Already a month gone
(Maxima – Germany) As they say, time flies when you’re having fun. I can’t believe that just a month ago I was running around my home in Berlin trying to get everything into my suitcases.
When Camillo`s (my boyfriend) and my adventure started with the flight from Berlin to Valencia, I was very excited, nervous and also a bit worried at first. My fears faded as soon as we landed, however, as we went directly from the airport to an event hosted by the organization, where we met the other volunteers and Enrique. They were all very open and sweet and gave us tips about our upcoming time in Valencia.
After settling into the apartment for the next few days, the next adventure began, our work at the Occupational center TOLA, which has as a purpose to insure occupational therapy services and personal and social adjustment to people with functional diversity. When we walked through the door on the first day of work, we were directly approached and warmly greeted from all sides. All the visitors were very interested in us and pestered us with questions, most of which we unfortunately did not understand, as we were at the start very overwhelmed with the Spanish. Also our employees were all extremely friendly, so that we immediately felt very comfortable.
After the first great working days there was the weekend, for which we had already planned some things, but unfortunately I got sick and was then in bed for the next whole week. When I was finally strong enough again, we drove to Valencia and strolled through the streets, ate tapas and paella, enjoyed the moment and looked forward to the many more months in Spain!
After the first month we already feel like we have always been here. We have developed a routine that consists of our daily work, Spanish courses and visits to Valencia. However, this was interrupted last week by our on-arrival meeting, where we were able to meet many other volunteers in Spain online and learn a lot more about our stay here. In addition, we created first ideas for our own project, which we hope to implement in the course of our stay here. Despite the interesting time at the meeting, I am really looking forward to getting back to our everyday life tomorrow, because 4 days only in front of the computer can be very exhausting and I also miss the atmosphere in TOLA.
