EVS Reflections in MOJU and Olhão: Early beginnings

Although two months have passed, we went through so many things already, both nice and not so nice, but mostly nice. So, I arrived here in January, and thinking that it was warm more or less here, I had brought with me mostly spring and summer clothes. But, it turned out to be very cold in the flat even though there was heating. Yet, we discovered a nice and warm place where we spent most of the time reading and hanging out – our fantastic sunny rooftop.

Anyway, the weather started improving in the middle of February and it felt like spring already.

Another surprise was in store for us. This time it was cockroaches or as we prefer to call them in Portuguese – baratas! What’s peculiar is that it was only Busra and me who were seeing baratas in the flat. Tabea was deprived of these joys ;) So, it looked like these creatures are quite common in this part of Portugal (lucky us) and the people were not surprised when we told them that we had baratas at home. It’s probably like having ants or mosquitos. But, despite this, the flat is spacious, nice, fully furnished and the other fellow volunteers are jealous because we have a living room! :)

Ok, so much about our home.

As for our work in MOJU, I have to emphasise that we were properly welcomed and it is Nuno, our beloved EVS coordinator, who’s always been there for us since the very beginning. The MOJU family is quite big and everyone is nice, kind and friendly and most importantly, the children have already accepted us. The moment I truly appreciate and I find amusing took place on my very first working day. Thus, encouraged and supported by MOJU’s social worker, Ana, I helped two schoolchildren prepare for their geography test. This instant is still fresh in my memory and I will never forget it since it was my first time to work with children. Plus, there was also this language barrier which made the task very challenging and demanding as I could only understand Portuguese in the beginning, but not really speak. However, I did it, and I felt happy and proud of myself ;)

Apart from this, my tasks involve not only doing homework and studying with the kids, but also playing games and carrying out workshops, and last but not least, attend Portuguese classes. Finally, I also have to mention the Horta (MOJU’s garden) which I absolutely love. It is situated in the breathtaking Ria Formosa Natural Park and I go there every Friday with my Spanish EVS fellow Betsabé. I just love and enjoy the time we spend there as we get to talk about us and reflect on our EVS stay in Portugal.

Martina