O testemunho No.2 da Nayera (SPEAK)

I’m writing this testimony while I’m already back in my city, scrolling through my gallery and reliving all the moments I had in Portugal. At times, I felt lost, I felt nostalgic, but mostly, I felt grateful. This experience has shaped me into a better version of myself. I got to see how I function away from my comfort zone and in a foreign environment. I also saw how you can have a community and a family even if you’re far from your own.

I was very, very lucky with the people I met there, my “Anjos girls.” Though we were quite different, we managed to create our own warm space. Even our living room, from the day I arrived until the day I left, tells a story. It changed, it evolved, and it carried a part of each one of our personalities.

I also had a great support system in the members of the Spin Team, who helped me in every possible way. I write this with a heart full of love and gratitude for one hell of a year, one I will always remember, and with a longing for this wonderful city.

O testemunho no. 1 da Nayera (SPEAK)

So I’ve been here for almost 3 months already, and it feels like it’s been only a couple of weeks. I guess as they say “good times fly by”. 

I don't want to be like every other person that just says cliches like “I fell in love with the city” but I absolutely did. One of the very first things that I noticed about this city was the music. Everywhere you go at almost any given time there’s music, even when it’s quiet Lisbon still has its own tune. 

I wouldn’t call myself an extrovert but I couldn’t help but dance all around this city. I’ve already met amazing people since I came here, especially my flatmates from Casa Anjos, it wouldn't be a good weekend if it wasn’t for them. I’m excited everyday for what this experience brings me.

O testemunho no. 1 do Mohanad (SPEAK)

 

Hello everyone,

“Sonder” is a rather unpopular word in the dictionary that most people never hear of in their lives. It refers to the intersection of different people’s lives by the tiniest chances that occur in everyday life. Think of it like the butterfly effect, where the smallest action you take can change someone’s life completely.The reason why I absolutely believe in the meaning of this word is that this testimony comes from sonder—everything that led me to this moment was unexpected.

I never saw that I will be an Erasmus volunteer until this year. I never saw Portugal as my next destination for a whole year until this year. I never expected to live away from Egypt and my family for this long time, but I am here and I am grateful.

I am Mohanad (aka Moka) and I am a 25-year-old aspiring polyglot (multilingual) and film enthusiast. My first few weeks in Lisbon were very overwhelming but in the most beautiful ways. I had a great time exploring the city on my first week by myself and with my mentor Rita and my flatmates.

I remember going to the beach with my flatmates on the weekend it was the rainiest day of the month by far (And there was also a non-comforting Tsunami warning sign) but it went more than okay. The following week, I visited Spin’s office and also went to SPEAK’s office for the first time we had dinner later on the same day to welcom

e me and a new person on the team. I am truly in love with where I work! (Just google it; it is called Casa do Impacto)

My second weekend was even better because I visited Madrid for the first time and spent quality time with a close friend there. Not the biggest fan of the city because it is super crowded and this is why I like Lisbon because it has this cozy feeling that no other city I visited felt the same.

The cherry on top of my first month was attending on-arrival training on the last week of the month in Braga. I went there with two other flatmates and had an amazing time meeting new people, learning about ESC programs, and doing various fun activities and hangouts.

  

I can tell you about many other things that happened during my first month, like when I tried Ramen for the first time in my life, dying my hair also for the first time, watching two spectacular films at the cinema with Portuguese subtitles, visiting the most magical place in Portugal, Sintra, and other warm little moments with my flatmates and new friends, but words won’t be able to describe how amazing this first month was. I am looking forward to the next few months with new wonderful memories and even more wonderful people. And hopefully, the next time I write, I will be able to maintain a basic conversation in Portuguese. 

Ciao! 

O testemunho final do Ertuğrul (SPEAK)

 O TEMPO VOA

Yes, my friends, time flies. I still remember the first days of my arrival. Getting used to the city, to the people, my project etc. Now I feel like I am the oldest, most experienced. Most of the people left the city already. Already missed some of them. People come and go, memories stay. I got a bit nostalgic right now. I was looking at the photos. Many people, many faces, many smiles, many places. Like I told you before, many of them left already but I stayed with some of them. 

After my second testimony, let me tell you what happened, Me and my colleagues went to the Porto for Sao Jorge event. We had a really amazing party there. City was really beautiful even though I could see the city but no worries I will see it later. Everyone had a plastic hammer hitting each other's head and making these annoying sounds. I felt like people would get angry but everyone was cool about it. We had a really long party outside. Went to some concerts and after that we watched a firework show. Later we went to a club and they were playing Turkish music which I really liked. Later in Porto we went to the Douro region. We had a really good time there. Our Airbnb was amazing. We had a really nice dinner. Went for a Porto tasting. I really liked some of them. It was a really nice trip, I really enjoyed every second of it. 

