Mi Aventura SVE en Granada: On Arrival Training

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domingo, 7 de enero de 2018

On Arrival Training

Canfranc bus station

Hello, in this blog i'm going to share with you my experience in the On Arrival Training, so let me start from the first.

When they told me about the date of the On Arrival Training to be honest i was not excited, i'm always afraid to meet new people. It was in Canfranc too far from Granada, so i woke up with negative vibes.

Our point meeting is in Zaragosa, so we call taxi to pick us to the bus station but the women in the radio taxi didn't want to send us one, time past very quick so we were obliged to call our coordinator Carmen to help us. She came and picked us to Malaga train station we couldn't make it without her. we ate the breakfast there and after we took the train. It was very fast after 4 hours we arrived to Zaragosa, we arrived early so we went to a coffee and after we went back to the train station to meet with the other volunteers.

After a while we were all there so w took the bus to Canfranc. When we arrived there i was freezing because i 'm never used to this cold. Before coming i thought that i will have my own room, but i was totally wrong we were 24 volunteers two big rooms for girls and a small room for boys, by the way they were only 4 boys. After that we were all gathered together, we had a game for getting to know each other. Then we ate dinner.

The day after everyone was talking about the first awful night because the heaters stopped working in the middle of the night and they only gave us one blanket. We ate breakfast and then we started our training.

The day after they took us out to discover the rest of Canfranc.It was very small but breath taking because of the natural view it was awesome.Also we went to Jaca it was near to Canfranc.

The bus station in Canfranc is so beautiful, it has a lot of history so we had a big tour there with a man who lives in Canfranc he was our guide, we had so much fun.

After days no one wanted to leave by the way me too, it was my best experience that i ever had.I learnt how to share, how to learn, how to communicate, also we made new friends and we invited them to Granada.

Zaragosa

sábado, 6 de enero de 2018

Canfranc On Arrival Training

merifat2 16:32 0 Comments

Hey J

In this blog I wanted to share my awesome experience during the on arrival training that we had in Canfranc (Huesca) from the 13^th til 18^th of November.

Honestly at first I was not so positive about it, I was wondering how it will be like and if if the other volunteers will be cool.

We were supposed to catch an early bus to Malaga train station and from there a train to our meeting point in Zaragosa. But believe it or not we had a very bad incident with the Taxi service, the woman on the radio taxi didn’t want to send us a taxi no matter how we begged, eventually she was hanging up on us whenever we give the address. We ended up calling our coordinator Carmen and she took us by car to Malaga to catch the Train before it leaves, if it wasn’t for her we wouldn’t make it on time. So I feel really grateful as she is always there for us even when we screw up.

And to add more misfortune, I bought a coat a day earlier as they told me it will be cold in Canfranc to just wear a jacket, BUT the woman that was working there forget to take off the security tag in the coat and she just disabled the alarm, I only noticed it when I was leaving the house early morning.

So when we got to Zaragosa I had to walk for 6.9km til I found a shop that accepted to help me and to remove it, imagine the embarrassment of looking as if I stole the coat lol Luckily I kept the tickets with me.

On the way back I lost my way of course, walked til I got tired then I took the right bus BUT in the wrong direction so I ended up being more far. So I walked a lot until I found my way.

Then at 17h we met at the train station with all the other volunteers, it was funny as we were trying to find each other and tried to get to know each other but as the group grew more and more, it became hard to get to know everyone, we were 26 volunteer !

We then left to Canfranc with one of our trainers. It was a very long and tiring day so everyone was basically sleeping in the bus. On our way the road was so dark, no lights at all, it was kind of creepy so we were not so excited about where we were heading especially that it seemed that we were in the middle of nowhere.

We arrived late at night, we took off the bus and it was sooo windy and sooo cold, freezing cold, in an old street, struggling to get into the hostel we were staying to find out that there are 3 rooms prepared for us. One small room for the 4 male volunteers and 2 big rooms for the other 20 volunteers, so we were 10 volunteers in one room, and only one shower and toilet lol we were all fed up and frustrated, everyone was grumpy and not in the mood for talking, we ate our dinner and went to sleep.

At night the heaters were going crazy, and going off and we only had one blanket so we had a terrible night of no sleep especially that we weren’t comfortable with being with many strangers in one room.

