"Days with" of Rafael and Bulut

How Bulut and Rafael enjoyed "days with"? Let's read...

Rafael: Hello, my name is Rafael Miranda. I am a volunteer from Portugal volunteering in the Czech Republic within Slezska Diakonie (Intervia). Me and my “compa” flat mate, Bulut (a volunteer from Turkey) decided to visit each other workplaces since I work with elderly people in Siloe and he works at school in Ostrava with clients having mental disabilities. Since it was a very different job, we wanted to experience it all.

Day with in school of Slezská diakonie in Ostrava

Rafael: On the day 13 I went to Bulut’s workplace.It started early in the morning. The sun didn´t shine and it was freezing outside at 5:30 in the morning, I wasn´t ready for it. I’m not a morning person but I woke up exited for the day, we got breakfast and headed off to work at 7:00, we got to the train and it was still dark then we got to Ostrava train station.

Bulut: For about 4 months, I have been waking up early during weekdays to go to work, and I've gotten used to it. When I leave home in the morning, the sun hasn't usually risen yet. Rafael and I started the day together. Although Rafael is not accustomed to going to work early, I can say that he wakes up more energetically than me because he was excited about experiencing a different work environment. I was also excited because it was the first time, I would host a friend at my workplace.                                                                                                 

Rafael: After that we caught the tram and went to his work in Ostrava. At 8:00 we arrived, and everyone was very welcoming even though I was a bit shy in the beginning. They offered me a coffee ☕ and we went to work. The first thing we did was a welcoming song 🎵for everyone they even sang it in Turkish and Portuguese. It was fantastic, there wasn’t a lot of students since it was December and they stayed home but it was still fun. After that it was a coffee break, and they included everyone even the clients, it was amazing all the connectivity with everyone.

Bulut: When Rafael and I entered the school 🏫 together, everyone was as excited as we were because we knew we would have a fun day together. Everyone welcomed him. We offered him coffee and tea. We started to follow our daily routines, forming our morning circle. We didn't have many students because most of them had started their Christmas holiday early and hadn't come to school. During the morning circle, our supervisor and assistants asked Rafael questions to get to know him and Portuguese culture. Rafael began to feel more comfortable at our school as he answered all the questions. Some students approached Rafael and wanted to spend time with him. Rafael enjoyed this a lot because he had mentioned before that he enjoys working with students due to his past teaching experience.

Rafael: We all gathered in the classroom to show off some Portuguese music called “fado” and we all played instruments and sang some Czech songs; we all were very active and happy. After that we started the Portugal typical Portuguese Pastry “Pastel de nata” with the recipe I learned with my family, and everyone collaborated in the making of the pastry I felt like a chef.👨‍🍳  In the end we ended with more than we needed so everyone could eat at least two the result wasn’t as intended to be, but it still was delicious and looked amazing.

Bulut: While Rafael showed us some songs from Portuguese culture, I took the opportunity to print out the song we sing for everyone every day in the Portuguese language. When it was Rafael's turn, he taught us how to pronounce the Portuguese song lyrics, and together we sang the song for him. We moved to the kitchen to make the dessert we had planned earlier. Rafael was going to make a dessert called "Pastel de nata"🍮, which is a part of Portuguese culture, and I was going to assist him. I already knew that Rafael was a good cook, but after tasting this perfect dessert we made at school, I understood it even better. Everyone loved the dessert.

Rafael: In the end of the day and we went home to a Christmas party we were planning.🎉

Day with in Siloe

Rafael:Then on 19 of December Bulut came to my workplace and lucky it was a later time to wake up at 8:30. It was warm outside and sunny. It was very comfortable. We got to the train at 9:13 and arrived at 9:30 to Siloe. Everyone welcomed Bulut and was very interested in his culture and country since the last volunteer was from Turkey, too.

The first thing we did, was showing the place to Bulut. He was very pleased to meet everyone. After that we did a presentation. He did a presentation about Turkey in Czech and I did one for a Portuguese Christmas. 🎄Bulut discovered the piano🎹, he loves to play the piano, so he just played it for several minutes everyone loved it. He was invited to make the typical Turkish coffee and in Siloe they had all the instruments to make it.

After that we had the hard work, we started to bring the food to the kitchen so the clients could eat, then we took the food to all the floors. Then on the last floor Bulut wanted to feed the clients, so we let him do it since he had experience, he was good at it.  In the end of the work, we went back down to eat something. It was the birthday of our boss so we sang the Czech birthday song and after it we took some clients home with the driver.

Bulut: Unlike my own work routine, I had the chance to sleep a bit more before going to Rafael's workplace because his job started a bit later than mine. When we left home to go to work, the sun had already risen this time. I was very excited to experience a different workplace. Upon arriving at the workplace, we first met Rafael's supervisor and colleagues. Later, Rafael gave me a tour of the entire workplace. It was quite a large and beautiful workplace. We conducted our presentations about Portugal and Turkey, which we had prepared before, in Czech. I believe all the clients enjoyed our presentation.

Since the previous volunteer in this workplace before Rafael was from Turkey, named Buse, they showed me some kitchen items left by her. Among them was Turkish coffee☕.They asked me to make Turkish coffee for them, and I happily did it. I had missed it a lot :). I also had the opportunity to play the piano at Rafael's workplace. I hope everyone liked it.

Later, we started doing Rafael's daily tasks together. When it was time for meals, we delivered all the food to the clients. I fed one of the clients because I had previous experience with this task. After finishing our task of delivering the food, we celebrated Rafael's boss's birthday. They gave us food, cake, and coffee. Everyone was very kind. At the end of the work, we took some clients home with the driver.

Rafael: Bulut said “It was an amazing day” in the end of work. The conclusion of everything is that volunteering is a very good experience to show to other country your culture and to learn new experiences and while that is happening you make people happy while enjoying your time in a different country.

Bulut: Trying out different works with Rafael was a lot of fun for me. In this volunteer experience, we're learning more and gaining skills through various projects. We also try to make people happy. Hoping to experience new things every day.

Bulut and Rafael