Impressions about Georgia "I am glad that I took a gap year between my studies."

I am Erika, a new volunteer from Lithuania. I have been in Rustavi for 2 months now and I can tell with confidence – I am glad that I took a gap year between my studies. You learn so much in such a short amount of time! I mean, there’s no way I would have been able to gain so many different experiences just in 2 months if I didn’t choose to go abroad. I feel like things that I learned aren’t easily describable. Before coming here I definitely didn’t know what to expect, but I am pretty satisfied with the current situation.

The food here is very delicious and weird at the same time. Especially the cheese, it’s so salty. I guess we should get used to it. My favorite dish (I think I would manage to feed on this every day) is khinkali with mushrooms. This traditional dish (many countries have very similar looking dumplings, but who cares) is so so so good! Khachapuri isn’t my favorite, but if you know a good place to get it, it’s pretty good. In general, I love how Georgians buy most vegetables in bazari. It sounds like a healthy diet, but when supra time comes, you can’t not overeat.

Talking about supra… I love how Georgia has deep traditions for it and how accurate are they until now. I guess every supra is different, I have only participated in 3. So many more coming! What I noticed (and what is completely different from Lithuania) is that Georgians have this very warm way of greeting people. A simple handshake apparently doesn’t

do the job. :D It’s really heartwarming to come to a country and actually feel welcomed. We had this fun (and of course educational) experience of grape picking. The owner of the place took pictures of us for memories and after all the work gave us some wine to taste. It was made from the grapes that previous volunteers picked. So you get the idea –Georgians know how to show hospitality.

But I think the most important part is the people that I get to hang out with. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like everyone more or less understands that every volunteer is different and accepts those differences. Most of the time I feel positivity coming from people and that just gives me inspiration. No pressure, only your own initiative, no strict deadlines (Georgia in general is pretty chill country when it comes to tome management). And a lot of free time for your own improvement. Travelling, learning Georgian language, simply exploring Rustavi, whatever comes to your mind, whatever you desire.

I usually spend my free time hanging out with flatmates and other volunteers. A movie night is not a rare event in our flat. We even made a movie list that many people who come over fill out. We pretty often keep in touch with our fellow volunteers from on-arrival training (which was great by the way, both educational and partying parts). I didn’t have a lot of chances to travel yet, but we have big plans ahead! I had a chance to explore Tbilisi a bit with some of our fellow volunteers. What left the biggest impression so far was the monument called “The chronicles of Georgia”. It’s huge and very detailed! Basically, you can see the entire history of Christianity in Georgia.

In GYE office I lead a self-expression and English conversation club. I also take care of monthly newsletter called “GYE bulldozer”. I’m still wondering who thought of that name. :D I spend my days researching ideas for this beautiful initiative that me and Goda (another Lithuanian volunteer) are responsible for. It’s called “Humans on Rustavi”, go like the page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/humansofrustavi. To me, a pretty closed of person from a small town, this responsibility was challenging at first. You know, coming up to strangers and starting a conversation in a foreign language isn’t easy. But since I’m very into learning about human communication, that’s a perfect practice ground for me.

So, after spending 2 months in Rustavi, I started to seriously like it. Some say that it’s a boring city, but with the right people you can make it fun. Now all the confusion that you get when you first arrive is fading away, so I basically feel like home more and more. I’m sure so many more experiences are awaiting and so many more people to meet. I’m exited to learn and share my own experiences with Georgia!

Peace, love and best wishes,

Erika

Unlock the wold in Romania

My name is Giorgi Papashvili and i spent 5 month EVS in Romania. When I started my EVS, it was hard..  I was learning to be independent - how to survive by obtaining basic life skills, cooking, do some basic housework etc. 

At the beginning breaking the day routine was hard. After some time the situation was changing, for example my roommates moved to another flat and new people came. 

Active task implementation, and how without weekly parties, then the On Arrival Training which was so interesting, specially for me because I was alone from my country there. I met many people. I talked to many people and I learned many things.

This EVS was good for me, interesting and full of adventures. Camping in Romania was perfect. Thank you Valentine for the tent by the way. :)

Now I am back in Georgia. From here it is the same, but I realized that there I had more freedom..

I will remember my EVS in Romania. Thank you my hosting organisation - Asociatia EXPLORATOR.

EVS story from Latvia

Diana Uchumbegashvili: "As many of us know and have experienced, living in another country changes you forever. You will never be the same and will never see things the same way again. The joy of having spent time in another country is that you slowly become a part of it and bit-by-bit one of its people. Our attention to detail is heightened and we make a concerted effort to understand and fit in until we become one with our new location. This is just a little bit about my experience in my second home, Latvia. Honestly, I believe it's impossible to describe all the amazing things I got to do, learn, feel and experience here.. Long story short - This country has taken half of my heart and will always stay there".

Lets meet Gumbati

"Hide! Hide!
I heard. What? I don't know this word! I was looking at the young guy with very surprise face.

Hide — Let's go — he said again.

Ok, let's go.

We were walking up the hill. From the top you can see village and mountains all green. Gumbati, the village near to Tsalka when we were is small place where live around 100 families. Most of them moved here 20 years ago from Adjara region. During the summer when in Rustawi is incredible hot, in Gumbati temperature is more chill and you can be outside all day.

One of person which was moves here is Ira. I met her 3 months ago. She was participant in project: "Silence is not a gold” where I was helping. Few weeks ago she invited us to her village. To meet her pupils and motivate them to speak in English.

Ira is Georgian and English teacher at school. She and her parents open learning center, and they are helping kids with learning and prepare to the exams. This is also place where they are coming to meet each other and spending time. Actually besides playing field in the village is no place to go.

I was visiting this village with two volunteers from France. Lola and Mikio, which kids called Miki, because it was for them easier to use.

During this week we prepare activities, we told about our countries (Poland and France), we show few tips :” how to look for a job”, team buildings games and outdoor game in Gumbati. Kids from the village are amazing they were with us most of the time showing the neighborhood, taking us up to the hill, to the river, playing with us in volleyball and football. Even director of the school invite us for small supra when he was welcoming us in the village and took a toast for our friendship.

In previous week kids finish the school. One of the day, they decided to make goodbye party. Ira prepared for them small present. All of them get soap bubbles, and whole yard was full of them. Every young person get one big bottle full of magic liquid. And they start to playing, running, making bubbles in a thousand different ways. This is one of my favorite moment during this week. I will be miss this place and I hope see all of them again." Marta Polish volunteer.

Levani about his project in Romania!

Hi, I am Levani Shubitidze from Georgia. I did my EVS in Craiova, Romania. I participated in a blood donation campaign with a "Red Bracelet" group. 
https://www.facebook.com/redbracelet2club/
This experience has been amazing and unforgettable, I met so many talented, smart and open-minded people from different countries, we did together a very good job and also managed to enjoy our stay and have fun. We really lived like a small family. We traveled together around the country, also in Hungary.  Romanian people are very welcoming and I felt very comfortable there. This volunteering period is a great contribution to my future professional and personal life, I am returning to my country not only with stunning memories but also with better skills for life, new knowledge and most importantly, with big motivation to start a new better career. I am very thankful to the people who supported me before and during my volunteering time in this beautiful city.