So, it starts, for the next 9 months I will be living and volunteering in the Silesia region, conducting English tandems and creating activities for European Integration Club in the high school complex of Wojkowice.
Let me introduce myself, who am I, how did I get here, and why Poland?
My name is Carolina, I am 22 years old Portuguese girl with a bachelor in International Relations and a Postgraduate in Crisis and Humanitarian Aid.
I am really interested in European history and European cultures, and when I visited Krakow and Auschwitz two years ago, I fell in love with this country. As a Portuguese citizen, with a Portuguese education, I had no knowledge of polish history – of course I was aware of the struggles Poland went through during WW2 and even after, with the communist regime imposed by the Soviet Union, but I had no knowledge of the polish resistance movements, and the resilience Poland had to endure all of this.
I didn’t know where I would be this year, but something in me was sure that I wouldn’t be home, so when I saw the European Integration Club project I applied immediately, and only to this project. It felt right. I am really passionate about the EU political project and its ideals. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to share this interest with young people like me, and to get to know new cultures in a country I am really looking forward to know participating in a project I care about.
So how has been my experience in Poland so far? C O L D ? !!!! This weather is definitely different from what I am used to. When I arrived to Warsaw I remember not seeing the sun for at least one week, while in Portugal we have 3000 hours of sun and 300 sunny days per year.
Despite the “cold weather” (at least for me), autumn in Poland is really beautiful, I am not really the type of person to pay attention to these details, but nature in Poland is something else, like a painting, just gorgeous.
The language is also a challenge. In Portuguese to create sounds and words you can’t join consonants, like “sz”, “dz”, “sw”, “dn”, that means nothing to me and I can’t pronounce it (at least for now). For me speaking Polish is like taking the entire Portuguese phonetics and destroying it.
Polish food is a big YES for me, and I am picky with what I eat. So far, I’ve tried zapiekanka, pierogi, Żurek, pork stew with potato pancakes and potatoes dumplings with meat, and I loved everything!!
The poles: unlike the stereotype I think polish people are really nice, they just don’t like to talk with strangers – which is actually safer (maybe?!) Every time I needed help, and remember my lack of any polish speaking skills, they were always so kind and helpful, and it’s a myth that polish people don’t smile, they do!
For the next months I will try to get to know and understand Poland, its people, its political context and culture, and if Covid-19 allows me to, visit amazing cities all over this country.
Stay tuned 🙂