Take everything that ESC gives you and enjoy more

One previous volunteer said: "The experiences that you gained, the people who you met and the time that you had to go through being away from your family and friends all these things are going to stay here in Georgia. You can share your memories with those people who are interested to hear it but even they, I truly believe that, will not understand you properly. But one thing they will notice immediately - your behavior and thoughts. Sooo take everything that ESC gives you and enjoy more! "

I can be honest with you that Georgia became my second home and I am not lying 🤪 Seven months already passed since I arrived here and I’ve got many maaaaaaany new things that I had to deal with. For example, the culture differences which are completely unusual for European people, the country currency which has different value than euro, the language barrier that you must jump over for being able to communicate and be understood by others. Moreover, to face with adult life that it’s not actually so funny how it seems through many teenager’s eyes🤩. It actually would be better to use words as a student life or a life period when you are becoming independent from your parents. What I want to say with all of this is that you are going to make muuuuuch more your own decisions than you did before. Of course, it is not a special challenge for many volunteers in their ESC but for a nineteen years old girl it’s something new. Aaaaaand  by the way I’m going to celebrate my 20 birthday this summer in Georgia 🤩! I feel old now 😂

My mum wasn’t really happy with my idea to leave immediately after finishing the high school to a country like Georgia 🇬🇪 The fear arises when we are facing a situation that we haven’t had  before and we don’t have any clue how it’s going to end. Thus, I kinda understood my mom on this point but I didn’t agree with her to stay in Lithuania. And you know what, I am super glad that I did not change my opinion and choose to do ESC in Georgia. I was afraid as well but my excitement to show people that a shy girl as I am can make it was much bigger than a SILLY fear how it seems of the moment☀️.

Since I’ve been here for more than half a year I’ve met a lot of interesting and unique people. I had pleasure to meet with Polish , French , Germans  , Belgians , Norwegians , Latvians , Estonians  and of course Georgians  ❤️.  Moreover, I had the vacation and some trips with some of these people together. We visited beautiful places in Georgia and I definitely want to see more! 🚞🕍

Continue talking about my skills that I acquired  during the ESC. Activities with children that I had to lead ( Nobody didn’t say exactly what I should do. How to spend time with kids in an interesting and useful way was my task to think about and prepare for). I was leading the English for beginners and dancing clubs. To add, I organised the orientation game in Rustavi city. I took 14 fun photos for different places and some of them were a mystery even for locals game participants😎. I was included in Georgian and Lithuanian project. I had high quality training specialized for current volunteers how are doing their EVS from 2019 autumn to 2020 summer.

Currently, while we must stay at home l lead English conversations online with cool young people who were interested in making meetings together with me. At least me, I’m having a good time with them and I really enjoy it. Anyway I hope that in summer I will be able to join some projects in Scout Center and have some good moments before leaving Georgia☀️.
Stay at home, wash your hands and be safe!

The race for tolerance - 2 month volunteering in Romania

Couple of months ago, when me and my friend were walking as usually, talking, she told me she was going for volunteering project in Romania. I told her it was a good idea and thought to myself I would go to if there was a place in another one. Bless my luck because after one week she said, someone refused and there was a place for me. I immediately applied, got invitation letter, went to see our coordinator, signed and waited for the departure date and detailed information. I didn't need to wait long. After everything was settled, I informed my family, friends, we went to a goodbye party, packed a suitcase and went to airport.

We were ten, the great ten. Nine girls and one boy who soon became our best friend. From the very first moments I knew who would be living in my room and I did everything to make that happen. The flight was short and nice. After a road trip we were in the student's dormitory where we would spend two beautiful months together.

 

First week was the best. We met other people from our group: two Italians and ten Jordanians. Next day, we went to the office where we worked during the project, walked around the city, took millions of pictures, went to parties to check out the nightlife in Craiova, the town where we lived. It was awesome. Meanwhile, we had the introduction and brainstorming sessions with our mentor, got tips on how to work on the project and soon, step by step, we started.

