O testemunho da Annalise No. 3 (Associação Spin)

ESC experience finishes this month. I am feeling relieved that my project has come to an end, anxious about moving countries again, and of course, a little bit sad about leaving behind the people I have made special connections with in Lisbon.                                                                                     

Highlights of my time here:

·       a 7-day bike trip along the south coast of Algarve (I followed the ecovia do litoral if you want to check it out)

·       the very random but lovely 5 days spent in Fafe for On-Arrival training (which feels like ages ago!)

·       getting to drink wine with lunch at the office whenever we had welcome days for new volunteers

·       explaining to all the over-friendly old Portuguese ladies on the street that I am not, in fact, from Angola

·       Building a bike from scratch and just generally hanging out with the bike bros at Cicloficina

·       learning Portuguese protest chants at the feminist, Black Lives Matter, and antifa marches

·       All the west coast sunsets spent with good company

I actually learnt a lot about the extent of the Erasmus+ program - which, honestly, I knew nothing about before applying for this project at Spin. As young European citizens, we really have so many opportunities available to us, and hopefully I can be a personal advocate for this going forward, whatever I end up doing.

Considering the current pandemic and public health measures, the past few months of summer in Lisbon have still been quite fun, thanks to the sunshine. Overall I'm just very grateful to Spin and the ESC program for allowing me to be here for 11 months! Lisbon is absolutely beautiful, and my time in Portugal has taught me many things, but I am happy to close this experience and move on to the next thing.

O testemunho da Annalise No. 2 (Associação Spin)

The 6-month mark of my project is fast approaching. What a half-year it's been. It has been an unsettled period for the Spin office, but the unwavering positivity of my lovely colleagues has been extremely motivating. As always, there are plenty of positive things to focus on...

First of all, I'm super grateful to be living in Lisbon. It's a colourful, cobbled, city with diverse neighbourhoods and whose laid-back atmosphere makes it really easy to feel comfortable here. It's not easy to learn the language but it's also never not entertaining trying to communicate in Portuguese with the locals. I love passing by people talking on the street and listening to those strange nasal sounds of the language that I love to imitate.

I'm also grateful for the host of other volunteers I have met here. A definite highlight of my time here was the five days invading a tiny town in the north of Portugal with 50 other ESC volunteers doing their projects all around the country, otherwise known as On-Arrival training (for future/new volunteers: On-Arrival is definitely not something to be missed).

Presumably there are 3 and a half months left of my project here, which is both comforting and alarming. I'm sure that these months will pass extremely quickly and once I move on I'll be left with a big, sad, Lisbon-shaped hole in my heart. So for the moment, I will try to make the most of the rest of my time here!

O testemunho da Annalise

Today marks my third day in Lisbon doing my ESC project with Spin. I'm currently waiting to register at the health centre which has given me a *lot* of time to reflect, so I figure now is a good time to write down some of my first impressions.

After a hectic day of travel (thank you RyanAir), I arrived in Lisbon and spent my first night in the beautiful Casa Anjos. My first couple of days at the office happened so quickly! It feels a bit as though I've been dropped into a fast-flowing river and right now I'm just being carried by the current. I hope that I'll find my footing soon enough, and am very grateful to be sharing this experience with some other new volunteers. Meeting the lovely Tavi, Ksenia, Viviana, Ana - and everyone else! - has been an amazing comfort.

From my coworkers to my flatmates, I feel like I have already met a bunch of really interesting people - our energies are different, as are our perspectives and life experiences. It's really stimulating to be surrounded by diversity of thought and culture. I can already tell that I am going to learn a lot during these months in Lisbon.

Thanks to the introduction meetings at the office, I now know a little better what to expect of my day-to-day life at Spin. It's a beautiful space and seems like an environment that is open to collaboration and new ideas, so I'm very eager to help out where I can and hopefully contribute my own project ideas.

So there are my first impressions. I look forward to facing new challenges and exploring what is now my new home for the next 9 months :)