O Testemunho do Alessandro

Hello people, I’m Alessandro and I’m from Italy.

Right now, I’ve been here in Lisbon for more than one month, and for the first time I can look back and see the beginning of my journey here from a different perspective.

My last months were incredibly chaotic, and only now I’m starting to fully realize that I’m really here.

My story here and the beginning with Spin felt like signs from destiny that I decided to follow. I was in Romania for my first training course project, in the middle of the countryside, far away from home, when I received the call from Roberta and Caterina.

I didn’t think too much about it and I just flew here. Right now, this is the philosophy of life that I’m trying to follow.

I come from a small town in the north of Italy, and for me this experience represents my first big challenge abroad and in a big city.

I changed everything in my life during the last year, and Spin and Portugal represent a new great beginning for me.

It wasn’t easy to start. Homesickness and differences are not always easy to handle, but here I found a magical place and a truly incredible group of people: beautiful because everyone is so diverse and different, but at the same time close to who I am. So many stories crossing each other, so many souls that, for one reason or another, find themselves walking together.

My first evening at Casa Anjos, when I met my flatmates Colin, Inka, Alvaro, Nord, Djibril, Alessandra and Jule, feels like a lifetime ago, and now they are part of my everyday life.

I think it’s like living inside a movie, but not only because of the house: the neighborhood, the miradouro, Caracol Park, the sunsets on the stairs, the wind while you are walking somewhere near the Tagus… everything feels unreal. And maybe exactly because it feels like a dream, my wish is to adapt as much as possible and become the protagonist of this movie myself, helping and listening to other people and their stories.

During my days, between the metro and buses stuck in traffic, I’m having the chance to work with amazing groups in Barrio Padre Cruz, in Carnide.

At the Natalia Correia Library everything feels like family, from the activities with children in the local kindergartens to the coffees with Maria and Paulinha, who welcomed me and made me feel at home as if I were their son.

I can take part in many activities by following my creativity and helping with the preparation of cultural projects, using my ideas and working together with the team.

Since I completely changed my life one year ago, I’ve been trying to become passionate about new things and worlds completely different from my past.

In my free time here in Lisbon, a whole sea of new opportunities has opened up in front of me, from Portuguese language circles to breathtaking landscapes to explore.

One of my biggest passions is discovering, seeing, and immersing myself in new places, also to let myself be inspired when I write stories, and in this first month I’ve already seen corners of Portugal that made me emotional and infinitely grateful for choosing to come here.

The adventure has just begun, and I want to continue like this: discovering unforgettable places and meeting people with incredible stories!

O Testemunho da Inka

Hi, i am Inka. I have now been in Lisbon for quite some time, and the days have flown by. Life here has been a mix of figuring out the public transportation, getting slightly lost in new neighborhoods, and slowly finding little favorite places like cafés and bookstores.

I come from a small countryside town in Finland, so living in a big city is new for me. It feels both exciting and a little intimidating. Still, I think I'm actually a city person at heart, and the colorful buildings, cobblestone streets, and breathtaking views have made it easy to fall in love with this city. 

I had actually been to Lisbon once before in early December last year for an APV, which was my first time ever in the city. Because of that short visit, arriving on my own in February felt less overwhelming. I already had some familiar streets in mind and a small sense of how the city works. Even so, there were plenty of things I only started to understand once I was really living here. Choosing to come still felt like a leap into the unknown, but I knew I would rather take it than stay at home wondering what if.

Settling in at Spin has been a gradual process. The first days were slow as I learned the routines and got familiar with different tasks, but over time I started taking on more responsibility. The team has been incredibly welcoming and supportive, which has made it much easier to feel at home.

My days here continue to bring new experiences, challenges, and small successes. I'm still unsure about my own abilities, but I'm taking things one day at a time and treating this primarily as a learning experience. This is only my second time volunteering, as well as my first long-term project and first experience living abroad, so there's plenty that's new for me, but I'm fully determined to make the most of this experience!