Hola a todos 2 (Tell me more, tell me more)

It's been a while. Where have you been?

Well... I was doing things and stuff

(Jajaja. You're so not funny!) What about the other workshops? Tell me more.

English Playground is for kids aged between 8-11. Self-explanatory but... we play games (such as word matching, taboo and charades) and try to make the kids speak in English and fail at it! haha. It's not like they don't want to speak English. They really can't. I'm not going to talk about how well we all learn English at school but the thing is they are really good students if we base it on the grades they get. They just don't have the chance to practice. Like most of us! :D So, playing games is a perfect way to learn new words and practice speaking.

Sometimes it gets so funny because they don't understand me and I don't understand them and we end up looking at each other's faces.

Charla Intercultural is a workshop that we organise every two or three weeks. Every meeting has its own theme. For example the last one was about Christmas :) We both ate desserts and talked about how we all celebrate this time of the year in our countries. Well, I didn't have much to say about it so I preferred to just listen (as always:) My spanish doesn't allow me to speak yet:p Hope I'll be more participative in the near  future.

And unfortunately, Turkish Classes are paused as my students are too busy and not attending.  So lately we're not having this workshop. I was just becoming a teacher! :P

Sorry to hear that. What else is going on? How are you doing?

I'm doing fine. I've just recovered from a really annoying stomachache. And it was the first time that I went to the doctor alone here (It was an emergency. Normally Helena takes me to the doctor:) He couldn't speak English so I just could say "Tengo dolor de estomago:(" and gave short answers to his questions. Luckily it went well and the medicine worked! Even though I still have to take medicine I'm enjoying being healthy again. It was not the best time to get sick because we had our "Cena Solidaria" last friday. So we had a busy week (invitations, posters etc.) but it paid off! We had a fun night with the whole Ecocompartimos family. I hated the DJ at the disco, though. (Take your old songs and go home. Time to retire abuelito! )

And this thing cured my headache haha cheers!

                     The big Ecocompartimos family:) and the painting!

Aaaand Feliz Navidad! Last tuesday, we ate roscon at the shop and Helena gave us presents:) I got a box of hand creams from L'occitane! It was really consoling after that raffle disaster at the dinner haha. I can easily say that I loved this Christmas soul here. Here is a poem to express my feelings:

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Roscon is so yummy

So nom nom nom...

So everything's fine huh?

No, it can't be! I've had a "residency problem" recently. I was hoping to go to Belgium to visit my sister, bought the tickets etc. and then when I went to Extranjeria to hand my papers I found out that we can't go anywhere until we get our resident cards. But I was supposed to get a paper that allows us to travel around Europe. They didn't give me any papers! So I had to change my flight, I will be going in March. And hopefully I'm getting my card at the end of this month.

The end.

Hola a todos

This is how everything has started:

My lovely students <3

I'll never forget that night I prepared those posters with nail polishes (I didn't have crayons) and my mom got so angry because of that nice smell filling the house:p 

I've been in Spain for two months, volunteering for an NGO called Ecocompartimos in Illescas. Even though I have a lot to tell I don't know where to begin... To me, Ecocompartimos means the vibe that you get after having a big achievement /after the struggle to get the visa:)

I want to make an interview with myself (Why?!). I want to feel important okay.

How/Why did you decide to do an EVS?

Are you familiar with the feeling "I don't know what I'm going to do with my life but I have to do something really good for myself. Enough with being a potato!" ? Okay maybe I'm exaggerating but I'm sure that everyone has this moment in his/her life when she/he stops and thinks "I need to break some bones. Some big jumps!"*

It was a big jump for me because I was living in a really really small town where the only thing you can do is to buy a big pack of tissues and cry over your lost life. I was working at an after-school study center for kids as an English teacher (which is not my profession) Most of the time it felt like wearing someone else's underwear. Eww no! Let's say shoes. You know that they don't fit but you can't go on barefoot. 

I remember that I heard about EVS years ago and decided that "It's not for me." after reading a blog of a volunteer and her bad experiences, problems etc. You can't expect it to be a bed of roses, OF COURSE. But I thought I wasn't ready to go through such a different experience. (Coward? :)

How to find the Project Charming for yourself?

Grab your favorite snacks and drinks. Get ready to lose yourself in the database* You'll find all the accredited organisations, info about the projects and contact details in this black hole. It will be easier if you already know what kind of projects you want to apply for or where you want to do your Evs. Just choose the country and the topic!

 I only looked for the projects in Spain, Portugal and Italy. But I ended up sending more than a hundred e-mails to ask if they had any vacancy or not. So you should be patient and determined. Oh, and the heartbreak! Most of them won't reply you. Don't worry. I think I got just 15 or more responses. Some of them were "Oh, we've already found what we were looking for." and some were "Not right now. Try again." But you know they say life is full of surprises. You can get an e-mail after 2 months! 

How did you end up in Illescas?

I guess I applied for 5-6 projects and got 2 positive responses (hello interview?) The first one was from Helena (our mentor but not only mentor:). She had two projects in her mind and I was selected for the second project which was all about the workshops for the kids in the library. While I was waiting for the good news (hooray! the project has been approved!) I got an e-mail from Helena saying that one of the volunteers changed her mind. The rest is... Bursting with joy!

How I was greeted at the airport:) The masterpiece of Feliz and Amelia! Believe me I was the coolest!

Thank you again and again Csenge and Dilya:) It was very kind of you!

What do you do? Tell me about your project!

Ecocompartimos* is a local NGO with a second hand shop in Illescas. Donated products are sold at the shop or if they're not sold (clothes and shoes) they are sent to Humana (a Spanish NGDO). Also we organize workshops for both adults and children such as "Charla Inglés", "English Playground" and "Charla Intercultural". It includes preparing posters which I find challenging ( I'm a bit technologically illiterate) but fun. Well, the first step for me was to get to know the Photoshop. I confess I got help from a friend (Hello Esteban!) But it turned out well. Or you decide! Here:

Charla Inglés is a great opportunity for adults to practice speaking English. We meet every Monday and talk about ANYTHING you can imagine (even aliens)! We have a box of questions/topics and everyone picks one and talks about it (even if it's about the first kiss:). Sometimes we write letters to our future selves or talk about old postcards or FOOD nom nom! I really really enjoy it. I've met so many amazing people! We even have English teachers! 


Aaand I've just started teaching Turkish! :) Even though I have just two students (one of them is Moroccan, the other is Spanish) I enjoy it very much. Hope more people will show up.


Here I'm leaving you with a lovely song!

To be continued...

http://europa.eu/youth/evs_database

http://www.ecocompartimos.com/