o Testemunho final da Marina (Viver Telheiras)

 

hello everyone,

This is my final testimony about my volunteering. This past 9 months have been a life experience that I wanted so much to have, I enjoyed myself so much, I learned how to manage a lot of free time, which I never had to do and it has been a life changing learning and also I had the privilege of having an extended and joyful social life.

In my experience here I organized the Festival Telheiras, which you can see in the photo above. It has been so nice to work with the community and organize the festival with the beautiful team of Viver Telheiras. People have been caring.

In my time here I also had time to do other volunteering, so I volunteered in a social and political center called Sirigaita, which has brought me so many friends and learnings outside my volunteering.

Also, I volunteered in a boat learning and helping them to sail in Algarve with a wonderful crew, I also enjoyed Santos so much, the popular party of the whole city self-organized by the neighborhood. And I had time to receive and travel with lots of my friends from Barcelona and from here. This past month has been more difficult because I had to say goodbye to some of my best friends here, but that's also the nice part of making good friends.

O testemunho No. 2 da Marina (Viver Telheiras)

 

This year I’m learning that I can put much more things in the washing machine than I could imagine, like shoes, I never cleaned shoes. I also learned how to open bottles with a lighter, and I promise it has been a lifetime challenge, comparable to the time I learned how to do stone skipping and now I do it almost stylish. 

I also enjoyed more to be alone and I learned how to gather people without worrying if they will get along. I realized that I love beet, which isn’t a vegetable I used to eat a lot back in my hometown,I also realized that I look much better when I have time to sleep and I’m not angry anymore, never. I thought that I was an angry person and it turns out I was just tired. I’m also learning how to do handstands, I’m not a professional doing them, but I’m quite proud of my evolve these pasts months. I’m practicing trapeze more than ever and I hang out with my friends almost every day.

This year all the plants that I bought are making new leaves, because I water them and I take care of them, And I feel kind of flourishing new leaves as well after these two years of pandemic and this new life that I build here. Life’s coming back to normal and it has nothing of normal at all, new place, new friends, new family, but I still have this feeling, that I’m coming back to something I was, to something I already knew of myself. Being a teenager, this stimulating environment where you grow, and maybe it’s the city, maybe it’s the COVID is almost over or maybe it’s that I have time again, but I’m confident that I will enjoy this bubble no matter what, even though I know it doesn’t last.

O testemunho No. 1 da Marina (Viver Telheiras)

 Olá a tudos! 

My name is Marina and I am from Barcelona. I have been almost three months in Lisbon, but it feels like yesterday.

I never lived abroad and I thought of volunteering to have an experience living somewhere else at least once in a lifetime. Now I’m so grateful I made that decision because I made myself a present with this experience. The fact that other volunteers are in the same situation as you are makes the socializing part so much easy and the whole experience much better.

I wanted to come to Lisbon because I came once on vacation and I loved it so much, its small streets, the light of the city, the sunsets, the hills, the calm, etc. My volunteering in Viver Telheiras it’s a 9-month project. The working rhythm it’s chill and I have a lot of free time for enjoying the city and the people. I feel really comfortable with the team and the organization's aim, so it’s really nice to give a hand with the things that I can and design projects in and for the neighborhood.

By now I already know so many good people. And we have a really nice social life in the apartment. Nowadays even though we were careful me and my flatmate got the covid, here’s how we enjoyed this day:

https://youtu.be/Dgx2eq2nMMw

O Testemunho da Marina No. 3 (Bola P'ra Frente)

Here I am writing the last testimony. It seems it was not long ago that I arrived for the first time to Lisbon. Time just flies!

I must say that these last months have been intense for me, especially in the sense of reflection. Reflections on what I want, on what I like, and on what I want to do in the near future. I have also had time to realise about my personal and professional strengths and weaknesses.

 Even if there have been some hard moments at a personal level, I also think these have also been some of the most enriching ones for my personal and professional growth. I will try to apply these learnings in my life from now on.

