We’ve already presented some of the volunteers which association FOR YOU brought to the Social Teahouse. Today we want to share our intriguing conversation with Nuria – the positive and enthusiastic volunteer from Spain. 

Hi Nuria, just to begin to tell us some general information about you and your path: who you are, where are you from and where are you going.

I am Nuria, from Spain, exactly from a nice city called Guadalajara. That is my home, where live most of the people I love. Because of that, after so many travels and places where I have lived, now I wish coming back to my hometown. I am an idealistic person but also concerned about reality. Because of that, I try to improve myself and the world where I live day after day.

How did you find the opportunity to apply for your hosting organization and what did push you to choose this specific project: a strong need to take caring of the others, a desire to discover new ways to canalize your skills or attitudes in social assistance or same kind of serendipities?

Serendipity, yes! I am a Social Educator and, as I told you, I have lived in several places where I had the opportunity of developing the competencies on my field of work: in Madrid, Denmark, Mexico – and now I want to close this period of my life here, in Bulgaria. It is a new culture and environment that I didn´t know yet.  Here in Varna, my tasks are about doing workshops in a shelter with children at risk of exclusion. Suddenly The Social Tea House appeared and I didn´t expect that, and now here I am working on it.

 

Speaks about your usual working environment (the Social Tea House): how did you find it at the beginning, what kind of works did you arrange to convert it in something totally new and unrecognizable and what relationship did you establish with your colleagues and co-workers during your project? Do you have some interesting plans for the summer time period?

At the beginning it was one bank, which was closed several years ago, try to imagine… Then, the first task of all of us was the reconstruction of the place. Here you have a video about the process and the official web page. After the opening, what we are doing it is proposing activities to bring life and a good environment to the Tea House: Spanish afternoons, dreamcatchers, jewellery workshops, international evenings. Anyway, for me the most important thing it is involving some teenagers from difficult contexts in order to provide them with the first opportunity of employment. This is the main goal of the Tea House, thus the relationship of the colleagues and volunteers is based on that. (Here you can find the other interviews with the workers of the Social Tea House:
Laura and Sergio). Regarding this summer, apart from staying in the Sea Garden and enjoy the weather laying on the beach, I am expecting full of enthusiasm for the visit of my parents. We have the plan of going to Russia and to the Baltic Countries. It is a super opportunity!

 

Since you’re strong at card games and a stilyzed-cartoon images lover, select and describe three painted cards from the popular board game “dixit” in order to explain metaphorically (with each one) how did you feel at the beginning of your EVS, how do you feel now near its ending and what you became slowly during the process.

When I started with the EVS it was a moment full of curiosity and expectations, as the beginning of a new adventure. Now that I am in the last step, I feel that during this year I have discovered and learned new things about myself I didn´t imagine before. And slowly, the last card reflects how all these experiences are part of me, as a tattoo which reminds me who I used to be and at the same time follows my actual essence during the present period.

                           

Time for a traditional question: tell us a short story about the most interesting, charming, weird or awkward trip you had in Bulgaria.

Let me think… I guess it was in Greece, in Santorini. In general, hitch-hiking around there was quite funny. But once, we had the opportunity of travelling in one ice-cream van. We didn´t realize it at the beginning and then we went inside the fridge with all this tasty-looking ice-creams. At the end, we sat in the front of the vehicle with the driver: an other adventure, because we were three people sitting on just one seat. But we managed the situation, anyway.

Sounds really refreshing! Especially now, working in the office with the warm season pulsating outside. Thanks, Nuria! See you in some hidden beaches in order to play abstruse Lithuanian card games standing by the sea.