Everybody had different background of education, culture and personal skills. That was the thing that was most attractive during the whole time. I was amazed how we could be so different yet so close to one-another. Some of us knew very little English but even that was not a problem because we would help in translating and I also discovered that friendship was like a Lingua Franca, a common language that kept us together.

During the project we participated in two major events: 1st December the 100th anniversary of Romania's independence and  Volunteering night on 5th December. The last one was very interesting, with lots of interesting people, organizations, volunteers, workshops, music, dancing and sharing experiences. Me and my friends did a workshop. We made bookmarks with printed design and gave them out free. It was nice because people liked and appreciated our work.

After the official working days were over, we got our second month allowance and some of us went to travel in another city, Brasov. It is an old town in Transilvania. We went to see Dracula's palace in Bran. Brasov was very beautiful. We kept walking and walking and couldn't get enough of that beauty. After that we came back to Craiova and spent there few more weeks , being young and carelessly free until we would say goodbye to one-another and went back to our home countries.

During that two months we grew a lot. For most of us, it was the first experience living abroad, living independently and volunteering too. We met amazing people, like our mentor, a girl who was even younger that us, incredible photographer and person; Our trainer, who shared so much light and positive vibes during just one week that we will probably remember her forever.

Well, of course we had some bad days, little problems but we were helped and guided by one-another to overcome obstacles and help ourselves become better, stronger individuals. I think, every one of us changed a little bit in a good way. As for me, a very introvert person, it was an amazing experience to help me open up, come out of my shell and learn how to adapt to unusual surroundings, factors, people. I learned how to be more adequate and less radical while dealing with people and work.

Now, it is almost one month since we left Romania. We, the members of the group still chat in our group chat every day, sharing all kinds of thoughts, pictures and videos, mostly saying how much we miss one-another. Some of us live in the same city and we meet on weekends to have coffee. I sit and write this story and if you ask me, was all this worth my time? Hell, yes it was. Would I try and go again? Oh, yes I would, I would for sure!

Dodo Bakuradze

Hosting organisation: Asociatia Explorator, Romania

Project funded by European Solidarity Corps

Adventures continue

Hello again, here’s another update about my ESC in Georgia. It has been 7 months since I first came to Georgia. I have learned and seen a lot more.

First of all, the language. I learned it for about 3 months with my coordinator. But I droped it. Don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful language. I know how to read the alphabet and a few basic words, but I  think that’s enough for now. There are only 5 months left before my project will end and this language will be of no use to me. So I decided to focus on something that I can actually use in the future - Spanish. Now I have lessons every week with a very dedicated teacher. I only just started recently and still have nothing to show, but I have hope that soon I’ll be able to at least understand a little bit.

Also, I traveled quite a bit. Georgian winter is very strange to me. Around the capital Tbilisi there is no snow, but if you travel outside of this region (to the mountains for example), in some places snow can reach your knees. I learned this by traveling to Gudauri with a few friends. Together we climbed and hiked on a mountain that for me (I’m from a very flat country) was a high one. We just chose a random mountain close to a skii resort, but the view that opened up at the top of the mountain, on the other side of it, was truly breath-taking. Our next destination was a monument. A beautiful monument that is near a very deep valley. It is officially one of my favourite monuments I have ever seen. Next - Stepantsminda. It’s a town that has nothing special at day-time. But when the sun is setting and all the lights are turned on, watching it from far away is very magical. It might sound delusional or exaggerated to some people because of my choice of words, but I feel like these experiences deserve it. 

I have also visited Sighnaghi, Bakuriani (twice), Sioni lake and Dashbashi canyon. I have made truly dear memories with people that were with me. And I am forever thankful for it. I really hope that I can travel some more, because there are so many places that I haven’t had a chance to visit yet. Places like Ureki, Kutaisi, Racha and Svaneti regions and etc. But that’s for latter.

