O testemunho da Romea...10 meses depois

Olá!

It has been 10 months since I first arrived to Lisbon, and since then a lot has changed…

Firstly Spin's volunteers since I first arrived already left and new ones came. And each of them brought something special to Spin and to the atmosphere in the office. We had many projects during all this time from which we learned a lot but mostly we had fun with all the participants. In two of the projects Live it Lisbon! i had my first cooking workshop witch was so much fun, and all the participants were amazing and it was very nice to see people from all over the world making Croatian traditional dishes. During summer there was a lot going on in Spin, some of the days were hectic but with good communication among volunteers we managed to make everything happened. I had the opportunity to make videos with volunteers of other organizations to talk about their EVS experience, and it was very fun and interesting to see what they do, also was fun making the videos and learning how to edit. Rewording part was that my videos were featured in Feira da Luz in Carnide. Wintertime in Spin is a bit calmer but we still do have work to do. We had a project with 5 youngsters from France who were here for a month doing internship, and I had my first mentoring experience. They were all so hardworking and eager to learn English and Portuguese, since some of them did not know any foreign language. My mentee was amazing with her language skills, positive attitude and work abilities, she even got a job offer for the next year. All in all it was a really good experience of being a mentor. I still have some plans to achieve before my EVS finishes. 

During all my free time in past 10 months especially during summer, I have travelled a lot trough Portugal and Spain. I visited north, middle and south of Portugal plus Azores. A few years ago I lived on Madeira so I know a lot about all the places in Portugal now. All of the travels were different jet so amazing and special. I cannot choose one that was the best because all the parts have something to see and experience, well maybe I enjoyed the most Azores, because I like islands especially because they look like a Jurassic Park jungle truly amazing and calm, and a good “escape” from the urban jungle. 

I have meet a lot of amazing and special people during all this time, but also a lot volunteers had finished their EVS and returned to their country, but by now I get used to people leaving all the time and new ones coming. However, I am glad that the ones that I am the closest with also decided to stay in Lisbon after EVS like me. Before I needed a guide trough Lisbon streets but by now I am the guide to all the new people who come but also to my friends and my family when they visit. I truly fell in love in this city and all of its beauty. By now I know all the beaches Lisbon has, all the best bars, best restaurants…but there is still so much more to explore and learn…

                         

O testemunho da Ana

Looking back at the beginning of my EVS, it seems like it was a lifetime ago instead of just a year. It’s almost hard to recall the feelings of confusion, awe and curiosity that were so overwhelming during my first months in Lisbon. Everything that was new and surprising at the beginning, became more familiar and comfortable over time. The process of making a second home happened so gradually that I almost didn’t feel it - I just woke up one day realising that I’ve got some new routines, new rituals, ways to work around the little things that frustrated me at first. People and places that I didn’t know sneaked their way around and became close and familial.

During my 9 months at Associação Spin I did plenty of things, most of them that I never even imagined doing - cooking for a group of 30 people, baking Croatian pastries for 5 hours straight, organising a workshop during a youth exchange, being a tour guide, meeting people from 17 different countries in one day, speaking in Portuguese in front of a room full of people after only a couple of months learning it… The variety of activities and freedom to experiment and propose my own ideas felt great; it is something that doesn’t happen often in more formal work settings but it was a great chance to reevaluate my strengths and weaknesses as well as to learn a lot of new skills and try them out without the fear of failure. It reminded me what work should be like, what it looks like to have a healthy balance between personal life and time spent at the office and made me strive for that even after the end of the project.

But other than having the opportunity to try all these new things and learn in a practical way, I would say that EVS is before everything a big personal journey - it is a very intense and emotional experience and I often commented with other volunteers that we feel like we’ve lived a couple of years in only a few months in Lisbon! The amount of things we did, the places we went to, the amount of new friends that we made is amazing. I can’t even count the number of new people I met here, and some of them will remain close long after our EVS is over. Being EVS volunteers, all of us were very aware that we are here for a limited amount of time so we tried to make best of it and use every moment. Of course, not everything was perfect and there were hard moments, moments of loneliness, moments when we were saying goodbye to others whose journey in Portugal came to an end, but it was worth it compared to all the beautiful experiences that we gained in return.

