Daniele's experience in Portugal

After my short-term project in Slovakia (where I had a wonderful time), I was certain that I wanted to repeat the experience in another country for a longer period. My reasoning was: “The experience in Slovakia was amazing, but people are always grumpy because of the unfriendly climate. Let’s turn everything upside down. Let’s try Portugal!”

Driven by this idea—both naïve and brilliant—I left at the end of January 2021 for the western edge of the Iberian Peninsula. After an initial period of adjustment and a semi-lockdown due to Covid, everything went great. One of my favorite activities has been helping high school classes with English: trying to touch the students’ hearts, communicate with them, and spark their interest in what you are passionate about. Of course, not everyone will be interested in these strange volunteers from other countries wandering around the school. It’s normal not to build a connection with everyone. But if you manage to help and support the growth of even just one young human being, you truly feel the pride of being a volunteer.

On a lighter note, I can’t help but mention the amazing beaches, the ocean, the surf lessons (where the number of falls easily exceeded one hundred), the cities I visited, the drinks and traditional food, learning how to get by in Portuguese, the narrow streets of Viana, the desserts, the dinners shared with others, the people I met, and the wonderful city of Porto—the first place in my life that made me say, “I’m home.”

Ending this experience with a Youth Exchange was the cherry on top. Helping to organize and carry out such a large and important project was a great challenge, but it helped me immensely to learn how to handle new situations, take on responsibilities, and understand and support people of all kinds, with extremely different backgrounds. I am deeply grateful for everything—this volunteering experience was truly wonderful.