One year since arriving in Madeira - part 1

My first day in Madeira

Today, it has been exactly one year since I stepped on the land of the beautiful island called Madeira. I was expecting it would be my “home” only for four months. When I am looking at it now, knowing everything that has happened within this one year, I have to smile sincerely. When I arrived I had no idea I would be prolonging my Erasmus so I could stay longer. My plan was just to “wait” for January and to flee to South America. But I was finally offered a different way!

That summer when I wanted to cancel my application...

It was a very hot summer in 2018 which I spent partly in Spain where I did my traineeship. After work, I usually used to go to a library so I could get some Internet (there was none at home and almost none at school where I was working).

I remember clearly sending an e-mail to my Erasmus+ coordinator from my faculty asking whether I could cancel my application for an Erasmus+ stay in Madeira. Just to explain: I have already been to one Erasmus+ student mobility (studying at a university) and then I went to another one, however, it was an internship. Next, I did that summer traineeship after spending the whole academic year leading our international student club (where we worked with many incoming Erasmus+ students) by my university. (Obviously, I was not leading/managing it alone. There were also other lovely students who became my dear friends. ) Well, my point is that I felt like I wanted to get more experience but not from the university.

I had already finished my 5-year course at the university but as I wanted to apply for a project which works like Erasmus but you should do it outside of Europe, I decided to prolong my studies just with my theses. To be allowed to apply for that specific project, you need to be still enrolled at university as a student and you can apply only once in a calendar year! Not academic, but calendar.

It might seem clearer now, why I put those words about “waiting for January”into the top paragraph.

Picture: I still needed to be a student. And I loved that!

Why did I choose Madeira?

Well, to be honest, I just wanted to spend those four months of “waiting for January 2019” in a useful way. I still wanted to learn new things and meet new people. One of my closest friends told me: “Iva, you must go to Madeira. It is so beautiful!” She was doing her first Erasmus+ experience there and came totally excited. As she also decided to prolong her studies because of another Erasmus opportunity, I told her: “All right, but you must go to Granada!” Granada is in the South of Spain and it was my first Erasmus destination. I completely fell in love with that place. (In fact, I fell in love with Granada that much that I have not gone back – my memories of this place are too beautiful to see it again but without my Erasmus friends who I met there. I believe it would be still amazing, but completely different. ) Anyway, my friend Lenka applied for Granada and I applied for Madeira.

However, as I was sitting in that Spanish library and was supposed to choose subjects which Universidade da Madeira was offering, I felt more and more that I want to get more teaching experience rather than attending classes and getting to know things just in theoretical way. That is why I asked about cancelling my application. I wanted to do my best to find an internship in Madeira...

Though, I was given an answer that at that point it would be better to continue at the university as they had already accepted me in Madeira as an E+ student. Well, I took it as a sign and thought that if anything else, I will learn a new language at least.

Time to get ready for four/eight months over a night!

When I came from Spain, I decided to get a bit of education more and take a course in Prague (Czech Republic) to become a tourist guide. I spent the whole August and the beginning of September there so I could take a state final exam on the 16 September and so finish the course. I got home on the same day, but in the late afternoon. I went quickly to visit my grandparents and parents before leaving for Madeira the very next day. The hardest was to say goodbye to my baby niece and her older brother. I knew that by the time I would come back from Madeira, she might have speak and walk and have a mouth full of teeth.

Picture: Taking some final exams in Prague right a day before Erasmus.

Well, later on, there was time to organise my suitcase. I had been moving so often back then that I knew I could manage packing everything quite quickly (putting the same things in) and go to sleep. There were not many hours left for sleeping but still better than nothing.

Here I go, Madeira!

My parents walked me to a train station where I took a train to Prague again and a plane to “Funchal”.

When I was on the train when going for my first Erasmus+, I suddenly realised: “What will I eat? I cannot cook, I hate cooking!” Well, I learn how to cook thank Erasmus and what more? I really like cooking now.

When I was on my way to Madeira, I was going there without expecting much, honestly. I knew what Erasmus was about and I got a little bit tired of putting so much effort to find good friends who you have to say goodbye after a while. My only thought were that I really wanted to get to know Madeiran culture, learn Portuguese (and be using my five words I knew in that language since the first day) and meet locals rather than partying in Casino/Copa every weekend.

I know you might thing: “Girl, why did you apply for Erasmus at the beginning when you were not excited about that?!?” I mean, I was excited but in a different way from the way of my first Erasmus when e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g was completely new.

Picture: Goodbye at the train station meant hello to new adventures.

To be continued...

I cannot wait to tell you how the whole day of getting to Madeira continued. But as always, I do not want to write articles which would be too long and would make you feel bored.

Moreover, as September is here, I have already started to work officially as a teacher and really need to get more sleep than I got the night before leaving for Madeira a year ago. Even though I am quite busy these days (and I do myself busy, that is simply me... ) I wanted it very much too write an article about my Erasmus and Madeira and celebrate the one-year anniversary of getting to that beautiful island which gave me so much more than I only could expect and imagine!

Do not worry, I will finish this story, so you can laugh with me about my first day in Funchal.

Picture: Exactly one year ago.

Thank you, everyone, for reading this article and if you are one of the lovely bunch of people I met in Madeira, thank you for giving me some memories!

P. S. : There was an older man who I usually used to meet when running in Funchal. We did not know each other but we always smiled at each other and greeted each other while running. It always made me feel so good. Moreover, I used to run when it was good for me (at different times) but I still kept meeting that gentleman. And finally – we met on a beach before I was about to leave Madeira. So we got to know each other a bit more.

My point now is that we might have met each other even without knowing each other and you still might have leave some memories to me. Many, many thanks!

P. S. 2: It just came into my mind – one of these people is the lovely reporter from Madeira TV with really light blue colour of eyes with whom I did an interview during Noite do Mercado in Funchal and the very next day in Camacha. I was so much fun. If there is anyone reading this and knowing the reporter, tell him he does a great job. He made me happy and I still remember him.

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