Why?
I wanted to make interviews because it will give a larger perspective about living in Leiria. Not just my thoughts but some other people from different cultures and with different kind of personalities.
This is still a work in progress section with only one interview completed but I think that making this part to the blog makes it more International. The interviews are presented both in English and also in the language that the interviewed person speaks.
The aim is to find about 5-10 people from different countries to share their experiences. Hopefully you enjoy this part of the blog.
Maurizio Fanelli
Age: 21 years. Hometown: Taranto. University in home country: Università degli studi di Bari “Aldo Moro” – Economia Taranto
In Italy I study Economics and business administration and I’m at the 3rd year and I miss a few exams for my undergraduate degree.
I’ve chosen Leiria because I was always attracted to Portugal, for its culture, for its traditions and for its simple people. Leiria it’s a small city, you can’t compare it with Lisbon or other big cities and at the beginning isn’t easy because when you arrive in a new city or in a new country you don’t know anyone and you don’t know the language and you have to be strong. You are alone without your family, your girlfriend, your best friends but this shouldn’t be a problem because after a few days you begin to know other people that are studying outside like you. You meet people from all European countries and day by day you improve yourself and the language. Erasmus, it’s a great opportunity because it makes you grow and I really recommend it to everybody. I’ve always traveled a lot and for this reason I haven’t had problems of adaptation!
For my accommodation I’m in a sort of student residence where you can choose a single room or a double room with other guys who doesn’t speaks your language and I think that’s this is fantastic! You have a little kitchen too in your room so you can cook whenever you want. And at the ground floor there is a lounge room where you can drink a coffee or a beer with the other guys.
I really like their food culture: here you can eat a good meat, a great soups but above all their are famous for a great variety of good fish! But the main thing is the wine. Portugal is famous in the entire World for this and it change, like the food, from the north to the south of the country. Portugal is also famous for its beaches in fact is called “the European California” because in some parts like Peniche, Nazaré during the winter waves can reach 20 meters of height and for this reason here is very practiced surfing! But I also recommend you Lisbon, Oporto, Braga, Coimbra because they are very nice and if you are a football supporter you can go to the Stadium too, either in Lisbon that in Oporto.
The only negative aspect is that it’s better to spend here the 1st semester and not the 2nd because during the 1st semester there is more organization for the students with a welcome day and other activities. Nonetheless here in Leiria there are a lot of associations that organize short trips with a cheaper prices and sports events.
In Italian:
Età: 21 anni. Città natale: Taranto. Università nel paese d’origine: Università degli studi di Bari “Aldo Moro” – Economia Taranto
In Italia Studio Economia e amministrazione delle aziende e sono al 3 ° anno..mi mancano pochi esami per laurearmi.
Ho scelto Leiria perché ero sempre attratto dal Portogallo, per la sua cultura, per le sue tradizioni e per la sua gente semplice. Leiria è una città piccola, non la si può confrontare con Lisbona o con altre grandi città e all’inizio non è facile, perché quando arrivi in una nuova città o in un nuovo paese non conosci nessuno e non conosci la lingua e devi essere forte. Sei solo senza la tua famiglia, la tua ragazza, i tuoi migliori amici, ma questo non dovrebbe essere un problema, perché dopo pochi giorni si iniziano a conoscere altre persone che studiano al di fuori come te. Si incontrano persone provenienti da tutti i paesi europei e di giorno in giorno migliori con te stesso e con la lingua. Erasmus, è una grande opportunità perché ti fa crescere e lo consiglio davvero a tutti. Ho sempre viaggiato molto e per questo motivo non ho avuto problemi di adattamento!
Per il mio alloggio sono in una sorta di residenza per studenti dove è possibile scegliere una camera singola o doppia con altri ragazzi che non parlano la vostra lingua e penso che questo sia fantastico per imparare prima! Hai anche una cucina nella vostra camera in modo da poter cucinare ogni volta che vuoi. E al piano terra si trova un salotto dove si può bere un caffè o una birra con gli altri ragazzi, magari vedendo una partita di calcio insieme.
