Some days before going on our first trip out of Arenas, Lucy told us that it would be a huge party. In, fact we didn't really know what to expect from an "On-Arrival-Training".
We knew that we were going to meet a few other volunteers but that was pretty much it. Finally, on a very nice Monday back in October, we went in a very un-spanisch time (7 AM) on our Bus to Madrid. We had some sleep on the Bus, wich we, how we found out later, could really use. Our nice Nap on the bus was a bit longer than usual thoguh, which was in this case not a good thing because it was related too a lot of traffic in Madrid. So, whe arrived around 40 minutes late, which means ten minutes before our train to Miranda de Ebro should leave from the other end of Madrid. That meant that we had to buy new tickets and of course, the train we needed to take was some sort of superhyperultraregioexpress, that it would have been faster to go by horse! At least it felt like that! At 2 PM, we passed by Avila. We could've taken the bus to Avila from Arenas at 7:20 and so we could've been there more than 5 hours before, but nevermind. By 6 PM we finally landed at our final destination after eleven hours of travel. At least we had a comfortable seat and electricity in the train, so it was survivable. But still, we could've gone to sleep immediately, but no chance! This evening we had some workshops and, of course, went out to party. We had a phenomenal time in the bar "L'amor nunca muere???", especially with our Swedish friend Mikke. He just said things like "Guys, I just bought 52 bottles of wine and 37.49 bottles of Tequila, anybody wants to drink with me?" I think our love for this bar still has not died, although it was the same music, the same people every night, but it never got boring. The week was not intended to be about only partying, we also did quite some work and learned a lot. We had workshops about everything that has to do with EVS, including: Language classes, information about Spain, information about our home countries, how to handle problems, what we expect, what and how we learn etc, the list has almost no end. And because the programme was so diverse and we had so much fun with our coordinators Elena, Paula, Eva and Santi, it never got any kind of boring. During the evenings, we watched Spanish movies all together and / or went out to "Downtown" Miranda. That our youth hostel looked like a prison from the outside was a very good push-factor for that. Actually, we made very good friends with many nice people. I am writing this right now on the bus to León, where we'll visit Romeo and Juliet (She said her real name is Marina but that must be a mistake in the script). So it was in total a very nice experience, we had a lot of fun and really grew together. But that was not the only thing we took from there. We also discovered the essence of life and brought 11 packages of cookies, but none of the nice looking cups though :(. Thank you for that as well! In October each of volunteers lives with host familly for better integration:) Iryna: A big motivation for going abroad is to immerse yourself in the culture where you will be living. And host family is the best way to do that! My host familly is Sara and her 14 years old son Alvaro. Also they have lovely cat Neo:). Sara is climbing instructor. She is amazing cook and speaks English well. And Alvaro is member of youth group third year now. They made my first month in Spain much more fulfilling and fun! We spent free time together going to Talavera, where we attended one exhibition and had nice walk. Also we met with friends and familly from time to time. Sara has a big family, and it is a pleasure to know them! I am especially very grateful to the youngest teacher of Spanish, you can see him in the photo! I learned a lot with him:) And of course we were climbing:) The best experience of climbing till this time! I am very grateful to have been placed with such a wonderful host family:) Arne: When I arrived in Arenas, there could not have been a warmer welcome. Lucy, Angelines, Beltrán and Gonzalo awaited me a the bus station in Arenas and the first thing Angelines did was showing me Arenas. It was already dark so there was not much to see and she could not really explain what she wanted because of her english skills. But I understood her when she said "Aqui, House Monia!". No English vs. no Spanish led to such an extreme use of our best friend the Google Translator that the poor Indian guy translating probably needed to take some days off. I'm sorry for that! But no matter how hard it was, we always understood each other somehow, even if it was with sign language or french! I cannot express how thankful I am for their effort to make me comfortable. When I had no program in the morning, we sat together the evening before and they spent almost an hour trying to explain me, when I had to walk their dog Tizas to where. It also needs to be mentioned how many people I got to know during this month, just look at the photo. You might be wondering "Who is all that?" I would tell you that this was only a small part of my host family. The ones who shared their shelter with me for the night were only Alfredo, Angelines, Beltrán and Gonzalo, but I became part of a huge family! And not only that, I also became a part of Arenas already. I know where I can go for things I need, I know whom to ask for something. And I know how to play Padel, where to go mountainbiking, for a walk or for the best views of the city. Also I got the possibility to take part in cultural activities that even Monia has not taken part in... And every Friday, I know that there will be a warm meal waiting for me in the house I started to get to know Spain from its real side, where I am always welcome. I really appreciate that! Thank you for your hospitality and I am looking forward to helping you in anything you want me to and spending another month with you in April! Dunja: When I came in Arenas de San Pedro, the first people I met where Monia, our coordinator, and Maiky,my hosting mom. It was really nice to have someone who is waiting for you when you are coming to the city, to the country, where you don't know anybody. My hosting family lives out of the village in a big house with lots of nature around it. In the family take part the mother, Maiky, the father, Miguel, the son, Arturo and the dog, Juan. They are one happy family. For me it was important to feel like I belong there and they made it for sure. We went to a trip to Cuenca together and they helped me intergrate to the comunity by presenting me to their friends and going out with them every time (which was very often:). In this way I really experienced living in a Spanish family realising that at the end we are not that different. I stayed in contact with them and we will have lunch together from time to time.
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