O testemunho final da Annamaria (Spin)

My life in Portugal has ended. I was there over 8 months and it was one of the most eye opening and challenging things I had to do in my life. I'm so grateful for this opportunity and for the people's life put on my road. 

I was a volunteer in an organization called SPIN. My task was collecting signatures for declarations but I did other things too. Like help with different projects, cooked meals for welcome days, just helped around the office. I loved working in SPIN because every week was different. Sometimes we just did things in the office,

 other week in the hostel and I had the opportunity to go to schools just to talk about my work and life in Portugal and thanks to that I got more courage to speak in front of a crowd, Spin gave me the opportunity to come outside of my comfort zone and the people that i worked with was amazing, really friendly, caring  and always ready to help if I had any problems.

In the 8 months when I was there were of course some challenges like living in a big city cause I never had been in such a big city and I really missed nature many times but then I just traveled a little bit further and hike in Monsanto or Sintra.

I had to face living with 6 other people and sharing a room and everyone was from a different country so there were problems but I lived with amazing people so when we had problems we managed to solve them quickly, In the beginning it was hard being away from my friends and I felt alone but over time I met new and unforgettable people who were always there for me and who I could count on. Especially the people I lived with, they were my family and I couldn't  ask for a better family then they were.

 

I had time to travel across Portugal and see some breathtaking places. The most breathtaking place I had been to was Sintra and I’ll miss that city a lot but I'm grateful that I went there to see nature. I fell in love with the country overall cause every place is like a fairytale. I’ve been to Algarve, Porto, Nazare and a lot of more wonderful places. I love nature and that’s why my favorite place is Sintra with its amazing nature, castles, and palaces. Every time I went there it was like my first time, there's always some new place to discover.

Even when I didn't travel, Lisbon had to offer beautiful and interesting places to visit with my dear other volunteers all the time like walks in a park or evenings in a miradoru. Even if we just had a picnic in some park it was amazing. It's good to be back in Estonia but I really miss Lisbon and all of my amazing people there, thank you for everything and someday I'll be back to Lisbon and see my beautiful people, even if they are not in Lisbon we will meet again maybe in a different country and I can't wait what life brings me.