Baby Steps

WHERE TO START?

Prelude

It’s always hard to start telling a story, especially when it is the story of the best time of your life. But I have to start somewhere so this story starts the day before I board my flight to Lisbon.

I was actually working. Nothing fancy or even related to my studies. Basically, a classic students job to get by and save up money to waste it on Erasmus (and you will need that money). The colleagues were nice but I was working as a tour guide which means I had to deal with tourists at least 20h per week. Anyone who worked in retail probably knows how much people suck. Not all of them but way too many and I was literally counting down the hours until I could escape.

The reason I elaborate on this is that it’s symptomatic of my situation back then and so you can understand how much this experience affected my life. I just wanted to escape. University was going meh, the job was super meh and I was not in a good place in regards to my friends or even my family. Going on Erasmus became the light at the end of the tunnel. Eventually, my shift ended and I could say goodbye to my colleagues secretly sighing in relief and went on my way to buy a new phone because my old one broke the day before… Right before starting my exchange semester in a new country. I finally got the phone around midnight and was finally all set for the adventure.

The new phone, new country, new life and hopefully new me. After three and a half short hours of flight with TAP (the Portuguese “domestic” airline who give you sandwiches and plum juice, very recommendable)I finally arrived in Lisbon.

WHY LISBON?

I have to admit that there is no special reason I chose Lisbon. No special bond. My number one target was New Zeeland but they didn’t take me. Then I had to search for an alternative in Europe and Lisbon was in the south (I don’t like cold) and I could study in English (I didn’t know Spanish yet). It’s also at the ocean in case anyone needs any other reason to go there. Don’t worry I will give hundreds of reasons to either study there, visit Portugal or actually live there over the course of this story. I may have also heard one or the other story about the nightlife in Lisbon. SPOILER ALERT It’s absolutely amazing.

NEW BEGINNING

So there I am finally free from all obligations to anyone and off on an adventure. My Erasmus Buddy from  Nova School of Business and Economics (NovaSBE) already waited for me and helped me find my place. In case you have never been to Lisbon, the airport is very near to the city (airplanes actually flew directly over my campus and teachers had to stop speaking as I would soon find out ) and you can just take the metro.

INFOBOX: Lisbon has 4 lines named after four colors and the airport is at the red line.

My apartment was at the yellow line and in about half an hour I was where I needed to get out. 

Anxiety started to fill my mind as I stepped out and made way towards the street I was given from my landlord. This was in August so it was quite warm and I had one large 25kg luggage, my laptop and another backpack like some kind of mule and I immediately saw why people told me I’ll have a great ass after living in Lisbon (my ass was already great before.

The Hills (pictures down below). Oh my god, I thought I would melt downhill and end up in the ocean. Little did I know that I would average 15 km walked every day over the next six months. After half an eternity I finally arrive and immediately feel Portuguese friendliness and hospitability as my landlord welcomes me to my new home.

INFOBOX: Most students live in shared flats in Lisbon. There are various websites helping with allocation and I used uniplaces to find my flat but there are various places to search for. Definitely start early so you have enough options open. Most flats are rather huge 8-12 persons but there are smaller apartments as well. I will do a post solely about allocation which is not explicitly part of the story for more detailed tips.

My apartment had 6 rooms but 3 bathrooms and 3 balconies so there were 2 people per bathroom which creates a lot more peace. (Bathrooms are important) We had one rather tiny kitchen and a living room. I know that at first, you would think that a living room is not important but it makes a huge difference. Why? Alcohol is cheap. Pregaming/Predrinking is so much more fun when you are the one who organizes it (especially when you are usually late) and throwing parties definitely helps with the social aspect of Erasmus.

Where was I? Right, new apartment. My room was about 10 square meters with a single bed (my only regret) a table, two drawers and a balcony with an awesome view to the Tejo river as you can see in the pictures.

I breathe in the fresh air and let out the biggest sigh of relief. I finally arrived. All the stress is gone and the sun is shining. Erasmus is supposed to be the best time of your life and mine was about to start. I had no idea how amazing it would actually be…

To be continued

PS: Sorry for the long post, things will pick up faster with the next post.

Photo gallery