O testemunho final da Lucia (Viver Telheiras)

Dear Lisbon,

I dedicate this letter to you. It's now time to say goodbye. 

It's been a year since I got off a plane with a suitcase and a backpack, ready to start my volunteering experience here. I had never set foot in Portugal before, so I wasn't sure I would have liked it. Luckily, however, it was love at first sight.

In these last 12 months, many different phases of my life have followed one another. At first, I discovered Lisbon by taking long walks through the city with other fellow volunteers, then I lived my first Christmas and New Year's out of Italy, and then also a new lockdown. Once it was possible to start moving throughout the country again, I finally dedicated myself to discovering the rest of Portugal, from Porto in the north to the Benagil caves, down near Faro, filling my eyes with breathtaking landscapes and the belly of local specialties.

My mood has also fluctuated a lot: my initial enthusiasm was crushed from the lockdown, but it slowly returned. These days I am trying to make the most of my time here, knowing that it will be difficult to say goodbye to a city that made me feel at home.

Of course, it wasn't all fun and games, but even if sometimes I felt a bit unmotivated or lost because I didn't know what to do, luckily I had the support of people who helped me tidy up my thoughts and understand what was best to do. And with these people, I also shared good and fun moments. This is indeed the most precious thing that will remain to me from this experience: the people I met here.

For these reasons, I go back to Italy with my heart full of gratitude and good memories.

Obrigadinha Lisboa, até a próxima! 

Lucia

O testemunho No. 2 da Lucia (Viver Telheiras)

Here we are! As six months have passed since my arrival in Portugal I’m stopping for a moment to evaluate this first half of my volunteering project.

The beginning of my stay in Lisbon was awesome, I was exploring the city, getting to know
the other volunteers and having meetings with my tutor and other people from my hosting organisation. 

However, from January Portugal was again on lockdown and, as a consequence, I had to stop or suspend my activities for a bit. It took me some time to organise my routine in lockdown, but having experience that a year ago helped me a lot and taught me how to plan my day not to waste my time while I had to stay at home. The bright side of the lockdown was that I could spend some time studying a little bit Portuguese and sharing moments with my flatmates. 

Luckily, the covid situation has improved a lot recently and the restrictions have started to be gradually loosened, so I could explore a little bit of Portugal. More specifically, I spent some time in Algarve, in southern Portugal, to take part in a workaway project with some fellow volunteers and friends from Lisbon. In the mornings we had to do some manual work to renovate a house in the countryside, while in the afternoon and in the night we had some free time to chill and visit the surroundings. It was a great experience because we could take a break from the routine in the city, spend time at the open air and socialise with the other volunteers. Besides that, I’ve also had the opportunity to discover new places along the coast and visit some cities, such as Sintra, Óbidos, Coimbra and Aveiro. 

During the lockdown all my meetings and activities with my hosting organisation were online. Luckily, as soon as the rules allowed it, I started again having meetings in presence with my tutor and some people collaborating with my host association. Meeting people and doing activities offline is much more motivating and I can’t wait to see the events on which we have been working taking place. More specifically, we are working on some projects to promote biodiversity and we are organising some workshops for the local schools. Seeing these initiatives finally taking shape has been rewarding and I’m excited to see what is coming next.

Até à próxima, bjs,

Lucia