Mi piace molto la loro cultura alimentare: qui si può mangiare carne buona, zuppe ma soprattutto sono famosi per una grande varietà di buon pesce! Ma la cosa principale è il vino. Il Portogallo è famoso in tutto il mondo per questo e cambia, come il cibo, dal nord al sud del paese. Il Portogallo è anche famosa per le sue spiagge, infatti, è chiamata “la California Europea” perché in alcune parti come Peniche, Nazaré durante l’inverno le onde possono raggiungere i 20 metri di altezza e per questo qui è molto praticato surf! Ma vi consiglio anche di visitare Lisbona, Porto, Braga, Coimbra perché sono molto belle e se sei un fan di calcio puoi andare allo stadio sia a Lisbona che a Oporto.
L’unico aspetto negativo è che è meglio trascorrere qui il 1 ° semestre e non il 2 ° perché durante il 1 ° semestre c’è più organizzazione per gli studenti con una giornata di accoglienza e altre attività. Tuttavia qui a Leiria ci sono un sacco di associazioni che organizzano viaggi di pochi giorni con prezzi convenienti ed eventi sportivi.
Andrius Reciunas
Age: 21 years. Hometown: Vilnius, Lithuania University in home country: Gediminas Technical University
I’m Studying civil engineering in 3rd year. In the first pace I was planning to go to Spain, but my coordinator didn’t let mo so I decided to go here ( and I’m happy that I came here after all).
The biggest difficulties were to find the courses and all the paper work, because traveling here was not that hard and it was exciting.
Accommodation: there were to options for me – to rent a flat or be in Casulo. I chose the flat because I read and thought that Casulo was not that fun, but its not that bad as I saw a lot of Erasmus live there.
The Portuguese food is good – I like the more fatter food so its really good for me (But Portuguese don’t have a lot of our products and the meat is not that good). The fruits are amazing here- oranges, pineapple, lemons – they are sweeter and more tastier than in Lithuania. So far I’ve been in : Nazare, Porto, Velado, Fatima, but I’m planning to go a lot more , its just the beginning.
Yeah I would actually recommend for everyone to participate in Erasmus because its an experience that only Erasmus can have.
Taya Mitina
Age: 20 Hometown: Kharkiv University in home country: Kharkiv National University of Urban Economy
I’m studying Civil Engineering and I’m doing my Masters here. Portugal was in my list of preferences to continue my education and IPL was an offer for Erasmus students from Ukraine so it wasn’t a hard choice and I’m satisfied with it. Leiria is great contrast for me as well as I’m from a big city with almost million and half inhabitants but I really appreciate life here: when I go somewhere I will meet people whom I know for sure, so in this case size of Leiria is a huge advantage!
In general I like Portuguese cuisine but with some exceptions because a few dishes are too heavy or not simple enough for me. But I fell in love with a coffee drinking culture and also perfect sweets like “pastel de nata” with cherries and others.
The biggest difficulty I’ve faced was a Portuguese language because I’ve arrived even without basic knowledge which was a huge mistake. I had better started learning it in Ukraine before the trip but there it seems to be an exotic language.
Accommodation: I can estimate it as 5 out of 5, I live in Casulo and I have there everything that I need and lounge is also cozy so you feel welcome. 😉
If I would advise Erasmus experience to other students – sure, YES! When you are from Ukraine and to travel you need to get visa (which is always a complicated task) and solve thousand of bureaucratic issues , your way of thinking is different and, sometimes, restricted. Thus I can say that Erasmus has changed me and my mind completely: it has opened the amazing culture differences and similarities, gave me an ability to travel, proved that all the world is one huge family, boundless and measureless. A thousand to one, or without any doubts in other words, the world will say you ‘welcome’ as soon as you decide to explore it, so it’s nothing to wait for, start act!
