Arts Lab Report: My second month in Romania

This month was different, in a good way, as the weather improved. By saying this I mean that the weather stopped being cold and rainy. What I like the most about this country is its landscapes and that everything smells very good. During this month I have improved my English.

I want to travel through Romania in order to learn more about its culture and people, because they are different depending on the geographical area (north, south, east, west). I would also like to have more language classes here in order to communicate easier with people here. Also, it is very similar to Spanish and I can learn it easily.

At the end of the month we went to Bucharest, which I really loved because the center smells like flowers and the people are super nice and friendly. I met during the training week volunteers from Spain, Italy, France, Turkey, Georgia, Algeria and many more. Different cultures, different education, different way of thinking; I had the opportunity to talk with each one and their stories were interesting. I had a lot of empathy with several, that's why I made many friends and it is only the second month. I want it to be like that every month. The moment of nostalgia of not knowing if I will see those beautiful people again causes me intrigue, but I understood that we have to meet people for a different purpose. It is always for our own good, because they let us a good lesson. This is the moment when you start to improve yourself in certain ways of thinking and acting.

In the same on-arrival training they taught us what EVS is about. I am very grateful to the coordinators, although I would have liked to not finish several activities that fast. Because due to lack of time we could not finish them, for example, on a piece of paper we had to write our problems in general (personal, teachers, etc) and I would have liked to know how others think to find a solution. They also taught us about the tasks of a mentor and I have only seen mine once so far.

At home I really like the relationship with my "brothers". This how I call the volunteers that I live with, because we support each other. My roommate is very patient with me because she speaks Spanish and helps me when I need to translate something. We also empathize when we tell each other about our thoughts.

I know that when the project ends I will miss everyone, because living 24 hours a day with the same people ends up becoming a habit. This is my second month and I have nostalgia for the present from the first month. I have learned to live the moment, how to cope with the others and how to adapt to the changes. I feel very lucky to continue being part of this project, of this family and to continue helping others in whatever way I can. I fell in love with the little children of Cucuteni I am impressed by the good education that they have despite being a humble town. They have a lot to offer and I learn a lot from them. In my opinion, it was the best school that have received us so far.

I look forward to the next month with a lot of adrenaline.

Written by Ebet Nathanel Bautista

Ebet is European volunteer for 8 months, in Arts Lab project,  funded by European Voluntary Service, with the support of European Union.