Perfect Weekend

Here is my idea of how a perfect weekend should look like :

Friday night ... go out with a bunch of friends, drink, dance, have lots of fun, come back home when the sun is lighting up the sky ...

Saturday ... totally lazy day, sleep till late, watch TV, share silence, do nothing ...

Sunday ... Visit new places, take fancy pictures, spend time with a very special person to your heart.

Nothing more, nothing less. A perfect recharger for a brand new week.

Thanks Dey :)

Testimony about my internship

Last week I received from AIESEC PORTO FEP the final evaluation form for my traineeship. In the last part of this evaluation form I had to write my testimony about my traineeship in Portugal.

I decided to make a short resume about my story, so here u have it :

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I can´t tell you the story about my experience as a trainee here in Portugal, without speaking a little bit about me, before coming here.

I´ve been an active member of AIESEC since 2004 until 2007. This organization transformed completely my years of faculty, and transformed me as an individual. I improved the skills that I had and I developed new ones. And while passing through all the AIESEC Experience, I felt that the Exchange faze it´s a must for my personal development.

So, after “finishing” my courses, I become an Exchange Participant, and I was opened to go wherever Insight will lead me, but as a favorite Country, Brazil was on top of my list.

But my path was going to change its way …. After 6 months of continuous search for an internship, I was on the edge of giving up, when I received an e-mail, from one Ricardo from AIESEC in Porto FEP, Portugal, asking me what do I think about some company´s form. I gave it a look it seemed pretty interesting. A lot of e-mails came, an interview, the acceptance and all the AIESEC formalities.

On the 2nd of March, after a sleepless night – maid of honor at my best friend´s wedding – I was welcomed by a bunch of happy AIESEC people at the Oporto Airport. I had my first francesinha and watch a Portuguese football game :).

And this is how my traineeship started …

Remember I´ve told you about my dream of going to Brazil … Well, I found out here that I am going to share an apartment with a guy and a girl from Brazil. You can imagine what came: I got to know a lot of Brazilian culture, food, music, stories, and a lot of Brazilian people.

Then I found out that almost each month, an International Reception Weekend is organized by AIESEC. The great thing about these IRWs is that I had the chance to see some parts of Portugal, and meet all the trainees all over the country. I visited place like Porto, Lisbon, Coimbra and Tavira in Algarve. I saw how the Porto wine is made and I tasted it. I experienced Queima das Fitas – celebrating together with all the students the end of graduation courses. I listened to fado and drink coffee on the little streets of Lisbon.

I have made a lot of friends from all over the world: Brazil, Venezuela, Spain, Germany, Romania, Mexico. Poland, and I have met people even from more countries. I am fully LIVING DIVERSITY.

One of this people that I met, and I´m talking now about Dey(ex PAI), become my best friend here in Portugal, enriched my soul and brought me a new perspective on life.

Also a lot of FIRSTS happened during my traineeship:
- First time when I saw an orange tree :),
- First time when I saw the ocean,
- First time trying kite surfing and rafting,
- First time in a huge concert like Rock in Rio
- First time to an African Party

….. and the list is not stopping here ….

And so, 6 months passed …

But the story doesn´t end here:

I got an offer from the company I´ve been working with, to stay for 6 more months. I accepted it and I´m very happy with my new job description and with the work I´m doing. And even if officially I am not a trainee anymore, I will continue in spending my free time with the other trainees, because they are my friends and my family, and I will try as much as I can to stay in touch with AIESEC.

Once an AIESEC-er, always an AIESEC-er !

***********************

Despedidas

Andra, my best friend from AIESEC Bucharest, visited me. We spent a great week together, but, time passes, and inevitably, we had to say goodbye, but knowing we will see each other again.








The next day, Luciana, my flatmate, the best flatmate I ever had until now and a great friend, finished her internship and she left Portugal. It was the hardest split up from a friend. We had wonderful moments together, but I know that the story is not ending here.

Oana, my work colleague, my future flatmate, my best Romanian friend here in Portugal. She went to Romania for more than one month. Luckily, she will come back at the end of September our journey will continue.

The person who took care of me and helped me a lot in my first week in Braga, the one from which I learned a great quote : "Mi vida apesta"(My life sucks), but also the one who cheered me up when I was feeling like that. Rafa, a real friend that will show me Spain one day.

Pieces of my heart broke and went away with them, but the empty spaces were replaced with pieces of their hearts. We beautify each others hears, and we know that we will always be there, and one day will meet again.