A week of holidays! – O săptămână de vacanță!
The day when you are in the middle of your project comes and you want to take some holidays. Yes, you want to take it, because you are in a country that you like, and you want to discover more. I am quite lucky, to organize the trip I had the help of Cosmin the president of Curba, who made a travel map for me with all the interesting things that I could see. So I went on an adventure with my boyfriend Renan, who came to visit me.
In the first day we left Izvoarele towards Sibiu. We passed by Brasov but without stopping. When we arrived in Sibiu we made a little visit of the city and enjoyed the sun there. For the night we found the “Ananas camping” wich I recommend you if you want to camp near Sibiu. It’s a little place full of nature, near the mountains, and far from all the tourists. Little cute familial camping, and also quite cheap.
Ziua în care ești la mijlocul proiectului vine și parcă îți dorești o vacanță. Da, deoarece îți place țara în care ești și vrei să descoperi mai mult. Am fost norocoasă, pentru că am avut parte de ajutorul lui Cosmin, președintele CdC, în organizarea excursiei. El mi-a făcut un traseu cu locuri interesante de vizitat. Astfel am plecat într-o aventură cu iubitul meu Renan, care a venit să mă vadă.
În prima zi am plecat din Izvoarele spre Sibiu. Am trecut de Brașov fără să oprim. Când am ajuns în Sibiu, am vizit orașul și ne-am bucurat de soare. Peste noapte am găsit “Ananas Camping”, un loc pe care vi-l recomand dacă doriți să campați în apropierea Sibiului. E un loc în plină natură, în apropierea munților și departe de turiști, potrivit pentru familii și destul de ieftin.
The second day, we went to visit Hunedoara Castle, who is really huge, and also beautiful. As a student its really cheap to visit the castle. You will spend good time there 😉 . It’s a pity that castles is so close to the city that the landscape around is not that great. After Hunedoara, we’ seen Densuș church which is the oldest church in Romania. It’s really cool and beautiful. In the end we wanted to check the National Park of Cheile Nerei, but we got lost and we didn’t find what we wanted, and tired at the end of the day we went to Moldova Noua.
În cea de-a doua zi, am mers să vizităm Castelul Hunedoara, care este imens și foarte frumos. Ca și student e chiar ieftin să vizitez castelul și vei petrece un timp minunat acolo. E păcat că acest castel e foarte aproape de oraș și asta face ca peisajul dimprejur să nu fie atât de minunat. După Huneadoara am vizitat biserica in Densuș, care e cea mai veche biserică din România. E chiar un loc cool. La final am dorit să vedem Parcul național Cheile Nerei, dar ne-am rătăcit cumva și obosiți cum eram ne-am îndreptat spre Moldova Nouă.
After a night in a “pensiune” we took the road to Targu Jiu following Danube. It was just AMAZING! So we had to make a little boat trip on Danube. Later, in Targu Jiu we did not have a place to sleep. We were searching for a camping site (the hostel is too expensive for us). We went to a park and asked a policeman if he could help us. Firstly he suggested us to camp in a park, but moments later he told us “it is a bad idea because it will rain”, so he called Adi, a friend. Then Adi came and told us that we are welcomed in his house. We arrived and we’ve been welcomed by Dana, his wife and Sebi and Cristi (their two little boys).
We spent an AMAZING evening, full of awesome homemade cherry liqueur, palinca and delicious meals. We also learned a lot about Romanian homemade stuff! Thank you for that! And for the salt mines you took us to visit!
For the way back we took Transfăgărășan direction. Everybody needs to go there it’s AMAAAAAZING!!! And this is how we ended our holidays. Romania is a beautiful country full of amazing helpful people, you really should come here 😉
După o noapte într-o pensiune am luat-o spre Târgu Jiu, urmând Dunărea. A fost atât de minunat căci a trebuit să facem un mic tur cu barca pe Dunăre. Mai târziu în Târgu Jiu nu aveam loc de cazare. Am căut un loc pentru camping (hosteluruile sunt prea scumpe pentru noi) și ne-am îndreptat spre parc un de am cerut ajutorul unui polițist. Întâi ne-a sugerat să campăm în parc, dar câteva momente mai târziu ne-a zis că nu e o idee prea bună căci va ploua. Prin urmare l-a contactat pe Adi, un prieten de-al său. Apoi Adi a venit și ne-a spus că suntem bineveți la el acasă. Am sosit și am fost întâmpinați de Dana, soția sa și de Sebi și Cristi (cei doi fii ai lor). 
