For the holidays I went back
home for 2 weeks. I returned to Romania in the beginning of January through
Belgrade. The first week was pretty nice, we had parties, I met a couple new
volunteers, we talked about our time back home, all that cool stuff. After the
first week I and my flatmates hitchhiked to Sibiu and Sighisoara for the
weekend. I am not gonna get into it but it was very nice, a bit intense, and
somewhat scary at times. But we arrived alive and well, so it’s all good.
The second week was time for On Arrival
Training. According to Erasmusplus.ro: “The main objective of the on-arrival
training is to introduce the volunteers to the host country, preparing them for
the service period and the EVS experience. On-arrival training helps the
volunteers adapt to cultural and personal challenges. It allows volunteers to
get to know each other and to build a network. Volunteers should also receive
guidance on conflict prevention and crisis management. On-arrival training
takes place upon arrival in the host country. It also introduces volunteers to
their host country and their host environment, and helps them to get to know
each other. Duration is on average five days.” That’s pretty accurate.
Basically it’s a seminar in Bucharest where new volunteers go to learn their
rights, learn each other, maybe have fun. It’s pretty chill.
So we took the train from Resita and went to
Bucharest (14 hours) it was ok though because we had beds and we slept through
the ride. We arrived in Bucharest Sunday morning, arrived at the hotel, and
went for a coffee in the city. I like Bucharest, it has a nice vibe to it. My room
was very good, warm water the shower, comfy bed, clean sheets. Ouf.
We were around 40 volunteers in total from all
over Romania. Arrad, Resita, Kraiova, Maramuresh, Constanza, Iasi, Bucharest
and the list goes on. Networking and getting to meet other volunteers is very
interesting to be honest. You share your experience and you learn from their
stories. Some volunteers are in a good situation some are not. I learnt that
the NGO you volunteer for can make or break your EVS. Some people do legitimately
nothing all their EVS, some do just enough and some other do a lot. From what I
got, those who work the most are the most content with their experience.
My coordinators were pretty cool and we
actually learnt some things during our sessions. We learnt about rights and
responsibilities, the parties that are involved in the whole Erasmus
volunteering program, some information about Romania, we talked about
experiences and debated how to deal with certain situations. It’s not an
algorithmic approach, like if this do this, but more of a feeling through
situations and acting liberally while respecting the rules of EVS, the
conditions of the contract and the laws of Romania.
The night life in Bucharest is pretty good we
had fun.
After 5 days we got the train and went back
home. 14 hours again but this time we didn’t have beds.
