Moja EDS v Španielsku

by Michal Mekýš

Volám sa Michal Mekýš, pochádzam z malej dedinky Skačany (7 km od Partizánskeho), mám 24 rokov a pracujem ako dobrovoľník v Španielsku. 
Moja Európska dobrovoľnícka služba (EDS) sa začala 1. Júna 2012 a končí sa 28. Februára 2013 . Miesto môjho pôsobenia je mestečko Logroňo na severe Španielska. Logroňo je hlavné mesto oblasti Lariocha s počtom obyvateľov približne 150 000. Moja hosťujúca organizácia Imaginate-Alarca tu má svoje hlavné sídlo. Táto organizácia sa zaoberá voľnočasovými aktivitami a netradičnou výučbou, čo je aj náplň mojej dobrovoľníckej služby.

Nasledujúcimi pár riadkami sa pokúsim popísať moje začiatky. Ako som cestoval, ako som spoznával novú krajinu, novú kultúru, pre mňa úplne nový jazyk , moju prácu, a v neposlednom rade zaujímavých a veľmi priateľských ľudí.

Deň s veľkým D 1. Jún, deň kedy cestujem do Španielska. 4:00 ráno, budík neúprosne buráca a mne sa vôbec nechce vstávať. Asi to bude spôsobené tým, že rozlúčka s priateľmi sa trochu pretiahla! No nič sa nedá robiť, treba sa pohnúť a vyraziť na 9 mesačné dobrodružstvo. Autom do Partizánskeho (asi 15 minút) a rýchla rozlúčka s rodičmi, aby som nezmeškal autobus do Bratislavy (3 hodiny). Tu prestupujem na ďalší autobus do Viedne (menej než 1 hodina) a odtiaľ lietadlom do Barcelony (približne 2 hodiny). Takže prvá polovička cesty je za mnou a teraz „ako ďalej“ ? Rukami nohami vyzisťujem ktorý autobus a odkiaľ mi ide na Pl.Catalunya (asi 40 minút). 

Z tohto krásneho námestia si beriem metro na Avenida Meridiana s/n –Estacion San Andres (15 minút) odkiaľ údajne ide autobus do Logroňa. Po asi hodine vypytovania sa, čítania všetkých časov odchodov a nezistenia ničoho potrebného som sa rozhodol zavolať svojej koordinátorke v Španielsku. Jema mi oznamuje, že autobus ide zo stanice Norte, takže pre zmenu nasadám do vlaku a idem hľadať danú stanicu (asi 15 minút). Stanicu objavujem pomerne rýchlo, čo mi bohu žiaľ nie je nič platné, lebo autobus do Logroňa som zmeškal! Nič sa ale nedeje ďalší ide o 3 hodiny. 

Konečne sedím v buse a dospávam predchádzajúcu noc. Cesta z Barcelony do Logroňa trvá asi 4 a pól hodiny. Do Logroňa prichádzam o 4 ráno.

Rafa, šéf Imaginate, na mňa už netrpezlivo čaká, aby ma zaviezol do môjho nového bytu. Bytík vyzerá veľmi pekne. Vlastná izba, spoločná kuchyňa, rýchly internet a dvaja spolubývajúci. Daniel a Adriana sú dosť netradičný párik. Daniel pochádza z Konga a Adriana z Kolumbie. Prvý mesiac toho moc nenahovoríme. Moja španielčina je na bode mrazu  a ich angličtina začína a končí pri Hellov. Ale riadim sa pravidlom, čo nepovedia slová, povie veľký úsmev! Adriana ma perfektnú vlastnosť, rada upratuje. Niekedy ju nevidím aj celý týždeň, ale byt je vyupratovaný až po plafón. Je veľká výhoda mať takúto spolubývajúcu. Človeku to ušetrí kopec starostí a keď ju to baví tak prečo nie?