Am petrecut o seară minunată cu vișinată, palincă și o mâncare delicioasă. De asemenea am și învățat multe despre produsele tradiționale românești. Mulțumim pentru asta! Și pentru salina pe care ne-ați dus să o vizităm.
La întoarcere am trecut pe Transfăgărășan. Toți ar trebui să vadă acest drum, e UIMITOR! Și astfel ne-am încheiat vacanța. România e o țară frumoasă, plină de oameni săritori, vă îndemnă să o vizitați. 
Margot se află în România pentru 5 luni în cadrul proiectului Intercult’rural (ref nr 2015-3-FR02-KA105-010806) co-finanțat de Comisia Europeană prin programul Erasmus+ și implementant în România de Asociația Curba de Cultură.
“Trucks, dogs and a bear” or “Me and Romania”
Hi there!
You have already heard about me, I am the one from Czech Republic, the red head one. I am also the one who was a bit surprised, in the best way, by her new live in Romania. We were told we are going to live in a typical rural house. OK. I was prepared for dry toilets somewhere in the end of our yard, mice everywhere, hot water only from stove… sharing my room with all the other volunteers.
Nope. First of all, we have two bathroom inside the house, both. Well… almost inside. So far I have my own room just and only for myself. So far I have discovered the advantage of kitchen placed in yard – you eat when you need to, not when(ever) you have a sweet tooth. And so far I discovered how amazing Romanians are. Not sure when your bus leaves? No problem, somebody stops and takes you even if you are not hitchhiking, just stay in the bus stop and wait for a minute or two. (Well, we already know it does not work if you are French with dreadlocks or dark Italian. But it works if you are a nice person, especially girl. Sorry, boys.)
My first weeks were about discovering local… everything and everyone. I have been introduced to our adopted dog Fifty Shades, chickens, local volunteers (sweet young people with heads full of ideas, jokes and notions), to my/our activities, and, of course, to „my“ organization. Yeap, all of it in the same time. During the week we make interesting and entertaining lessons such as music, languages or handicraft, we play games with local kids, and show a movie. During weekends our programme is up to us, which means I am walking around the neighborhood.
Last time I wanted to see the nearest mountain, Moşa (1420). It took me 5 hours to get there, half the trip was just climbing through a forest, but it was worth it. I love crazy hiking with no road, so I would enjoy it anyway. I took some pictures and a snack on the peak, then it was time to come back. And I did a bad, bad choice to follow local „tourist mark“. I ended up in… nowhere, far, far away from home with only two hours of light left. I had to decide and to do it quickly. Fine, lets go across the forest, my GPS tells me the direction and I do not need to be afraid of bears, our boss claims they live only among the big mountains.
Well, it turned out he was wrong. We were staring at each other, two living statues on an animal path between bushes, one of them furry and four-footed, the other one human. I had to laugh when the bear ran away so, so fast, that it made me wander if he survived the speed. Next time I am more careful about my decision, 40 kilometers is quite a lot for one hike. Next time I am riding the bear!
See you soon in my next report! 😉
Anna
volunteer from Czechia
Anna se află în România pentru o perioadă de 6 luni, din august 2016 până în ianuarie 2017 în cadrul proiectului Building Youth Supportive Communities 2 (ref nr 2016-1-RO01-KA105-024246), proiect co-finanțat de Comisia Europeană prin Programul Erasmus+ și implementat în România de Asociația Curba de Cultură.
My EVS – The Arrival
I arrived in Romania more than a week ago happy to begin this new chapter of my life!
