“Do you wanna cup of tea?” – meet our new EVS Volunteer!

“Do you wanna cup of tea?”

What’s the craic? Lucia speaking! Firstly, let me introduce myself: I’m the new EVS volunteer in the Black Box, I come from Galicia –a rainy region located in the north west of Spain–, and I arrived in Belfast in September. To be honest, before landing here I knew very little about the city and the Northern Irish culture but, after almost two months going back and forth, I must admit that I am greatly impressed by what this place has to offer. There’s much more here than sheep and shamrocks! Belfast is a city with a wide range of cultural highlights and “Culture Night” was a good evidence of this ­–it’s amazing to see how the entire city mobilises and takes to the streets for a few hours. Not to mention some of the most emblematic settings of the Northern coast of Northern Ireland. The Giant’s Causeway is absolutely worth going!

I haven’t been here for a long time but, although I hate stereotypes, I can already confirm that everybody here is very friendly. I keep coming across very welcoming people that are always willing to offer a nice cup of tea at any time in the day or take you out for a pint of one of the countless types of beer. As for the food, I’ve already tasted the popular and genuine Northern-Irish Tayto crisps (not bad!) but I haven’t experienced a crisp butty yet (I’ll give it a try soon!). Adapting to Northern-Irish meal times is hard for a person that is used to have dinner beyond 10 pm but I’m convinced that readjusting to new timetables is just a question of time.

The language issue is also an everyday challenge. Northern-Irish English is full of typical expressions and its accent is hard for non-native speakers to understand. Here everything is wee (little) –regardless of the size− and I’m starting to understand that if someone tells you that he or she “is going for a wee walk” wouldn’t necessarily mean that this person will be back soon.

During the first weeks, my daily routine was a bit higglety–pigglety but now I’m almost fully adapted to the Black Box, a cultural venue where music, art and the warmth of Northern Ireland are always present. Apart from that, this is also a place for social commitment: I’m helping with several outreach projects that aim to engage with people with learning disabilities, such as social clubs, tea dances, film screenings… Black Moon is a “club night” that takes place the first Tuesday of every month in the Black Box. This event gives people with learning disabilities a great opportunity to socialise and enjoy music. Last October I had the opportunity to discover that the turnout at the event was great –before the opening time a crowd gathered in front of the main door and some of the participants were even carrying their dancing shoes in a bag to put them on once the DJ started spinning music. The success of this project also goes beyond the walls of the Black Box since a similar disco night is organised once a month in Omagh, a town located 68 miles away from Belfast.

I know I have still loads of things to learn and experience and I’m so excited about my following months here. I hope to get more and more involved with my project in the Black Box in order to make the most of my time here in Belfast. It’ll be good craic!