Experiencing the World, by Catarina

Kuala Lumpur, a different perspective

2010-03-21T10:25:00.011+01:00

Since my last post about my hosting city I got to know a few other places and a different perspective of the city life which I think is important to add.

Besides the big Chinese community there is also an Indian community which is concentrated in a place called “Little India”. So there I went to discover this other part of the city and I must say that I was really surprised to find so many Indian shops and restaurants as if I was back in India (maybe a bit more organized here, but just a bit more heheh).

After a few weeks here it’s noticeable that besides the huge amount of trees and grass in the roads sides, there are not so many parks and nature related infrastructures in KL. So Iga (Polish) and I the other day went walking in the hope to find the Lake Gardens of KL mentioned in touristic guides.

Once we got to the nearest location was very hard to discover how to get there as all locals would inform us that “It’s very very far” and that “You need to take a bus or a cab”. Not satisfied we went look for it on our own. And guess what? It was very near and there were even signs indicating the way :)

In the way we stopped to visit the National Museum and even with the heat, we manage to walk around the beautiful and delightful park (which was empty).

Back into the "normal" city we found the Independence square, Merdeka Square (for all Portuguese, please read it out loud ahahah) with Moorish architecture influence.

Then concerning nightlife, another important component of any city! Being Malaysia a Muslim country it doesn’t mean that there is no night life and parties. So, few weeks ago I went to a fancy and nice club for a birthday party. Of course the drinks here very expensive but the place was very nice, very opened and I had fun with my friends.

Also, I went with some other interns to a Brazilian party (and I’ve spend the entire night speaking in Portuguese) in a club, which was great! To hear such familiar music is really a comforting feeling when being so far from home.

Last, but not least, I also had the chance to attend a pool party! In KL condominiums are very common and basically all of them have pools. So a pool party I guess is also part of KL lifestyle. And with this heat, even at night, having a swim is perfectly normal!

All in all, I guess KL has a lot to discover and a lot to offer. But of course, it's crucial to be open-minded in any case :)

As for me, there is only one more month left to continue discovering it! But I'm sure I will make the best use of it ;)

Canopy Walkway :P

2010-03-12T09:04:00.003+01:00

I would say I am quite lucky to have escaped the city life last weekend and went for hiking with 2 Malaysian friends.

They took me to the Forest Research Institute Malaysia where there is a walkway in the middle of the forest. I didn’t know exactly what to expect but I was missing walking and to be in the nature so it sounded great!

So I can say that my expectations were not even close to what Canopy walkway has to offer.

We started going up, and although it wasn’t long, we were all sweaty because of the heat!

Once we get up then I realized that the highlight of this walking was a few suspended bridges in the trees! The Canopy Walkway is 200m long and was constructed in 1992 for scientific studies of above ground flora and fauna. It was built 30m above ground level!

So to be clearer here it goes some pictures of my adventure J

Just like in the movies ;)

First month, first reflections

2010-03-02T16:15:00.006+01:00

After a month living in Malaysia I believe I already have an "ok" understanding of the country and culture and I think I’m having a pretty intense experience trying to get as much as I can.

Bottom line I think KL is a very easy place to live in, where a foreigner can easily adapt due to the English which is widely spoken, the development and access to information and goods. People are very nice and helpful, and after I month I know my way around, how to handle with taxi drivers, and so on. I feel pretty much independent.

I like living here, everything is new and quite exotic, but at the same time many things are just like at my home country. There is a mixture of adventure and comfort zone. I would still like to live more near the city center, but the conditions I have are also very above the average and more than I could expect.

I like my work a lot, the environment is very easy-going and people believe in what they do. That is for me the most important. I'm learning a lot about animal welfare and getting more and more interested in Non-corporate Sector. And aside that, I know now that I missed living with animals and I find a lot of comfort and companionship among them.

I’m becoming more adventurous with the food, but I don’t think I will ever “love” spicy/chili food. Also the meat always tastes differently from what I am used to. I imagine myself getting back and go straight to a restaurant where I can have a normal grilled beef. Nevertheless, there are some things which I like a lot! Their fried potatoes, the different noodles, the everyday different cuisine possibilities, some fruits and the price!

Almost everything is cheaper (impressively not the electronic stuff!) so I feel an urge to buy a lot of things. Specially shoes (which are stupidly cheap here), watches, bags and random stuff. Clothes are basically the same as in Portugal so not planning to get many heheh.

Then I believe I started to find some friends, some at my work and others that are interns here is KL like me. And I love the fact that I deal daily with Malaysian people because otherwise I wouldn’t get to know the culture, and on the other hand I have international friends with whom I can share freely my perceptions and experiences because they are going through the same.

The most difficult thing to get used to is definitely the weather :S I love nature and to walk but with this heat is so hard to find motivation for it. To imagine that it’s like this 365 days a year it’s too much for me! I would have to visit Genting more often. The rain I got used to pretty easily, always carrying an umbrella with me :)

Nevertheless, for me it’s still a bit confusing how some things work around here. Government and religion are still pretty attached to each other, and being a Muslim country by the constitution, there are some differences and rights between the population despite the fact that they were all born in Malaysia and based only in their religion. For me as a foreigner I am not affected, but it’s complicated to understand how it works and to cope with it.

At the end of the day I’m very glad to have this opportunity to get to know a Malaysian Culture and at the same time being exposed to many other cultures, languages, religions and traditions. At the same time I cannot stop thinking that there are so many things we take as granted and it’s something that over and over impresses me.

This is why these kinds of experiences are so important, and I wished more people would come to the same conclusion: we should appreciate more those small things we take for granted!

Genting Highlands, the city of entertainment

2010-03-02T14:35:00.005+01:00

I have been a bit lazy (but also because I was busy - which I think it’s great!) to update my blog, so let’s see if I manage all this week :D

Some 2 weeks ago a college invited me to go to “Genting” which I had no idea about but of course I accepted.

Well, to explain it very simply, a Chinese guy decided to build a Hotel and Casino in the top of one mountain. Some people call him crazy, and guess what? Today is a huge success, more Hotels were built, there are many attractions, a theme park and I guess it is a small size Las Vegas.

So after going up the hill (which reminded me Madeira so much, it looks pretty much the same right?!)

we entered (which I believe it is) the oldest Hotel built there which had a huge casino but most impressively a huge space with so many random things that the eye cannot caught everything at once. It was a “world” which included a small Big Ben, a Eiffel Tower, a Petronas Towers, a Liberty Status, a roll coaster, electric gondolas and a bunch of restaurants, shops and so on! I was impressed and could not stop thinking to myself that I would never imagined there was such a place like this in KL and that it was too much for Europeans heheh.

