EVS in Santiago de Compostela

Ukraine is a country of possibilities. But sometimes Ukrainians just need somebody who can be the example and the inspiration. How international cultural exchanges affect business in Ukraine I will tell in my story about 3 business from Ukraine.  The creamery built by French hippies  The appearance of the creamery in 2002 has changed forever a village Nyzhne Selysche in Transcarpatia (West Ukraine). Every morning starts here with people from the village and surrounding ones bringing milk. The production of cow’s milk is a possibility of significant additional income for local residents. Also, the creamery itself is a moving force of the cultural development of the village. People do not want to leave it anymore, there are educational and leisure institutions, anyone can start own business or get inspired by those who has already started.  The story has started from leftist commune called Longo Mai, a network of agricultural cooperatives with an anti...

My name is Sasha and I work in Civic Center Santa Marta. Normally I spend my time in playing room with children 3-12 y.o. We have different activities like reading books, playing boarding games and when we have to celebrate something (and trust me in Spain we have a lot of celebrations) we prepare posters, costumes, etc. I always have something to do in my Center. But I love my project not only for this. I have 5 important things I got from my project and I am going to tell what does it mean to be volunteer in Santiago de Compostela ;) 1.   To work in real conditions with real boss, colleagues, responsibilities and schedule.   Yes, maybe it sounds a bit scary, but in my center, all people are so friendly and open-minded that sometimes I feel that it is just a summer camp. We have a lot of fun. And I love my talkative compañeras de aula de juegos.   2.   To have a lot of new friends from all over the world. During my project, I met other volunteer...

The cathedral of Santiago, the narrow streets, the smell of seafood and the rain. These are the most noticed things about Santiago for me. It’s not that big city but it’s really unique and you can’t avoid falling in love with it. After one month of volunteering in Santiago I can say that I arrived here in the busiest month of the year or this is what I think so far. It was all full of Christmas lights and music which brought joy to my soul. In the center where I volunteer it was all about this important celebration. Typical Spanish sweets, gifts and Christmas decorations... We were super busy preparing for it. My favourite activity was the Christmas party because I love dancing and especially with kids! In January the celebrations don’t end because here in Spain there’s another important day and it’s Reyes Magos on the 6th of January when children receive their gifts. Although many Spanish people are starting to receive them in the 25th of December. And yes, I also got a gift...

Hello again from Olga. No doubt that EVS is a great chance to discover a new culture and get used to different type of daily life. But I am here not only to learn Spanish culture, but also to share the knowledge about my homeland Russian Federation.  It can sound strange to you, but I am not from Moscow or even not from Saint Petersburg. Everybody knows that Russia is enormous but it’s difficult to imagine any other city except these two. Let’s get acquainted with two more at least. I am from beautiful small city Cheboksary, which is situated on the river Volga. It’s one hour by plane from Moscow and we consider it as the central part of a country. To tell the truth, I am not originally Russian, I am Chuvash, and Cheboksary is the capital of Chuvash republic. We are one of more than 160 nationalities that you can find in Russia. We have our own culture and language, that take their origin in turk roots.  Also I was studying and working in a neighbour republic Tatarst...

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. S...

Hello everybody, we would like to introduce ourselves in a brief post before starting to update the blog more regularly. Until now we are 3 volunteers from 3 different country, Olga from Russia, Mine from Turkey and Filip from Luxembourg. Olga and Filip work both in ETL Don Bosco. Mine works in  ARC Os Tilos. In the following weeks we will be joined by three more volunteers. We hope that you are excited to learn something about us and our experiences in the next months. ( From left to right : Filip, Mine and Olga)