Reflections On The EVS Experience So Far

I remember the previous days before starting the adventure for a whole year in Northern Ireland, more specifically in the city of Belfast. I was completely anxious and my nerves were on the edge. I remember myself sitting in the plane ready to start the adventure that I will never forget.

I arrived in Belfast the first of August, the last weeks of summer. Apparently it was the best summer for the last 40 years. I remember as well that during that first month it rained every single day…

Days went really fast, a good thing, and suddenly I was completely adapted to the place, the city, the people, and the language… I started to meet new friends from very different backgrounds and countries. I realized that almost everybody made efforts to make me feel comfortable here and at the end of the first four months Belfast felt as a “home” for me.

There is so much going on in this city related with the culture and the arts. I suppose that an area that has been punished so hard because of the conflict needs to express itself louder and stronger! Belfast is a living city and once you get used to the different timetables (the nightclubs usually closes at 2am!) and bomb scares, you can live very well and feel safe.

Living in Northern Ireland helped me to get a better overview of the conflict of the past and of today. I realized that the conflict is much more than two religions confronted, the reality talks about the politics and how two different points of view are living together. I noticed that everybody wants to move on and they don’t want violence back again, but it’s a difficult process and it’s been very hard to forget about the past and face the future.

In the organization, Public Achievement, everything goes great. It was quite easy to feel part of the team from the very beginning and apart from some language issues that I struggle with every day I can say that it is not difficult to evolve and progress on a daily basis. I have many chances to get different trainings that help me to gain new valuable skills.

It feels unbelievable that time goes so fast and I cannot stop thinking about what is going to happen in July when I finish this experience. But for every day it becomes clearer that after experience what is going on in other countries I don’t feel ready to come back to Spain, where the Government can’t offer anything to young adults.

Luís