A beautiful dragon at the entrance.

The electric gondolas conducted by a mannequin.

Some of the many random/impressive things they had inside that place.

I was also surprised with the amount of people, but as it was Chinese New Year so there were also more people than usual gambling.

Then we went to an amazing Vietnamese restaurant which I loved (despite the fact that the roll coaster was just behind us and every 2 minutes it would make a huge noise although I did saw it as a unique experience never to be happened in Portugal heheh).

This was a 4 meat course dish that included doing our own spring rolls in rise paper :)

But I have to say that what I enjoyed the most was ... the air of the mountain! Air-con is simply not the same, besides in KL the wind seems never to blow. It was a fresh, a bit cold breeze which I hadn’t felt since I arrived to Malaysia and that I had no idea I loved so much :)

Gong Xi Fa Cai*

2010-03-01T08:02:00.019+01:00

Having in consideration the huge number of Chinese living in KL, of course that the Chinese New Year is given a lot of attention. Many malls are decorated, as well as, streets, restaurants, houses which make you feel a bit of the taste of being in China.

Probably you are wondering (as I was) what happens in the Chinese New Year. Well, as far as I understood, Chinese New Year is for Chinese more of less the same as Christmas for Catholics. Before Chinese New Year families buy new clothes, items for the house, arrange it, prepare a lot of food and the in New Year’s Eve they have a family dinner.

Normally family members, especially older family members give to younger’s, an envelope containing money which is called “Ang pow”. Also, in companies which have a Chinese background, the boss will give this envelope to employees which is a very expected moments both in companies and families.

My one and only Ang pow :)

It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red color paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of “happiness”, “wealth”, and “longevity”.

During the festivities is it very common to give and receive Oranges or Tangerines. The reason behind is related with the name of Orange in Chinese which is the same as for Gold, so offering Oranges and Tangerines is a way to wish a prosperous year.

Some families and companies invite a dragon/lion dance troupe as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Lunar New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises.

A small example video of these dances:

These rituals, the fire-works, decorations and so, last for the first 14 days of the Chinese New Year in which each day as a particular tradition/ritual. Also gambling is a very common activity for Chinese during this period, both in Casinos and within the family.

My Chinese New Year Eve was very interesting, I was invited by a college to attend a dinner in a farm which has a lot of animals, as well as, children and teenagers who have a difficult family situation. I was very well received and joined them at the big table outside. There was rice, vegetables, chicken and pork, accompanied by cold Chinese tea.

After those 2 weeks of beautiful decorations and lion dances everywhere, I only wonder how it must be Chinese New Year in China itself, if here is already such a big event and occasion?!

*Happy Chinese New Year

Kuala Lumpur, a city of contrasts

2010-03-01T05:36:00.009+01:00

By now it is more than fair to write about Kuala Lumpur (KL) as I have been living here for a month already. Nevertheless, I think much will be left unsaid for future posts :)

Kuala Lumpur (translate as "muddy confluence”) has an estimated population of 1.6 and the greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million. Quite bigger than any city I have lived until now heheh.

KL is a very busy city, there is a lot of traffic and even during the night there are many cars on the roads. Also, there are many places opened 24h a day, including street restaurants so you can eat any time you wish to.

It is a very tall city compared to the European cities I have visited and full of contrasts and disparity: in one hand it can be very new and modern and on the other hand, there are many traditional neighborhoods a bit old and dirty.

I’ve seen some nice parks and streets to have some walks but with this heat its hard to find motivation. Therefore, one of the most common things I find here is shopping malls, I mean with this weather, who doesn’t wants to go on a shopping mall once in a while with air-con?

Aside shopping, I found out something that Malay families also do: launch kites :) How nice is that?

Also, it is possible to find a lot of Muslim influence in some buildings, as well as, worship places for Indians and Chinese. Here are some which I have visited:

Batu caves, where there is a Indian Temple inside. At the entrance you can see a statue 43m tall of the God of War.

Inside the caves where a lot of monkeys live, as well as, some other animals...

With my friend and college Nicole with whom I went to visit Batu Caves.

The inside of a Chinese Temple in Chinatown where a worker places incense in the ceiling which gives it a great atmosphere.

Thean Hou Temple, the biggest Chinese Temple in Malaysia with my friend Inês, who is living nearby in Singapore.

Finally, the most important building of KL are the Petronas Towers, these were the world's tallest buildings before being surpassed by Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world.

And of course, as any tourist in KL, here you go my picture with the famous towers :)

Life in Malaysia

2010-02-08T10:39:00.004+01:00

So I'm gonna try to explain a bit better how my life is now in Malaysia because people keep asking me that.

I live in a house around 6km from the city (with traffic jam is a bit hard to predict how long it takes). There is a bus that goes to city center BUT buses in Malaysia don’t have a schedule due to unpredictable traffic so is very uncertain :S

The office of the NGO I am working in (http://www.spca.org.my/) is in the ground floor of the house I live in :) So I am one floor away from work. My room is fully equipped with everything needed (furniture, toilet, wireless and air-conditioned!!!). In the house there are some dogs and cats with which I became acquaintance of already.

The locals speak Malay but almost all the people I’ve meet speaks English so communication is going quite well despite the different accents which confuses me a lot!

The food is very diverse, there is Malay food, Indian and Chinese the most. It’s also possible to find western food (mostly fast food) and from Thailand, Vietnam and so. Of course the food is mostly spicy or sweet (I ate sweet noodles recently heheh) so if you are too picky this is not a good option for you :)

Indian Stand

Malay dish (they eat a lot of rise)

The place where we normally have lunch in.

A very curious thing for me is the time difference which is 8 hours ahead GMT. So, when I wake up at 9am, everyone in Portugal is sleeping or going to bed because it’s 1am there. When I finish my work at 6pm, people are only working for one hour in Portugal because it’s 10am there. Finally, when I go to sleep at 1am, in Portugal is only 5pm. So if you want to chat with me online and you haven’t found out why I’m not online at late afternoon and night, now you know!