Since now volunteers are busy with leading clubs and preparing lessons online, we have a fair amount of time at home. I use this time to experiment with food and crafts. To learn how to make something I have never tried before. I share my good and bad food experiences with my flatmates. We even created a quote: “You burn - you learn“. Unfortunately, I use it pretty often.

I’m sure there are a lot of things I forgot to mention, but for now that’s it.

Best wishes and see you latter!

-Erika

What I achieved in Georgia

             Hi there! It's Hania, the Polish EVS volunteer from Georgian Youth for Europe. I can't believe it's been already six months since I started my voluntary service. It feels like I came here yesterday.... When I reflect on these six months, I have to say that it definitely wasn't a wasted time! I have learnt quite a lot... and I am still learning everyday. So this article will be about my learning outcome here in Georgia.

            First of all, the main reason why I decided to come specifically to this country (yes, it was my conscious, well-thought-out decision to come here) was the curiosity of Caucasus culture and willingness to improve my Russian speaking skills. I must admit that both of these goals are partially reached... I say partially, as I am still in the process of learning. Learning the culture is something that happens imperceptibly, gradually day by day. I am aware that happens inside me, and I try to facilitate this process by deliberately exposing myself on cultural factors. By this, I mean talking with locals, observing what is going on around me, paying attention to details that I normally ignore in the familiar surrounding (you can really notice a lot this way!), as well as reading local news and educate myself about the socio political situation in the region. Furthermore, I noticeably improved my Russian, and I am really happy about that. I try to use every opportunity to speak this language, even though it is not always easy to find Russian speakers in Rustavi. I often go to Tbilisi to language clubs and various events in Russian. Additionally, I learn 10 new words every day, read books and watch movies, and do exercises from a Russian book I brought from Poland. All of that help a lot to progress. Besides, I try to polish my English as well.

            I also got other useful skills here in Georgia. I learnt how to write projects of Youth Mobility (I even wrote one myself!). I discovered Canva, a very useful online tool to make graphics. Since then, I have been doing most of posters, flyers and cover photos needed in GYE. I started leading a new club – International workshop – during which I share my travel experience, but also educate about history, social, political and economical issues in different foreign countries. I find it very important to know what i happening in the world we live in, and now I am more aware about international social issues.

            So to sum up, thanks to my EVS experience I improved not only my language skills, but I also learnt a lot about the local culture, I learnt how to turn my ideas into action and I gained many social and civic competences. That's why I would like to recommend participation in EVS programme (nowadays called ESC) to everyone. You will not regret it!

Tamta and her Romanian Solidarity Corps vibes!

If you look in my closet, you will find lots of twisted clothes. Due to their abundance, the clothes are placed in my, my parents, my brother's rooms, under the wardrobes, in the balconies or in the cellar next to the  strawberry  jam. That's why my father calls me a ,,gypsy’’ . Also, I do  love traveling  and in his imagination, Gypsy’s life looks like: colourful dresses, , lots of unnecessary things , changing  places and  laughing loud. ... Wherever I go my father's comment is the same over and over: ,,Gypsy’’ went to Austria, Gypsy went to Germany, Italy, to the Netherlands etc. . as soon as I  decided to travel to Romania (and not only  travel, but make my ESC project there )  dad had a sarcastic smile on his face ,saying: "gypsy  is going to her own  country ‘’ ...Do you think others  think in the same way as my dad does about Romania or gypsys ? Do u think that for  people Romania is just  glittering dresses ?!  not really. 

In this photo I am wearing traditional  Gypsy cloth, while wearing it  I thought that this  colorful, beautiful, glittery dress  was created for me  and whoever wears it, should  sing, dance, celebrate, and  show up that even with golden teeth you should be equal to others ! For those, who think that in Romania live just gypsies , no guys!  To fill the gap between the Romanians and the Gypsy community, many governmental and non-govermentalorganisations have been created , which  try to integrate them, there is also a   new  term instead of Gypsy – you should say - ,, Roma Community’’.  

