Erasmus vivido na primeira pessoa

Partilho, com muitas lágrimas à mistura, aquela que foi a melhor experiência da minha vida.

One week has passed since I left Poznań, the city that I called home for 10 months.

It's hard to imagine that this reality exists – the reality after ERASMUS. The only reality that I knew before moving, was that this would be the best experience of my life.

FIRST SEMESTER

I arrived to Warsaw on 13th of September in company of my parents, because I was saying to my self that it would hurt less not to go alone. I left Portugal having 30 degrees Celsius. In Poland was less than half of that. First impact was positive.

I was all by myself for 4 days after our arrival. According to my personal diary of Erasmus, yes I created one, I felt impotent and confused without knowing what to do or where to go.

It took one week to know how trams worked. For anyone who doesn't know, tram is half metro, half train but really really cheap.

October was a crazy month: 4 weekends that result in 4 big travels. Warsaw, Malmo, London and Bristol. In the middle of that month, I had my first class and it was in English (such a relief!). I met amazing people there and they never judged me because of my incredible "portuguesenglish" accent.

During this period, I made some Portuguese friends much crazier than I am, who daily reminded me that the family could also be raised there, and that ties and relationships are to maintain. After all we are far, but still close. It was also when I met two of my polish friends (by the way, no, I don't speak polish)

Halloween party was unforgettable. First, I tried for the first time Soplica that is vodka, the famous vodka. And then because I met two guys who were going to make a huge difference in this adventure in Poland. Curious, at first sight, they didn't seem cool or something like that, but well, we should not jugde a book by its cover, right? (No tengo culpa... Eran dos españoles feos y parecían convencidos)

Beside of that, I met dos muchachas, guapissimas, que quiero mucho y para siempre, they were my sisters, my confidants and now, a piece of me.

I had 3 friends that came to visit me. Pedro do you remember that night that we don't remember nothing about it? Chico, I hope that your birthday isn't soon, cause I have something incredible to share with this world, and no, I'm not talking about my fall in the ski slope. Lipe, what about continue to be my Insta-photographer?

Even far away, I always cooked things to remind me that I was close. I'm talking about cod fish(bacalhau, the famous one), Aletria, pancakes and other recipes that my mom usually cooks.

I had my first snow fight in Poland in the middle of January. The weather was incredibly cold, however it was the best scenery that I have ever seen every time it snowed. In the middle of the afternoon, I woke up my roommate saying "Inna, Inna please come! It's snowing in a way that I never saw. Let's go outside!". Note: never forget that the ice is slippery. I learned it the hard way.

SECOND SEMESTER

In the second semester the time to spend with friends was much shorter, even as it had more than twice the number of subjects that I've ever had. So, I had to be more organized and manage my time in order to study and maintain an active or almost active social life. And I was successful. I had my obligation, to study, and I had time to go to Wroclaw, Łódź, BUDA and PEST and to Gdańsk, where I bronzed. Incredible, right? In Poland were 33 degrees and also minus 19. Six months separate these temperatures.

THE FAREWELLS

For me the most complicated part, much more than the adaptation to the country, were farewells.

The first one was of my neighbors, the 310 girls. Little by little, farewells began to be more frequent and I found myself thinking about how it would be mine, since I knew that I would be the last to leave Poznań.

It followed the Venezuelan and Colombian and Spanish (it's just one person) most dear of the world, with a sweet voice.

Then Sergio, the first Spanish that I met and on that day sang to me "A cabritinha" by Quim Barreiros.

It's hard to name everyone, it was so many people that I met during these months and all of them left their own mark.

Demito, Diego, Maria, Marta (s), Salam, Raquel (a pareja que tenia miel), Paula, Catarina, Alex and Hiper Antonio, for you a special message. You were my sunshine in the days of the storm and my company in moments of loneliness. I'm so thankful for having you in my life, that you have no idea.

Finally, on 3rd July I left my dorm, Zbyszko. When I close the door, I felt so much emotion, that I had to open again the door and look at the walls, at the furniture and remind all of bad, but specially good moments that I had there. It was official, my Erasmus was ending.

Final balance is really positive. I learnt so much. My english improved drastically, I've even learned spanish and realised that galego is not that different from portuguese. Galegos, venham visitar-me! Vos echo de menos.

Estar longe fez-me muito bem, sabem? Consegui perceber e valorizar de uma forma mais justa quem me quer bem, e quem "tanto faz". O apoio da família e dos amigos mais próximos foi sem dúvida o pilar de subsistência. Que seja sempre assim.

Viajei, ri muito, dancei, estudei mais do que nunca, chorei, ai se chorei... O mais importante, vivi de uma forma tão intensa e tão boa, que repetiria vezes sem conta.

Once Erasmus, always Erasmus

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