O testemunho final da Teele (Spin)

Hi blog,

I’m finally back. Here goes my humble effort of trying to somehow summarize the past 10 months of my life. Where do I start? 

I have been back in Estonia for a month now. Estonia – the land of dearly missed black bread and saunas, not to mention the only country where people can pronounce my name. But I’m here to talk about Portugal, the land of Tosta Mista and WRC bus drivers. During my first weeks in Lisbon, I remember saying that nine months are probably not going to be enough for me. It stayed true until the end so I extended my project for one extra month.  

Some things remained the same throughout the 10 months. I still didn't get used to:

1. the 77-step staircase in front of my apartment, 

2. needing to always have cash,  

3. wearing shoes inside houses,  

4. people saying “how are you?” as a greeting, 

5. peacocks in parks (still crazy). 

Other things have changed. I’m drinking espressos now. And I think my life has a bit more color – I mean it in a metaphoric way but also quite literally. As my fellow Estonian volunteer put it: “Teele, you’re not white as hell anymore.” I felt good about her comment until I got home and it was pointed out that I’m still the whitest one in my family. In addition to that, the inside of my closet has also slowly turned from black-white-gray to slightly happier tones.  Aside from color, something else I gained was independence and confidence. I had lived on my own before, but never in a foreign country. After experiencing that it really is possible to pack your life in a suitcase and move to another country, I have more confidence to do it in the future as well. And Lisbon, being warm and accepting, was a great city to start with.

My work in Spin ended up being quite versatile. The main tasks were office-related, but once in a while we had some bigger happenings like welcoming new volunteers and  making lunches/dinners. I also got to develop my photography and video-making skills and in a few cases when Liza was absent, I took over social media. Another cool task was helping to choose new volunteers and reading through all the applications. 

Furthermore, Spin hosted two big projects during my time, one Erasmus+ training course and one youth exchange. In both projects, I had the opportunity to assist the facilitator. However, my all-time favorite task has to be “take the interns surfing”. Sure enough, I rented a board on my own and joined them on the waves.

When I wasn’t working, I was probably dancing. I took full advantage of my dance studio, going five times a week for 1-3 hours and falling in love with styles I’ve never danced before. I had the funniest-dorkiest popping teacher, the kindest, smiliest house teacher, the most physically challenging contemporary teacher and just simply the greatest locking teacher, to name a few. Over time I became friends with other dance maniacs and a small supporting dance circle was formed. To end the season, we had performances in a theater and I could finally quench my thirst for performing again. 

When I wasn’t working or dancing, I was out with my friends. One thing I didn’t know to expect was this big volunteer community we had. Because Spin is also coordinating many volunteers to other organizations, we would naturally meet and become good friends. And this time it was an incredibly cool mix of cultures. Not only did we have the Spanish, Italian and French people that you would expect, we also had volunteers from Poland, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and the UK. Add my Brazilian flatmates, Portuguese co-workers and German friends from dance to this equation and you get a full multicultural package. I’m really lucky to have had such kind people around me, always taking good care of me and also teaching me how to be better. 

Seems like I got the full package in general. I’ve been feeling high meeting a lot of people, seeing dolphins in the ocean, driving through clouds in Madeira, swimming under waterfalls and just happily walking the sunset-coloured streets of Lisbon. It got to taste foods like clams, octopus, squid, snails, chestnuts, papaya, passion fruit and dragon fruit. Once, being close to the Spanish border, we made an unplanned 10-minute visit to Spain and were immediately greeted by a herd of wild horses. It was my first time in Spain. Other “firsts“ include: Halloween party, Carnival and Santos Populares celebrations, spending a night in an airport and taking part in a demonstration (for Ukraine). To think about it, it was also my first time waking up in order to see the sunrise, because usually seeing the sunrise just happens when I haven’t gone to sleep yet. Some other weirdly unexpected things include learning how to juggle, play mahjong and make good tomato soup. The list could go on.

