I am back ;)

I am sorry that I ignored the blog in last two months. It wasn't because nothing has happened, simply I was too lazy to write. Finally I got the inspiration and I am ready to share with you the most meaningful experiences of my last two months:

In December we have the year-end evaluation meeting in Sovata, where I finally met almost all the OBR trainers. It was a memorable weekend with full of funny, emotional and delightful moments. It was nice to meet all of those people. They had a lot of question about me, my home and our culture. So I decided to make them a little party before the Christmas holiday. They learned the most interesting and amusing facts about Slovakia and my home by playing entertaining games and I made also our traditional dish: byndzové halušky-juhtúrós sztrapacska.  Either they liked it a lot, or they were just too polite, but it was eaten really quickly, so I consider it as a success :)

My viewpoint is that the perfect Christmas is at home. So I went back to my village to meet my family and  friends. I spent a lovely peaceful week with them and I came back to Marosvásárhely curiously waiting for the new experiences. Fortunately there was no lack of new adventures.

Even the winter couldn't stop us to go and explore the nature. Thanks to Picur, Orsi and Bella I got the chance see the Székelykő. It was a memorable experience to got up there even if the weather wasn't the most ideal. There was a big fog that day, so we can't see anything from the top, but it didn't discourage us. We simply used our imagination, and I have to tell you the imagined view was much more impressive than the real one (I googled it after coming home).

I take part also in our ski camp where I learned to ski with the children. It was funny to be the eldest one and learn with them. I really enjoyed their endless youthful enthusiasm which gave me a lot of energy.  At the end of the week I could come down from the hill easily, so in the future I need to go on in practice and try not to forget the basics. In the evenings we played a lot and on the last night we have a crazy party. It was great to see and feel the children energy after that exhausting week.

In my free time I am going on the folk dance lessons and parties in the city, as a mentioned in my last post. It is awesome that there are more occasions weekly when I can learn to dance and meet amazing people! :)

Sztrapacska everywhere

Happy birthday Iza!

The OB Team

Ski camp

First experiences

My first month of my EVS project full of memorable moments has already passed.

I have spent two weekends in Sovata. I was helping in the School of Experience program. The center is in a charming valley surrounded by beautiful hills, far away from everything, I got the feeling that it was made for the Outward Bound. I can´t wait for the spring to come, when I can spend more time there.

Until then I will work in the office, what I enjoy as well. It is nice to work with so thoughtful colleagues. I was warmly surprised that they remembered my birthday and threw me a little party in the office with cake and I got presents. I´m really grateful for that, they made me feel more like at home.

We went also to a folk dance party and I found out that in Targu Mures are many opportunities to learn Hungarian folk dance. I am really glad about that, because I always wanted to learn it and  you can meet nice people there, too.

Last week I completed my on arrival training in Predeal, which was full of powerfull experiences: loosing my backpack and getting it back, meeting crazy people, discovering the city, taking long walks, snowballing, snowfighting and laughing a lot.

To tell you the truth it didn´t start well. I was travelling to Predeal by bus. When we finally arriwed I get out of the bus happily and while I was walking to open the trunk the bus suddenly started off and left. I waved furiously but the driver didn´t notice me. So I found myself staying in the middle of a strange city without my luggage. I called my mentor and fortunately she arranged that the bus coming from the other direction could bring it back to me. After an hour my backpack was in my hands again and I could get to the hotel hoping that now only good things can happen. And I was right! :)

The view from my room

I had an amazing week. It was great to meet other volunteers from all Europe. We learned a lot about the EVS, Romania and cultures of each other. We worked, played and partied together- every night. :)

The highlight of the training was a trip to the nearest peak. We have a magnificent view from the top. The snowy landscape sparkled so brightly in the sun that it seemed like a dream. It just reminded me how much I love nature.

The whole training gave me a huge support in my project. The talks with the others made me realise that even we came from different countries we have similar reasons why we became volunteers. We have the same expectations and also fears from our project. It gave me new ideas and inspiration how to use the 8 months of volunteering. I am more excited to learn new things, get new experiences, explore the country than I was before.

Thank you Team Bora-Bine and the others ! :)

Hope to see most of you again on the mid-term training and the others also someway, somewhere!

Let´s get the project started

Hello dear readers of this blog!

My name is Kata and I just became a volunteer at Outward Bound Romania. I have the honour of writing the first post on this blog. 

I am from Slovakia and I am 26 years old. After I graduated I moved to Budapest and started to work as a designer of heating systems. Unfortunately it didn’t work for me as I expected, so I decided to broaden my horizons by doing volunteer work. I always enjoyed working with people, especially with teenagers and children. Working here is a great opportunity to learn more about it. I hope that during the project I can develop my leadership abilities and gain my self-confidence.

Something about me:

I grew up in a small village near to Kosice therefore the nature was always close to me. I love taking long walks, hiking, jogging. I enjoy going out with my friends, having fun, dancing. I also like cooking and according to my friends I am quite good at it. (Well, nobody had died yet, so I consider it as a big success :) ) My other passion is handcraft especially jewellery making. I also enjoy knitting, suiting, painting in fact I love every activity which needs creativity.

Furthermore my family is really important to me. I adore my parents, I am absolutely grateful to them for their support. I have a younger brother and sister who I can also rely on. Without them I wouldn’t be here.

My first days:

Firstly I have to mention this lovely city. I haven’t seen much of it, but I already felt in love with the main square. I have a weakness for the seccesion, so I am absolutely impressed by the charming colorful buildings.

I really appreciate the warm welcome and support of my colleagues, they are kind and helpful. My first impression about the project is definitively positive. I am looking forward to see what the next 9 months will bring.

I will be back in a short time to share with you my newest experiences.

I have already taken some photos of my favourite buildings of the main street, enjoy them!

The Palace of Culture

The Old City Hall

Ortodox Cathetral

Park 

 National Theatre Targu Mures

An adorable building in the center

Stepping Outdoors

The EVS project, entitled Stepping Outdoors, is funded by the European Comission Erasmus+ Programme and is organized by Outward Bound Romania-hosting and coordinating organization- in partnership with the Hungarian Élményakademia Közhasznú Egyesület -sending- and the Slovak INEX -sending-  organizations. The project is running between November 2014 and March 2016.

Our first volunteer Katalin Görcsös started her service on the 1st of November 2014 and will be with us till the end of July 2015 and the other volunteer will also join for 9 months in May 2015.

The goal of the project is to to share good practices in the field of experiential education and to challenge young people to actively get involved in the societies life and to become active citizens.