Arts Lab 4.0: Month I, Maja Mörchen - A house full of life and music

When I arrived in Târgu Frumos on the evening of the 12th of September, I was greeted by Mihaela and Wasan, my roommate who arrived on the same day. Arriving at the youth center I also met the other volunteers, Federica, Sara, and Yavuzhan. They all made me feel welcomed and at home. The next day we immediately started working, preparing workshops about Cucuteni culture for a group of 50 international students and teachers. It was a bit hard because I didn’t know anything about that topic before but I’m happy with the result and the positive feedback from the group. During that time I also got to meet my mentor, Larisa, and learned my first words in Romanian.

The next week Cihan arrived and we had our On-Arrival training. We would have preferred to have it in person but still, we not only learned about ESC but also got to know other volunteers from other projects. Later we even visited two of them in Sovata. On that trip, we also stopped by Lacul Rosu and Sibiu (or Hermannstadt), where would have loved to spend more time. It was quite an adventure and really showed me the beautiful nature of Romania.

Right now we facilitated workshops about Folklore in our different fields for Petru Rares high school. Though the work is not without challenges we were received with great enthusiasm by students and teachers and I enjoy diving into traditional embroidery.

During my month here I worked in the ceramics studio, visited multiple museums, and got to be part of the Language Day of the French Institute in Iași. I got to meet a lot of local volunteers. They are all super nice and always willing to help. At the Romanian night at the youth center, I learned about Romania and got to enjoy a lot of delicious Romanian food.

Since Chiara and Ataota arrived last week our team of international volunteers is complete. I enjoy working with all of them and our house is always full of life and music. Sometimes it is challenging being so far from home in a foreign country with a language I do not speak. But I already met so many amazing people, saw amazing places, and learned a lot. About Art, Romania, Folklore, and Cucuteni but also about myself.

Maja Mörchen is from Germany and she is doing a long-term volunteering project in our organisation, under Arts Lab 4.0, a project funded by European Solidarity Corps @suntsolidar.eu, a programme of the European Union.