About my project I was leading an English Conversational session and I finished it. It was really good. I had 5 participants from different countries. I am also still hosting weekly events in Almada. In summer our project is more chill. I had good numbers in Almada. Opened 4 groups and led many events, and Since it is summer we enjoy most of our time at the beach. I also learned how to swim in Portugal. I really like swimming and staying inside the water, Later some of my colleagues left and also most of my volunteer friends left already. We had goodbye parties and a lot of emotions. I will really miss them but I am also sure that I will see them in the future. They are all amazing people and I feel really lucky to have friends like them. 

So about me, I celebrated my birthday almost 10 days ago. Since many people left we couldn’t have a big party but still some of my friends joined and also many people wished me happy birthday. So It was a really nice birthday. Usually I am not used to celebrating it, I will continue staying in Portugal. It will be challenging but let's see, I still can’t believe I finished this amazing story. In this period I would like to thank everyone that I met. I never had a bad experience and everyone was amazing to me. I felt so lucky. I was looking at the photos to put it here but can’t decide what to choose. I have many, countless memories with many special people. I could put 100 photos if I had the chance.

Anyways this time i don’t want to say goodbye. I want to say thank you, Thank you for being with me in my story in Portugal

O testemunho No. 2 do Ertuğrul (SPEAK)

ESTAR ATRASADO

I don't know where to start writing this testimony, I should have written it a long time ago. I know I know sorry Amr. I will act like I didn’t finish my project and we will all act like this is my second testimony in the middle of my project. Right now I am in my room. Time already passed midnight, I opened some nice hopeful music from YouTube, lay down on my bed and started thinking, went back some months. As you can see, I still don’t know where to start. I think I started learning that some things are better when you do it on time, when they are still hot in your memories, but It was impossible to write this testimony back in that time because It was too hot to write so I had to wait some time for it to be get colder to write it  but I forgot something. I forgot that  time flies. With my flatmates we had a great trip to the Algarve region, the place called Lagos. It was a bit of a short but really nice trip. I really like the surroundings and our time there. 

With my project we had a weekend event in Almada. It was in the Hotel. I met with my colleagues and many people from different backgrounds. I felt closer to my organization and also made really good friendships. We had really good activities, parties, small talks and many more things. This was one of the breaking points for me. After this weekend, I became really close friends with my supervisor and currently one of my closest friends in Lisbon Ricardo. I also met three really nice Dutch interns. With all of them we had many countless memories.

After some months, we had some goodbyes and welcomes in our flat. Two of my flatmates left and now we have two new boys in our flat and we also became good friends after some time. Me and my other two flatmates went for arrival training in Viseu. It was really good, I met really cool and good people. Also I got to know Viseu a bit. I like the city actually even though It was small. In the arrival training we met with people from many countries but mostly European. We had some good activities there and also ate really good food, partied a bit, learned more about ESC, youthpass and other European projects for young people like us. It was really useful training for me and I think for all of us. After I came back from the project I had a covid and stayed alone in quarantine for almost 8 days. It was really boring since my room is not the best room and I had some headache but luckily my flatmates took care of me. Especially Amr and Lisa fed me really well, it was a bit of vacation from cooking haha. Special thanks to them. About my project, one of the people that I work with changed her job and I have a new colleague that I work with ( like supervisor but not supervisor). Now it is much more challenging for me but still good. I am hosting more events in Almada. Now I am doing weekly events in Almada as a CEO of the city.

Also it was a crazy month to be honest because In the city it was a month of big parties. In Portugal they call it Santos Populares, city is now looking like a big club. Everywhere there are big parties, people sing, dance, get drunk and eat sardines( everywhere smells like a fish). I am more like a bifana person. I don’t remember how much I drank at these street parties and I don’t remember how many times I partied and got drunk. I am really feeling this amazing festival mood around the city and makes Lisbon even better. 

O testemunho No. 1 do Ertuğrul (SPEAK)

 Pôr do sol ☀️

With the sunrise in the morning, I rose to the sky. I got lost in the clouds with a metal bird which was the most beautiful proof of mankind's love for the sky and flying for centuries. After 5 hours, as the sun was setting, I came back to earth from the sky. Later, at the airport, I was greeted by a flatmate that I had never seen before, but she was friendly as if we had known each other for years. The adventure that I started in the sky continued into the underground. It seems that mankind got bored of its love for the sky, and put a metal snake underground. After passing through dark tunnels and a few stations the names of I didn’t know, I got off at the station called Marques de Pombal and reached the earth again. 