The next morning we got up and we started to socialize about our terrible night lol that was a good ice breaker haha then we started our training and we really had awesome trainers who helped us a lot during the energizers and activities to know each other.

We saw the beauty of Canfranc in the day, it was breath taking, we made awesome friends and we started to bond while learning about EVS.

11km away from France's borders

We got to visit Canfranc International Train station, it was sooo beautiful, we had a very good tour by one of the locals who informed us about its history in a very interactive way.

After few days we no longer wanted to leave that place even if there were no shops or nothing, but we had something more precious, the beauty of nature and awesome company. What more can we ask for J We also got to visit Jaca, another beautiful city and on our way back we had few hours in Zaragosa waiting for the train so we spent them in the city with our new friends who were living there.

The on arrival training was one of the greatest experience I ever had, especially that I didn’t get the chance to have it in my previous short term EVS. So I feel very grateful and lucky for meeting such great people and for all the information I received from all the trainers and also during the language course we had there.

jueves, 13 de abril de 2017

On-Arrival Training en Jaen

Unknown 4:24 0 Comments

"You will be free the moment you stop worrying about what people think of you!"

Our On-Arrival Training was organized in Jaen from 31st of March to 5th of April. It was really useful and interesting (interesante) for me. I went with Didi, and at the bus station of Jaen we met with the other volunteers, too.

There were about 20 volunteers from Andalusia. Our group was really diverse, intercultural. People came from Italy, France, Belgium, Portugal, Russia, Poland, Bulgaria and I was from Hungary. :D The coordinator team was absolutely perfect.(perfecto)

We stayed in a youth hostel. We had the breakfast (desayuno), the lunch (almuerzo) and the dinner (cena) there. Two times we were in a special restaurant. It was amazing. We ate a lot. And one of this was in restaurant (restaurante), where during the dinner we saw flamenco.

In every room were slept two people. My roommate (compañera de cuarto) was a really nice girl, Jacqueline from Mexico. She spoke just a little bit in English and I spoke poco a poco in Spanish. It was funny to understand what we want to say, but we enjoyed it. And for my Spanish knowledge was useful, too. Of course we used the Spanglish, too. During the week I talked with all of the people even if it was just some words. It was interesting to hear why people choose the EVS and hearing about their life. I realised there a lot of common things between us and the same motivation to try something new and be volunteer abroad (en el extranjero).

On the training, first of all, we needed to introduce ourselves. Before, when I had to speak (hablar) in front of people I was nervous, but (pero) I felt oke I can do this and yes I did it in Spanish :D Oke, it was just 3 sentences, but in the beginning I think it is better than nothing.

The first night was organized the 'Fiesta Intercultural'. I brought traditional cloths and sweets (dulces), sausage, book (libro), handmade book-marker, postcard (postal) from Hungary. I think my short presentation was successful. I was afraid a little bit, but it was a different feeling than before. It was a better emotion. We had special piononos from Granada. We tasted all the special foods from all around the world. And I knew that the Nutella is from Italy :D We talked a lot, and there was a game, to catch one paper from a hat and show that was written on that. What I caught? Of course: traditional dance :D So, I showed some steps, and after that we danced together. It was really funny (divertido) and I think the others enjoyed it, too.

Every night we had different activities. We learned flamenco ( I loved it), went special restaurant, chill...

During the week we started the day (día) at 8 am with breakfast, after we always heard Spanish music and spoke about the lyrics. We had different sessions. Between these session we were awoken by 'energizers' and we had coffee time, too. It was intensive, but useful. We learned more about Spain, Spanish lesson (lección) ,too.

Alessandra my first (primera) and best Spanish teacher (profesora) was really nice. For that time I am more motivated to learn.

the EVS voluntary work, ourselves... It was in Spanish but most of the time was translation in English. Because of the Spanish it was hard for me, but I think I developed my skills. We had

One of my favorite session was about the stereotypes (estereotipos) of your country and what is among these. I realised that I know something (un poco) about my country, but not enough and I would like to be more apprised of Hungary.

