Brazil and International Congress 2008

Like I mention before, I wasn’t that excited to travel to Brazil, partially because of the huge amount of expenses I had to cover and because Brazil is one of those countries which I always knew I would visit (I believe most Portuguese people have this feeling). It’s a country which is very culturally connected to Portugal and I always had the feeling that is much closer (even geographically ;) ) to Portugal than Spain heheh.

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Anyway, as MCP I had no option so I went with Jelena and Ana (Croats, MC Coor Comm and NST TM) and we agreed that if we were going then we would have to seize it by experiencing everything.

So, as soon as we got in Brazil we travelled together with more 80 people to Rio de Janeiro to attend the study tour. So, there we were after 2 days travelling by train, plane and bus.

In Rio we visited Copacabana beach, Maracanã, Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf), Ipanema beach and Corcovado. We swimed in the Ocean (for them it was the first time in their life hehe), we tasted coconut water, we eated the typical rice with beans, we drinked Caipirinha, we spend money buying havaianas and other stuff and we spread the Croatian “culture” (soccer supportive songs, siroće, mic mic and other things).

We meet amazing people and we became fans of Ribeirão Preto, LC who organized the Rio study tour (which is an LC 800km from Rio!).

Than we travelled back to São Paulo and the CEE Pre-meeting started. For me it was stressful because (as always) there were issues with payments but it was great to see so many familiar faces and feel the internationalism of AIESEC.

Then the big day game and IC started! 600 delegates, more than 100 countries, 200 partners, 200 Alumni and the 60th Anniversary of AIESEC… Yes, it was huge, it was intense but… I couldn’t find the right attitude, mood, motivation or whatever to seize completely the conference. My mind and heart were in Croatia where I can make things happen.

During IC I felt disapointed, demotivated and anxious. I know AIESEC in Croatia is not contributing for AIESEC impact, I know we don’t have any Good Cases Practices, I know all of that and I don’t need IC to acknowledge that. What I need is to be in Croatia and make things happen. So, in the end, IC was not all excitement and happiness for me, but it motivated me a lot to work and to change things so… it was great and it was exactly what I needed!

After the conference finished, we visited São Paulo. We went to Avenida Paulista (3km) which is the business center of the city, we went to the highest building to see the view, we visited Ibirapuera Park, the city center, the Cathedral and some other cool places.

On the way back (São Paulo – Zurich – Llubljana – Zagreb) we had a couple of hours in Llubljana so we went a bit around in the city and then finally, we got back from our trip after 20 days.

Some interesting stuff about the trip:

- From Zurich to São Paulo at 2am the airplane passed so near Madeira that I could even see it :) All people were sleeping and there I was, so happy to be near home. Yes, my home is there, an island in Atlantic Ocean 800km from Casablanca and 1000km from Lisboa heheh.

- While visiting Rio de Janeiro I always felt that I was in a soap opera. I think that is a common feeling of Portuguese people when visiting Brazil. No?

- I felt like home because I swimed in the ocean, I could speak with the hotel staff, there was black and white stone pathways, I could read the newspapers, I could read all the signs in the street, I knew the lyrics of the musics and it was a great feeling!

- I felt proud of AIESEC Portugal and I felt proud to be Portuguese. When I was MC in Portugal I remember all the plans and visions we had for AIESEC Portugal and the positioning we wanted our country to have in the network. In IC I saw those visions becoming reality so it is possible.

- At the same time, I felt very Croat. I wear with proud the Croatian jersey, I would swear in Croatian, I was perceived by everyone as being Croat, I spoke on behalf of Croatia, I represented Croatia as President, I would say “In my country…” when referring to Croatia. It’s weird but interesting to reach this state: I have two countries in my heart.