Greetings, dear reader, It is such a wonderful thing that you are interested in my volunteering journey, and I am thrilled to share it with you. Five months have already passed, so I've got a lot to tell.
Arrival and first month
Arrival
I would dare to say that the trip to Germany was the hardest thing so far. Leaving home, my comfort zone, without fully knowing what will happen or what to expect. First time fully travelling alone with a luggage almost the same size as me and a huge backpack. My trip lasted around 30 hours, even though Lithuania is not so far from Germany. I swam with a ship from Klaipeda to Kiel, spent the night there and then continued my journey with an ICE train. Which was exciting, because I enjoy travelling with trains, even if it lasted around 9 hours. Then I transferred to Mannheim and ended up in my final destination - Trier.
First month in Trier
At Trier train station, I was welcomed by my host family. We got close really fast, which made my first month way easier. I am really thankful that I got to live with such wonderful people! In the first week, I already got to meet with other volunteers. At first, it was uncomfortable and hard to get to know each other because of the language barrier. In the end, it was not a problem at all, because we became close quite fast. We had workshops together and a language school, which really helped to make our relationship stronger. Overall, the first month was amazing. I enjoyed every minute of it.
The challenge
Not like the first one, the second month was a catastrophe. I left Trier and moved to Oberwesel. That is the place of my project. It was so small that I was feeling claustrophobic in it. Don’t get me wrong, it is a really beautiful village, but there was no host family, no friends, no other volunteers, and no English. I was fully alone and only depended on myself. I felt lonely. I was horrified on my first day in the project. I wanted to make a good first impression, but sadly, I was two hours late without even knowing it, because of bad communication. It was in fact a pretty bad way to start my first day. Now it’s just a funny story that my colleagues like to remember and laugh about. Anyways. I did not enjoy my first day, nor the first two weeks. I had to do tasks that were new and not enjoyable to me. I didn't want to make any mistakes, so everything was stressing me out. But no worries, I always had a thought that this is just temporary and that better days are waiting for me. All the beginnings are hard. That thought kept me going forward. In week three, I got my first compliment about learning fast. In week four, I was able to do a lot of tasks by myself, and in week five, I started feeling like I belonged there. I got blessed with wonderful colleagues. They made me feel welcomed and had a lot of patience for my mistakes and successes. It helped a lot. The project in general has a wonderful atmosphere.
My life now
Today I am very happy about everything in my life. I got used to my work, so it became enjoyable. I have friends, hobbies, and the nature here is just mesmerising. I also must mention one of the seminars I had with other volunteers in Kylburg. It was one of the things that made me feel even better. It was so wonderful. We spent a week there with a lot of different activities, which made us even closer. We arrived there as friends and left as a family. I am looking forward to our next seminar.
That was my experience so far. I am really happy that I decided to do this program and can’t wait for what adventures it will bring me next.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. See you in my next rundbrief!
Hugs & kisses,
Leila
Oberwesel
With my project in the news paper
Us volunteers at the first seminar