we had parties almost all the time and what is the best thing during mid term is that after training you can visit them in their cities and villages. They also come and visit you too, so you never lose contact or friendship
Something negative about my EVS was that you always miss your family, friends, and relatives. I was wanted to see them just for one minute, hug them and get back to EVS. Also, winter in Slovakia is so long that even in mid April it is possible to snow. We had -12 degrees once, so it is a little bit boring because you can not go out from the house, but you figure out how to spend your time. With table games, you can survive!
To make a long story short, now I am in Georgia and I really miss Slovakia. If you compare how many possibilities you have when you are EVS, you will realize how great the opportunity is. I want to thank everyone for helping me to become EVS and helping me to find myself and let me enjoy the best one year in my life. I advise all youngsters to try EVS once in your life . After finishing it, you will feel that one year, simply is not enough.