Reflecting on those moments and feelings from the whole last year brings back maybe the most important thing I took from the whole experience - a reminder of the childlike state of mind where everything is new and full of possibilities, but on the other hand you feel completely lost and have to learn everything from the beginning. Communicating, getting around, going to the supermarket, figuring out the bus schedule… everything that I used to do on autopilot required an insane amount of energy, preparation and focus and caused a lot of frustration. Nothing made sense but at the same time everything did - because once I conquered the practicalities, there was a whole new world to explore and get to know, just like if I were a child seeing the world for the first time.

O testemunho da Romea

Ola I’m Romea from Croatia. I arrived in this wonderful city 1. March 2018 to start my EVS journey. It has been only a month, many things happened already, and I cannot wait for more. The first thing after the airport was going to my new apartment and I was amazed with the view from my room facing Neptune on Largo de D. Estefânia.

The day I arrived, it was raining in Lisbon, and it didn’t stop the whole month which is the only thing I would change because I miss the sun and warmer weather, but the summer is at the door so beach days will be here soon.

First day in Spin was lovely, all the other new volunteers and me were welcomed and surprised with lunch and it was delicious. After that Ines told us everything about Spins work and we got to know Spin and the hostel better. First official day at work was full of cooking throughout all the week because we had to prepare everything for Spin’s 10. Birthday party. We prepared many delicious meals and the party was full of good food, nice people and great atmosphere. 

Furthermore, all the days after at the office continued to be the same, full of good food, nice people and great atmosphere. I am enjoying every second since I arrived and all the things Lisbon has to offer, new interesting people, food, music, art…and looking forward to see and experience much more and explore all the wonders and adventures Portugal has. Except for that, I hope also to get to know people around me better, the language, but also to get to know myself better.

My first week on EVS

This time last week I was on my flight to Lisbon - the city where I’ll be spending the next nine months doing my EVS.  Although I was very excited and looking forward to this change, leaving home wasn’t easy. I didn’t really expect to be selected so the news surprised me, and then I had less than three weeks to prepare for my move to Portugal! Having to deal with annoying bureaucracy and practical stuff didn’t leave much time for me to process everything or think about where am I going, what to expect and how do I even feel about it. It all had to wait until the day of my departure - my mom’s birthday - when we left early in the morning to get to the airport in time for my flight.

The official begining of my EVS

View from one of miradouros

Santa Maria Maior de Lisboa

I had the next 10 hours to ponder the fact that I’m actually moving to another country, among new people whose language I don’t speak. The mixture of curiosity, excitement but also some sadness and fear of the unknown left me feeling confused, but all of the negative feelings went away the moment I arrived to Lisbon airport where one of my new flatmates, Kasia, met me.

Kasia’s positivity and a huge smile on her face pretty much marked what the next few days would be like. Meeting my new colleagues at Spin, my mentor, roommates and other volunteers living in our apartment building - Casa Anjos - left me feeling very welcomed and accepted right from the start. It’s only been a while but I already feel like I’ve spent months in Lisbon. My time so far was filled with a good mixture of getting to know how Associação Spin works, what other NGOs are active in Bairro Padre Cruz, exploring the city’s touristic and local spots and hanging out with my new friends.

Some things feel really familiar, some are completely new and different, but most of it feels just a tiny bit off from what I’m used to! Not enough to give me a complete culture shock, but sufficient to leave me wandering the supermarket for too long while contemplating why the eggs aren’t kept in the fridge and how do people here cook soup if they can’t buy “grincajg” at the market! The curiosity goes both ways - I’ve already been given strange looks after mixing my white wine with sparkling water :)

Jardim Gulbenkian

But all of these differences are part of what will make my EVS a unique and interesting experience, and I can already tell that I made a great choice by coming to Lisbon!

Ana