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Inici del voluntariat maig 2022.

Irene from Italy

Hola! Soy Irene, tengo 24 años y soy italiana.
He empezado este projecto de voluntariado hace unas semanas y haora vivo en Quart de Poblet donde trabajo en un centro juvenil.
Estás últimas semanas, en las cuales he aprendido mucho sobre la cultura española, he vivido nuevas experiencias y he conocido a muchísimas nuevas gente (no solo de España sino también de otros países), fueran muy llenas y bonitas!
Hace mucho que quería vivir una experiencia en otro país, sobre todo en España, porque quería aprender más sobre este país por ejemplo sobre la cultura y las tradiciones.
Devo admitir que tenía muchos temores antes de mudarme aquí porque tenía que dejar mi vida en Italia: todos mis amigos, mi familia y mis hobbies,… también creía que la lengua habría sido un problema porque solo he estudiado español un año y que habría sido sola porque no conocía a nadie en España.
Pero al mismo tiempo tenía mucha ganas de vivir una experiencia internacional y he pensado que una oportunidad así solo te pasa una vez en tu vida por lo tanto no podía decir que no.
Así que me mudé.
Tan pronto como llegué en Valencia fui recibida muy bien! Todas las personas que he encontrado eran muy disponibles y me han ayudado con todo!! Entonces no me sentía así sola como creía!
En unos días he conocido un montón de gente no solo en el trabajo sino también otros voluntarios y he hecho nuevos amigos (no solo de España sino también de otros países) con los cual salgo durante la semana o el fin de semana.
En estas semanas estoy trabajando desde el lunes hasta el viernes por la tarde en un centro juvenil aquí en Quart de Poblet con chicos desde 11 hasta 14 años y me gusta mucho porque hacemos cada día actividades diferentes por ejemplos juego de mesa, actividades deportivas, dibujos,…
También tengo tiempo libre por lo tanto puedo proseguir mis estudios en la universidad y descubrir no solo Valencia sino también los alrededores de la ciudad.
Creo que anque es poco lo que vivo aquí puedo decir que la vida en Quart y en Valencia me está gustando mucho!

Inici del voluntariat octubre 2021.

Tale from Germany

My name is Tale, I am 19 years old and I am from a small town in the north of Germany. I finished school this year, so I was looking for some new experience and adventures. I decided to go abroad as a volunteer to meet a lot of people, learn Spanish and to challenge myself in building a new life in a completely different environment.
I nearly spent already one month here and the time went too fast. The first days my flatmate and I discovered the city. We just walked through the city as the most german tourists you can imagine. Taking pictures all the time, going to the beach and getting sunburnt. But I loved that. I think we could do all the tourist stuff for more weeks, because Valencia has so many beautiful places to visit.
After this little holiday my work in the youthcentre in Quart de Poblet started. I am working with Children in the age of 12 to 17 who are coming to this place and meet their friends, do some homework or participate in the activities we are planning. In the next Blog, when I have spent more time at work, I will explain more about the activities.
Last week we had our On-arrival-Training, sadly via Zoom, but even though it was so nice to meet so many people from all over Europe that are doing a voluntary here in Spain too. I really hope, that we will visit each other, or one day meet in person in the mid-term-training.
As you can see there are so many different things that already happened in just three weeks, so I still would not talk about having an everyday life. Every day and week is so different. Sometimes it is hard and exhausting because you have so many impressions, but on the same time it is so beautiful.
I already enjoyed my first time here in Valencia so much, that I am now looking forward to the next weeks/months and all the beautiful things that will happen!

Inici del voluntariat. April 2021.