Prvý týždeň v každej novej krajine je podľa mňa najťažší. Toto pravidlo sa mi potvrdilo aj tu v Španielsku. Je to preto, že človek nevie kde čo je, nepozná moc ľudí a pokiaľ neovláda miestny jazyk, je to o to ťažšie. Možno ťažšie ale o to krajšie a hlavne zábavnejšie. Ako prvé čo vždy spravím, je že objavím najlacnejší a najbližší obchod na potraviny. Je dobre si pozrieť aj kedy majú otvorene, ušetrí to veľa času a peňazí. Približne 5 minút od môjho bytu je supermarket Simply. Takže som mal opäť šťastie a ušetril som si dosť chodenia. Ako druhé vždy nájdem najlacnejšiu krčmičku. Je to z jednoduchého dôvodu. Alkohol je najlepší ICE BREAKER na svete. Je o dosť jednodukšie spoznať ľudí pri poháriku pivka, ako na ulici. Tento problém za mňa vyriešil Maky. Už druhy deň mi ukázal bar Iturza. Povedal mi len, že tu ľahko spoznám nových ľudí! Samozrejme mal pravdu. Za pár minút som veselo rozprával a vysvetľoval  odkiaľ som a čo tu vlastne robím. Maky sem prišiel pred 3 rokmi tiež ako dobrovoľník z Grécka. A ako povedal on sám, domov sa mu už nechcelo. Čo bola veľká výhoda pre mňa. Pár cennými radami mi uľahčil prvých pár dní. 

Mestečko a ľudí som už ako tak spomenul, teraz by som sa mal povenovať trošku aj o práci a mojej EDS. Ako prvé, čo som dostal za úlohu, bolo pomôcť chalanom nafúknuť a vysušiť skákacie hrady. Moji kolegovia pre tuto úlohu boli 2 chalani z Maroka a 1 chalan z Dominikánskej republiky. Ich plynulá španielčina a francúzština nám v komunikácii moc nepomohli. Čo koniec koncov bolo veľmi zábavne. Úlohu sme úspešne zvládli.  Ako jedna z ďalších prác pre moju organizáciu bola pomoc pri usporiadaní festivalu San Bernabe. Čo sa týka práce, tak to nebolo nič moc. Rozmiestňovanie stoličiek a usmerňovanie ľudí je dosť nudná činnosť. Ale možnosť vidieť množstvo zaujímavých vystúpení, koncertov, vidieť dobové oblečenie, spoznať históriu mesta a veľa ďalších ľudí určite stalo za to!

Anglické tábory, ktoré sme tiež organizovali, boli už o niečom úplne inom. Tieto 10 dňové tábory pre deti od 7 do 17  rokov s výučbou angličtiny sú jedným z najväčších projektov Imakinate. Doobedňajšia 4 hodinová výučba s anglickými lektormi a množstvo aktivít, ktoré sme pripravili pre našich zverencov, bolo proste SUPER.

Je toho strašne veľa, o čom by sa dalo písať a čo by stálo za to vidieť. Ale času je málo, takže ak niekoho môj článok zaujal a má viac otázok, rád mu ich zodpoviem!

PS: Cestovanie, spoznávanie nových ľudí, množstvo dobrodružstiev a EDS sú veci, ktoré sa           oplatí skúsiť. Tak neváhaj a JUST DO IT!!!