The other one was about, how to welcome each other the first time when you meeting. It was really strange. Because most of the people give kisses for the first time, but in Poland, Bulgaria, Russia and Hungary at the first time we shake hands and say our name. And the most surprising thing it was the space between us... It is happened with me in the real life, too. I memorized for ever in Spain the first time there is not shake hands, there is kisses. :D It is really friendly.

We talked about the prejudice (prejuicios). It is a very important subject I think. I thought I am not preconceited, but I am... The training was really instructive. Oke maybe we won't be the best friends, but we need to try (intentar) to know each other more and after that we will see it is work or not. But just for she/he has an other style, hair color etc and we don't speak with his/her it is a stupid thing...

I learned a lot about myself, too. I spoke in front of the people. I enjoyed the group-work, too. Everybody could say her/his opinion and everybody listened. Every opinion was important.

We had time to visit (visitar) the city (ciudad) and make a lot of pictures, drink (beber/ tomar) a beer together.

I feel I am braver and I am ready to do my voluntary work.

After we came back in Granada, we visited the place where we will working and we visited the University ( Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación-Granada), too.

This week is holy week here, because of the Eastern, Semana Santa. The next text will be about this week. :)

Flamencooo

Play

'Energizer'

'pop-corn energizer'

Hola!

Flamenco dinner

martes, 11 de abril de 2017

"Volando voy, volando vengo"

d 11:44 0 Comments

Cuando eres voluntario/a participas en una formación a la llegada (on-arrival traning) del Servicio Voluntario Europeo (SVE). La nuestra se celebró en la ciudad de Jaén o "la capital mundial del aceite de oliva". Se encuentra a una hora en autobús desde Granada, dirección norte. La formación duró 5 días, fue muy intensa y aprendí muchísimo.

Es una experiencia increíble porque estás todo el día con otros voluntarios que para ti se convierten en familia no solo porque estáis juntos todos los días, sino porque tenéis mucho en común. Precisamente todos habéis ido al extranjero para ser voluntarios, os encontráis en la misma condición, queréis ayudar a vuestras organizaciones, queréis sentiros útiles, cada uno realiza su propio proyecto, etc. En nuestra formación estábamos 22 voluntarios de 9 diferentes países – Italia, Francia, Estonia, Portugal, Polonia, Hungría, Rusia, México y yo de Bulgaria.

La formación estaba dividida en diferentes paneles, actividades y talleres. En la mayoría de las actividades trabajamos en diferentes grupos. Así tuve la oportunidad de conocer mejor a los otros voluntarios y hablar español e inglés (porque no todos hablaban los dos idiomas). Voy a contar un poco sobre las actividades que me llamaron más la atención:

Información general sobre el Servicio Voluntario Europeo

Aquí hablamos sobre nuestros derechos y deberes. Nuestro grupo tenía la tarea de hablar sobre los derechos: apoyo linguístico, días libres, tutor, formación, alojamiento, seguro médico, Youth-pass, etc.

Tuvimos panel de experiencias dónde unos ex voluntarios contaron sus vivencias. Fue muy útil e interesante escuchar sus historias y sus recomendaciones. Un consejo muy importante para mi, que no voy olvidar es que "hagamos cosas diferentes cada día." Aunque nos parezcan raras o no las haríamos nunca en nuestro país. Porque de esa manera aprenderemos mucho sobre nosotros mismos.
Cómo aprovechar mi SVE: o sea, pensar bien en qué quiero aprender, cómo y cuándo.

Introducción a la cultura, sociedad e instituciones en España y Andalucía

Cultura, historia, geografía, organización político-administrativa, etc. Tuvimos un juego con preguntas como qué sabemos sobre España, que era muy divertido. Teníamos que elegir el nombre de nuestro grupo. Como no se nos ocurría nada, al final nos llamamos "Elefante", porque ese día me había puesto una camisa con un elefante 😃. No sé si las fuerzas del animal elefante como símbolo de la inteligencia y la sabiduría nos ayudaron o simplemente sabíamos mucho sobre España, pero nuestro grupo ganó el juego!
Taller de cultura musical flamenca: hablamos sobre la historia del flamenco, su origen que no se sabe exactamente de donde viene y tiene muchas teorías... Aprendimos un poquito cómo bailar y tocar el cajón que claro, no es nada fácil! Tienes que tocar muy rápidamente y seguir el ritmo de la música.