In Ukranian:
Я бажаю усім такої ж удачі, як пощастило мені! Думаю, що це вірно, не втрачати жодної можливості, яка відкривається перед тобою, а ще краще поставити ціль і йти до неї великим кроками. А Ерасмус – це, не те що крок, це величезний стрибок на шляху пізнання світу і себе самого. Португалія зачарувала мене і просто захопила своєю культурою і різноманіттям, тож не гайте часу і приєднуйтесь!
Julia Laitala
Age: 25 Hometown: Jääli, Finland University in home country: Lapland University of Applied Sciences
In English:
A year ago in January 2014 I left with a friend of mine, my child and with au-pair to internship exchange into hospital of Santo Andre in Leiria. In the hospital we completed internships of the elderly in nursing and surgical nursing. For the first month we were at the operating room and the remaining two months in a surgical ward.
We had an option to go either to Spain or Portugal. At first we were about to go to Lisbon but as we couldn’t find an internship place we were suggested to go to Leiria. Leiria was indeed a lovely little city where we had everything we needed within a walking distance. Using a taxi was cheap and the food was also inexpensive.
We all lived in a same apartment with three bedrooms that we found before the internship from a Portuguese site. We couldn’t get help finding the flat while we were in Finland but in Portugal our teacher came with us to see the flat and to make sure that we are not cheated or anything. Our landlord was really friendly and had really put an effort to make the apartment nice for us. The rent was paid in one lot with cash and that was all.
Leiria has good bus connections to various places and we used to travel during our days off. People spoke much less English than for example in Lisbon. We studied the Portuguese language ourselves and also at work we learned a lot. It is a shame though that when you don’t actually use the language you will forget it too quickly.
In Leiria there is one excellent coffee shop called Pastelaria Costa which is located right at the centre of the city and they must have the best almond croissants in the whole country. I miss those.
The Polytechnic Institute of Leiria was really new and modern. The staff and studying colleagues were friendly. I liked that even when the weather wasn’t good the people seemed happy. Although at work you could notice the tension of the work at times but generally working environment was relaxed.
In Leiria there is one big shopping mall that has good variety of basically everything available. In that place we did most of our food shopping. We used to walk to the mall and go back with the stuff we bought on a taxi. Using the bus would have been more expensive and because there were so many of us we used the taxi to get back home.
The food culture was a bit different. In Portugal they eat lots of food that is a “mix of everything” and they even eat the bones. We didn’t like the food that much so we cooked our own meals to work. Lots of white bread and the fish, I think it is codfish, smelled really bad in the shops’ counters. The food wasn’t anything special but you could eat that. At work people used to store food in room temperature during the winter time when it was “cold” inside which really confused us. The croissants were great though!
I definitely recommend Leiria and the Erasmus program. Leiria is a place that we are definitely going to visit in the future. And to add a fact to this: during the internship I was a single-parent and my daughter was a 2-year-old. So I recommend also to go if you have a child: it’s safe and it’s easy to move from one place to another. People are often also child-friendly. Before leaving I tried to find information about doing internship and having a child with you and I couldn’t find any. That is why I want to point out that you can actually do it: it of course takes some planning the flights and having an apartment ready waiting in the destination.
In Finnish:
Vuosi sitten, eli tammikuussa 2014 lähdin luokkakaverini, lapseni ja au-pairin kanssa Leiriaan harjoittelu vaihtoon, Santo Andren sairaalaan. Teimme siellä ikääntyneiden hoitotyön sekä kirurgisen hoitotyön harjoittelun. 1 Kuukauden olimme leikkassalissa ja loput 2 kuukautta kirurgisella vuodeosastolla.