Travelling experiences in Bulgaria

by Laci Bodnár

To be an Evs volunteer is a very good opportunity for a young people without life experiecnce, becouse it is not only about the working and developing yourself, it is also about the traveling and discovering new countries. Usualy the easiest way of traveling is to book a ticket and hostel, and just go to the chosen destination, and enjoy all of the services. It is very nice, but in fact it needs a lot of money, witch means that this option is not very ideal for a volunteer. Before I came here I had a preparation training organized by my sending organization in Slovakia. I have learned a lot of useful things, and I have also some „lessons” about the ways of traveling suitable for volunteers. They suggested me to try a hitchhiking and the coachsurfing. To be honest in the past I was a bit sceptic with the hitchhikeing. When I came here fortunately I met some travel experts, and after sharing they experiences and memories, I have decided to try it. After absolveing my first trip in Bulgaria with hitchhike i felt in love with it. My first journey was to Sofia, and even further with two other volunteers. It was a nice beginig, becouse we had a luck with the drivers and we reached or destination relavitely very fast. We discussed a lot with the volunteers from other projects about the traveling, and the conclusion was that Bulgaria is very easy to hitchhike. Bulgarian drivers like to pick up foreigners, and they are very courious about our impressions usually. Sometimes there can be some comunication dificulties, but still it is possible to understand each other somehow. Usualy the drivers who picks up hitchhikers are sympatizants with this way of travelling and in lot of cases there are ex-hitchhikers, so for them it is kind of rewinding the nice memories from the past. Usualy like everything on the world, hitchhiking have also positive and negative sides. As I wrote it I am also a beginer with hitchhikeing, but I have alredy have some experiences, so now I will introduce the positive things according to my opinion: 1, It is for free 2, Sometimes is faster than the bus or the train 3, You have a opportunity to have new friends, becouse usually the drivers who picks up hitchhikers were travelling also with the same methods 3, You can have a nice conversations, and you can practice your language skills (in my case, I have learned a lot of Bulgarian during my hitchhikings) 4, Somtimes the driver can invite you for a coffe or tea, or even for a meal 5, Somtimes it is more comfortable 6, In some cases you can also book the trip to way back And of course there are more positive sides, but for me these are the most importants. Negative things: 1, Somtimes risky, and you can feel unconfortable if the driver is driveing to fast. 2, In case of long distances you can stuck even for a night 3, It depends ont he weather Some useful instructions: Choose this way of travelling only for holidays, not for catching the plane or meeting where you need to be on time. Always be positive, smile, have a good karma and nothing bad can happen. It is very important to find th ebest spot, it is usually the end or begining of the city. I think a best a combination to hitchhike is one boy and one girl. For girls it is easier to hitchhike, but you need to be more carefull and you need the control the unconfortable situations and in . According my personal opinion, the biggest chance to catch a car is if you are alone, or two, but if you are three somtimes it can be hard. Always good to have water with you, especially in summer, becouse you can stuck somewhere for a longer time. Be patient It is good to have map with you For long distances is better to make a sign (in Bulgaria make it in cyrilic), but for short distances is not necessary. For people who like adventures I suggest to try it, but maybe for the stresfull ones is not the best way of travelling. So „Get ready for the adventure, thumbs up and have a nice time”!

Organizing and realizing the Eco fest from my point of view

by Laci Bodnár

During my being here in Bulgaria we made a lot of nice things, but the most important and the most interesting was definitely the Eco fest what we organized. It was great experience for all of the 15 volunteers participating in the project „Ecology development part 2”. The festival was held near to city Kazanlak in the place called Koprinka dam. Even it is a artificial lake, it is a very important part of the surrounding nature. The importance of the dam is not only about the regulating the water supplies, it is also a very famous place for tourists, and especially for people from surrounding cities and villages. The lake is very ideal for water sports, fishing, and swimming or just simply for having a good time. But unfortunately all of these activities left they mark on the nature. In the case of the Koprinka the biggest problem is with the rubbish left by people. Lot of local organizations was trying to do something against this problem, but unfortunately without success. I think that it is a global problem and the people should change they thinking and they attitude. But the question is how? According my personal opinion the best way how to teach the people is connected with the education and organizing different events. In the end of the April we organized an eco festival Koprinka. The main goal of the festival was the cleaning the surrounding nature from the garbage. The festival was organized second time. For me it was a big pleasure to take a part in the creating of the event. I think the best experience for a young person is to work together with people from different countries and with different ages. The reason why I am writing is that even we are all the same, but still we are a bit different. Everybody shared they own experiences, and we were trying to made a multicultural event, and in fact it was working. All of the participants had a chance to realize their ideas. In this time we were here Evs volunteers from 6 different countries, and for sure in the project were involved also a local volunteers from Kazanlak. Everybody from us had a different role in the creating process. Fortunately some volunteers were participants also on the first festival were part of the team so we had a good starting point. We had almost two months for preparing everything for the event. Some of us were responsible for making the commercial materials, some of us for making the program and some of us for arrange the things around the festival. Like always there were also some problems, but fortunately we found different solutions. Also Evs volunteers from other places were supporting the festival with propagation. In these times you could find posters or stickers almost in all big cities in Bulgaria. We were trying to involve as much people as it was possible, so we also went to the local schools to gather more participants. Few weeks before the festival and after several team meetings, we started prepare the area for the event. The first task was marking the zones for the cleaning. It was impossible to clean the whole coast, so we decided to mark only the most frequented places, witch were close to the dam. We marked also the places for camping and we made the toilets. The first day starts with the transportation of the people from Kazanlak to the lake. Some of people used the free bus, some of them were came by bikes, and there were some witch choose coming by walk or by hitchhiking. The briefing took a place next to the wall at 09:30, were all of the participants received the bags for collecting the garbage and the glows. It was nice to see that people from all ages came to participate on the event. The local people were helping to collect the full bags with the horse chariots. Thanks for one kayak club some of the participants was cleaning also the surface of the lake. After the cleaning part everybody had a chance to try different kind of activities. For those who like sports, there was an opportunity to try the slack-line, kayaking and the kenus, foot bag, Frisbee, ball games, horse riding, for those who likes more the arts, it was possible to join the volunteers int he trash- art corner, and the sympatizants of music could join the groups of musicians playing around the camp. The trash-art corner was very interesting and also educational, becouse everybody had a chance to see how to make something from the garbage or recycle it. The main result of their activity was the raft, what they made from the collected plastic bottles. The weather during the day was pretty warm, but somtimes the ugly black clouds appeared. Unfortunately int he evening our biggest fear fullfiled and the rain came. According the bad weather we had to cancel some of the concerts. But still it was fun, people were enjoying the nice time and nobody cared about the weather. The atmosphere was awesome! The next morning was very sad for me, like it used to be always ont he festival, becouse the people were packing and slowly leaving the place. Even the end was not that best, we can say like a final conclusion, that the festival was succesful. The feedback was also good, so we can say very proudly that we made something unforgetable. After few months we were a bit dissapointed, becouse the conditions were the same like before the cleaning, but still we did something for the nature. We all hope that next year we will meet each other int he same place with the same goal.

