My first article is about our (volunteers) arrival, so you will get a little bit of insight into our project, and you will get to know more about the new volunteers.

The European Union is a place full of opportunities. Living in it means living in the middle of 27 different cultures, 24 different (official) languages, people striving to unite backgrounds and ideas. Young people are the backbone of a successful European society. That is why many opportunities are offered to them. A common one is Erasmus+ Youth Exchange.

I feel like it was yesterday that I was writing my first blog, not really knowing how anything works and what to write about. At the time, I was in Zagreb for about 2 weeks, still just discovering all our tasks, and responsibilities and bonding with my roommates. And now? Now is the end, and I have to summarize my whole life here in one short article.

I had to pass through multiple steps in my life before being able to go to Zagreb with ESC. Every step helped me to gain something that got me taken to Amazonas. This year in Zagreb has been the most fulfilling year, the year that made me grow the most, personally and skills wise. Through this article, I want to describe this year, what it brought to me, what I learnt, the lessons of life, the memories, the good moments as the bad that I had to overcome in order to make this year a success in the sense that I achieved projects that mattered a lot to me, and that taught me a lot.

I cannot understand how it is possible, that this project is about to end already. Time really seems to be slipping through my fingers. It feels like I just arrived in Zagreb, after 12 hours of train, nervous, excited, curious, and very tired, not knowing what would await me in these ten months.

I will tell you something about the external action of Eurodesk in the EU institutions for improving the youth situation and bring new initiatives!

In my first article, I listed many of the reasons why people volunteer and what value volunteering can bring to your life. In this article I want to list three examples of engagement in the local community and the benefit of it. And at the end, you may even find out how volunteering can be related to a marriage proposal!

Batizado (in Portuguese baptism) is an initiation ritual and ceremony during which capoeira members receive a Corda (the belt representing the rank in capoeira). In our case, it was joined with Troca de Cordas, an exchange of the cordas.

As European citizens, we should be aware about the opportunities that Europe brings to us. Unfortunately, I noticed that not enough people know about those.