My first month as a volunteer!

Hello everyone!

My first month as a volunteer just passed, and it’s been quite an experience! I’ve already seen sunny weather and, on the other hand, flood warnings. I’ve explored peaceful areas of Albufera National Park and experienced the biggest festival of Valencia, Las Fallas.

My volunteer work is connected to Arroz de Valencia, which mostly includes working in the museum, helping with organizing events in the natural park (where I got to try real paella!), and some office work. Thanks to this, I also had the opportunity to see areas affected by Dana, the October Valencian flood. Talking to the people there helped me understand how terrible the situation really was.

During the last month, I spent a lot of time exploring Valencia, especially during Fallas, which gave me really mixed feelings. The part about the falleras and falleros, who are dressed in such beautiful, traditional costumes, is truly amazing. Also, the fallas themselves—the colorful monuments that are burned on the last day—were really impressive and definitely worth seeing. On the other hand, there were some downsides, like drunk people throwing firecrackers around, and the huge amount of tourists making our everyday life a bit exhausting. Anyway, I will definitely miss the overpriced churros available on every corner.

My biggest issue is definitely my poor level of Spanish, BUT what makes me really happy is that I feel like I’m improving every single day. Comparing it to the first day when all I could say was, “Hola, soy Maja, no hablo español,” I basically feel like a native right now!

I’m looking forward to more experiences, exploring more Valencian spots, and maybe a little bit more stable weather.