EVS Stories: Overcoming Difficulties Through Friendship (I) by Rosa

I am Rosa, 25 years old, from Vienna, Austria. I can’t lie, so let’s be honest.

My first month in Romania was not great. I have a good reason to be here, and from what I heard from volunteers in other parts of Romania I am very lucky, but I still don’t feel like I belong here. Maybe it’s because I am from a big city, but I can’t get used to living in a town where being bitten by a stray dog is the most exciting thing that could happen.

My job will be to encourage young people to do EVS. I don’t think it will be difficult, as I know many young Romanians want to go abroad. I have learned about cultural shock and I am not sure if that’s what I am experiencing. The main things I noticed about Romania that are different from Austria: It’s poor, the police is stricter but regular people are friendlier, there are dogs everywhere, and the trains are slow.

But in the last weeks, I learned something important: It doesn’t matter much where you are or what you do, what’s important is who you are surrounded by.

I met so many nice people that I can’t remember all of their names. I made more new acquaintances than ever in such a short period. I got to know my wonderful flatmates and colleagues who helped me a lot. I witnessed great parties. I have found a friend. EVS is supposed to be a learning experience. I didn’t learn much Romanian because I am not good with languages, nor did I see a lot of Romania yet. But I learned the importance of companionship!

Rosa (Austria) is hosted in Baia Mare by Team for Youth Association, in the “IN4EVS” project, an European Voluntary Service financed by the European Commission through the Erasmus Plus Program.