An EVS as an experience for Nadejda's life!

Nadejda is 19 years old and she is from Bulgaria. As part of a gap year before starting her studies in the university, she decided to make the difference and start an EVS project in Portugal. From October she is working in ALEM, teaching French and sharing a lot about her culture. Keep reading to discover how the European Voluntary Service can change your life!

Here I am in Lisbon, the city that everyone dreams of. Sometimes I just don’t know what to say and I feel like I am part of a theatrical play. I learn, I grow and I fall in love with this place every everyday!

My EVS experience is just the most beautiful ending of the adventurous year of 2017. After 5 months of intensive travelling , dancing salsa, walking on the streets of Amsterdam, eating mamaliga and camping in the forest of Germany I could say that I got out from my comfort zone  many many  times. The people I met, the places I visited, the music I fell in love with, all of this was a life I never even dreamed on.

Portugal is the 6^th country I visited since I turned 19. As I got on the plane and heard Portuguese speech for the first time in my life I knew this is going to be an experience for life. Before coming here I didn’t know anything about Lisbon  and I could only say hello in Portuguese but I knew that this was going to be the best part. Despite of  my full unknowledge about the place where I was going to spend the next 9 months of my  life I was introduced to the details of my project which was really inspiring from the moment I was selected to participate. I was lucky enough to be hosted by Rota Jovem who treats me more like a friend rather than just a volunteer. My mentor is the best and she is full of ideas about going to places I never heard of.
The voluntary work is about helping and about exchanging experiences, it is about learning about the others but also about yourself. Even with the fact that I still don’t know all the names of the people in the places I work I feel I will have amazing time working with them  and I hope they would be happy to work with me. I feel I am growing up every day. I love the moments when children laugh at my Portuguese pronunciation and their enthusiasm to teach me how to say the colours of their drawings and the shapes in them. I also love their interest about learning and the energy of the old people dancing. I think they all inspire me and make me feel like I took the best decision coming here.

Maybe  I am ‘’only 19’’ and  I don’t have any experience and maybe sometimes all I can say is <<Tudo bem>>. Maybe I have days in which I feel exhausted of working and long evening walks and  days I am totally confused because of the language barrier I faced but  I am glad I am here. I am glad I am working with this people,  I am glad I am living with my  crazy roommates which sometimes make too much noise but I still love them and I am glad my family has always given me the freedom to choose my own way. This 9 months for me would be a lot more than just a voluntary work, I already started rediscovering myself, I met a lot of people and I am receiving support from my organization.  I feel I also got more dedicated on the studies I am going to take next year. I really hope that the time would not pass that fast because I want to live every moment!