O testemunho da Annalise No. 3 (Associação Spin)

ESC experience finishes this month. I am feeling relieved that my project has come to an end, anxious about moving countries again, and of course, a little bit sad about leaving behind the people I have made special connections with in Lisbon.                                                                                     

Highlights of my time here:

·       a 7-day bike trip along the south coast of Algarve (I followed the ecovia do litoral if you want to check it out)

·       the very random but lovely 5 days spent in Fafe for On-Arrival training (which feels like ages ago!)

·       getting to drink wine with lunch at the office whenever we had welcome days for new volunteers

·       explaining to all the over-friendly old Portuguese ladies on the street that I am not, in fact, from Angola

·       Building a bike from scratch and just generally hanging out with the bike bros at Cicloficina

·       learning Portuguese protest chants at the feminist, Black Lives Matter, and antifa marches

·       All the west coast sunsets spent with good company

I actually learnt a lot about the extent of the Erasmus+ program - which, honestly, I knew nothing about before applying for this project at Spin. As young European citizens, we really have so many opportunities available to us, and hopefully I can be a personal advocate for this going forward, whatever I end up doing.

Considering the current pandemic and public health measures, the past few months of summer in Lisbon have still been quite fun, thanks to the sunshine. Overall I'm just very grateful to Spin and the ESC program for allowing me to be here for 11 months! Lisbon is absolutely beautiful, and my time in Portugal has taught me many things, but I am happy to close this experience and move on to the next thing.