Student reports on the Erasmus+ meeting in Portugal in April 2022

Laura Karukka:

The best thing about the trip was how genuinely I got to know the life of the Portuguese youth of my age. It is difficult to imagine how different or similar the lives of youth across Europe are. It’s always great to get to see and learn something new, but living with a host family brought a whole new perspective to traveling. I was lucky when I got to live in Eva’s family for a week. They treated me like their second daughter, and right from the first day I felt really welcome. I had fears that living with strangers would be embarrassing, but that was not the case.

Every night we had dinner together, which was a particularly nice moment of the day. They called it a little meeting. We reminisced the events of the day and talked about many other current issues. The parents of the family did not speak English so well, but we did not allow the language barrier to interfere. Eva translated as many words to them as was needed, and the conversation between us became very smooth towards the end of the week.

The exchange gave me many new friendships and experiences, as well as good memories. I will look back on them with great joy for many years to come.

Tuesday, 19th April

On Tuesday we took a bus to school with Eva. Eva lives outside the city, so the trip to school took about 20 minutes. The morning program included a tour of the city and a visit to the town hall. At the town hall, the mayor gave a short speech and welcomed us to Braga. There were a lot of churches in the center that we visited together with the whole Erasmus+ group.

We had a moment of free time before lunch, so we decided to go to a cafe with Julia. The differences in food prices, especially compared to Finland, were huge. A cup of coffee cost 70 cents in a cafe, and a delicious cake cost only one euro. We tasted churros which were especially good.

We ate lunch at school. The ladies at the canteen dispensed the food on our plates behind the counter and poured the water into our glasses. Eva told me that almost no one eats at school, as the supermarket next door offers much better and higher quality food for only a couple of euros. The school meal system was a little special as they were divided into ratings which determined the price of the school meal for each student. The ratings are affected by e.g. parental income and family's financial status. Those who get food for free, eat at school, but Eva and her friends buy lunch at the store. We ate out with Alina and Julia because the weather was good on Tuesday.

After the lunch break, we had a welcome party where a student from Sa de Miranda High School sang and a couple of dance performances were presented. After the official speeches, each partner country presented its own projects on marine pollution and protection and related problems. It took so long to go through the presentations that we had to drop out the visit to school’s own museum, but we got to go there another day.

After school, part of our group went for a walk to a park that was quite far. I decided to stay in town and checked out a few shops in the meantime. Eva sent me a message when she got out of class, and I left with her and her friends for their regular coffee shop. There came the next culture shock as everyone greeted us by kissing on our both cheeks. A little horrified, I greeted everyone and tried to understand their conversation in Portuguese. We took the bus back home and for dinner we ate Moroccan chicken stew, Tagine. They told me it was one of their traditional dishes, and delicious it was.

Alina Rahkonen:

Our trip to Braga, Portugal, began on Sunday, April 17th, and after a long journey we arrived at our host families. A family with parents, two girls, a pet bird and an energetic Yorkshire Terrier welcomed me. I had my own, large room with a great view over the city. The family was aware of my illness, and the nurse mom had taken everything into account in advance. The communication with the family even before the trip was straightforward, and I got to know Beatriz, who was responsible for me, a lot already then. We really have a lot in common, our hobbies and interests matched each other, and we also had the same level of English language skills. So I set off with confidence. :)

The best thing about the trip was definitely getting to know another country and culture. Portugal is a wonderfully different country compared to Finland in terms of climate, flora and architecture, so I was happy to walk in the cities and natural areas. In addition, the host family was happy to tell me about the Portuguese language, festive traditions, education system and their culture, among other things. They also listened excitedly to my stories about Finland, and we came to the conclusion that their family will visit here in the north as soon as possible.

I would also like to praise the people in charge of the trip and the organizers of the activities. Our week was full of activities that were either entertaining (e.g. a performance by the Braga Traditional Cordophone Orchestra) or informative (e.g. a walk in the protected tidal area of ​​Esposende and a lecture on water protection by a member of the Coast Guard). During the trip, I learned a lot about water bodies and their protection, and I think I can use this information here in Finland.