Meillä oli hakuvaihtoehtoina Espanja ja Portugali. Aluksi olimme menossa Lissaboniin, mutta kun sieltä ei löytynyt sopivaa harjoittelupaikkaa, niin meille ehdotettiin Leiriaa. Leiria olikin aivan ihana pieni kaupunki jossa oli kaikki tarvittava ja kävelemällä pääsi joka paikkaan. Taksit olivat halpoja. Ruoka edullista. Asuimme kaikki samassa asunnossa; 3 makuuhuoneen huoneistossa, jonka löysin ennen Portugaliin menoa Portugalilaisilta sivuilta. Asunnon hakuun ei Suomesta käsin saanut apua, mutta Portugalin päässä meidän opettajamme tuli sitten kattomaan sitä asuntoa meidän kanssa ja tarkisti, ettemme tule huijatuiksi. Meillä oli tosi ystävällinen vuokranantaja, joka oli laittanu viimeisen päälle asunnon kuntoon. Vuokranmaksut hoidettiin yhellä kertaa-kaikki käteisellä ja se oli siinä.
Leiriasta oli hyvät bussiyhteydet moniin eri paikkoihin ja meillä tulikin vapaapäivinä matkusteltua paljon. Englantia Leiriassa puhuttiin huomattavasti vähemmän verrattuna esim. Lissaboniin. Opiskelimme itseksemme Portugalia, sekä työpaikalla tuli opittua paljon uutta. Harmi vaan, että kun ei käytä kieltä, niin se unohtuu liian nopeea.
Leiriassa on yksi aivan mainio kahvila nimeltään Pastelaria Costa, se sijaitsee aivan keskustan tuntumassa ja siellä on varmaasti Portugalin Parhaat almond croissantit. 🙂 Ikävä niitä.
Leirian ammattikorkeakoulu oli todella uusi ja moderni. Henkilökunta ja opiskelijat ystävällisiä. Tykkäsin siitä että satoi tai paistoi niin ihmiset olivat usein iloisia. Kylläkin töissä huomasi sen työkireyden jollain tavoin joskus, mutta kyllä työote oli kuitenki rento.
Leiriassa on yksi suuri kauppakeskus, jossa on hyvä valikoima kaikkea. Siellä me tehtiin aina isoimmat ruokaostokset. Kävelemällä kauppaan ja taksilla tavaroiden kanssa takas. Bussilla kulkeminen olisi tullut kalliimmaksi, koska meitä oli niin monta niin usein käytettiin paluureissulla taksia.
Ehdottomasti suosittelen Leiriaa ja Erasmusta. Se on sellainen paikka että varmasti palaan sinne vielä käymään. Vielä tähän lopuksi että itse olin silloin yksinhuoltaja ja tyttöni oli reilu 2 vuotias kun olimme siellä. Suosittelen myös lähtemään lapsen kanssa, siellä on turvallista ja helppo liikkua. Ihmiset usein lapsiystävällisiä. Ennen vaihtoon lähtöä koitin etsiä paljon tietoa lapsen kanssa vaihdossa olemisesta, mutta ei löytynyt tietoa. Siksi haluan korostaa että se onnistuu, kylläkin vaatii hieman enemmän tekemistä ja suunnittelua esim. matkan tekoon ja siihen että on asunto jo valmiina mihin mennä.
Jenni Koppelo
Age: 23 Hometown: Kemi, Finland University in home country: Lapland University of Applied Sciences
In English:
Straight at the beginning of my nurse studies I knew that I want to do an internship abroad. The country I decided was Portugal because it was possible to surf there. I ended up in Leiria with my fellow student, her kid and with an au pair because the school offered an internship in a hospital in the city.
Leiria was a lovely small and safe place to live and study if you don’t count some stray dogs walking the streets. In my experience Leiria received international students well. We had a guided tour at the school, a welcoming performance where we could meet other students and we would have had some joint tours if the weather would have been better. The spirit between international students was good and we arranged some parties.
