Claire, from France

News from Claire who has done her EVS two years ago !

Hi Claire ! Can you explain us why you have decided to do your EVS here and describe your mission with the others ?
When I have decided to do EVS, I choosed est Europ because I the culture interested me.The project was open enough to let me come with new ideas, and in the same time I could see that the Youth Center proposed a lot of differents activities with interesting aims : international youth exchange, meeting kids from orphanage Assan Zlatarov and from Marina, the center for disabilities people...
When I arrived to meet up with the two others volunteers, Fabio (Italy) and Carol (USA) (What team we were !), we did not start the project at once : we first learned the language, took our marks, we worked with Eurodesk, went to see the kids... Then, everything started to move really fast in february : we prepared two projects. The project "coloring friendship" and a music festival. For the first one, we organised a drawing competition in the Youth Center and in the orphanage Assan Zlatarov, to do a big painting inside the orphanage after. We didn't have money so we have done like all bulgarians : we selled martinitsas ! (bracelet that bulgarian offer for the 1st march, to protect you)Homemade making, please !

After was the festival project : objective : take advantage of the stage in the center of the town to make groups from the Youth Center play. All an afternoon with concerts... ending with a storm wich put all the town in the dark...

Between this two projects, we were in Turquie to participate to theater festival, an exchange with 5 countries. I also prepared a power point to present the Youth Center and use this for communication.

What can you share with us after this experience ?
I was there only 8 mounths and it was too short ! I had the impression to leave in the moment when the language and the relation with people were the best.I have a lot of positiv things to say, it was a transition between studies and work, and a break before starting again the routine that we impose to us.
The difficulties were more with papers : my visa needed a long time before coming... But the slowness of Bulgaria is a part of the decor, and you laugh about it with hindsight ! This kind of exchange is still well organised :we shared with the people from the Youth Center, we travelled a lot and the trio we were was a good exchange also ! The profit was really good about the knowledge of ourselves. Even if you find again your routine, your rythm when you come back home, you can not forget everything !

What are you doing now ?
Now I am an administrator in theater company in Angers. I am busy with all the adminitrativ work, I have to find dates for the plays. I can not say all this experience bring it to me but it is obvious that this 8 mounths counted for my personal construction.