Impressões voluntárias, um mês depois

 Olá,

quero pedir desculpa por escrever o meu primeiro artigo de voluntário em inglês, but as a trainee journalist I'd say that precision is fundamental. My biggest purpose of trabalhar até cansar to improve my Portuguese language is going well as planned, but my emotional sphere is still wider if I write in english. 

Despite having chosen Portugal as my Esc destiny so much time ago, this was only my first month in Viana. Anyway, this is not my first time volunteering, I arrived here after a two months experience in Alentejo, during last summer, that gave me the security about my will to live em solo lusitano for a longer time. I saw the call for volunteers on a Tunisian train, during a little trip to Carthago, and I immediately realized that it was the offer I was looking for. I spent the first month re-adapting my daily habits to the Portuguese lifestyle and getting comfortable with the new routine. 

Working only in the afternoon fits perfectly with my biologic habits, but it implied some little changes (going to buy stuffs in the morning or late afternoon, sleeping time, etc.) our main task is assisting a bunch of kids who come to the ludoteca/office after school, an excellent excuse to practice the language (they only speak Portuguese, of course) and an activity that I find very romantic/nostalgic since they remind me of myself at their age: I was precisely like them.

 Last week I also had the pleasant honour de fazer o meu primeiro discurso público em Português, presenting to a group of local adolescents the beauty of the Erasmus+ program, mostly about what I'm doing here but also, to start, what a Youth Exchange is. 

Moreover, living in a shared flat so far from home is super relaxing and gives me the possibility to experiment new techniques to survive (it's about food, we also found at home a book of portugues recipes that I can't wait to try) and keep cultivating the majority of my hobbies. Among these hobbies I need to cite, of course, my attempt to learn Portuguese (is one of the reasons that brought me to Portugal, before getting too old this is one of the last possibilities to learn a new language) and to explore the world around me as much as possible. We live in a very interesting area, full of nice cities to visit and many natural places. For the next weeks/months I'll have some friends to visit around different cities and some hardcore plans to achieve (catch a flight and visit some island, for example). it's never too late to say no! to an ordinary and boring life at home and go abroad to live your life at its maximum.