Volunteering has been a dream of mine since I know myself but leaving Portugal (again) for 9 months, alone, and for a completely different country was a really big move for me.
The first week in Warsaw was a nightmare, I was not sure if leaving everything at home and coming to Poland had been the best decision, everything in me was anxiety and doubt, but I wanted to give myself an opportunity: to meet the project and getting to know myself outside of my comfort zone.
We are now in the 5th month of the project and every day I am happy to have the opportunity to live the best experience of my life.
So far I have lived so many things, and I have met so many people that I would never meet if I had decided to just live my normal life and stayed at home.
The truth is that I feel very lucky, not all the places we call “home” make us feel at home, but in Poland I am home.
I got really lucky with Schuman, who guides me since the first day, with my hosting organization, which has the coolest coordinators we could ask for, and especially with my roomie, my family here and also the person that prevents me from starving by cooking for me *nervous laughter *.
I think the experience is what we make of it, I feel that here everything works because we have the right energy, we want to make the most of it, to enjoy the ride, to get to know a different reality and to improve ourselves.
A few years from now, when I am old and full of wrinkles, I will remember with so much love all the good, funny and crazy things I lived here, everything I learned, and all the friends I made.
Obrigada Polska, I am still here and I already feel saudades ❤️
With love,
Your portuguese volunteer
Carolina