O testemunho da Anna No.2

My last five months in Portugal have flown by incredibly fast. I’ve had great and not so great moments. I consider great moments to be
the ones where I’ve been able to connect with like-minded people, build good relationships, find a common language with the children I work with, discover the Portuguese wilderness and cultural sites, keep up with my photography hobby and enjoy good food.

Having a good time at the on-arrival training in Serra da Estrela.

As with everything, it’s not always fun and games. I’ve also had some difficult moments. One of the struggles for me is finding my place in the work environment. At times I feel I cannot contribute enough, mostly because of the lack of Portuguese language skills. But I’m working on it, slowly but surely. Luckily the children I work with are very kind and they seem to understand me even with limited use of words.

Co-creating with children. A banner we made for Children’s Day on June 1st. 

As already half of my time here is over, I’ve also started to think about my future and where I want to go next. I hoped that time away from my usual environment would help me to get some clarity in this matter, but I guess I have been overly optimistic. I haven’t really had a breakthrough yet. However, I’ve learned a few things about myself as a person and that is always nice.

A representation of two of my favourite hobbies – hiking and photography. Before coming to Portugal I didn’t  really know that spending time in the nature could become my new favorite thing. 

Três meninas. Photo taken in Évora by my dear friend Miguel.

All in all I can say that there is more positive than negative and by now I feel quite comfortable in Portugal. Even so much that when I went to visit my family and friends in Estonia, I got a bit home sick, meaning I was missing my home here. Now a new school year has started and I’ve taken up some more responsibilities at my workplace. This means I have the opportunity to learn even more about myself and perhaps develop some new skills.  Autumn for me has always been a great time for new beginnings and fresh ideas, so I’m looking forward to where the next months will take me.

My support team aka my lovely Lisbon family – Irene, Marina, Miguel and Agnes. Unfortunately this month we had to say goodbye to Miguel who has now moved on to Brussels to gain new experiences. Good luck to you, Miki!