My first impressions about Bulgaria

by Laci Bodnár

I have never been to Bulgaria before, so in these few days I got my first impressions about the country. I arrived to Sofia and the town felt grey and uncozy, but after I saw the city center I thought to myself: It’s amazing! The second surprising thing was the weather. I imagined that it is always warm here, because for Slovaks and Hungarians Bulgaria is one the most popular warm holiday places. After discussing with locals I realized that these weather conditions are very extreme and unusual. The city of Kazanlak is very nice. They say that beautiful nature and surrounding mountains are amazing, but the hanging fog never allowed me to see it until now. I come from a small village, and that is why I fell better in Kazanlak, than in Sofia. It is small, cozy, quiet and friendly. The historical background and the culture of roses makes Kazanlak an attractive town. The Bulgarian language is not so strange for me, because it is also a Slavic language like Slovak, so I hope I will learn Bulgarian quick and easy. I am here for only 10 days, but I already understand a lot of words. The Cyrillic alphabet scares me a little, but I am sure I will learn it soon. What confuses me is the Bulgarian body language. This strange way to say yes by shaking your head is not normal for me, but I like it because It is very unique. I am a big fond of traditions, and was lucky to hear some traditional Bulgarian songs while in Sofia. I love Balkan tunes, rhythm and sounds. On my on-arrival training I had a chance to dance Racenica, and I think it is very cool. The Bulgarian food is very delicious. The best sentence to describe my relationship with Bulgarian dish is the “love at first sight”. I like this kind of healthy food which is made from vegetables and cheese. I am participating in the 8 month project with a funny title (“The New Begging”). My tasks are: working in the historical museum, visiting the Club Europa in the local professional school, working with local youngsters in the club of my hosting organization, participating in the eco project, writing a book about the volunteerism. Apart from these, I will have more tasks, which will be connected with my artistic competencies. I am really eager to discover Bulgaria, the traditions, the nature, the meet new interesting people, to learn more about the traditions, to travel and experience adventures. I am sure I am will have a great timeeeeee:D

Soirée Cuisine Française

La semaine après Pâque j'ai reçu la visite de mes parents venu passer une 10ène de jours ici avec moi. Nous avons alors décidé d'organiser une soirée "cuisine française".
Elle a eu lieu le mercredi 11 avril. Au programme, nourriture et boisson française (bien sur !) et aussi petite découverte de la France au travers d'une présentation.
Ce que moi et mes parents souhaitions avant tout dans cette soirée, c'était partager. Nous souhaitions donner un peu de nous et de notre culture, mais aussi recevoir...
Nous n'avons pas été déçu, absolument pas. Une 50ène de personnes était là. Nous en attendions 2 fois moins. Ce fut déjà une (magnifique, une fois les places trouvés...) surprise.