I got lost in the streets of this city, which was designed for me to lose the weight I gained during the corona time, with the sounds of the wheel of my luggage. While looking around like a curious child, I followed my flatmate. From the very first day, Lisbon thought me that once I go down to a hill, I have to climb back up over and over again. Just like that, I reached my new home, the Casa de Bernardim, and what actually made me feel like home were my new flatmates, who always had smiles on their faces. After a couple of days past another flatmate arrived from away. Then my roommate arrived and he was late because he came from farther away. Finally, the Casa Bernardim family was completed.

Since I had a couple of free weeks before my welcome day with my coordinating and hosting organizations, I started exploring the city of Lisbon with its ups and downs. I walked and walked, sometimes I got lost by chance and sometimes I wanted to get lost discover something new. After climbing the slopes and steps to watch the sunset at the beautiful “Miradouro’s”, this fairy-tale city taught me that “to see beautiful things, we have to go for it even tho sometimes it's hard and we can be sure that it will always worth it.

Finally, I met with the Spin team at the welcome day and also with the SPEAK organization that I volunteer at and after I met with my coordinators and other colleagues at SPEAK. The SPEAK office has a great atmosphere. I felt welcomed and motivated about my project. The purpose of SPEAK is to connect newcomers with locals living in the same city through a language and culture exchange program that has two main activities: language groups and community-organized events. We work with many ex-pats, immigrants, refugees, and students. My main responsibilities are interacting with Buddies in Almada city in general and developing the community there. I give online training for new buddies, explaining to them the purpose of SPEAK and providing information about language sessions, events. I also get feedback from buddies and help them with their questions and problems about the language sessions. 

In addition, I currently lead a language session and prepare a guide for Turkish buddies. My colleagues at SPEAK always help me and teach me new things, and this is a great opportunity for me to improve myself. At first, I had a little difficulty because there was a lot of new information, but then everything fell into place and I continued my project more comfortably. Within a week, I had a Christmas dinner with both the Spin and SPEAK team. At both events, I met people from other countries. In these warm family environments, I felt as if I had been in this city for years and knew these people. I also started learning Portuguese thanks to one of our volunteer friends. 

I am always grateful for being at the same table for dinner with my flatmates, the little trips we take on the weekend, the conversations we have while cooking in the kitchen, the Miroduro's we go to catch the sunset, and me always being late, the sweet reproaches of them, the activities we did with other volunteers in the Casa de Bernardim. Countless feelings, smiles, conversations, sunsets, stairs, drinks, songs, food, sweet discussions, new places, new people, and stories …

I laugh, I learn, I see, I taste, I try, I share, I tell, I understand, I experience.

In short, I am feeling alive.

O testemunho final da Clara (SPEAK)

 “Tu nunca seria quem és hoje se nao tivesses passado pelo que passaste”.

There are many things that this ESC year taught me, and this is one of them: “You would never be who you are today if you had not gone through what you went through”.

Tomorrow I will celebrate my first year in Portugal and I will start a new chapter of my life. 

This year has been ‘intense’. There are many adjectives and nouns I could use to describe it but I believe that one of the words I would first use is “grateful”. I am grateful for what I have been living, for the possibility I was given, for the new experiences, for the new “family” and for much more. I am also grateful because I learned how to be grateful for every single day I lived here. 

Looking back I see a year full of new adventures.

Thanks to the ESC project I met so many people. Lisbon is a lively city and getting new friends is definitely not a “big deal”, but finding a “family” was surprising. Co-living with other volunteers was the key to getting to know people that I know will be part of my life forever. 

Meeting new volunteers from SPIN and from other organizations and understanding how similar and how much we share even if we are from different countries, that was incredible! I shared many good moments with all of them and I will bring all those memories with me.

SPEAK has played an important role in my life here. SPEAK has not only been my hosting organization, it was and it is a family to me. I learned a lot and developed new skills, but most of all I grew a lot. After all these months working for them, I am really motivated to keep having SPEAK in my life. I believe this project should spread more around the globe and that more people could access it. Also, I learned what it means to work for a social business and now more than ever I believe that I would like to spend many more years of my life dedicating time to projects like this one. 

Summing up, Portugal gave me a lot. I discovered a lot about myself. I had the possibility to start over and to make this place my new home. Every experience I had left me something I will never forget. I simply fell in love with this city. I love it so much that I decided to stay here. Portugal 2.0 is coming and I am looking forward to it! 

As they would say here: Boa sorte Clarinha! 

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.