USE+FUL | Protect yourself while traveling during the CORONAVIRUS outbreak

1. BEFORE YOU TRAVEL

Get to know the health situation in the country you are going to – trust the facts and not the speculations.

Beware of what is really dangerous – you will not get infected if you share a look with coronavirus carrier – the virus spreads when a sick persons’ droplets get into your mouth, nose or eyes. If you see someone and categorize them with “suspicious health” you can just keep your distance – at least 1 meter away from them will keep you perfectly healthy. You can also be generous and give them a mask as a present for theirs, yours and everybody else health.

2. DURING YOUR EXPERIENCE

You have to avoid crowded places as much as you can because you can’t always know who is sick and who isn’t.

As it turns out we do not understand how many things we touch with our hands on daily bases and some of them might have a sick person’s saliva on them. It is always helpful to have an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, wash your hands regularly – cool trick if you want to make sure your palms are germ-free is to wash them enough time so you can sing “Happy birthday” twice in your head. Try not to touch your eyes, nose and mouth – your face in general when you are out.

Stock up on masks and change them regularly because bacteria can grow inside of your mask if you get too emotionally attached to them.

3. AFTER YOUR EXPERIENCE

You have to keep track of your body temperature after you return home – make sure to take a lot of fluids and stick to a healthy diet. Stay at home if you begin to feel unwell, even with mild symptoms such as headache and slight runny nose, until you recover. If you develop fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical advice promptly as this may be due to a respiratory infection or other serious condition. Call in advance and tell your provider of your recent travel or contact with travelers.

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by Dimitrina Shopova

USE+FUL | My experiences and skills acquired through the Erasmus+ programme

Erasmus+ is a great programme, which allows young people from all around Europe to travel, create multicultural friendships, learn new skills and even get to know themselves a little better. Personally, I have participated in three really unique projects. Each one has taught me different skills and shown me something new about Europe and all the different cultures, which make up the old continent.

I went on my first project when I was 18 years old. It took place in Turkey’s fifth largest city- Adana. The topic was popularizing something that is unique for your country and educating the other participants about the significance of that thing for the people of your country. The Bulgarian team chose the Belogradchik rocks as the centerpiece of our presentation, because of its uniqueness and historical value. This project provided me with my first contacts with people from different nations and taught me that even though we may look and sound different, we are more similar than I previously taught. Every country had its own special traditions and monuments, but the proudness and admiration with which we all spoke was the same.

The second project, that I went to, was my first as a group leader. It was right before and during the day of Europe and therefore we honored the celebration with singing the European anthem in four different languages along with a chorus of singers in front of a live crowd in a concert hall. The project was in Slovenia, a country I knew close to nothing about before going there, but quickly grew to like and develop and interest in. Being a leader of the Bulgarian group, I learned to be reliable, patient, but also strict sometimes. Singing was never my best quality, but that was beside the point. Singing in a different language along with hundred other people was really eye opening and removing all the boundaries, that our geographical and historical differences might have set.

My last project, at least for now, took place in a small town called Bardejov in Slovakia. Its theme was “Spread the word”. The participants were divided into multicultural groups and given the task to come up and create something like a marketing strategy for other Erasmus+ projects. The process of working with people from all around Europe was an amazing experience. Our task involved a lot of creativity and my team took it as a challenge to both develop skills as a marketing expert and also get to know the way in which people from other countries think. The contributions and ideas of every member of the team were appreciated and the final product came out great. The skills, which I acquired at this project have helped me with thinking outside of the box. Some marketing concepts, which I knew from university, were developed into a real strategy and I saw them come to life. This made the Project in Slovakia a precious one for me.

Each project has taught me different skills and provided unique experiences, but all of them were absolutely worth it and thanks to the Erasmus+ programme I had the opportunity to travel and participate in all of them.

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by Ventseslav Todorov

Participant in

YE “Design your future” in Galapagar, Spain

USE+FUL | What is it like to be an Erasmus+ Spanish student

My amazing Erasmus+ experience during the winter semester of last year was at the beautiful University of Madrid “Universidad Ray Juan Carlos”. I have experienced, seen and learned a lot and I am sure that many of my discoveries and memories will accompany me for the rest of my life. In the end, I not only lived in Madrid, but it also remained as a second home with many new lifelong friends.

As with any "fresh start", my first two weeks were basically about navigating the urban jungle, finding an apartment and finding the people I would like to spend my time with. In Spain, there is the "idealista.es" website that almost all of my Erasmus+ fellows visit and check on a daily basis. I was lucky and didn't have to spend much time searching for a room: a Spanish friend from Madrid provided me with a central and beautiful room in a 3-bed apartment. So, I had enough free time to meet all the interesting people in my intensive Spanish language course at Erasmus+ University. Unfortunately, there were some Bulgarians among them, which made it difficult to speak Spanish. Nevertheless, a ridiculously small group of Germans, Greeks, Canadians, French, Portuguese and Mexicans had formed relatively quickly, contributing to the multicultural environment. In retrospect, it must be said that the mix of many different nations is more important to my time in Spain than to the culture in which the whole work took place. Other Erasmus + programs in Padua, Valencia or Istanbul also confirm this experience: the meeting of so many countries is characteristic of Erasmus+.

Overall, my semester abroad has taught me to manage my time properly and to be responsible when it comes to learning. Of course (despite the great temptation to speak English or Bulgarian), I have also improved Spanish and established my own connection with Spain. However, my biggest souvenir is the connection with all those people who live different lives than me, who come from different cultures and regions that have different ideas for a successful life and a successful evening, and that look to the future with different eyes. Although everyone is unique at home, Erasmus+ has let me know how different these things can actually be.

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by Rosen Ivaylov