Certains d'entre eux avait ramené à boire et à manger, pour que cela soit aussi un peu une soirée gastronomique pour nous. Nous avons sincèrement apprécié l'initiative.
Pendant la présentation (préparé efficacement par mon père) tout le monde a été très attentifs et ouverts à chacune de nos paroles. C'était donc un véritable plaisir, à voir, à vivre...
Puis nous avons servis le repas (préparé par ma mère et moi même, avec l'aide de personnes exceptionnelles donc je vous parlerais plus tard). Je crois que chacun a vraiment apprécié.
Je ne parle pas simplement de la nourriture en elle même. Mais nous sentions que les gens était remplis de curiosité et de joie de découvrir. Et je suis incapable de nombrer
les mercis et autres adorables compliments que moi et mes parents avons reçus tout au long de la soirée.

Nous avons étais surpris par le respect de chaque personne, du lieu, par les sourires de chaque personnes. La soirée a durée un peu plus de 3 heures, mais elle m'a semblé durer
15 minutes. Nous sommes repartis les bras chargés de cadeaux, de compliments, de rires...
Ce fut une très belle soirée que nous ne pourrons pas oublier.
Une très belle soirée, qui n'aurais pas pu avoir lieu sans les personnes qui m'ont aidé à la mettre en place. Je tiens donc à les remercier : Mes parents évidemment, avec qui j'étais heureuse de vivre ce moment. L'équipe de KCAktivity, la formidable équipe de KCA je devrais plutôt dire, qui ont su comme à leur habitude allier efficacité avec sentiment et émotivité. Lucia, notre traductrice, sans qui tous cela aurait été bien plus compliqué ! Et bien sur toutes les personnes présentent pour ce jolie moment qu'elles ont créées.

Elenka

Ahojte !!!

Je suis Elena, je suis française, j'habite a Toulouse dans le sud de la France. J'ai 21 ans. Je suis à Trencin depuis le mois de février et j'y serais jusqu’à la fin juillet.
La question que l'on me pose souvent est : Pourquoi j'ai choisis la Slovaquie ?
En vérité, je n'ai pas choisis la Slovaquie, c'est elle qui m'a choisis :) Je voulais découvrir une nouvelle culture, un nouveau pays, je voulais apprendre. Avant d'arriver ici je ne savais rien sur la Slovaquie.
Aujourd'hui je ne regrette pas mon choix. J'ai découvert un magnifique pays, plein de surprise. En effet la culture est très différente de la mienne, la façon de vivre... Ce qui est bien c'est que je sais que je ne cesserais jamais de découvrir de nouvelle chose ici.
Tant grâce au travail que je fait ici a KcAktivity, que grâce a la vie que je mène dehors. Je rencontre des gens supers. Je ne dit pas que cela n'est pas possible en France. Mais ici tout est nouveau pour moi, cela rend les choses plus intense. Et puis peut-être qu'il est quand même vrai que les Slovaques ont un meilleur sens de l'accueil et de l'hospitalité : )
Et pourquoi avoir voulu partir ? A la fin du lycée, j'ai eu une période difficile. Je ne savais pas ce que je voulais pour l'avenir. Quel métier était fait pour moi, quels études, je n'arrivais pas vraiment à grandir en quelque sorte... J'ai pensé que partir pourrait m'aider à avancer. Qu'être seul, dans l'inconnu, m'aiderait forcément à devenir plus indépendante. Aussi découvrir des choses sur moi même, connaitre mes limites. Et en en sachant plus sur moi, je pourrait mieux savoir comment je veux mener ma vie plus tard. Encore une fois je ne me suis pas trompé. J'ai appris beaucoup plus sur moi, sur mes qualité, mes défauts, mes forces, ici en deux mois, que pendant des années chez moi. Cette expérience est vraiment en tout point positive. Même si elle n'est pas toujours simple, et que la vie dans un pays étranger, ou l'on ne parle pas la langue, peut se montrer parfois un peu compliqué !
Jeunes qui me lisaient, je vous conseil vivement de partir a la découverte de nouvelle terre, c'est très enrichissant ! :))

I'm Elena, I am French, I live in Toulouse in the south of France. I'm 21. I'm in Trencin from February until end of July.

The question that get asked often is: Why I have chosen Slovakia?
In truth, I have not chosen Slovakia, it's she who chose me :) I wanted to discover a new culture, a new country, I wanted to learn. Before coming here I knew nothing about Slovakia.

