My EVS experience
One week before leaving Galicia and ending
my EVS, I would like to record what happened last year, what I lived during my
experience as a european volunteer. According to me, it was one of the best
years of my life. Why ? For many reasons.
First of all, I always wanted to learn
Spanish. When I arrived in Santiago de Compostela in November, I didn’t speak a
word of Spanish. Then, ten months later, thanks to Spanish lessons and local
people, I am able to speak Spanish with people, to understand and make me
understand, to organise activities with the children of my center, to watch
movies in Spanish, to ask at the restaurant.. Even if it was very difficult at
the beginning to be in another country without being able to speak its
language, now I feel proud to be able to communicate with people and to have
done it.
Secondly, I really liked this year also
because I used my days off to do something that I like : travelling. I
travelled alone, with some friends, with other volunteers, with my family. I
travelled by train, by bus, by plane, by car, by hitchhiking, on foot. I
travelled trough Galicia, did a part of the way of Saint James walking until Fisterra,
did trainings in Toledo and Malaga, I travelled trough Castilla and Leon,
rented a car with other volunteers to discover Andalusia, I travelled trough
Portugal, Morocco.. I really liked it and now I really want to keep travelling
and discovering other countries and cultures.
Thirdly, I enjoyed what I did during my
project, working with children in the center Don Bosco, and the center itself.
Even if at the beginning I didn’t like it so much, indeed, I couldn’t speak
Spanish neither with the other monitors, neither with the children, so I didn’t
feel integrated. But step by step, I felt more and more integrated. I have
known people, chidren, monitors, did an intercultural project with few children
of my center and other children in France, participated in various events organised
by my center like the Carrera Solidaria, I also did the summer camp, doing a
lot of hours but also with a lot of joy. Don Bosco is a very dynamic center,
which organises various interesting activities, but first and foremost there is
a good atmosphere there because it’s a big family who takes care about the
others.
Fourthly, the word “interculturality” would
be a good way to summarize the EVS. Santiago, with its pilgrims from all around
the world, is also a good place to experience interculturality. During this
year, I met a lot of people from different countries in Europe and out of
Europe, discovered a lot about cultures, languages, music, sharing meals, food,
different ways of living.. and also the way people from different countries see
my own country. I also discovered that there are a lot of differences between
the regions in Spain. In Galicia, I discovered its marvellous landscapes, its
islands, its beaches, its cold water, its language, its food, (its beer), its
traditions, its celtic music, and its people. They are always motivated, with a
special humour and proud of their region. Now I feel more than never able to
live in another country and to adapt myself to a different culture.
For all of these reasons, I cried the last
day of the summer camp. Because even if during the EVS you have a “low” income,
you live with the minimum, like would say Antoine de Saint-Exupery “l’important est invisible pour les yeux”
(the most important can’t be seen with the eyes), but I was really happy with
this “few”. I met incredible people that I will never forget, and it’s very
hard to leave them. As a consequence, for someone who wants to do an EVS, my
advice would be to take some time for himself, to do things that he likes to do
and to go out of his house to enjoy with people. The EVS is an experience that
changes your life.
Jessica.
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