Name: Mariya Georgieva

Age: 24

Nationality: Bulgarian

Project name: Survey

Duration of the project: from 7th of May untill 6th of November 2005

My hobies: yogi, knittig and crochet, books, conceptional art, cultural heritage, especially intangible heritage, traveling and meeting with friends

The kind of work during my European voluntary service was changing with the different seasons so I had opportunity to work in different fields and to make experience in different activities. My project started with work for the preparation of The Didactic museum which is going to show what archaeology is; I worked for finishing the mosaics representing prehistoric figures, painting walls, preparation of the exhibition case with artifacts.
Indeed for me important part of my project was the work with schoolboys in order to represent different aspects of archeology. I took part into the preparation of the didactic book for the prehistoric incisions and helped in the laboratories with schoolboys like painting like in Prehistoric period or simulation of survey (superficial research for archaeological fragments). This part of my work gave me the biggest satisfaction because I really believe into the work for creation cultural orientation of the youth.
Then summer came and started the archaeological part of my project. I took part into the excavation of the Medieval church Sant'Ippolito near Trapani.
Returning back in Campobello di Licata I helped in the preparation and the organization of the youth exchange “37°/13° coordinate for Sicily” and International archaeological summer camps, taking part also into different archaeological activities: the excavations of the Necropolis “Iachinu Fili” and The Survey.
After finishing the summer camps my work turned back into the office and I learn or better my skills to work with different computer programs and overall to make webpage.
For me my EVS project was not only opportunity to make work experience in the sphere of cultural heritage in which I am interested. It was also opportunity to travel around and see the beauty of the Sicily, abundant with cultural sites and monuments of different types and different periods; and overall to touch the intangible heritage of this magnificent island – to see the Sicilian fest like Rietina and the local way of celebrating a world fest like 15th august, to hear the vitality Sicilian music, to become fan of the typical Sicilian music instrument – merranzano, to learn the traditional Italian dances, to taste the typical Sicilian food and even more to use an original receipt to make delicious almond milk, to stay in contact with kind Sicilian people. It was also opportunity to find friends of the different part of Europe. May be one of the best sites of my project was to live and work together with the other volunteers of Latvia, Spain, Hungary, Poland, France, Belgium, Holland and to find that we are similar in our aspiration to discover the new cultures. And this is not all. During the youth exchange, summer camps, trainings on arrival and mid-term evaluation organized by National agency I meet really a lot of nice youth all over the world and I have opportunity to touch a little bit of there cultures.