It’s alredy been 9 months that I’m living my ESC Experience in Lisbon.
So many things have happened so far.
First of all, the Covid. Like everyone else, I never expected to live in the middle of a pandemic, and even less I would have expected to face it abroad away from family and friends.
It’been a very particular time, but I can honestly say that it was a challenge that gave added value to my experience far from home.
Autonomy, stress management (especially at the beginning of the quarantine, after only two weeks from my arrival in Lisbon), appreciating the moments spent with friends and colleagues, but especially the moments of solitude and rebuilding a routine to keep active during the days spent in home. Obviously this is not what I expected when i left for Portugal, but I am genuinely happy with the personal goals I have achieved.
Once the first wave of covid ended, during the summer I had the opportunity to travel around Portugal and visit wonderful places with my fellow travelers, as well as fantastic friends that I met thanks to the volunteer work in SPIN associação. We have traveled a lot and have seen incredible places and landscapes .. Alentejo, Algarve, Madeira, the North of Portugal. I have in my mind so many images and memories that I already know that I will always carry with me.
In September, I finally effectively started the volunteering as educator at Quintas dos Frades primary school, in Lumiar, and a new chapter of my adventure in Lisbon has begun.
I am very happy to be part of this team of colleagues who are very passionate in their work, who have welcomed me very warmly and enthusiastically.
Working with children is really stimulating. It is proving to be a "gym", both from a human aspect (it’s not always easy to relate to children, especially at first, not speaking the same language) and also from a cultural and linguistic aspect. Day after day I am improving my Portuguese, and all this just pushes me to speak the language and improve it even more.
There are 3 months left to finish my project, but I feel I still have many experiences and new people ahead of me to meet.
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