Today I don't regret my choice. I discovered a beautiful country, with full of surprise. Indeed the culture is very different than mine, the way of life ... What is nice is that I know I would never stop discovering new things here.

As through the work I did here in KcAktivity, that thanks to the life I live outside. I meet great people. I don't say that this is not possible in France. But here everything is new for me, it makes things more intense. And maybe it's true that the Slovaks have a better sense of welcome and hospitality :)

And why I wanted to leave? At the end of high school, I had a difficult time. I didn't know what I wanted for the future. What job was made for me, what studies, I could not really grow in a way ... I thought that leave, could help me move forward. Also discover things about myself, know my limits.

And knowing more about me, I could better know how I want live my life later. Again I am not mistaken. I learned much more about me, my quality, my faults, my strengths here in two months, that for years at home. This experience is really positive at any point. Even if it is not always simple, and that life in a foreign country, where you do not speak the language, can show a bit complicated!

Young people who read me, I strongly advice you to go to discover new land, it is very rewarding! :))

 Elenka

Expression from students

Hello, I would like to thank you for the Spanish conversation clubs, which is sadly reaching its end this week.
Juan was an excellent teacher, I gained a lot from the lessons with him...One can study grammar, but it's very difficult to get by without speaking.
Juan's way of teaching was very good , and it was obvious that he was taking the preparation very seriously.
We've had a lot of fun together, we have learned a bit more about the life in Uruguay and we met a good friend.
We would be very happy, if it was somehow possible to continue in the spanish conversation club because it seems very difficult to find an only Spanish speaking course in Trencin.

Once again thank for the chnce to inprve my Spanish.
Regards
Linke Cicova

Dobry den,

Rada by som sa Vam podakovala, za klub spanielskej konverzacie, ktory sa bohuzial uz tymto tyzdnom konci. Juan bol skvelym ucitelom, hodiny travene konverzovanim v spanielcine mi boli velkym prinosom...Clovek sa moze ucit gramatiku, ale bez rozpravania sa len horko tazko dohovori.
Juan mal velmi dobry styl vyucby a bolo vidiet ze sa na hodiny poctivo pripravuje.
Uzili sme si s nim vela srandy, dozvedeli sme sa nieco viac o zivote v Uruguaji a nasli sme si v nom dobreho kamarata. Keby bolo mozne pokracovat nejakym sposobom v klube spanielskej konverzacie, cize keby sa vam podarilo zohnat spanielsky hovoriacu osobu, tak by sme boli velmi stastni, lebo v Trencine je to dost tazke najst takyto klub kde sa len rozprava po spanielsky.

Este raz dakujeme za moznost zdokonalit sa v spanielcine.
S pozdravom ,
Lenka Čičová
 

Hello KC Aktivity,
I would like to thank you for the Spanish conversation course which exceeded my expectations.
Juan, alongside all my Slovak classmates, helped me to brush up on my knowledge of Spanish, and to motivate me to learn new vocabulary and grammar.
I really liked Juan's approach. We studied by experience: we watched films, we did a bit of cooking or were presented information about Uruguay with some youtube videos, too.
Despite the fact I didn't speak much, which was due to my lack of the vocabulary:), I enjoyed the lessons and, thanks to Juan, I was never bored.
muchas gracias por todo
Miro

Zdravím KC aktivity,

chcel by som sa Vám poďakovať za kurz španielskej konverzácie, ktorý prekonal moje očakávania.

Juan spolu so slovenskými spolužiakmi mi pomohli oprášiť španielčinu a motivovali ma k tomu, aby som sa začal zase učiť nové slovíčka a gramatiku:-)

Páčil sa mi Juanov prístup. Učili sme sa zážitkovou formou: mali sme kino, varenie alebo prezentáciu Uruguaia s použitím videí z youtube.

Napriek tomu, že som toho veľa nenarozprával (pretože mi chýba slovná zásoba:-) som si hodiny užil a nikdy som sa vďaka Juanovi nenudil.

Muchas gracias por todo
Miro

My summer activities and time in Slovakia.

In my last time in Slovakia I can say that for one side I am not prepared for leave Slovakia and for the other side I would like to see my family, friend and streets…

I am so happy with my task until now… The Spanish clubs are going according to my expectation or better. The next week will be the last clubs.

