We are bringing you a story from Ana Drmić, who went to a long term project in Lisbon through European solidarity corps programme.

So I finally got here, in the city of my dreams, Lisbon. Almost 6 months ago I started my ESC service and it seems like it was yesterday. I still cannot believe that I have only 3 months left until the end of my project. Time flies indeed, especially if you are enjoying every moment like I do.

I am volunteering for an organization Spin that promotes youth mobility so I have the chance to meet a lot of new people from different backgrounds.

There are 5 ESC volunteers in our office at the moment, but the number changes during time as we have not all started at the same time and don’t have the same length of our projects.

Our tasks consist of helping with youth mobility programs and communication but also taking care of the hostel which is not a regular one, but only hosts groups that need a facility for some activities such as training courses or youth exchanges.

My main task during these few months was organizing a summer voluntary camp that happens every summer in two periods and gathers approximately 30 young people from all around the world to spend 11 days in Lisbon helping the local community. The funny thing is that last year I was a participant in this camp and this year I am an organizer so I got the chance to see this event from different points of view. It is truly amazing being a part of such an organization, especially when you hear positive feedback from your participants.

Not only I work in international environment but I also live in a shared apartment with 8 other people from different countries. I thought it will be very challenging for me since I am used to being independent but it turns out we get along great and I believe I made friends for life J

During my stay here, I also managed to travel a lot in my free time which is usually on the weekends or longer if I want to use my vacation days. So I travelled around Portugal a lot, but also managed to visit Spain, Poland, and even Croatia J

I am a bit scared since my time here is coming to an end and I still feel like there is much more to experience here but I am also grateful for the time that has passed because I believe I used every single moment of it.

This is truly an unforgettable experience and I would recommend it to everyone