The city of Leiria has a small city centre and a beautiful coffee shop square where you can see the impressive castle of Leiria. By walking to the hill where the castle is located and paying small entrance fee you will be able to admire a historical castle from inside and view the city of Leiria from different perspective. The city also has a good and beautiful jogging path that runs along river Lis through the centre of the city to smaller parts of the city. I found a small but good quality fitness center (Ginásio Leirifitness) located close to our apartment. The place had gym and group exercises. The monthly fee was profitable when you proved to be a student and also you could get a free gym schelude from the staff. The city also has swimming baths and bowling alley where we played couple of games.
Going surfing and kiteboarding is safe and possible for example in Peniche where you could easily get by bus. Slowly deepening sandy beaches both for aspiring and more experienced surfers were awesome. Through the surfing I was also forced to get to know to the Portuguese healthcare as a patient when I dislocated my shoulder. The ambulance came by quite quickly and took me to the first aid to consideration how urgent the need to get treatment was and to receive intravenous pain killers. With another ambulance I was taken to an another hospital where the orthopedic with nurses put the shoulder back in place. I got a good quality treatment quickly and for completely free as I was carrying my European Health Insurance Card with me.
I would recommend the Erasmus program and especially Leiria as a city because we were well-received and also got information about international functioning. As nursery students we were introduced to the wards in the hospital by our teacher with us. The staff was positive and they received us warmly. Fantastic experience that is worth doing regardless of the paper work!
In Finnish:
Heti sairaanhoitajaopintojen alkamisesta lähtien tiesin, että haluan tehdä harjoitteluvaihdon ulkomailla. Harjoittelumaaksi päätin Portugalin, koska siellä oli mahdollista harrastaa surffausta. Leiriaan päädyin yhdessä opiskelukaverini, hänen lapsensa ja au-pairin kanssa, koska koulu tarjosi harjoittelupaikan kaupungin sairaalasta.
Leiria oli ihanan pieni ja turvallinen paikka asua ja opiskella, jos teillä käveleviä muutamia kulkukoiria ei lasketa. 😉 Kokemukseni mukaan Leiriassa otettiin kansainväliset opiskelijat hyvin vastaan. Meille pidettiin koulun esittelykierros, tervetuloa-ohjelmanumero, jossa tapasimme muita opiskelijoita ja yhteisiä retkiäkin olisi järjestetty, jos säät olisivat suosineet. Kansainvälisten opiskelijoiden yhteishenki oli hyvä ja juhliakin järjestettiin.
Kaupungissa on pieni keskusta ja kaunis kahvila-aukio, josta näkyy komea Castelo de Leiria-linna. Kävelemällä kukkulalle, jossa linna sijaitsee ja maksamalla pienen pääsymaksun, pääsee ihailemaan historiallista linnaa sisältä ja katsomaan Leirian kaupunkia eri perspektiivistä. Kaupungissa on hyvä ja kaunis lenkkeilyreitti, joka kulkee jokea pitkin keskustan kautta kaupungin pienempiin osiin. Löysin pienen, mutta laadukkaan kuntokeskuksen (Ginásio Leirifitness) läheltä asuntoamme, jossa oli kuntosali sekä ohjattua ryhmäliikuntaa. Kuukausikortti oli edullinen, kun todisti olevansa opiskelija. Henkilökunta teki lisäksi ilmaisen kuntosaliohjelman kaupan päälle. Kaupungista löytyy myös uimahalli ja keilailupaikka, jossa kävimme muutamat pelit pelaamassa.
Surffaamaan ja leijalautailemaan pääsee turvallisesti mm. Penichessä, jonne pääsi Leiriasta kätevästi bussilla. Hitaasti syvenevät hiekkapohjaiset rannat aloitteleville ja kokeneille surffareille olivat upeat. Surffauksen lomassa jouduin tutustumaan portugalilaiseen terveydenhuoltoon potilaan roolissa, kun olkapääni meni sijoiltaan. Ambulanssi, joka vei minut ensiapuun hoidon kiireellisyyden arviointiin sekä suonensisäisen kipulääkkeen laittoon, saatiin paikalle aika nopeasti. Toisella ambulanssilla minut vietiin toiseen sairaalaan, missä ortopedi hoitajineen laittoi käden takaisin paikoilleen. Sain hyvää ja pikaista hoitoa täysin ilmaiseksi. Olihan minulla tietysti Eurooppalainen sairaanhoitokortti mukana.
