O testemunho do Tavi No. 3 (Associação Spin)

 

Hey! I’m Tavi, a 23 year old guy from Romania. For the past 12 months I’ve been working as a volunteer at the Spin office.

I will keep it short and sweet since I’ve been the one publishing testimonies during the last months so I feel I’ve read everything there is to read about volunteering experiences.

I think the almost all the clichés about  European volunteering apply to me. I will sound like a paid advertisement for ESC but I really developed my skills, became more independent, put more my ideas into practice etc. The only thing I didn’t improve in this project is my English. I think it’s worse now.

Working there is different for each volunteer but I’ve been lucky enough to do mostly things I like (drawing on the Spin hostel wall, making illustrations, editing videos and interviews).

Here are some highlights of my time in Portugal:

-random live music and dancing at miradoros where lots of hippies just come together

-going to museums not because I like them, but just to check them off the list

-absolutely insane huge waves compared to the tiny black sea ones

-house parties that inevitably get interrupted by the police

-discovering a million types of vegan food I never wanted to know

-hanging out with everyone on the weekend at the beach

I couldn’t have asked for more. I am truly grateful for this opportunity and to all my friends here who have made this experience unforgettable, even during a pandemic.

O testemunho do Tavi No. 2 (Associação Spin)

Writing the testimony is a perfect way to reflect about what I done in those past 5 months in Lisbon.  If you aksed me 5 months ago what I would be doing now, I could have never guessed.  

My main duty at Spin has been video editing and making promotional material. Because of this I got to take part in so many random activities. I never really know my tasks will take me. I got to film birds in the delta with the SPEA volunteers, a neighborhood tour with Erasmus students, highschool presentations on the other side of the river and much more.

Filming has never really been my passion but I got to do so much of it, I kind of enjoy it now.

This whole time spent in Lisbon has been a great chance for me to try out all the things I’ve always wanted but never got the chance todo. I got to do grafitti in abandoned places, do open mic stand-up and I also got to play in improvisation theatre. This may sound cliche but living in Llisbon has really opened a billion doors for me.

The things that matter the most though are the friends that I’ve met here. I was lucky enough to find some people I really got along with. The times I will remember most are all the time spent together going to events, hikes, bars, traveling and just talking about random stupid things.

Writing this makes me feel really grateful for this chance that I have. It also makes me realise that time goes by too fast. Half of my ESC has passed by and there is still so many things I wanna do!

O testemunho do Tavi

Hello! This is Tavi, from Romania. I have just started my ESC experience in Lisbon!

What made me come here? Well, when I was 18 my older brother forced me to go on an Erasmus+ funded youth exchange and I’ve been trying to go on these kinds of experiences ever since. It blew my mind there is a whole world outside my country with cool people in it. I knew that as soon as I finished university I would go to an ESC, a hundred percent! I chose Portugal because I’ve met a lot of cool Portuguese people and it just seemed like a nice place.

I studied English and French literature and my main thing is art. I can make pretty and weird illustrations. I also have some education skills since I’ve been teaching English to kids for a while now. I think I can be useful and I really liked the freedom Spin gives its volunteers. I’ll need to get super involved but I know I’ll learn a lot from it!

As I arrived at the airport once of my fellow volunteers (Ana from Croatia) picked me up and showed my accommodation so I didn’t have to worry about anything! I got to meet my 8 roommates and I am excited about getting to know them.

The following day I went to Spin and got to know my team-members too. Together with Ines (our coordinator) we went over our responsibilities. We then had an amazing lunch together. We also got to see the Padre Cruz neighbourhood and all the stunning murals! Wowowow!

All in all, it was stunning. Lisbon is great and it feels more and more like home every day I am here. It’s hard to describe all these feelings but I know this is the just the beginning of a journey.