Last, but not least, the people. As I said the diversity is quite huge physically but also religiously. Until now I found people very nice and helpful, in my work, in supermarket, in any shop. It’s very hard to guess from where they are because Malaysia had many colonizers, firstly the Portuguese, the British and also the Japanese. Aside that they have a lot of Indians and Chinese people living here, and probably from nearby countries as well. Despite the fact that most population is Muslim, I would say Malaysia is a very open-minded country and people are very opened to foreigners and quite used to it.

So life in Malaysia, despite the differences, is quite good! It’s different from anything I had experienced until now and much more is still to come!

Trip and first impressions

2010-02-08T09:15:00.005+01:00

My first stop before arriving to Kuala Lumpur was London in which I’ve spend one night. I met 2 good friends, went for a dinner, and before my flight I ate an English Breakfast in a Spanish bar listening to Fado, Tribalistas and Buraca. That was very odd!

A short stop in Egypt, and then in Malaysia the first impact: the heat! I had been told that it was very hot and so on, but only experiencing it! I haven’t worn a jacket since I’m here basically and I sleep without any sheet on me. During the day is around 33º/34ºC, during the night around 25º/27ºC. Sometimes during the afternoon rains heavily so everywhere I go I need to carry an umbrella. Me and everyone heheh.

Secondly, I was impressed with the abundant nature everywhere! The airport is well designed so there are some interior gardens and all the way to the city there were fields and fields full of palm trees! Most of the roads have trees aside of many tropical kinds.

This is a photo of the airport interior.

I stayed for 2 nights in a student residence where I could hear a lot of animals outside (which seemed like a jungle), the praises from a near Mosque (more than half of Malaysia population is Muslim) and where I could experience 2 nights of sleep with that heat!

View from the residence window.

The second day after an interesting omelet with rise inside, I went for a near Shopping Mall and I have to say it was a cultural experience! There were so many people, lights, and noise, and impressively there was an artificial river in the middle of the shopping mall. I guess the photo speaks for itself!

Immediately I also noticed that the life standard is much lower than Portugal or Croatia, for example MacDonalds menu is around 2, maybe 2,5 Euros (I think this is the best worldwide example to compare prices heheh).

To finish, the amount of cultural diversity is overwhelming. Skin colors, language, clothes. It is a true cultural melting-pot country which I am very glad to get to know.

Next stop: Malaysia

2010-01-25T00:22:00.006+01:00

It’s confirmed, I’m going Malaysia for two months in an internship through AIESEC.

To resume firstly Malaysia is a former colony of UK with tropical weather which I am very curious to experience with 8 hours ahead of GMT. Aside this is a multi-racial country consisting of 61 percent Malays, 30 percent Chinese, 8 percent Indians and 1 percent of other ethnic groups.

My internship will be in Kuala Lumpur which is the capital, but in the recent years, the administrative capital has been moved to the Federal Territory of Putrajaya.

During the late 20th century, Malaysia experienced an economic boom and underwent rapid development. It borders the Strait of Malacca, an important international shipping crossroad, and international trade is integral to its economy. Manufacturing makes up a major sector of the country's economy. Malaysia has a biodiverse range of flora and fauna, and is also considered one of the 17 megadiverse countries.

I will be working on a NGO, SPCA Selangor which is is an animal welfare organisation based in Ampang Jaya, Selangor. The aim of the SPCA is to protect defenseless animals and to alleviate their suffering. I will be working in Marketing, Education, events and doing any other administrative work needed. My internship will last for 2 months (February and March) and afterwards I plan to travel a bit around.

Can’t wait for it!

“It is harder to come back then to go somewhere in the first place”

2009-09-17T17:28:00.015+02:00

My mom recently told me that since I returned from Croatia I am more anxious and impatient. I have to agree with this, not having an idea of what to do next and how to assure another peak in life brings frustration. .

But I have changed much more than this… Many things which I am not sure if I can put in words but I have been reflecting on this for a while so I think it’s great way to close this chapter in my blog by sharing a bit.

My first year in Croatia was one of hardest I had in my entire life. I realized that until then I had been lucky with the people I worked with, I realized that I let myself be influenced by negativity and laziness and so many other things. In my first year I found out the worst side of me, I had many downs and at some point I wanted to leave.

Looking back, I’m so glad I didn’t, I’m so glad I did exactly the opposite and pushed myself to stay a year longer despite my lack of motivation, confidence, trust… All of that based on hope and believe that AIESEC in Croatia should and could be better.

So initially I became a worst person, no energy, no willingness, no strength, too flexible, lazy and I couldn’t recognize myself.

Later on I picked up the pieces, I grabbed an idea, I stayed because I wanted better memories from Croatia and from my last year in AIESEC than the ones I had until then. So in the second year I again changed and I started recognizing myself again.

So, comparing with the Catarina who left I am now more flexible (but just enough), direct, I accept jokes easier and I say them more often, I’m more confident with higher self-esteem, more extroverted, stronger, I feel more safe, I care less about what others think of me, I am more bitchy (in Croatia it is a trait), more tolerant and a bit more lazy, I use irony all the time, I am more independent, I am less harsh with myself and I am also more girlish heheh. I also started believing in relationships, I am less rational in it and I am so much more easy-going generally.

My values became more solid, as well as, my personality. I think I will always be a bit Croat from now on, and I like it :)

All of this came from the experiences I had and the learning’s I got out of those experiences. Maybe other people would have learned different things in the same situation, but these are lessons I took that will stay forever. So I learned:

- What is like to work with people that bring the worst in me;

- To appreciate my country, to admire some of Portuguese values and history;

- To represent an entire country which is not mine based on trust;

- The difficulty to define “home”;

- Consequences of bad and lack of leadership;

- What is to be a Croat, to think as a Croat and what is the meaning of the Croatian flag ;)

- To be a tourist guide in Zagreb and Split;

- To realize that visas are a major issues outside EU;

- To be even less materialistic;

- To smile differently to take pictures;

- What is to work and live in the same house with the same people;

- Travel by train more than 24hours in a row;

- How war affects a culture and a country;

- What is to be rational, direct, concrete, honest in CEE style :)

- Balkan humor;

- The true meaning of “Saudade”;

- That I am a real AIESECer;

- What is Carnival without Brazilian music;

- Share the room with a crazy Serbian girl together with a Indian in the same house, and share a dorm experience with a Ukrainian;

- Dorm life;

- Push back the very barriers of my own personality;

- How hard it to use English to express feelings;

- I learned how the worst “me” is like;

- That sometimes my values fluctuate;

- To ask myself everyday “What the hell am I doing here?”;

- True friendship;

- Varazdin effect ;)

- How to drink Rakija without making a face;

- To be everyday out of my comfort zone;

- To gain perspective;

- Being able to read body language much better;

- All teams are different no matter how much we try;

- And a bit of Croatian language heheh.

