O testemunho final do Mikk (SPEAK)

 Everything has to end at some point. Including this voluntary service from February-September 2021. It has been nice 8 months here and
I would like to return at some point, but this would be mostly because of the friends. At this moment, I have many more places that I would like to visit before I come back to Portugal.

A big big respect for all the organizations and my friends, tutors, and mentor. Without these people, the experience would not have been amazing, but in the end, what matters in life is the people. This is something that you can’t buy or measure in money, these people are giving you memories, experiences, and much more.

Also, the party scene in Lisbon is something that I have fallen in love with. People playing guitar on the miradouros (aka viewpoints) while you are enjoying a refreshing drink, is amazing. They are having a chill vibe and everyone is really calm and enjoying a good time. Also, I love the way that people are organizing common events like dinners together and everyone brings their national food. It is really nice and tasty.

Sightseeing has been really great too. I started my experience by just watching the architecture and layout of the houses, but now I have realized that there is more than that. There are numerous places to visit like Belem, Oriente, Telheiras, Entrecampos, Sintra, Palmela, Viana do Castelo and much more coming on my last trip before I leave.

I can’t lie – I have had thoughts of my future elsewhere for the past 2 months now. The First 6 months were good here and all you can do is to enjoy what Portugal has to offer, but now I am thinking of a way to return home and maybe even look further to Taiwan, Asia that is completely on the other side of the world. At some point, I got even a job offer here in Portugal for my logistics specialty. It looked really interesting until I heard about the salary. And the salary was lower than the Estonian average salary at the same post by a big margin. Therefore I realized that it is very difficult to build the future here especially when the rent costs for 1 room are that high. In Estonia one apartment costs the same amount and that is also a big big difference.

The food is one thing that has also made me homesick: can’t wait until I can eat sült, good chips, and sashlik again. Also, there are nice drinks like kvass and beer there. I am not missing my family yet, but I do miss my cute cat. My family will visit me on the last days here anyways and then we will all go back to Estonia together.

O testemunho no. 2 da Mikk (SPEAK)

I have been in Portugal for 7 months now and I have been enjoying the different lifestyle experience very much. Here is different culture: people are more socialising, work-culture is more freestyle and there is a lot of beating around the bush, but having fun at the same time situations. For example I have seen that everybody is out at the daytime not doing work and enjoying their coffee. They do the same in the morning and always have these coffee breaks outside the office in the sun. That is cool, but at the same time I am always wondering are they not hungry. They start morning with coffee and sometimes eat melons and apples in the lunch time. I would starve if I was like this. :D

But as for socializing aspect, I am really impressed! People are really friendly, helpful, supportive and also it is much easier to make friends out of nowhere. That is because the culture is international. When you are in a centre, yes sure some can argue that it was so much better 10 years ago when it was mostly Portuguese people in Bairro-Alto and so on, but now it is even better in my opinion. If the culture has only local people, then it will be difficult to make connections due to the language barrier. International environment brings more friends, happiness and cause to stay so much more than only local people. As for Portuguese people I only have one good friend so far and that is my mentor. It is difficult to approach them, but when you do, the results are usually really nice. Same as Estonians hahah. Much sun helps a lot too, but sometimes there is even too much of it. Would personally like some rain sometimes.

As for the language, I can understand the basics now, but not being able to understand many conversations and I am not fluent in the language. I have no problem to order anything on the restaurant and that is the most important.

I am going to leave after 8 months of my project however, because the future is not that good in here. It is almost impossible to have any savings with this high prices for rentals and low salaries. There are more reasons why I am leaving, but from what I have seen so far, it is great place to retire, but you would have to spend a lot of your time when you are young that otherwise can be put under your career. And that is one downside that I felt through my experience. 

O testemunho no. 1 da Mikk (SPEAK)

My name is Mikk, I come from Estonia and I started my ESC with SPEAK in February 2021.

I decided to go to Lisbon because I wanted to get away from the cold and super hard-working life. I had been in school and logistics job scene at the same time for 2 years by now. This was very stressful for me. The main reason for arrival was to get a little rest and clear the mind from narrow minded mindset. To think outside the box. To be open for new possibilities.

I remember my travel day here really well. I woke up at 5am in the morning in order to reach to the Tallinn’s airport. Since it was a snowstorm outside it took a while for them to clean the wings of the plane with hot water and some foam. The plane could not take off on the right time and I was late for my transit in Frankfurt. I ran and walked really fast and used my good map locating skills to reach to the flight to Lisbon. Luckily boarding was delayed by 15 minutes so I reached it. I saw many other planes getting canceled from Germany later in the Lisbon airport. 

Finally I was in Lisbon and had to take a corona test where I waited an hour to make the test and then another 8 hours to get my results. It was late already and there were many available taxis waiting for costumers near the airport. 

The first day here already fascinated me when I got outside. I went to the supermarket and to an healthy walk. Architecture was so different from Estonian style. The streets were very clean. It was really warm and I didn’t have to wear my winter coat anymore. It still hangs on the rack till this day without it being used anymore. All in all I was really happy with the outside. 

I didn’t see my flatmates very often on the first days here because some of them were in isolation due to Covid situation. After this difficult time we were reunited and could socialise very well. The people that I am living with are all very nice and respectful. I really appreciate that. One thing that I have noticed about the flat though has been that people come and go. Only a few decide to stay for the all year. This is most likely connected with the unequal room distribution. It just doesn’t make sense to share a room with no window or a room where is no space for table and chair. Those who stay are staying mostly because of friends, patio or financial situation. For me it doesn’t matter much because I have shared worse conditions than this. On the other hand I have also lived alone in a studio apartment and I loved that one with a private kitchen and bathroom. 

Last but not least, do I miss Estonia? Well I can still be in contact with my family and friends, but I do miss some food. Mainly good sour cream/dipping sauces, the best mayonnaise, black bread made from rye (in Portugal they have the ones made from wheat), chips with flavours, dumplings and smoked salami that is also extremely good there. Sorry Chorizos from Spain and Portugal are good, but it is not the same. In Lisbon I have discovered some new recipes to cook like prawns, bacalhau. I have not tested more because I have no idea how to cook them yet. I also have ordered bitoque which was very good. I like that I can buy cactus, lichi, mango and other interesting juices here that they don’t sell in Estonia. Also the wine is really cheap so it can be used for both drinking and cooking. And last but not least, the very good thing about Lisbon is that pork is so cheap and it has always been one of my favorite food to cook.