Also we already finish with presentations about our homeland at schools… it was also really good, the contact with Slovak children, how they felt with us… the most of the times they showed us interest for what we were doing, and showing them.

Now in our center  there are some activities for children because of summer vacation, came also some volunteers from USA doing activities with them, and teaching them English. I think it is really good experience for the children and so useful… Actually the most of the people need English for their future life - professional and also personal. In the future I think will be obligation speak in English for get a job, and for sure it is also really good for have some way to speak with  people whose speak totally different language but also  English.  The children on american camps are learning English at the same time that they are playing…. It is the best form how to educate children in my opinion. My task in that case is just to go there every morning and start to play some tables games, after that, the people from USA arrive and the activities with them start. Some days we go to play sport with them, like outside activities, really nice too. Tomorrow will be the last day of the children in our center, the center will take the normal ambiente. I think we are going to sicken for the children running in the center…  with Paulo, we are not like protagonist of this activitie, but we see it from the outside and the short time that we are with them is a pleasure.

I would like to speak about the creative workshops that are working in the center, it is also for children that are on holidays but they are not involved in the activities with USA people because it is other project. I have really good relation with the children of this activitie. I help to them to make the things but also I try to have and funny relation for make the atmosphere more nice and enjoyable.  Also I think they are not here just to be like at school, I think they are here for relax…and enjoy of open activities.

I think it is all what I want to say until now, just I hope to enjoy my last time in Slovakia, I think is the only possible way, I don’t have an other option that spent the more nice time that I can.. 


JUAN

TRAINING FOR YOUNG YOUTH LEADERS

Paulo, Joana and me have already returned from the training for young leaders, which took 3 days. It was organised by INNEX and was held in Banská Štiavnica. We had very busy schedule, sometimes I felt lack of free time for some leisure activities :-). But it was a very nice experience for me. The coolest thing was for me to meet people  from different cultural backgrounds and make an inter-cultural exchange with them. The program consisted also outdoor activities, for example on Saturday morning all the team worked hard in the garden.Working team enjoyed and learned how hard is to work in the rain in the morning. Very interesting was also informational block about the first aid. You never know when you will need to use this knowledge tos deal with certain situations which could endanger you or your friends.
On Saturday night we made a night game that was interesting too. The game was about finding information required in the city. During game one of the participants in my group was a guide. The objective was to explore the city. This was very good too, because we knew the city by night through a game. The training was partly in slovak, partly in english, sometimes was difficult to understand everything which was said in Slovak, but Joana help me and Paulo with translation. People who were in training were mostly nice. For me it was very useful weekend full of fun.

ADVANCE PLANNING VISIT FOR YOUTH EXCHANGE

Two weeks back we´ve got a chance to meet group leaders from 4 different countries, who cooperate with us on preparation of our first youth exchange in KcA. Group leader from Hungary (Netta) arrived on Thursday afternoon. We took her from train station in Trenčín and spent some time together. The second person who arrived was boy from Finland (Panu) who came at night. We returned home and continued in talking. After the midnight arrived also a boy from Lithuania (Darius). We spent first day of APV by knowing each other better. All people were accommodated in our volunteer´s flat in Juh. The next day after breakfast I took leaders to KCA where should start APV activities. Lenka and Thomas were waiting for us there. Before afternoon came missing leader from Poland (Michail).

After finishing some activities in the organization, we went to visit the downtown of Trenčín city to become familiar with it. The trip was interesting, we found a man who told us a part of the history of Trencin. After the tour we had dinner and then the night continue in some pub and others go to sleep (I was one of them.)

On Sunday we started early to work, after a long day of presentations and exchanges of ideas, among which were exposed many uncertainties about how to solve problem regarding accommodation, food. Also the discussion was based on what it means to people to be a leader of a group, what are the characteristics that a leader should has had, etc. In my opinion this type of discussion explained people the position of each leader in his/her group and help to make things better.

After these activities, to achieve better integration between the participants were all playing bowling. For other reasons I could not go there. I consider as positive the group with people who are open and able to solve the problems in the best way, always talking. With differences of course, but in any human group differences, it's cool to be able to resolve the differences between all and I think there are no problems in that regard. Having said all this I think the exchange that is in good hands and will be a nice experience for everyone.