And to finish, do I miss Croatia? HELL YES! I miss people, much more than I would imagine when I first left Portugal. And I miss small things, like people calling me Cata, travelling by tram, the sound of Croatian language, people speaking loud in the public transportation, speaking in English, feeling unique because I was a Portuguese (here is not unique at all), the coffee bars, hearing “dobertek” before any meal, the nationalism, the hospitality, the bakeries and even the music!

In the end, it was really worth, all the good and even the bad. Now I’m sure I did change but for better.

Hvala puno to all who have contributed for this experience to be really life-changing.

“A man must travel. By his own, not through stories, pictures, books or TV. He’s got to travel by himself, with his eyes and feet, to understand what is his. To one day plant his own trees and value them. Knowing the cold to enjoy the heat. And the opposite. Feel the distance and absence of shelter to be well under his own roof. A man must travel to places that he does not know to break this arrogance that makes us see the world as we imagine it, and not simply as it is or can be. That makes us teachers and doctors of what we have not seen, when we should be students, and simply go see.” Amyr Klink

P.S: Sorry for the long post but then again, it’s the final one about Croatia so it’s special :)

Nomad Life

2009-08-30T16:28:00.012+02:00

My last month in Croatia after the conference was one of the best gifts I could offer to myself. It was just what I needed to adjust to the fact that I was returning for good to Portugal, to say goodbye and see you soon to my good friends, reflect and finish all transition with the new team.

I started the month by coloring my hair (actually, my successor did it) and by participating in another drinking marathon in Zagreb which was amazing and crazy :)

Then my friend Teresa came to visit me, we went to Slavonia (the north part of Croatia) to Slavonski Brod where my good friend Ana hosted us, then we travelled to Osijek to a party which was also by goodbye from this amazing city and people which always made me feel like home.

Then we went to Budapest where we meet Barbara and Marijana. I had time to get to know the city better and then we went for a day to Bratislava. We took a bus which cost 5€ and we paid 2€ for the return ticket from Bratislava to Budapest – only in Central Europe! I really liked Bratislava, it's small but sweet city.

Then we returned to Zagreb for a night, had a great breakfast prepared by Miran who hosted us, went to the coast, to Rijeka, then finally I visited Istria by going to Labin and Rabac where Alen and Irma received us :)

It was the perfect ending for the crazy trip with Teresa where we could rest and go to the beach.

Afterwards we got back to Rijeka for a very cool goodbye party that the Local Committee prepared, and Teresa left and I stayed in Zagreb.

Had good fun for a week, drinking Porto Wine by the river with good friends, went to birthday parties and visited Varazdin for a night. It was really worth going there to meet such people which I will miss a lot.

Then AIESEC in Croatia hosted the European Presidents Meeting in Zagreb where I meet some good friends and then some of us went to Split. It was rainy but for me what mattered were the people with whom I had great experiences, nights, morning and laughs during those days.

Back to Zagreb, Marta arrived, I had some goodbye party with Zagreb people and not only, including my non-AIESEC friends and the day after I finally visited Bosnia & Herzegovina. We went to Sarajevo where we were so well received by Dan and Zlatko, then travelled to beautiful Mostar where Reno hosted us. It was a very nice experience to visit this country, it's visible the huge effort being made to put the country in place after the war and the people are as nice and welcoming as I have been told several times.

Finally, back to Split for some resting because I got sick. But even so I went night swimming and had opportunity to visit Brac and have some crazy nights as usual.

Marta left to Zagreb and I went to visit Marijana at Kukljica where I finally had time to rest, relax and reflect. I also visited Zadar and then I left to Zagreb to catch my flight…

It was a crazy and hard month. I was sick and tired of packing, travelling, sleeping here and there, I was sick of that nomad life but it has good things… The best was the possibility that I had to see all those people again, to realize that I made great friendships during my period in Croatia and that no matter what, I will return because these people are now part of me.

Mezanima me :)

2009-06-20T22:16:00.006+02:00

And with the end of the month and of the term, came also my last National Conference in AIESEC in Croatia as President.

It is hard to condensate everything I felt in words but the best word to define it is fulfilled. After 2 years in Croatia I truly feel that the organization evolved, there was positivism in the atmosphere, there were achievements to celebrate, there was a legacy that we passed on and amazing people that will lead the organization.

On the personal level, there was such a mixture of feelings. I was happy but also a bit sad and emotional. The probabilities that such moments will ever repeat are minimum. Some of the most important people that influenced my experience in this country were there, most of my best Croatian friends were there and some of my best moments in AIESEC in Croatia including parties in the hallway, bush diving, sunrises, conversations, faci meetings, MC roll call, succession of AIESEC in Croatia and a lot of randomness happened in this conference… So much to remember…

In the end, Hvala Puno AIESEC Hrvatska! Make me proud :)

Last month of my AIESEC active Career

2009-06-20T19:52:00.010+02:00

My last month as an active AIESECer just began by going back to the roots. I went to Portugal for a weekend because of the wedding of a very good friend of mine who was also the President of AIESEC in Portugal when I was working on that team that year.

The whole experience to meet team again, to remember all experiences we went through made me feel very nostalgic but also satisfied by realizing how we all evolved since then and the amazing experiences we are all gathering from all around the world literally!

Then I managed also to be present in the moment where many people that influenced my career became Alumnus and to participate in my good friend Hugo farewell dinner before he leaves to his new challenge, Netherland and the AIESEC International.

Finally, I became Alumnus of my home LC, AIESEC Lisboa ISCTE. It was a natural step to take and it felt good to have there “present” the people who contributed so much for my experience to be what it was. It was like to look at my life through others people eyes and it also made me realize how lucky I was to have such extraordinary people in my AIESEC career but moreover as my friends! Everything was special and memorable as I always wanted it to be, including the end. Even when some things do not turn out the way we would like to, it just adds value to the entire experience.

