Hola! Me llamo Olga y soy de Rusia

That’s how I start most of the conversations here in Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Galician region in Spain. Since I am here, there is something that surprises me the most. It’s not that Spanish people have dinner at 11 pm or the fact that it is raining under any circumstances and even not that crowds of pilgrims scurry back and forth under my window. But the knowing that time is going extremely fast. Now it’s my second month on voluntary service in Don Bosco Center and the time to tell you finally about myself and my relations with EVS.

Maybe when you hear a phrase «EVS volunteer» you imagine a very funny college graduate who is enjoying his gap year and has no idea what to study next. Let’s break the stereotypes a little bit. I am 25 now, finished university long time ago and had three-year working experience in my home region.

So why I am here? The point is that I have never looked for stability in my life. I believe that a positive stress always keeps you alive. So when I started to feel that a web of calmness and stability was slowly covering me, I decided to turn my life upside down. So now I am somewhere in the North of Spain sitting in a cosy office of my hosting organisation surrounded by wonderful colleagues and writing this article. For one year I left my family and close people, my lovely job, traditional Russian dishes and snow (yeah, I miss it!) in order to get absolutely new experience. Here I try to use everything that I have besides me. By that I mean my university knowledge, languages that I speak, years of teaching practice, open mind and curiosity.  I help others and open myself.

Be sure that people from different ages with really different backgrounds and thoughts take part in EVS. Don’t be afraid to use your chance. Here you can find answers to many questions because in different surrounding your mind works constantly. I have already started to evaluate some things in a different way. For example, now I know that not only in Russia it can be so freezing cold (by the way, in Russia the heating system is opened all the time). I understand that to feel as a part of community it is not necessary to know the language on a high level. I see that children all around the world have open hearts and beautiful smiles. I feel that nothing happens just for an occasion. And I am so excited that I have ten months more for discoveries. Adventure time has begun!