Photo credits: CristiGaman

Here's everything you can dream about: beautiful mountains, sea, carved architecture, histories of castles, galleries, churches, ... colors are not symmetrical, not classical, but blended, more vibrant and more emotional ……. People are emotional, kind, supportive, caring ... I don't know whether I'm lucky or everyone is  .......

We have lot of common things, including  religion (Romanians are Orthodox , as well as Georgians), as well as the rhythm of life. People are walking down the street just as slowly, as if they were not late at work or anywhere else. Deadline? –OMG! Come’n !slow dawn! relax! I will start today and continue tomorrow !This kind of harmful attitude towards time may be  felt  while travelling by public transport , especially  by train! Nowhere are they so delayed as on the train to Bucharest. I guess the reason for being late  is eating  Papanashi during every break. You can scroll newspapers at the station and train your Romanian language or if you are lucky enough to meet  handsome but angry guy like you , u can complain with him. It works;)  

Papanashi!

 However, if they really delay the trains because of papanashi, we have to forgive them! And if you haven't tried it, be sure that the fun of having one of the best dessert in your life is still ahead! The cuisine of any country, I think, reflects the character of the nation. For me Papanashi  reflects the Romanian spirit with all accuracy. For a perfect dough, you need both salt and sugar, dough should be airy, though heavy after baking, it should be salty and sweet in a  same time, like the  average Romanian for me : neither too bitter nor  too sweet! 

 Every travel, every story has its hero, and my Romanian travel hero is Albertiko! 

I don't know you ever have met a person who never judges the others, does not say a bad word, does not hurt anyone, always  caring about others and spreads nothing but love and. And can you imagine how lucky I am to have this person as my Roommate and where  from is Albertiko ? Do you think she could be   a refugee, or from a country where women have no word, or from a very poor country ? Do you think these kind of background could be a reason for her sensitivity? Not really, she is from Denmark, the second happiest country in the world and none of the above-mentioned would suit her reality.Whenever, wherever you feel hurted, always remember that there is a relief !  So find out, maybe you have your own private Albertiko near you!  

If you have never explained to the armed border policeman that you are not a  refugee, while standing on the riverbank, all frozen and tearing, consider that you have not had the coolest adventure in Romania! Though I had!  Everything was exactly as you have read !  Me and Nata decided to travel to Serbia, but on our way back we missed the bus, so we found ourselves in a border village at 10AM (already dark ) on a riverbank with a backpack and a half-liter pallinka. We walked a lot on foot   and reached the  fisherman's house!  This time we remembered all the tales about a good fisherman who would invite travelers into his hut, but our story was different. Actually, the house which we reached was not a fisherman’s but a Svinitaborder police!  It took time to explain them that we were not a refugees, (they thought so because we had scarfs all over the faces because of freezing) they said that the only way to stay overnight was a police station  was at night, not in the water or on the boat.  In the picture  below you see  the policeman – TONI PADUREANU , who took us to the police station, talked to the police sheriff, they got us a wonderful host, served us with  sandwiches, tea, fruit. We were treated with the full  respect and the next morning they took us to our city Craiova by car. As long as such policemen are guarding Romania, I think you should not be afraid of going there! Yeah, by the way, it's not dangerous to put your legs out either ... Don’t need to have an eyes on the back as well ;)  

,,Roma girl’’ has to come back to her country!

It is impossible to describe all the things that have happened during  the half year. But I have kept all the people whom  I met during this trip: people  who  created, shared, laughed, danced, learned, taught with me! Multomesk a Romania for all the days  u gifted me! Now is the time for  me to return to her  home country -  Georgia and  get prepared  for new adventures! 

Tamta (Tamtuka) Jinjolava spent 6 month European Solidarity Corps in Craiova, Romania. Her hosting organisation was Asociatia Comunitati Pentru Tineret.