And when I returned to Croatia, WILL found OPPORTUNITY so I did a lot of things that I always wanted to during May:

Have a chilled lunch with my team;

Visit one of the most beautiful places I’ve been into, the Plitvice Lakes, a natural park of Croatia;

To see finally how the St.Mark church in Zagreb looks like after the recovery works done;

And to enjoy the fact that Zagreb had a record number of interns with whom I had many quality moments :)

"At the end you remember the beginning"

2009-04-30T13:47:00.013+02:00

In one month I will finish my responsibilities as President of AIESEC in Croatia, I won’t have any more title below my name, I won’t be actively working in AIESEC anymore, I won’t have an address, I will have no work or job to do. I will be just an unemployed recent graduate in Psychology with 24 years old. I will have to rebuild my life from scratch, find a new place to live, a new job, a new passion, a new flag.

How does it make me feel?

I believe AIESEC is just a bus stop, it is never ever a destination. We meet some cool people on the same stop as we, some other less cool people, some of them we are sure we will meet somewhere someday, we go through sunny days but also through a lot of rainy days, some days we are tired to wait, other days we feel like never leaving that place.

And once it gets comfortable it means that it’s time to catch the bus. And I feel that this is the right moment to catch my bus, I am sure it will be the right one and I am sure that will lead me exactly where I should be.

And how does that make me feel?

Tired but at the same time I know that the next 30 days are the last days I have to do anything meaningful in this organization, are the only days left to make a change, to leave a legacy, to do something that will make my last years all worth.

I’m also tired of jumping around and I miss having a place called home. But for now that is something I can live with as long as I have friends that make me feel home in many places in the world.

How does it make me feel?

Nostalgic and it makes me think about the person I was when I joined AIESEC, it makes me feel a bit old and it makes me feel I went through an amazing changing process. When I look at the pictures I see that apparently I haven’t change that much but I know the truth, I’m not the same scared, low-confident, impulsive, with bad English, with fear to speak in public girl I was when I joined…

So what´s the feeling?

Happiness because I had an amazing experience. I will leave Croatia with the feeling I have done the right choice by staying one more year, I will be sure that all doubts, fears and even tears were worth. I will leave my active life in AIESEC with absolutely sure I made the best out of it, I kept the right people around me, I learned what I needed for my personality and character to become stronger, I took challenges and I grew beyond what I ever expected.

How does it make me feel?

A bit scared about the future, anxious. AIESEC is a peak in my life. I mean, how many times in my life will I have the opportunity to lead ambitious, young and exciting people? How many times will I be managing an organization with more than 300 people? How many times will I be in my life the main representative of an organization present in a country for over 55 years in front of more than 100 countries? How many times will I be the main representative of a country which is not my own? I think the chances are pretty small.

I think things will get harder, it will require more passion and willingness, but I am determined not to make AIESEC the peak of my life. I just need to find something I believe in and dedicate my life to it.

And how does makes me feel?

In the end it makes me feel good with myself.

The real difference between Portuguese and Croats

2009-04-27T23:20:00.004+02:00

During Easter I went to Split where I had a lot of time for myself and normally in these occasions I also come up with rather interesting theories (at least for me). So while in Split I dedicated a bit of time reflecting about the differences I have been noticing between the people from my own country and the people from the country I have been living in the last 2 years and this is the result:

Croats are “black or while” and Portuguese are “grey”.

Croats (and I would like to emphasize that I am generalizing) are extremists: a guy is either cool or not, either they are dating or they are not, either they are friends or they are not. Generally they are very direct and straight forward people. They are a very nationalistic nation and although they seem into travelling, several Croats told me that they have here everything they need so they would never live abroad for choice. I know a lot of religious people, and I mean young people. Also I’ve heard from many people that they aim to get married, have a good house, raise kids, enjoy life. I have met so many happy people and families, happy with what they have, with who they are, with what they do. Normally they are not satisfied with the Government but I guess that is a global feeling. I think Croatian music is generally happier, they drink more and they work to party afterwards. That’s why I say that they point of view is much more extreme like “black or white”.

Portuguese (and I am again generalizing) are by nature frustrated with everything, with the country, with their lifes, with their job, with the weather, with the traffic, with the prices, with their emotional lifes… Normally Portuguese people always give the benefit of doubt “He seems an asshole but maybe this is not his day, I will give him some more opportunities”. Generally they are not proud of their country and they live convinced that all other countries are better. According to statistics majority of Population is Catholic but actually most of my friends are agnostic. I would say that Portuguese have difficulty to believe in happy endings, most of the musics are about sad love stories and my friends and even I tend to dream about impossible relationships. Sometimes the longest period of emotional relationships is the flirting, kissing and what we call “to have fun” part, to date is a very advanced stage and normally takes quite a while to begin. For all of this I would say Portuguese are more in between, more “grey”.

I would say the good thing about Croats it’s their capacity to be happy and to find happiness in small, beautiful things. They are more confident and proud of whom they are and of what they have. This is from my point of view highly influenced by the fact that a bit more than a decade ago they had to fight for their country and for their own freedom.

The good thing about Portuguese is that they live in this continuous frustration which also makes them always to look for alternatives and to change if necessary in pursuit for that happiness or perfection that they actually don’t believe exists. I also think this is present in Portuguese way of being for centuries and it explains a bit the discoveries period and why people who are blessed with a beautiful ocean, great fields and warm weather decide to engage in adventures and endless boat trips to find new worlds. But then again, maybe this is not the majority I am talking about…

The bad thing about Croats is that sometimes they just don’t care because they are happy. They are not concerned so much in details and perfection, and sometimes they don’t seem interested to find out other ways of doing things which could even be useful for their country or for their lifes. They are satisfied with what they have and I also believe this is visible in AIESECers in Croatia but the question is what else could they have or be? What about excellence?

The bad thing about Portuguese is that they seem never to be happy or satisfied, they complain so much about everything and they lack positivism. This would be good if people would fight and do something to change their lifes, but the truth is that many people don’t do so, and they complain their entire life. And AIESEC was a reflection of this bad side until a while ago, I think now things are changing…

Bottom line, both cultures seems similar on the first sight, and they are but some key values in the basic structure of these cultures are not shared.

Which one is better? I think that the best is to find a balance between being able to enjoy what you have and at the same time risk and challenge the boundaries that we impose to ourselves.

I think I manage to find a good balance between this 2 point of views after 2 years in Croatia and that is maybe one of the biggest learnings I will take with me… I’m actually starting to believe in happy endings…

P.S: of course these are statements based on my assumptions and perception therefore it is only an assessment, it may even be a bit grounded but it is not necessarily right and I hope it doesn’t offends anyone :)

Budapest, EuroXPRO 2009 and Bucharest

2009-04-23T23:39:00.009+02:00

In March I was going to realize one of my dreams since 2004: to facilitate an international AIESEC conference, a big one!

