New arrivals at Musikado 2015

Hello J We are Marta and Rui, we are 18 and 23 years old and we are both Portuguese EVS volunteers this year in France. The village where we’re staying is called Brioude and belongs to the department of Haute-Loire, in the Auvergne region in south-central France.

The French association in which we are working is called MUSIKADO and we are staying at the house of one of its founders and our mentor, Fred Giroux. Sometimes we help him in the music studio of the association. We also attend a French course on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is held by French volunteers of the region.

            But perhaps the place where we effectively spent more time working (four times a week, five hours per day) is situated one minute by foot from our house and it’s called “Café-Lecture”. This is no ordinary coffee shop. This is a café where you can find different kinds of people – and from different countries! – and enjoy the activities it has during the week. You can enjoy concerts, gatherings, documentaries, discussions about several themes (from economy to literature, environment … ) … There are also nights in which the soiréé is open, which means that everyone can participate in the way she wants, maybe with a presentation about a certain theme, a concert, a language course … Oh, and during the week, you can also come to the “Café-Anglais”, a time in the café where you have the opportunity to speak English and learn/practice this language. In the “Café-Anglais”, there are people from France, United States of America, Canada, and England… It’s a pretty intercultural environment, perfect for the end of old stereotypes between countries that actually have a common historical past.

Until now, we are both finding this experience fascinating. Although Brioude it’s a small place, we don’t feel the lack of anything. We even have access to products of biologic agriculture, since we are also responsible for a garden, being free to sowing some vegetables at our choice. The contact with nature is also overwhelming, as we live twenty minutes by car from a beautiful forest in which we already had the chance of picking mushrooms! Auvergne is actually one of the greenest regions of France and rich in the gastronomic field (if you like cheese, this is it, fellas!).

For now, this is all … We are anxiously waiting for the next time we write here, hopefully, with news about the different projects we are expecting to participate in, including with people from other organizations we had the chance to meet here. Au revoir, mes amis!