O Tomaso veio de Itália e realizou SVE em Lisboa em Portugal. Esta é a partilha da sua experiência!
An Italian in Lisbon! Here is Tomaso’s experience as a voluteer in Associação Mais Cidadania, as he described it to us:
“Hello everybody!
I’m Tomaso, an ex-EVS volunteer. I spent 6 beautiful months in Lisbon. I received my “OK” by my sending organization and arrived there 3 days after I was chosen. This was my first experience abroad. I didn’t know why I was there, because I spent 2 days preparing my luggage. However, I remember I was very very happy. During the first days, all volunteers we stayed at the Associação in order to listen to presentations and information about our EVS and the host organisation.
We attended Portuguese lessons (3 weeks) where we learned some words and grammatical rules. After 1 month, I started working in Apelação. The people that live there are like me… It is not important to “falar” (to talk), it is important “fazer” (to do). I worked in a school and a Community. My tasks were: to keep calm the library, look after the children at the dining room and help them with the computer. Obviously, I spent there my free time, playing football, ping-pong and climbing (Be careful! The children are very good players! If you are not passionate about this sport, it’s better to start another activity! ) The people I met there gave me a lot of good moments!!!
Lisbon is a fantastic city! It has its traditional means of transport, like the old tram. It’s a big city but if you want to visit every small
street of it, you should do it on foot! In Lisbon there are 7 hills and on top of each the view is beautiful. Alfama is a wonderful “Bairro” as well!
The Portuguese people are very friendly, even though they face problems with their economy and wellbeing. When you meet somebody, he will buy the first beer!”
Associação Mais Cidadania 