It was a conference for the future leaders of AIESEC in European and North American countries bringing together 200 people from a bit less than 40 countries.

Of course I had to take the opportunity to travel by train and as it was safer, I took the option to pass by Budapest in Hungary because I was travelling alone. So I had the chance to visit a bit of the city, the CEE GN hosted me and I had a got time there.

Me and Barbara who lives in Budapest and who showed me the city :)

And this is just a bit of the city (I’ve broken my camera in Rome so now I only have mobile pictures but it's not that bad hein?).

Then I got to Bucharest in Romania to meet the team I was going to work with. Just to highlight that in this team was included David who was part of my Executive Board in Lisboa when I was President in AIESEC Lisboa ISCTE which was a great feeling!

So, having in consideration that this would be my last international conference my expectations were very high, I wanted to feel the AIESEC spirit, give quality sessions, bond with my delegation but also to get to know the Portuguese, spend time with some old friends, basically to enjoy it to the maximum!!

And I did, EuroXPRO was the best last international conference I could have, it was very relaxing as facilitator! Maybe because the entire team was so high profiled that the level of trust was above anything I have experienced, so I was not stressed out, I didn’t have to do late work or anything, I was relaxed even during pre-meeting. Besides that I loved the closing plenary, it was perfect...

And it was amazing to see Croatians there, to see them taking over and to see that Croatia will stay in good hands next year. Also it was great to see them bonding with Portugal and listen to them sharing their points of view about both countries.

And I got to meet the Portuguese which was also great because sometimes I feel so distant from AIESEC in Portugal.

And last but not least the conference was amazing for me because… I felt myself again (maybe some people won’t understand but…). I recognized myself, the best part of me, I was again the person and AIESECer I was before Croatia and it was an amazing feeling, I felt big and strong, and it felt good to realize that I am here, I’m still here! I got so much positive feedback from delegates concerning my sessions and it was very rewarding.

On the other side I also felt that most of the time my full potential, capacity and knowledge is not used in AIESEC in Croatia... but how to change it?

Afterwards I had opportunity to see Bucharest. It’s not an amazing and gorgeous city but it has its magic, it’s definitely Balkan and it has so much influence from different countries and cultures.

So this is the Romanian Athenaeum which is a concert hall in the center of Bucharest.

This is a photo of a small garden belonging to an Orthodox Church.

And this is the Palace of the Parliament, which is the world’s second largest building after Pentagon.

And to finish my experience I leave a video that the Faci Team has created about the Faci roll call. If you were not in the conference it won’t be so funny but… I like it.

Obrigado, Hvala, Mulţumesc and Thanks to all who made my last international conference so special and perfect :)

IPM 2009 and Rome

2009-04-21T22:50:00.011+02:00

So in mid February was going to take place IPM in Rome so Slovenians AIESEC Presidents (the current and elect) and I decided to take advance of living in Central Europe and managed a way to go by car. How great is that? I will miss this mobility once I get back to Portugal…

They managed to convince one guy to drive us there so we went by car, we stopped in Bologna to visit the city, we slept in the car and we got to Rome in a sunny and nice morning ready for the conference.

IPM like I had mentioned before is without a doubt the best AIESEC conference in the network but the second IPM is a bit different. Just to recall: this is the most diverse AIESEC conference with only 2 delegates per country in a total of 107 countries represented that lasts for 12 days.

For me it was a very nostalgic conference that made me reflect a lot about the beginning, about all the dreams and hopes I had one year ago. The elections for the international team took place once again and this year was very intense, I participated in the longest legislation ever in my life, I had some of the most hilarious moments of my AIESEC career and I had a lot of thinking… For me this conference was mostly:

- Get to know and give transition to my successor, Jelena. We had great time together and I am very confident about the future of AIESEC in Croatia:

- About meeting old friends, having good conversations and sharing crazy ideas:

- To think about the failures but also the successes and achievements of my term:

- To think about my future and my next steps:

- To speak a lot of Portuguese with the people from PSGN ;)

- Being proud of my friends and of the people I saw growing and taking new challenges during the conference:

- And to say “See you soon” to long lasting friends whom I’m sure I will meet someday, somewhere, somehow…:)

Some flashpoints:

- Some cultural mindsets are true... it is true that Italians eat a lot of Pasta and basically they eat it in every meal;

- To be in a conference with something like 230 people from 107 countries where more than 20 are Native Portuguese Speakers is a very weird feeling. I spoke more Portuguese in this conference than any other international conference for sure;

- Representing Croatia just became a part of me and it is how people recognize me. I felt a bit that I branded Croatia during the last year in the AIESEC network and I felt proud of “being from Croatia”;

- After one year sharing my hopes, frustrations and even days with some of those people I am afraid I will never have the same opportunity to meet them all again and for sure not in the same place, but I am grateful I even had such experience and opportunity;

- Even in a period of time where we find intelligent life in other planets, AIESEC will still be relevant and instead of Country members we will have Planet members, Growth Networks will be Planetary systems and Solar system roll call will be something like “We got sun, yeah yeah, we got sun, yeah yeah. We got what? What? What? What? What?” heheheh;

- Rome was definitely an amazing surprise. A beautiful city that combines old and new in every street and corner, history in every place and also a touch of Mediterranean culture at least in the night life. A city I could for sure life for a long period of time:

January and February in review

2009-04-05T22:24:00.010+02:00

Going back to Zagreb wasn’t easy but much easier than last year. Snow was all around and I did enjoy my winter.

I firstly went to Slovenia to chair the election of the President of AIESEC in Slovenia for the upcoming term and I had the chance to meet friends and visit Ljubljana with snow.

Then in Zagreb I did enjoyed snow the best I could heheh.

This was the view from my window in the dorm and it's a great feeling to wake up warm and look outside to such a picture... I will miss it. Then Nastya and I had a blast going around the city and to parks when there was snow. It's so peaceful and beautiful... And for the first time ever I've seen a frozen lake :) Not a big lake but it was frozen.

And January was also a cultural month with so many visits to Museums: Also in January amazingly I managed to spill yogurt in my laptop keyboard which is also one of the reasons why didn’t updated my blog before… Always something happens to my laptops in January… .

Then in the beginning of February Croatia hosted the Man World’s Handball Championship. I was never a big fan of Handball but in Croatia they are fans and good at it, so I went to watch the final in a bar Croatia Vs France and France won… But still we went to the main square to join the crowd who was there to recognize and receive the Croatian athletes.

