musikado

musikado

mardi 17 novembre 2015

EVS Seminaire - 2015


Salut! This is Marta and Rui again and we are back with more news from our EVS experience in France. It is with pleasure that we describe here our unique and unforgettable experience in the seminar for EVS volunteers, which occurred in the past October, in the region of Angoulême.

From Brioude to Angoulême it is a long journey… We caught the first train in Brioude at 9h15 and only arrived to Angoulême at about 17h30! We changed trains three times… However, we must admit that all of it was totally worth it.

After we arrived to Angoulême, we had to catch a bus and then catch a ride by car with some of the staff from the place we were going to stay at: Le Chambon.  Along the way was created a cheerful environment by the volunteers, who immediately started to meet each other. And finally, we arrived to our destination… Le Chambon is an absolutely lovely place, which excels for its beautiful green view, with a river decorating the landscape, so as cows and horses. The contact with nature is special and makes you connect emotionally to that place even more profoundly.

This place was, indeed, a heavenly location, but it would mean nothing to us if our trainers didn’t receive us as well as they did. There were three of them: João, Julie and Hélen – and we also leave here our thanks for their wonderful support. They wanted us, the volunteers, to enjoy that experience as much as we could and that only would be possible if we started to know ourselves and others. So, they introduced us to activities that boosted self-development, energy and the sharing of life perspectives. This was very enriching, since that all together there were 14 volunteers, ages ranging from 18 to 29, some already with master degrees, others with no degree at all. Oh, not to mention the incredible diversity of nationalities (Portuguese, French, Italian, Spanish, Austrian, German, Lithuanian, Polish, Ukrainian and even Azerbaijanis). At the end of the five days we spent there, we shared contacts, ideas, solutions and friendship. For a better understanding of our fun experience in Le Chambon, Rui made a video about it which we are going to post here, along with some pictures.

In conclusion, we would just like to say that everyone should have the opportunity to live an experience like this. We were able to prove that stereotypes are nothing in a society that would profit tremendously if it simply shared different ideas and cultures, especially in a so diversified European Union of which we are all part of. Through this way, we fulfilled the primary goal of EVS: MAINTAIN PEACE. Sharing is, in fact, loving, mes amisAu revoir!
EVS Seminaire France 2015 from Rui O Sr Culturas on Vimeo.

samedi 14 novembre 2015

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!