Visitas culturales:

Visitamos el Castillo de Santa Catalina que fue construido entre los siglos XII-XIV. Tenía una vista preciosa a la ciudad, la naturaleza de alrededor y los campos de los olivos.

Los baños árabes, que están muy bien conservados.

Taller de la vida cotidiana en España: hablamos sobre el NIE, los diferentes tipos de policía en España, bancos, seguros, cómo viajar barato en España, etc.

Fiesta internacional: presentamos nuestros países, algunos voluntarios habían traído comida o objetos típicos de su país. Después tuvimos que cantar canciones típicas o representar un monumento famoso de nuestro país. A mí me tocó representar un monumento. Elegí el Monumento al Zar Libertador, que se encuentra en el centro de Sofia y es muy famoso.

El monumento en Sofia

Nuestra representación. ¿Se parece mucho, no?

No fue sorpresa que todos tardaron mucho en reconocerlo. 😀

Taller sobre los estereotipos y prejuicios: para mí fue uno de los más interesantes y voy a describirlo con detalles, porque me interesa mucho el tema. Cada uno de nosotros tenía que contar estereotipos sobre su país o qué imagen tiene su país en el extranjero y explicar de dónde vienen. Lo que yo conté fue mi experiencia en el extranjero que según ella, Bulgaria no se conocía y que se tiene una imagen bastante negativa.

Tengo unas conclusiones basadas en mi experiencia de Erasmus en Madrid, en lo que estudiamos en la universidad y cuando conocí otros estudiantes de Erasmus. Según mi estadística personal Bulgaria y los Balcanes no se conocen mucho en Europa Occidental. La mayoría de los estudiantes que conocí no sabían dónde se encuentra Bulgaria. Muchas veces me preguntaron si la capital de Bulgaria era Budapest (que es de Hungría y de Bulgaria se llama Sofia), si bebemos vodka (que es típica para Rusia y nuestra bebida es rakia), si nuestro alfabeto es el "ruso" (el alfabeto se llama cirílico y se usa tanto en Bulgaria como en Rusia, Ucrania, Bielorrusia y otros), si hablo ruso (yo hablo búlgaro, que claro, se parece al ruso, pero es otro idioma).
Es verdad que Bulgaria es el país más pobre de la Unión Europea (y los Balcanes en general son la región más pobre) y tenemos muchos problemas, pero me parece raro cuando me encuentro con personas jóvenes que no se saben los países de su propio continente! Dejo el tema, por ahora, porque es largo, pero voy a escribir otro artículo solo sobre este asunto.

Formación lingüística: los clases de español eran muy divertidas, porque aprendíamos jugando y pintando. Aprendí unos trabalenguas como:

El cielo está enladrillado. ¿Quién lo desenladrillará? El desenladrillador que lo desenladrillare, buen desenladrillador será.

O expresiones coloquiales como:

Partirse de risa - reírse muchísimo
Quedarse cortado - sentir vergüenza
Ser un flechazo - amor a primera vista

Cómo me sentí yo durante la formación?

Como he dicho al principio fue una experiencia increíble. Por primera vez aprendí cosas a través del método informal- juegos, diferentes actividades, trabajo en grupos o solos, pintar, hacer sketches, energizer, etc. De esa manera no solo aprendí mucho, sino me divertí de verdad! Especialmente cuando teníamos que hacer un sketch 😀. Al principio me preocupaba un poco y me sentía nerviosa porque por ejemplo no sé pintar bien. O tenía vergüenza de participar en sketshes, porque nunca lo había hecho antes. Pero lo pensé solo al principio. Después me sentí muy cómoda con todos los voluntarios y los formadores y dejé todas mis preocupaciones.
El método es mucho más interesante y eficaz que el aprendizaje formal que todos conocemos en las escuelas y universidades, porque esta semana no estudiamos, sino aprendimos. Que son cosas diferentes.

Y lo más importante - encontré amigos 💓 Aunque seamos de diferentes países y culturas, tenemos mucho en común.

* El título de mi artículo viene de la canción "Volando voy, volando vengo" de Camaron de la Isla.

Cada mañana escuchamos una canción para despertarnos.

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