On-arrival training (2-7 October 2017.)

Our first training was in Bergondo (A Coruña). My flatmate Pavel and me were two volunteers from Santiago who went there.

In Coruña we met with all other volunteers and together we went by bus in Bergondo. They showed us our rooms, and very soon after that we started with activities! Each day we had activities from 9.30-21.30 (including coffee breaks and breaks for lunch and dinner).

Albergue center (youth hostel) in Bergondo is very nice center with a lot of sport fields and it´s just next to the big and beautiful beach. We were so lucky that we had wonderful weather in October! Every day we spent few hours on the beach (of course most of those hours were at night) and the bravest ones even went for a swimming. Staff from Albergue center are absolutely wonderful! Each day we had nice meals and great snacks. Coffee, milk, tea were always on the table, and also Nesquik lovers were very satisfied!:)

If we need to describe our trainers Montse, Ruth and Xabi with one word, that word would be- PERFECT! They did their job in the best way possible. Every minute was interesting and productive. I can say that we had two types of activities: theoretical ones and funny ones. On these theoretical classes we learned some things that we should know about EVS, volunteering, Spanish culture, Medical Insurance, OLS and more things. As for funny classes,we had plenty of games to play. Each of them had some important lesson for us. Through these games we learned how to understand others´ people culture, how to not judge , how to listen more and to really understand what someone is saying. We learned how to communicate and how to have more patience. 

One night was intercultural night and each volunteer needed to present his country. That was something incredible! We learned a lot of new Italian gestures, one German song that was only 4 words and people sing it on Octoberfest, few words in Russian, we learned that water polo is very popular in Hungary, that Estonian people invented Skype, we saw amazing dance from Latvia and tried delicious ¨baklava¨ from Turkey, Ukranian chocolates, Serbian drink - rakija and a lot of other things as well.

And of course, we improved a lot our levels of Spanish language! Thanks to great Spanish teachers Esther and Fabio,we learned and practiced new skills, expressions and phrases. We also learned one older Spanish song which we were singing all day long (so, it was great exercise)!

I could write about our on-arrival training much more, but these are, in my opinion, the most important things that I can say. We met wonderful people, found new friends, and  we´re already making plans for future trips! 

                                             Nadja