Slovak Wolves Volunteers

I'm changing of post but writing right after the previous one, just like happened with the trainings. So, welcome to the on arrival training for EVS volunteers review :)

In Terchova we were staying in a hotel where most of the participants had arrived the night before but I must say I didn't feel aside of the group at any moment. When we arrived we entered kind of a bar room that we used as a normal meeting room, with all the chairs making a circle. People had just introduced themselves, writing their names down in a big flipchart where the map of Slovakia was drawn, in the place they lived. Matiss and I arrived with perfect timing to write our names down in Bratislava, with Marie, Aida and Azahara (the only three other volunteers that we had met before getting there).

We made the basic exercises of talking about our hopes and fear about the training and put them in common and then I can not tell what came next. It's strange but still true, it's been so intense, so many activities, and games and information and learning that I don't remember certainly the exact schedule. Anyway, I had a great time (aham! so Gerold face just came to my mind because one of the first games was drawing your partner only looking at his face, not the paper, amusing it was!)

Maybe what I liked the most was the hiking trip to a little mountain 40 minutes walk from our pension in Terchova. It was quite exhausting for me since I'm always telling myself when doing hard exercise I would need some more resistance, but I made it! When I felt really tired I took a minute for me and waited for my body to calm down hugging a tree (so much better than sitting in the snow, yap), just as you can see here.

When going down the mountain I made some 'freestyle', sometimes looking for a shorter way between different levels of the path, and then once I made kind of a snowboard but without board (but my bum) and got a little bit diverted from the way, but my partners were kindly waiting for me and guiding me from a short distance. And as Sona, this lovely experienced woman said, 'do it your way!'. Also, here's a picture of the rewarding view from the top and a group photo of the people that went there (it's not family picture because some people are missing, I think we didn't took any, such a pity!)

This was just one of the many things we did that I enjoyed a lot, but actually, as I said in the evaluation session at the end of the training, for me every single moment counted, I was living the very present and enjoying every single thing. That's something you can not say everyday, but probably we'll need to change that, right?

Just a quick list: the billard, the games, the year of my life, the atmosphere, the meals, the landscape, the people, their laughs, the exchange, the learning, the connection, happiness. I already miss some of this guys, especially Alex asking me about how to say pervert stuff in Spanish or just greeting in the morning, 'buenos días, chiquita!', or Mariano playing guitar and singing 'his way', or Elena and Tamara speaking Spanish out of soup-operas.

It was an absolut pleasure to meet them all and I'm sure we'll meet sometime soon -Maria and Mariano are arriving tomorrow, actually, so you see we don't waste time!

Life the very moment, enjoy the very present :)

Hugs, g'night!

Just around the corner

Hi there fellows!

From the last time I wrote it's been only a week but still feels like a lot more. These days I had a lot of experiences with great new people, and I glad to call friends to some of them. But let's look closer.

Last Friday I was starting in INEX training for leaders in a small center in the village of Moravsky Svaty Jan.
Since only 4 people out of around 28 didn't speak Slovak the training was mainly in English but there was always people willing to help and translate us, and then again some trainers showed us their sessions in English -unfortunately for those Slovak speakers but fortunately for me! I learnt a lot and I really enjoyed, especially the simulation exercises when we would perform as if we were running an NGO or arranging a workcamp agenda.

This place is in the outskirts of the village, only within 1 km from the border with Austria. There is a long straight line that could take us to the village and since the first day I was told there were only 5 minutes walking to the bar I joined a big group of people looking forward to drinking some Kofola and then walked for around 40 minutes to reached the bar that was, 'just around the corner' -which was no lie, it was just in the first intersection of roads, around 5 km from our residence.

I'm putting an image because for me it was a real pleasure to walk this line in the night, with absolutely no light which means, in addition, a marvelous view from the sky and the stars. Anytime I car appeared it meant a strong beam of light getting closer each time, it made me think about when in the movies people struggling to survive are given the tip of 'not going to the light' -it's totally reliable, light meant car that meant death, so it's a wise saying.

In this training I learnt a lot about practicalities for making a workcamp and also that there's a lot of work behind each of them. I felt very welcomed by Slovak people and I had a confirmation about a call about words: sometimes they are not necessary :)

Just for finishing I would like to mention Will, a korean guy that even when he is not a full-time volunteer he is quite interested in workcamps and had attended some other INEX training before. He lives in Zilina and he was extremely kind taking Matiss and me in his car not to Zilina -that was our first thought- but directly to Terchova (20 minutes by car from Zilina), where our next training was just starting on Sunday afternoon.

For this other training I'll made a brand new post, because it's totally worth it. 

Nie mám čas

This last two weeks have passed quite fast! We've been busy in INEX office uploading and checking the workcamps database (I think nowadays we have almost 1700), and also I've finally find some things to do in my free time as first party in our appartment (with Slovak guests only), French cheese and wine tasting and Italian dinner (with other EVS volunteers).

So yeah, I don't have time, in fact they're telling me to pack the computer because we are leaving to INEX trainer for trainers in Moravsky Svaty Jan, and then on Sunday Matiss and I will go to Terchova (small village in a Natural Park, close to Zilina) for the on-arrival training.

Yaaay! Fun fun, lots of stuff to do :) Just reporting for those who track me, big hug!

188

Oh my! I can´t believe TM it's already over. I slept for 12 hours for recovering and I feel so strange with so much free time (we have the day off today) that I don't know what to do.

So, I told you before about this Technical Meeting of organizations related to voluntary service and how in these days they were exchanging their workcamps exchanges. I myself was explained this way, but you can not imagine how it looks like untill you pass from theory to practice.

