First month
First Month
As time passed, it was time to share updates from my adventure. There's a significant difference between what people think is happening here and what's actually going on. Many of my acquaintances, with whom I haven't been in touch since leaving Slovakia, simply believe I'm living in some paradise where the sun always shines and my main job is a siesta followed by a fiesta. Well, no… ? Unfortunately, I haven't moved to a parallel world where fulfilling obligations isn't necessary. And I'll probably disappoint you, but no – the sun doesn't shine here every day – oh well. Since my arrival, I've mostly experienced a period of prolonged rain, along with that untamable wind and humidity! Zuzanka herself also underestimated the climate she moved into. Let's be honest: I expected many sunny days and adjusted my clothing choices accordingly when packing for my expedition. However, many people, when imagining Spain, don't even realize how diverse the weather is in each part of the country. Not to mention the islands – among the Balearic Islands, Ibiza and Mallorca are the best known – where the climate differs significantly from here in Menorca. I'll give you a hint, the highest point of Menorca is only about 300 meters above sea level – enough said? You can certainly figure out the rest yourselves. But back to the topic. What else did I experience in my first month, besides the unpredictable weather? During the project, two trainings are mandatory – the first, which takes place approximately within 2 weeks of arriving at ESC; and the second, which is halfway through the project.
In my case, we moved to Mallorca, specifically to the town of Andratx. I met other volunteers who are volunteering in Ibiza and Catalonia – specifically in Barcelona. I gained a lot of new knowledge about the ESC program, gathered new ideas on how to reflect my acquired knowledge and identify my competencies during my time in Menorca. If you're interested and have questions, I'd be happy to provide more detailed information about how it went and what we managed to learn there – feel free to write in the comments what you'd like to know. A great advantage was that during this training, we also had Spanish or Catalan lessons, which I personally found beneficial, so we wouldn't get out of practice and lose discipline in learning languages, which are now part of every single day spent in our workplaces. Throughout the training, informal education and the P2P – peer to peer – approach, learning from each other, were used.
Upon returning to Menorca, I fully immersed myself in all the duties that awaited me. Gradually, I was figuring out how we would conduct our English lessons, what activities we would do with each group. I started designing my own activities and settling into daily routines. Slowly, I learned the words to all the songs that are part of the curriculum and tried to remember at least a few names – since there are approximately 150 children here in total, it's not entirely easy. I spent many mornings and evenings preparing materials – during this period, mainly making Christmas objects. I experienced amusing moments and received many hugs and farewell kisses, but after work, sadness for home and friends sometimes overwhelmed me. To say that leaving somewhere for a longer period is easy would be very misleading. I myself am used to spending time in foreign countries – I have lived in France, Belgium, and long-term in the Czech Republic.
However, Spain is exceptional – it's a country whose language I don't yet master, and therefore everyday life is sometimes more complicated. However, this doesn't deter me from functioning, and I certainly don't lose my smile because of it. Rather, it motivates me to discover new corners of another foreign language and progress faster than I would by enrolling in a classic language course in Slovakia. And precisely improving in a foreign language, or foreign languages, is an indispensable part of this adventure. As part of the support provided to each volunteer, a foreign language course is also included – in my case, it's 3 hours of Spanish per week. In addition, there's daily contact with the language, and my supervisors speak Spanish to me daily, so I'm definitely absorbing knowledge at a high speed. Being bilingual is no longer enough these days, and the European Union knows it. From my perspective, I'm not sure if being competent in three languages is enough. Therefore, I believe that every language we can manage at least at a communicative level and are able to use in our work will help us gain an advantage in the job market.
I would be happy to receive feedback and for you to tell me what you would like to read about, so I can incorporate your requests into my posts.
Greetings from currently sunny Menorca. And see you soon!
The project is financially supported by the European Solidarity Corps program.