Suosittelen Erasmus ohjelmaa ja erityisesti Leiriaa, koska saimme siellä hyvän vastaanoton ja tietoa kansainvälisestä toiminnasta. Sairaanhoitajaopiskelijoina meidät käytiin esittelemässä sairaalan osastoille opettajan kanssa. Henkilökunta oli positiivista ja ottivat meidät lämpimästi vastaan. Mahtava kokemus, joka kannattaa tehdä, isoista paperitöistä huolimatta!
Marko Gašparović
Age: 22 Hometown: Slujn, Croatia University in home country: Polytechnic of Zagreb
I’m studying computer engineering and doing here just my final thesis. Topic: Smart house with Arduino Uno and Raspberry Pi.
First of all I want to say that I did not know about Erasmus till my friend went to Erasmus in Czech Republic and told me about it. Since he told me about it I had one week to apply for Erasmus+. At first I was thinking that is impossible to get the scholarship, but when I read the requirements I realized that I have really good chances to get one. After that I had many countries from Europe to choose. I wanted really to test my self by going far away from Croatia. Since in that time in Croatia started to get really cold I decided to go somewhere where climate is warmer. There is not many countries that has good weather conditions and access to ocean so decision was Portugal. But where in Portugal? My university already had bilateral Erasmus agreement with Polytechnic Institute of Leiria and I applied to it.
I’m absolutely loving this place as a student and generally. People are nice, willing to help, weather is perfect, city is clean and there is a lot of things to visit in and around Leiria. Professors at school are really helpful and since I got here I already learned a lot from them. Everything I needed for my final thesis it was given to me in short time with no complaints.
I don’t know any country where I would not have any problems, but all of them here were minor and we solved them quickly.
I am living in a 3 bedroom apartment and I have 5 flatmates which one of them is my roommate.
I tried Portuguese specialties and I absolutely loving them. The culture here is similar to Croatian, because both of the countries has a lot of history. What I like here the most are traditions which Portuguese people have so many of them and they are very interesting. Arhitecture is amazing, everywhere you look you can see history. Beautiful medieval castles as well as the ruins of several villas and forts from the period of Celtic and Roman occupation.
Yes I would recommend Erasmus at any time. So many people I have met, so many places I have visited and so much things I have learned here which I can not describe with words. You have to come here to feel that!
In Croatian:
Ime: Marko Gašparović Godine: 22 Mjesto: Slunj, Hrvatska Fakultet: Tehničko Veleučilište u Zagrebu
Studiram računarstvo.
Prije svega htio bih reći da nisam znao za Erasmus sve dok jedan moj prijatelj nije otišao na Erasmus u Češku i rekao mi ponešto o tome. Od kad mi je rekao imao sam tjedan dana da se prijavim za Erasmus+. Mislio sam da je nemoguće dobiti stipendiju, ali kad sam pročitao zahtjeve shvatio sam da imam dobre šanse da dobijem stipendiju. Imao sam puno država iz Europe na izbor. Htio sam se testirati tako da odem daleko od Hrvatske. Pošto je u to vrijeme u Hrvatskoj počelo zahladnjivati, odlučio sam otići gdje je klima toplija. Nema puno država koje imaju toplu klimu i pristup oceanu pa sam se odlučio za Portugal. Ali gdje u Portugal? Moje fakultet je imao bilateralni Erasmus ugovor sa Polytechnic of Leiria pa sam se stoga prijavio na isti.
