O testemunho da Nives

My name is Nives and I come from Italy. I arrived here in Lisbon the 1st of October and only now, after almost three months, I'm beginning to realize this change of life. 

I had just finished my studies in psychology, but I felt the necessity to take a pause experiencing something new before continuing the professional path, also to clear my ideas about what I really want to do in my future and in what I want to specialize. In that sense, I thought that EVS was a perfect opportunity, and ‘till now I'm very happy to have taken this decision. 

I'm not a really adventurous person, I’m not so extrovert and this is the first time that I am abroad for so long and that I participate in an Erasmus+ project. So, I think this experience could be even more challenging for me. The first weeks it was not so easy to change my habits, try to communicate in some way and to understand a little bit of a language that I didn't know at all. Now I’m more aware that every day I learn something new and that all this, even if sometimes could be hard, can only be good to form myself as a person, to discover new sides of myself and limits too. I'm just at the beginning but I'm sure that at the end of EVS I will gain a new awareness of myself. 

I joined the team of Associação Salvador, an organization that supports people with motor disabilities. I do some office work, but I also have on some occasions the opportunity to be with the supported people. Till now, besides the office work, I’ve helped for the preparation of some workshop that we organized and I was the official photographer of two events promoted by the association. I think I’m very lucky to be in Salvador because it gives me also the possibility to travel (I was in Badajoz the last weekend of October and in Praia São Julião some weeks ago) and discover new beautiful places that in another way I wouldn’t know. 

I was in the On-Arrival training some weeks ago and it has been a good opportunity to meet new people and to share the first impressions, the worries and the excitement too. 

I'm starting to discover Lisbon and the other cities here around, and I found that Portugal is a magical place. I hope that at the end of my EVS I would have seen all the main places in this fantastic Country. Obviously, I fell in love with Portuguese food too, especially the sweets, and I love the fact that here is so cheap to have a dinner outside... I go to a restaurant almost every week, this is incredible for me! 

So, I'm just at the beginning and I have other 9 months here in front of me to implement my project, to discover Portugal and the Portuguese culture and to meet new people too... I hope that it will be great!