But what’s good without any bad. Remember Covid? We’ve had all sorts of Covid-related situations. One time I had to stay in quarantine, because not only one, but three of my flatmates were positive. I managed to stay clear this time, but two months later I caught an ambulance ride to a hospital because I had just had the worst night ever and suspected I might have a concussion (a longer story). Turned out it was good old Covid-19. One Friday night on the crowded streets of Bairro Alto, I had my phone with all my bank- and transportation cards stolen. I went back to living without mobile data and GPS for three weeks. And if you know me, I’m terrible with navigation. To top it all off, a near falling to death experience in Gerês. Do take signs that read “zone of death accidents” seriously.

And of course, when you get to the middle end of your project, you have the heartbreak of your friends leaving one by one. I knew I was sentimental, but it reached a new level. When it was my own turn to leave, I was trying to come to terms with it for almost two months. Some people asked why I was not staying, but since most of my friends were leaving, I felt like this chapter was ending anyway and I should leave too. It didn’t save me any tears though, because it was the best chapter I’ve ever had.

 

Wow, congratulations, you’re among the 35% who made it through this essay! Thank you for taking the time. See you in other adventures. ♡

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. 

O testemunho no. 1 da Henri (SPIN)

Olá! I am Henri, a new Spin volunteer from 1st of March.

I come from snowy Estonia, where I was working as an assistant in TV shows. Before that I did a short term ESC project + woofing and working holidays visas in different countries. After a few years of working in Tallinn I felt like I really wanna be part of volunteering service again. I found out that Associação Spin was looking for new volunteers. I applied and had a flight here in Lisbon - city I already felt in love from my last visit. 

Arrived here in a nice spring time. When I could feel sunny warm weather. Also when covid pandemic is lowering (compare with January and February) and restrictions were loosening. 

A Really nice time to walk and wander around the city. Looking all the beautiful architecture and street art. Love all those cute narrow streets and little rocks of all pedestrian roads. Also many big parks chill riverside area. And of course  awesome coastal line and sandy beaches. Only one thing to always remember -  when walking around the city can't forget to watch on your toes otherwise might step into a dog poop.

I am happy to be part of a Spin team. After few we were able to meet and have a meeting in real life. What we could do under the big three next to the Spin office and kindergarten. Surrounded by lovely local neighborhood Bairro Padre Cruz  full of street art worth checking out. 

Also we were finally able to host other volunteers in there and definitely looking forward to this year, to meet and get to know more nice volunteers in this sunny Portugal! 

Beijinhos 

Henri

O testemunho no. 1 da Eliisa (SPIN)

Hi everyone! My name is Eliisa, but people here know me as Elsa and I am a new volunteer at Spin Association! 

It has been 4 months since the decision to change my life and become a volunteer thanks to a really great recommendation from a good friend with the same experience. After that everything is already foggy, the time went so fast since applying, interviewing, confirming and arriving. The moment I realized that I am really doing this was when I was already landing to Lisbon which by the way- the most amazing moment in my life so far.

A month has passed since I arrived to my new home. It is still hard to wrap my mind around it- this country is where I will be spending the next 10 months of my life so in between busy moments of exploring I try to take a few breaths to take in the moment. The first weeks were amazing even though we were quarantined for 14 days since we came from Estonia, but we could still do small walks around our home. To our surprise near our home is the most prettiest park for first impressions-Marques de Pombal. This first month has all been about getting to know our neighborhood and familiarize us with Spins activities. We started with online meetings and finally after self isolation we got to meet Spin office and the area its located- Barrio Padre Cruz and of course our most wonderful Spin hostel. 

My greatest pleasure so far has been the welcoming of new volunteers which meant that we would cook a lovely meal to welcome our new amazing friends. For now what is next hopefully we are able to start organizing Live It Lisbon! Hopefully you will hear more about it soon😉

Beijinhos 

Elsa