My last week in Italy was intense, in a mixture of excitement, adrenaline and a little bit of anxiety. In a short time I’ve organized everything… or almost, usually I forget something at the end and I will always realize it too late… Traveler life! I greeted, Saturday, some friends, eating in a Indian restaurant and after drinking one corona extra with salt and lemon, talking about soul searching and life. Sunday night, during preparing the last things, I said goodbye to my oldest and dearest friends with a coconut and cocoa cake and my tasty laddu. In the end: saying goodbye to your animals brothers is more difficult, it is as if you leave a part of your soul there with them, especially with Clarky… my dog. I traveled more but I have never accustomed to this.
Monday morning!
Ready, with my Japa Mala at neck, airplane ticket in my hand and a big smile on my face I left Italy with humble hopes to learn the best and grow up in this country that I will call soon “Home”, again on trip, destination Romania, ready to make my soul free! I arrived in Bucharest airport, Sorin was waiting for me, and with him a ginger girl, Anna. At first I’ve thought that she was part of the staff of Curba de Cultura, but no, Anna is a Czech volunteer, we share the same project, and for she I’ve tried immediately affection; her sincerity and kindness are two characteristics that is impossible to not see. Immediately I felt happy to share with her this chapter of my life, which just started! Along the road to Izvoarele I watched the landscape and I have felt already home, happy about this extraordinary start. At home the rest of the international volunteers family was waiting, Margot and Maël, with a simple and delicious dinner and the best and warm “Welcome”!
Here I am, at the end of this short story of my arrival, my first week was really beautiful, I felt happy meeting new people with whom I shared something strong and authentic, with whom I shared the house and the room, with whom I will spend time in the association, also meeting youngsters and kids in the village, local people who respond to my greeting with a smile, because I think that one of the most important things of an EVS project are people and the relationship with them to feel more and more part of the world and widening our horizons!
See you next time,
yours, Alessio!
Alessio se află în România pentru o perioadă de 6 luni, din august 2016 până în ianuarie 2017 în cadrul proiectului Building Youth Supportive Communities 2 (ref nr 2016-1-Ro01-KA105-024246), proiect co-finanțat de Uniunea Europeană prin Programul Erasmus+ și implementat în România de Asociația Curba de Cultură.
Potret de voluntar – Anna (Cehia)
I have been working with Erasmus students for several years, the activities I have done or seen had led me to realize how important it is to “study” other countries’ – language, habits, mentality… During my studies I also noticed how important it is to lead other young people, especially those with disadvantage background, to study not just languages, but other cultures and habits, too. It helps with self-development as well as community development.
But all the opportunities I could take gave me no more than nice memories and just a hint of real experience. In my region are many people, younger or older, who would deserve better (better opportunities, activities etc.) and I would like to offer it. This is the reason why I am highly interested in abroad volunteering. I would like to enhance my communicative and language skills, learn other country´s language and system of work with youngsters (and volunteers). Moreover I would like to offer you my enthusiasm, openness and diligence.
Am lucrat pentru câțiva ani cu studenți Erasmus, iar activitățile pe care le-am făcut, m-au făcut să realizez cât de important este să “studiezi” limba, obiceiurile, metalitatea altor țări. De-a lungul studiilor mele am observat cât de important este să ghidezi tinerii, în special pe cei provenind din medii defavorizate, să studieze nu doar alte limbi dar și ale culturi și obiceiuri. Acest lucru contribuie la dezvoltarea personală dar și la cea a comunității.
Dar toate aceste activități nu mi-au oferit decât amintiri frumoase și doar gustul unei experiențe reale. În regiunea mea există mulți oameni, tineri și bătrâni, care ar merita mai mult (șanse mai bune, activități mai bune etc) și mi-ar plăcea să le ofer asta. Acesta este motivul pentru care sunt atât de interesată de voluntariatul internațional. De asemenea mi-ar place să îmi îmbunătățesc abilitățile lingvistice și de comunicare, să învăț o altă limbă și un sistem de lucru cu tinerii (și voluntarii). În plus vreau să ofer entuziasmul, deschiderea și să îmi dau toată silința.
Anna se află în România pentru o perioadă de 6 luni, din august 2016 până în ianuarie 2017 în cadrul proiectului Building Youth Supportive Communities 2 (ref nr 2016-1-Ro01-KA105-024246), proiect co-finanțat de Uniunea Europeană prin Programul Erasmus+ și implementat în România de Asociația Curba de Cultură.