Bianka from Slovakia. april 2021

Ahoj! My name is Bianka and originally, I’m from Slovakia, a smaller village near to the second capital city.
I live in Spain. The words still sound strange to my own ears, like what I’m saying doesn’t quite fit even though I’ve lived in Spain for two months. At times, I feel like I’ve been here much longer. At others, like I’ve just arrived. Sometimes I’m afraid that when I leave, it will feel like one long dream. A good one.
I fell in love with Spain on a holiday in Barcelona over four years ago and at the time, I would never have imagined I’d be living here.
Two months in Spain and I’m sitting on the balcony of my apartment, trying to put into words what this time has meant and my memories of Spain as of now.
I work as a volunteer in the organization where I’m surrounded by such wonderful people.
By chance, I ended up in Silla, one of the Valencian villages. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
It’s a village where it’s so uncommon to hear English that people stare at you and children follow you in the street when you’re speaking. It’s a village bathing in sunshine for the majority of the year.
Silla is what I like to call “my Spain”. In such a diverse country, this is the Spain I know and what I’ll remember when I think of this chapter in my expat life.
During my two months, I have met such wonderful people with whom I share my good and bad days with. We help to each other. We teach each other the new things, and most importantly, we’ve become a family.
How would I describe my life now? I would use just one simple sentence: “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

Inici del voluntariat gener 2020

First impressions. 

I have arrived to Valencia, on the 7th of January, 2020 (we still did not know back then that this year is going to be a real life movie..). Enrique, the best tutor of the world (He told us to say this every time), was waiting for me at the train station. We walked to take the metro to Quart de Poblet, there was sunshine and oranges hanging on the trees, it was a warm welcome.

That same day I visited “Quart Jove”, the centre we are doing our activities. I have met Leo, and all the other cool people working there (a lot of names for one day). They have shown me the apartment, we had a talk. In the afternoon Leo was my guide around Quart. The following day we went to pick up Giada, She is with me in this project.

So this was all in the beginning.. Since then: I have learned that not everything is how you imagine it before, but that is fine. The biggest lesson: communication is the key. Even if it is uncomfortable sometimes, talking about problems and finding solutions helps, in the end of the day you will sleep better..

We are working with wonderful people. One of the things I love the most is the ambient at Quart Jove. The “almuerzos” together, the good talks and the interest they share for one another. I am happy to be there.
Our apartment here needed some fixing, but slowly it started to feel more and more cozy, it is nice to see that process.
We participate in the activities of the youth centers, helping in the organization. We also have conversation groups, English and Italian, and in the mornings we do a bit of everything related to youth activities.
We had our “On arrival training”, in Benicàssim, which was just amazing!

So everything was beautiful, we were finally getting familiar with people, and with our tasks, the spring was slowly coming, we couldn’t wait to participate in “Las Fallas”, to do an Easter trip…and then the End Of The World hit in (commonly mentioned as Corona virus). What now? It’s been one month since the homestay started. We are doing conversation groups online, having Zoom meetings with other volunteers in the same situation. Surprisingly, it is not as bad as I was expecting it to be after one month.. I hope that it will end soon, that we can go back to enjoy this experience. Until then, I will stay creative at home, I will keep doing what I can to stay active. Luckily we have internet, Antonio and Enrique are helping us with activities. We will survive this together!

Inici del voluntariat gener 2020

Let’s begin

Hello  I’m Giada, I’m italian and I’ve decided to spend one year volunteering in Spain, in a city close to Valencia, I’m here with Andrea, and since she already talked about ours activities –> go and read her post if you haven’t done yet.

I’m gonna write my impression about Spain, here is very similiar to the south of Italy (environment, people).
You wiil find very frindly people, they will immediately treat you like you’re part of the family, or a close friend, and it’s something, if you like me have never been alone for more than a month, very beatiful, heartwarming and reassuring, it helps a lot, I can easily say that the best part about this country for me are the people.

Talking about the city, you will encounter lot of orange trees on the road, (don’t touch them you can get a fine, plus you can’t even eat them).. a warm weather, car that will stop at every pedestrian crossing (I was shocked, it rarely happens to me at home), the beach, which you can easily find with few stops of metro, and if you like meat the original paella! If you are vegetarian lots of restaurants only for you!
And talking about food if you search well you can also encounter shops that most likely sell products from your country! Could be silly reading this now but after you are here for some months you will be happy to find a taste from your home country :).

Inici del Voluntariat març 2019

Inici del voluntariat setembre 2019