Our Intern June-August 2017

Posted on July 6, 2017 by La Giraudiere

Our Intern

Amanda Pearce, a 20 year old Oxford student of Languages (French and German) from London has joined us this week as an intern.

Amanda, our intern is a student at Oxford University

Amanda, our intern is a student at Oxford University

So far Amanda has worked hard communicating via email with potential volunteers both of the EVS programme and of La Giraudiere’s own project. She has also been editing articles and looking over our online presence. Amanda has been a huge asset to our team in the past few days since she has arrived and we are absolutely thrilled that she is here with us for 6 weeks as part of her year abroad from University. If you are coming to us within the next few weeks she is someone you can look forward to meeting.

Amanda and Ted, one of our volunteers, cooking dinner

Amanda and Ted, one of our volunteers, cooking dinner

Amanda plays her part in keeping the place running, she does her share of cooking and general housework. For anyone considering applying to be an intern here Amanda is pleased with her experience and would highly recommend it.

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Our Volunteers

Posted on July 5, 2017 by La Giraudiere

At the moment we have 8 volunteers working on La Giraudière’s project. Each person has their own projects ranging from blogging and photography to gardening and maintenance. It is a valuable experience for us all to practise successful coexistance. The difference in characters here has been interesting and great fun. When coming to La Giraudière you will meet people you would never otherwise meet. Everyone plays their part in keeping the place running in order to successfully cohabitate, which has been a valuable skill I have developed.

Ted is a volunteer from Australia who has been tackling the garden for the majority of his time spent here, thanks to Ted it now looks neat and orderly and much less resembles a jungle. Over his weekends Ted has used the opportunity to see as much of the country as possible. He has just returned from a 3 day stay at Lourdes, while last weekend he visited the beautiful city of La Rochelle. Ted has been using this opportunity to learn the language and has been participating actively in the French lessons each Friday morning.

Ted, our Austrailian volunteer

Ted, our Austrailian volunteer

We also have volunteers like Asha, a 19 year old University student who is also hoping to improve her French as it is her University major. She enjoys playing her part capturing photos for the website and writing posts to promote the project. This is Asha’s first time abroad alone and she is glad she decided to choose La Giraudière to travel and gain valuable experiences.

Asha, our Irish volunteer is a University student of French

Asha, our Irish volunteer is a University student of French

The contrasting characters at La Giraudière make for a great stay. We also have Carol and Steve a couple from England who volunteered here previously and chose to come again this year. Carol has been handling our finances while Steve has been participating in manual labour such as painting.

Carol and Steve sit down to a cup of tea with our Lithuanian volunteer, Elena

Carol and Steve sit down to a cup of tea with our Lithuanian volunteer, Elena.

All in all we have been successful so far this season with a great group of volunteers who are enjoying their time working, learning about France and meeting new people! If you are interested in joining us as a volunteer or an intern in 2018 you can apply  here.

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Lightning Strikes at La Giraudière

Posted on July 4, 2017 by La Giraudiere

A Dramatic Day:

Bonjour! My name is Asha and I am a volunteer here at La Giraudière as you may remember from my introductary post which you can view here.

Last Wednesday became an unusual day for us here as lightning struck La Giraudière. The weather these past couple of days has been pretty different from that of last week, being mostly rain, wind and some thunder. But this was taken to a new level yesterday when as we sat down to our coffee break, thankfully indoors, we heard a loud bang and a flash of light around us, pretty intense for a coffee break. Not long after a strong burning smell took over the place, which was actually coming from the electricity box. As it turns out it had been struck and completely melted.

Lightning-electricity-box

Straight away the project co-ordinator, Paul made some phone calls to the fire station and to some people about fixing the electricity and our Wi-Fi. Thankfully the services here are very quick and reliable, we had fire engines here within half an hour and an electrician fixed the box within an hour or two. Everyone was very impressed with the standard of the services here.

fire_engines_at_lg

Thankfully we now have our electricity back and no further damage was done however it’s safe to say it was an exciting and unusual day at La Giraudière.

Interested in volunteering or interning in France? Then visit our website Volunteer in France

 

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La Giraudiere welcomes it’s first Irish volunteer for 2017 season

Posted on July 3, 2017 by La Giraudiere

Irish volunteers in France

Asha, who is presently studying arts at University College Cork (UCC) chooses La Giraudiere for her first volunteering experience abroad.

Asha decides to use her volunteering experience to help her find her career path as she unsure for her future. At La Giraudiére she hopes to explore her different interests while working with not only her fellow volunteers, but the community.

irish_volunteer

For Asha, and anyone who chooses to come to La Giraudiére, it is a valuable experience to gain before entering the world of careers. Here you learn how to be part of a team. Successful coexistance is almost necessary to be a volunteer or an intern here, it is a value that generally everyone will abide by. Skills like this are important in the workplace or in almost any life setting. This is something that has helped our Irish volunteer integrate into our situation, and something she believes will help anyone who needs life experience or is a little bit on the fence about what it is they really want to do.

So far Asha has explored photography, writing and manual duties. She is a lover of the French language, which she uses to bond with the locals here at La Giraudière.

So far she is enjoying her stay here and is very much looking forward to being the media person at LG and posting future blog posts. A bientot!

Interested in volunteering in France then visit our website Volunteer In France

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My experience by Jordan Taub

Posted on June 27, 2017 by La Giraudiere

Bonjour, my name is Jordan and bienvenue! I am an artist from the states. If you will be volunteering at La Giruadiere in the near future or are considering it, hopefully I can share some useful insight into the project and experience. The project itself is immensely unique, making the experience a one of kind for each individual. We all have our own personal reasons as to why we are here. For example, I have never been to Europe, nor have I ever traveled independently. I found La Giruadiere, and right away knew it would be the right fit. The project gave me the opportunity to be immersed in France, a place I have always been drawn to. La Giruadiere also allowed me to travel alone in a safe, convenient, and cost-efficient way.  The project itself curates to the individual, meaning that the volunteer work is constructed to play on your personal strengths while strengthening any desired skills. There is something for everyone, and that is another reason why La Giruadiere is special and beneficial to all. I also just recently graduated college and La Giruadiere served as a perfect way to transition into the workforce. I came back from the volunteering with more confidence and clairvoyance. People from all over the world, from every background come together here for a shared purpose. This shared purpose being the opportunity to gain invaluable volunteer experience, exposure to new cultures, and to contribute to projects such as the one approaching, YERRF. What I found to be most cherished of the experience is all the wonderful people you meet along the way. People are constantly arriving and going during your stay, so you are introduced and living with multiple different people, each offering a new perspective and a new story.

Read the rest of my LG story here (A Volunteer’s Voyage Through South West France)

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