TERE TERE VANA KERE - My EVS experience in Estonia

Hello guys,

I'm very happy to see you guys here and I hope that we will have great moments during your EVS. So as you know my name is Marco Santos and I'm the Project Coordinator of noOR since a year ago and I live in Estonia since 2008.

You can know about noOR in our blog (http://ngonoor.wordpress.com/) in our website (www.erinoor.ee) and in our facebook page but now I'm not here to talk about my work but about my EVS in Estonia.

I arrived in Estonia in August 2008 for a 9 months project in a organisation called European Movement Estonia. My work was mainly to help the coordination of EURO<26 youth card and to help in EURODESK network. I had to make some presentation around Estonia and promote those services. Honestly it was a very "office" job.. where I have some freedom but I was treated as a worker. I was the only EVS in this organsiation but I start to hang aorund with the EVS form Continous Action because we did the language course together.

During my EVS I felt like I was a bit different, I was not that often with the others EVS volunteers and very fast I had my own group of friends from Estonia. Of course that I was out with them from time to time and we even spent Christmas together travelling around Europe.

I also couldn't complain about money because I saw that I got more money than the rest of the EVS in Estonia (maybe during my EVS I made around 50.000 kroons of profit for my hosting organisation preparing people for different projects and making partnerships). Anyway, I saw that it would help me to stand up by myself for some time.

My accomodation was shared with 3 estonians in a house in Kalamaja. I live in that house since today. When I arrive here my room didn't have light, closet or anything. When I arrived there was a matress, a pillow and a blanket. It was quite funny that in the next month I used my luggage as a closet until I get a shelf. I went to a second hand shop to buy bed-linnen, towels an the other little things taht I needed. (I feel very proud that now I live in the biggest room of the house and I even have a bed hehehe). I never complained about the place because I saw my EVS colleagues living a flat with 3 bedrooms (they were 6 and sometimes 8) in that flat in Kadriorg. I saw how they had some fights because of that and how everything was tight, so at least I knew that I have my dark room (remember? without light.. I got a lamp for the room :-D)

During my free time I started to help noOR with some work and after that Juta invited me to stay longer in Estonia to give a bigger impact with noOR in the youth work. I felt challanged again and then I decided to stay. I guess I had the right choice because I feel challange constantly with my work and I really feel that we have a very gerat and positive impact in how the things are done in Estonia in youth field (I may be dreaming but that's a real feeling that I have).

I would like to invite all ex-EVS to share their experience and maybe we can discuss a bit more about it and find ways to have a great experience here in Estonia!

See you guys around and feel free to make me questions about my experience too!!!
Marco