Ja naprosto obožavam ovo mjesto kao student i općenito. Ljudi su ljubazni, spremi su pomoći, vrijeme je lijepo, grad je čist i ima puno stvari za posjetiti u i oko Leirije. Profesori na fakultetu mi puno pomažu i od kad sam došao ovdje puno sam toga naučio. Što god sam trebao za svoj Završni rad to sam i dobio.
Ne znam ni jednu državu gdje nebi imao nikakvih porblema, ali svi problemi su bili beznačajni i riješili smo ih brzo.
Živim u trosobnom stanu sa četvero ljudi.
Probao sam portugalske specijalitete i naprosto ih obožavam. Kultura je slična kao u Hrvatskoj, pošto obje države imaju daleku povijest.
Da, svaki put. Toliko sam ljudi upoznao, toliko sam mjesta posjetio, toliko novih stvari naučio da nemogu opisati riječima. Morate doći ovdje da bi to osjetili, toliko pozitivne energije i relaksacije mi je učisitilo um od kad sam ovdje.
Name: Andrius Reciunas Age: 21 Hometown: Vilnius University in home country: Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
I’m Studying civil engineering for 3rd year. In the first pace I was planning to go to Spain but my coordinator didn’t let me so I decided to go here ( and i’m happy that I came here after all).
the biggest difficulty was to find the courses and all the paper work, because traveling here was not that hard and it was exciting.
Accommodation: there were two options for me – to rent a flat or be in Casulo. Choose the flat because I read and thought that Casulo was not that fun, but its not that bad as I saw a lot of Erasmus people live there.
The Portuguese food is good – I like the food with more fat so its really good for me (But Portuguese don’t have a lot of same products as in my home country and the meat is not that good). The fruits are amazing here: oranges, pineapples and lemons – they are sweeter and more tastier than in Lithuania.
So far I’ve been in : Nazaré, Porto, Velado and Fatima but I’m planning to go a lot more. It’s just the beginning. Yeah I would actually recommend to everyone to participate in Erasmus because it’s an experience that only Erasmus can give.
In Lithuanian:
Šiuo metu studijuoju trečiame statybos inžinerijos kurse savo šaly, bet Portugalijoje tai paskutinis kursas. Pasirinkau Portugaliją Erasmus studijoms antru variantu, nes pirmu buvo Ispanija, tačiau ten nepavyko išvykti. Bet dėl to nesiskundžiu.
Daugiausia problemų sukėlė kursų ieškojimas interneto svetainėje, nes (bent kai ieškojau aš) viskas portugališkai ir kartais net Google tranalate nepadėjo. Kai galiausiai susiradau visus reikiamus kursus, atėjo laikas popierizmui – tikrai buvo, ką veikti. Daug lapu pasirašyti ir perdaryti , nes musu koordinatorė Lietuvoje negalėjo išsamiai visko išdėstyti. Bet galiausiai atvykau i Portugalija. Iš aerouosto nebuvo problemų nusigauti iki Leiria miestelio.
Dėl gyvenamosios vietos man buvo dvi išeitys : 1. Casulo – kažkas panašaus i baraką bet hostelio tipo 2. Nuomotis kambarį. Pasirinkau kambarį , nes maniau, kad Casulo bus panašų i hotel ir nebus taip linksma , tačiau tai netiesa ir daugelis Erasmusininku ten gyvena. Maistas man patinka, jis šiek tiek riebesnis bet skanus. Nors čia ir beveik neįmanoma rasti lietuviškų prekių, savo tradiciniu patiekalų galima pasidaryti. Vaisiai – nuostabūs, sultingesni ir skanesni nei Lietuvoje ( turbūt dėl to, kad sviezeani).
Kolkas buvau Nazareje, Porte , Lisabonoje, Algarvej, Velado ir Fatimos miesteliuose ir Coimbroje. Aš tikrai rekomenduoju dalyvauti Erasmuse, jei tik atsiranda galimybė, nes tai neapsakomas jausmas ir tai gali patirti tik atvykęs .