It has also been a period of mixed feelings. On the one hand, I am happy to have achieved some of the objectives that I set before starting this project such as intercultural awareness and self-awareness. On the other hand, I have also been reflecting on the objectives I could not reach during these months and try to understand why this has happened. Nevertheless, I suppose this is part of the journey and the learning process.

During this last month, I have been feeling a bit melancholic since I see and feel that the end of this chapter is coming. I am having a kind of mixed feelings in between happiness to go back home and be with the people I love, and sadness for leaving Lisbon, all the people I met here and all the adventures we have lived during this last year. Some days I find it hard to deal with these intense feelings.

What I do not have any doubts about is that it has been a year full of experiences, some good, some not that good, but all of them very enriching. Despite all, if I had the chance to go back in time, I would have chosen it again.

I would like to end this chapter saying thank you to all the people that have crossed my path during these months, thank you to Spin and Bola P’ra Frente for the support and the opportunity, and especially to the people with whom I shared many experiences, which I will never forget. This great experience of volunteering will always remain at my heart and memories.

Marina’s testimony No.2

Wow, it is incredible how time flies!
At professional level, I have been able to get to know the children and youngsters of the association and also deepen the way the association works with them.

This enable me to broaden my perspective and knowledge on the social work. I also had the opportunity to conduct different workshops, one related to the Spanish cuisine where we made a Spanish omelette, and the other one was focused on creating a fanzine. All these experiences made me understand and know better the families in the neighbourhood and their situation.

At formation level, apart from what I am learning daily, I very much like on arrival training, especially because we met a lot of interesting volunteers all over Portugal.
At personal level, up to now, it has been very intense and enriching!

During this time, I had been able to know Portugal and Portuguese culture more deeply. I have the chance to visit different spots in Portugal such as Cascais, Sintra, Arrábida, Covilhão, Évora…! What to say about the amazing portuguese food: sardinhas, bacalhau, polvo, caracóis, bifanas and
entremeadas, pasteix de nata…I have also been lucky enough to enjoy Santos Populares in Lisbon in which I had the great fun and the chance to see a concert of the well-known portuguese singer Quim Barreiros and his popular pimba songs. I must admit to be impressed by the lyrics of the songs.

In these 8 moths ahead, I would like to visit, try and enjoy all the Portuguese treasures, while
learning throughout this volunteering experience!

O testimunho da Marina

Even if the project I am doing was not my first option, I was sure I wanted to do my CES in Lisbon.
Fortunately, I was not chosen for the project I applied but I was offered a new one. I felt excited and happy, so I decided to do the interview.

During the interview, I felt “good vibes”, and some hours later I received the confirmation email. I cannot describe how I felt, but it was all positive. However. I had to decline the offer because I was finishing my master degree and really need to do it. I was sad but I knew it was the right thing to do. Few weeks later, a day before my birthday, I received an email from Inês offering me a new starting date. It was the best birthday presente I could ever have: the opportunity to live a whole year in Lisbon doing a project that I love! I could not do anything but accepting the challenge.

After finishing my master degree, I had only 3 days left to prepare my stuff for my new life in Lisbon. With my packed bags I took the train. Fourteen hours later, Giulia was waiting for me at Santa Apolonia train station. She helped me going home, Casa Bernardim, where I met Agnes, one of my flatmates. Afterwards I met the rest of my flatmates. The following days I had the opportunity to meet the other volunteers, who already knew each other because they arrived a month before. 

I have only been living here for exactly two weeks, but I had the opportunity to wander in the city center, visit some of the most famous places, know new people and try to speak some words in Portuguese. Despite the intensity of these two weeks, the “good vibes” feeling have not change, it has only been increased. I can not describe with words how well I feel here in Lisbon and how much I enjoyed its colours and its people. It is a very nice place to live and enjoy life!

I hope and know that this year in Lisbon is going to be a very enriching experience, which not only will help me know myself better but also will help me expand my horizons, personally and professionally. I can only thank Spin for giving me this unique opportunity which I will make the most from it.