Here's a picture of all the people we´ve received in Piestany. INEX Slovakia was the 'hosting organization', the one responsible for the planning and set up of this event. My main task was to take an individual picture of each of the participants (188 in total), so people could identify this person's face in the future while exchanging emails. They have all pictures and workcamps programs in a memorial CD we gave them by the end of the TM.

Anyway, Hanka (another volunteer in INEX, daughter of the head-office, btw) helped me a lot with this and sometimes we exchanged our tasks, so I would received the people, ask them about their organizations and hand them their personal's badges (with name and organization). Sometimes it was easy if people came in small groups, but other times it happened that 20 people appeared in a raw and it was crazy. When this happened I tried to explained all the different steps they had to pass by for the registration: signature and welcome pack, invoice, tickets bill, programme reception and the picture (we worked as a small but well coordinated team).

Additionally, I told them about a photo-campaing Alliance proposed for promoting volunteering. It consisted on writing down a reason to go in a workcamp in your mother language and then translating them to English. We will soon share this pictures with the hashtag 'alliancetm2013' in every social network, so be aware of it :)

Last but not the least, I had a little role in the farewell party. I made a presentation on prezi about some funny 'fake' tombola prices that people could win for having participated in the geocatching campaing Matiss made. I did the prezi presentation but I wasn't asked to present it until 1 hour before, so I freaked out a little and kindly invited Hanka to help me out with that. It's funny because I knew all this people personally and have no problem talking with them, but when they became a mass I got quite nervous. It wasn't that bad at the end, tough.

Yeah, it's been so nice knowing so different people, such a great sensation being in this enriching diverse atmosphere. Also I kept some contacts for the future, I'm willing to continue my journey somewhere abroad but still have so much time right now for discovering Slovakia, in this sunny spring-like Bratislava that it´s inviting me to take a walk today -and I won't refuse :)

Hugs,
Alicia

My heart belongs on the road

Experiences keep accumulating and I feel I have to take a little moment today, the 4th day of the Technical Meeting of Alliance.

Last weekend I was in Munich and surroundings, visiting a good friend of mine. He is Turkish and he was visiting some family there, and so I spent some time getting to know Turkish culture.

It's strange because is quite different from Spanish culture, to the social structure I'm use to deal with. For example, before being in this context I thought Spanish people were kind, but Turkish people can behave like your own family without even knowing you. I had this feeling of warm welcoming with all the people I met, tough the language barrier was to strong as I didn't speak Turkish or German (only 'ein bischen') and they didn't know English that sometimes it was a little bit tiring.

Anyway, besides some personal fleeting issues, I had a great time and enjoyed a lot. I'm really thankful to the people there, and specially to my friend for inviting me and his effort of showing me Turkish people reality -not the media discourse construction of them.

Then now, from Monday morning (when I arrived back to Bratislava at 7 am and enter working at 8 am) I've been working with INEX in the implementation of the Technical Meeting (TM) in Piestany, Slovakia. First days I must say it was easy because we only had to arrange things in our staff room, but yesterday was a long busy day when we had to deal with the registration of almost 100 people.

Nevertheless, I won't complain. I love being in an atmosphere with so many different people. Also, they look content with the work they make promoting volunteering and mobility programs and it's something I can really see myself doing in some nearer future. This was one of my main objectives at the beginning, to give the opportunity to people to know the world, to make them aware of how much diverse and challenging it is.

Excitement

So, we've been having intense days in INEX. We are getting ready to host the Technical Meeting for Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations members and partners. It might sound a little bit bizarre but it's just an encounter among many organisations that have been exchanging emails about different projects and these days will serve for having a face-to-face contact and discuss directly about their workcamps programmes.

INEX Slovakia is hosting this big event, and Matiss (my EVS co-worker) and I have been working hard in the office these days. Here's a picture of us, he drawing 'INEX-man', where people could bring their good wishes for the organization (which is having its 20th anniversary this year), and then there's me, I'm manually preparing a photocall (printing a lot of logos and sticking them with glue in two big flipcharts).

This event will comprise almost 200 people for all around the world, more than 80 organizations -so you have an idea about its size-, starting next monday with one week duration. My colleague and I will have an important part in the organization and administration of the participants, but also we'll have the fortunate chance of meeting so diverse people. I'm quite excited about it, can't wait for it to start.

Or maybe I could wait..., haha. I mean, this weekend, to chill a bit in between hard work weeks, I'll be visiting one good friend of mine in Munich. He's actually Turkish but he has some family there, and as he's staying for almost 3 weeks invited me to come over few days :). I think I'm even more excited about this, so yeah, nice days for me, yaaaay! :D

Anyway, I won't be taking my laptop to either destination, so I don't know when will I'll have some spare time and available computer to write again. But don't worry, I'll be fine -probably having lots of fun, hihihi.

Big hugs and,
take care, take care, take care

Trochu slovensky

Tomorrow I'll be having my 4th lesson of Slovak. I have to say first lesson I thought I wouldn't make it but last class I even made a presentation text. I'll leave it here, to prove that I'm quite keen on learning the language :P

'Dobrý den! Som Alisia Garsiová a som zo Španielska. Hovorím plynule po španielsky, po anglicky a trochu po portugalsky a po francuzsky.
Pracujem ako dobrovoľníčka v Inex Slovakia v Bratislave. Mám 23 rokov. Učim sa momentálne slovenčinu pretože bývam tu.'

Dobrú noc!