My first impression. Maria Lozan

My name is Masha and I am from eastern Ukraine. As for my background, I was working in a humanitarian organization as a communications person and was helping people.

But even if you like what you do for a living, at some point it becomes a routine. So long story short, this winter I decided to change my environment totally and became a volunteer in another country. I moved my life to a small cozy city Craiova in Romania to take part in a "Red Bracelet" project which aims to raise awareness about blood donation and promote a healthy lifestyle. I liked the idea of the project immediately. I feel that I will make a significant contribution and positive changes in people`s lives here, and at the same time, it is a chance to get to know a new country and its culture, meet nice people, develop new skills and improve yourself in many senses.

As for the city, I even did not expect that I will like this place at first sign. In Craiova, here are nice p

arks, museums, churches, and other lovely sightseeings. It seems to me, there is no chaos and people have a calm lifestyle. Thanks to other volunteers, flatmates, and an organization team (ANDCTR) who made a very warm welcome, my first week of staying went quite smoothly and on a very positive note.

And oh, yes, "scuze"... I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of my days in Romania, but thanks to Romanian language classes provided to us, I can already survive with a basic vocabulary, like "Eu nu vorbesc limba română" (I do not speak Romanian). 😊

But this is only the beginning. I look forward to continuing this adventure.