All that nationalism did have an effect in me and I also wanted to scream and cheer for Croatia. Interesting...

And after the first round of national team applications for the next term I was leaving to Rome for another International Conference.

Re-integration?

2009-04-05T20:43:00.006+02:00

In AIESEC when people would say that we need to find strategies to re-integrate people who went for internships I never understood very well what that is. But the last time I went back to Portugal I did feel a bit of what that “re-integration” period is…

This whole experience did change me as a person especially from July to December in many ways like my jokes, my interpersonal skills, my values and the way I do AIESEC.

So when I got to Lisbon I went straight to a dinner with my EB and I was terrified, I was scared of how would they perceive me, if they would notice that I changed, I was afraid that they would also have changed and we wouldn’t feel good together.

It wasn’t like that (some things did change because we tried new picture concepts) but for one week I felt weird, out of my comfort zone and I noticed things in Portuguese culture and in my friends which I have never noticed before.

Bottom line I don’t think I will ever be the same person I was when I went to Croatia and I don’t think I want to be that person anymore. I just need to find a way to cope with this fact when I go back home.

Besides that to be home was relaxing and chilled out. I had enough fun, rest, I watched TV and movies, I read and I partied until the morning like Portuguese style.

So this is how my Vacations in Madeira looked like:

November & December in review

2009-04-05T18:33:00.009+02:00

Did you ever run a Marathon? From now on I can say: Yes, I did in the end of November… but a drinking Marathon :)

I didn’t start from beginning but still, me and Nastya started on the 5th stop at 11am near the dorm which means that we had 13 stops and maybe some more heheh.

The concept is very simple: there are 18 stops and in each stop it’s mandatory to drink, and there is only one stop for food. I can say that in the end I was proud of myself, I can remember everything, I didn’t make a fool of myself and I still went to the party afterwards.

It was pure fun and now I’m waiting for the Summer Edition Marathon in which I intend to go from the beginning heheh. Yeah, living Croatian spirit ;)

Then in the beginning of December there was the biggest National Conference of AIESEC in Croatia, the Winter Leadership Development Congress which was held in Split.

This was a special and very important conference for several reasons: we had an amazing number of 150 delegates, we had finally companies participating in the conference, we had 16 facilitators, my successor would be elected in this conference so my expectations were very high!

Was it as amazing as I wanted it to be? Yes and no. I felt good as MCP, I felt that generally people were satisfied, I felt an amazing atmosphere from the delegates and I truly believe that AIESEC in Croatia is different. But (and there is always a but) I felt frustrated, there we had all leaders of our organization and I didn’t know what to tell them, what to say that would make a difference. I have tried different approaches, strategies, I have talked with people and still, things happen so slowly, people seem not to change and I couldn’t find something that would make the difference…

I guess that also means that I’m not satisfied, it means I’m not going to quit or stop, that means I’m gonna do something and continue challenging my perception of things.

Anyway, here are some snapshots of the conference:

Opening Ceremony The facilitators' team Party The National Team 0809

The Hotel View :)

Then after the conference I had opportunity to chill a bit in Zagreb and feel Christmas when I went to the city center, drink hot wine (in Croatia and other Eastern Europe countries to warm up wine with herbs during winter is traditional and is really good!) and feel the freezing weather.

And still, before going to Portugal I had a crazy adventure to go to Istanbul for 4 days for a CEE Presidents Meeting.

I only managed my flight 2 days before the conference so I was already in the airport entering the airplane when I realized that I haven’t told my Mom I was going to Turkey… I called her and I tried to explain her very fast, then during the beautiful sunset over the clouds I realize how AIESEC made travelling or being with foreign people such a normal thing.

While I was flying I realized how lucky I was to have such possibilities and to have met so many amazing people during the last 5 years of my life…

Then I have to say that I enjoyed Istanbul much more this time than one year and half ago because the weather was nice (not horrible hot), majority of people were locals in the streets (not tourists) and I had the opportunity to walk around without rush (while in the first time I was going around with the study tour people).

Another funny thing which amazed me was that I meet randomly this guy from Egypt who was going to facilitate an AIESEC Turkey National Conference that would start immediately after our conference. The interesting about him is that he had a keychain that one and half year ago a CEEDers in Croatia originally from USA got from this MC member for an experiment. The experiment was to see how long it would take using AIESEC network to get back to Croatia. When he told me this I was shocked because I was the owner of that keychain which I completely forgot that I had gave to Drew. So, after one year and half it got back to me in Istanbul given by an Egyptian guy which I had never met before. Crazy right?

Countdown to go home :)

2008-12-20T21:16:00.009+01:00

I am in countdown to go home for four weeks already :) I always liked going to Madeira but I never felt like this before… the anticipation that I will go there tomorrow, that I will open the window of my room and see the ocean is killing me!

But let me tell you a bit more about Madeira Island.

In this picture you can see its localization in the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the Autonomous regions of Portugal, with Madeira Island and Porto Santo Island being the only inhabited islands and two groups of unpopulated islands called the Desertas and Selvagens Islands. Although located in the African Plate, some 650 km off the North African coast, Madeira belongs and has always belonged ethnically, culturally, economically and politically to Europe, some 955 km from the European mainland.

The total area is 828km2, the total population is 260.000, has a coastline of 80 to 90 miles. Its most famous sea cliff, the Cabo Girão, is the world's second highest. The highest point on the island is Pico Ruivo, at 1,862 meters.

In the south, there is very little left of the indigenous laurisilva subtropical rainforest which once covered the whole island (the original settlers set fire to the island to clear the land for farming) and gave it the name it now bears (Madeira means "wood" in Portuguese). However, in the north, the valleys contain native trees of fine growth. These laurisilva forests, notably the forests on the northern slopes of Madeira Island, are designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Madeira Island's geographical position and mountainous landscape result in a very pleasant climate which varies between the north side, south side, and smaller islands groups like Porto Santo and Savages. The mean annual temperature on the coastline can reach more than 20°C in the south. With its mild humidity, the weather of the island is classified as oceanic subtropical and with its low rain level, desertic on the Savages. Influenced by the Gulf Stream, sea water temperature varies between 26°C during the summer and 17°C in the winter.

The capital city (my home, photo below) is called Funchal with about 120,000 inhabitants. Funchal is located in a unique area; the natural geological features form an "amphitheatre" surrounding the city, which begins at the harbour (Porto de Funchal) and rises almost 1200 meters high on gentle slopes.

