Volunteer Rafaela shares her first impressions in Lithuania!Volunteer Rafaela shares her first impressions in Lithuania!

 Have you ever thought of leaving your country, family and friends to go abroad to volunteer? Well, Rafaela from Germany accepted the challenge. Although the time flies really fast, Rafeala is in Vilnius already more than two weeks. Here you can read her first imppressions.

 

On the 5^th of September I arrived in Vilnius. My journey to Lithuania was without any complications. First I went to Riga by plane and then to Vilnius where I arrived at half past five. My Mentor Kamile and my flat mate Juan were already waiting there for me and welcomed me friendly. First we went to the flat to put our luggage in the rooms and then we went to a restaurant where we tried the famous Lithuanian beetroot soup. It was very good, but for me it was new to eat a cold soup. In the next days we visited the office and got to know the other staff members. On the weekend we visited the city and its sights like the Cathedral and the Three Cross Hill. Besides this, we went to the music festival in the city center and listened to different bands. I liked the atmosphere in the city and it was surprising that the city was even on Sundays very crowded, but the streets were still very clean.

On Monday Juan and I went to the arrival training with the other young people who take part in an EVS in Lithuania. We met people from different countries and of different ages. The program at the arrival training was very varied. On the first day we went hiking and slept in a tent in the nature. It was very cold and we didn’t even have water to wash ourselves. However, it was an interesting experience and we got to know the Lithuanian nature very well. For me it was surprising that the weather was so warm and sunny. At the first day we had over 30 degrees and I never expected that the weather would be good like this. At the other days we took part in several workshops and learned a lot about Lithuania, our work as a volunteer and also about ourselves. All in all, it was a great possibility of getting to know other volunteers, who we can visit and meet during our EVS time.

At the weekend we went to the city at night with other EVS volunteers. The city was very crowded and there was also a lot of police on the streets. I was surprised that in such a big city the busses do not drive between 12 and 6 a clock. At this weekend I also got to know the feeling of loneliness in a city where I do not know so many people and where I am on my own.

On Monday we started our work in the office. We read about the work we have to do in the future and made a presentation about our first time in Lithuania. We are going to present this presentation on Thursday at an event which is organized by young Lithuanian people.                                                                In the evening we had our first Lithuanian lesson at the university. There were a lot of students in our class, but most of them were around 40 years old. It is very nice that almost all students come from different countries so we can share our different cultures. The language seems to me very difficult because it is different from the languages I know like English and Italian. But I am very motivated to learn it and I hope I will learn at least the basics during my stay.

All in all I can say that these first two weeks were very interesting and varied. I got to know a lot of new people and places. Furthermore, it is the first time for me of living alone and this in a country I have never been to before. I am looking forward to my further experiences in Lithuania and I hope and think that I will have a very good EVS time here.

 

 

On the 5^th of September I arrived in Vilnius. My journey to Lithuania was without any complications. First I went to Riga by plane and then to Vilnius where I arrived at half past five. My Mentor Kamile and my flat mate Juan were already waiting there for me and welcomed me friendly. First we went to the flat to put our luggage in the rooms and then we went to a restaurant where we tried the famous Lithuanian beetroot soup. It was very good, but for me it was new to eat a cold soup. In the next days we visited the office and got to know the other staff members. On the weekend we visited the city and its sights like the Cathedral and the Three Cross Hill. Besides this, we went to the music festival in the city center and listened to different bands. I liked the atmosphere in the city and it was surprising that the city was even on Sundays very crowded, but the streets were still very clean.

On Monday Juan and I went to the arrival training with the other young people who take part in an EVS in Lithuania. We met people from different countries and of different ages. The program at the arrival training was very varied. On the first day we went hiking and slept in a tent in the nature. It was very cold and we didn’t even have water to wash ourselves. However, it was an interesting experience and we got to know the Lithuanian nature very well. For me it was surprising that the weather was so warm and sunny. At the first day we had over 30 degrees and I never expected that the weather would be good like this. At the other days we took part in several workshops and learned a lot about Lithuania, our work as a volunteer and also about ourselves. All in all, it was a great possibility of getting to know other volunteers, who we can visit and meet during our EVS time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the weekend we went to the city at night with other EVS volunteers. The city was very crowded and there was also a lot of police on the streets. I was surprised that in such a big city the busses do not drive between 12 and 6 a clock. At this weekend I also got to know the feeling of loneliness in a city where I do not know so many people and where I am on my own.

On Monday we started our work in the office. We read about the work we have to do in the future and made a presentation about our first time in Lithuania. We are going to present this presentation on Thursday at an event which is organized by young Lithuanian people.                                                                In the evening we had our first Lithuanian lesson at the university. There were a lot of students in our class, but most of them were around 40 years old. It is very nice that almost all students come from different countries so we can share our different cultures. The language seems to me very difficult because it is different from the languages I know like English and Italian. But I am very motivated to learn it and I hope I will learn at least the basics during my stay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all I can say that these first two weeks were very interesting and varied. I got to know a lot of new people and places. Furthermore, it is the first time for me of living alone and this in a country I have never been to before. I am looking forward to my further experiences in Lithuania and I hope and think that I will have a very good EVS time here.

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