More curiosities: Tourism contributes 20% to the region's GDP; Cristiano Ronaldo is originally from Madeira; Madeira is a popular year-round resort, noted for its Madeira wine, flowers, and embroidery artisans, as well as its New Year's Eve celebrations that feature a spectacular fireworks show, which is the largest in the world according to the Guinness World Records; the island now produces banana, mangoes, papayas, guavas, pineapple, sugar cane, passion fruit, coffee and many other fruits and specialty crops. There are also coconut palms, rubber trees and other "exotic" semi-tropical plants.

So for all of this, I guess you understand why I cannot wait to go home :)

Main source of information: Wikipedia

Estou alegre... Porque estás alegre?

2008-11-19T00:40:00.010+01:00

Last week there was one event which made me feel hope and another one that made me feel proud and I would like to share them with you…

I went for the weekend to Osijek to participate in their Local Training Seminar. For different reasons my motivation to go was really low and I didn’t feel like travelling and going there, but I went and I returned which a huge sense of hope. Hope that things will get better, that people will challenge themselves, hope that they will grow, learn and surprise me, hope that AIESEC in Osijek will succeed and start doing AIESEC:

Then during the week I received the news that one of my best friends who was also part of my Executive Board in Lisboa during my term as President of AIESEC in ISCTE was selected to be Organizing President of a big international conference AIESEC in Portugal will organize next year, EuroCo.

When you are leading people or a team much comes down to this: feeling of hope and pride... Hope that your influence will somehow have a positive impact in those people, hope you are doing something right, hope that they will surprise you, hope that you are managing to take everyone towards the right direction, hope that the next ones after you won't screw your work, hope that those people will become better than you are.

And after that, all that hope becomes happiness if they actually become better than you, if they manage to survive without your guidance and help, if they manage to surprise you, if they manage to be successful. And then you know that something you must have done well and you feel proud because those people are growing.

If there is something I feel after being President in AIESEC Lisboa ISCTE is proud of the individuals I have worked with because they make me smile every day, because they don’t quit, they are making the best out of their AIESEC Experience and because they became literally people I admire. I feel proud not because of me, all that they have achieved was due to their growth and effort, I feel proud because they are live examples of AIESEC’ers, each one of them!

If you are reading this and if you are a team leader I wish you a lot of hope during your term because that will help you to go through it and I wish you to feel proud once you finish, I wish you to see that the people you lead became better than you.

Do It 2008 and Switzerland

2008-11-15T14:43:00.009+01:00

Some years ago there was a guy that told me that I should apply for facilitator at Do It conference. I said he was crazy because I had no facilitating experience but he convinced me to apply and of course I wasn’t selected.

Today that is one of the most important lessons I hold about what is to support people to do things they don’t believe they would ever do and to take them out of their comfort zone by challenging them. In another situation I asked him what was to be a mentor, and among other things he told me that a mentor convinces his mentees to apply for faci at Do It. The day after I invited him to be my mentor which he is until today. That was one of the wisest decisions I have ever made.

All of this to say that this conference always had a special meaning for me, and I always knew that one day I had to be facilitator in this conference. So I applied again this year and now I was selected!

So in the last week of October I caught a train and found myself in Bern, in Switzerland together with other 23 people (Facilitators + Chair) to deliver one of my dreams. .

The conference had over 200 delegates with something like 31 countries represented, it took place in Fiesh, in the Alps and it was exactly what I needed.

To go to a national conference in another country challenges your idea about how a conference is runned, it challenges how an agenda is built, it makes one reflect on its own reality which is taken for granted, it helps you to questioned which AIESEC do you believe in and it made me question myself, my skills and what I want.

There are few words to describe the experience but I would definitely focus on one thing. I’ve meet people from all around the world that got together randomly in a small room with one goal: to make that a unique experience for the conference delegates. I meet the facilitators team which was inspiring, funny, random comprised by a bunch of amazing people.

Thank you for reminding me why I am in this organization and why I am doing this.

And besides that I had the pleasure to get to know Zurich. Switzerland was always a bit of a mystery for me because I always knew a lot of Portuguese immigrated there but I never knew exactly why. Know I think it is because Switzerland offers a life quality which is unquestionable even for a one day visitor. I recommend.

So in the end, thanks for the challenge Pita and Jih-Ming, I owe you both.

Small things...

2008-11-13T23:45:00.010+01:00

...can make life so much happier, simpler and relaxed. Let me introduce you, the one and only, my first full salary this term:

Beautiful right? I also think so.

It's not much, but I have learned how to appreciate it. That is one thing I've learned: to appreciate small stuff.

It's not about money, it's about independence, it's about not worrying, it's about stability, it's about making things work :)

P.S: And it won't be the last one! But I just wanted to record the moment ;)

"Custom leads to adaptation and loss of consciousness" Bernard Baars

2008-10-26T23:41:00.009+01:00

Ok! I admit it, I am living in Croatia for 1 year and 4 months and half. It’s kind of hard to admit because it seems too much time. Then I read that quote which is in the title and it made me think...

And yes, I agree, there are now many things which I don’t even realize anymore that I wouldn’t do, say, accept, understand or like if I was in Portugal. Yes, I am losing conscious of the cultural differences and I take many things already has granted in my life in Croatia. So I decided to make a list of things I got used to and other things which I still haven’t got used to it.

Sorry if it’s too long but I didn’t have much time ;)

Things I got used to:

- To travel daily by tram without ticket

- To live in a city with no hills, which is opposite to any place I have ever lived

- Think in Kunas (Croatian currency)

- Travel by train anywhere including many other countries, basically to live in central Europe!

- Ask for a beer and expect a half a litter beer at least

- Drink coffee with milk and not expresso

- To say “Bok” and “Dobartek” instead of “Oi” and “Bom apetite”

- Cabbage salad (couve!crua!)

- Enter the bus in any door, including the back door

- To live in a very green city

- Comfortable seats in all coffee shops

- To read “ž” like “j”, and “j” like “ie”, “nj” like “nh”, “lj” like “lh”…

- Being random

- People singing anywhere anytime

- People speaking loud

- Being open-minded about sexuality (mine and others) and sexual jokes

- Accept sexual jokes of people I have meet 30 minutes ago

- Tell sexual jokes everyday

- Guys opening the door for me

- Lack of political games in AIESEC

- To have an MC office with window heheh

- Make fun of Slovenia size

- To wear a Croatian t-shirt

- That people think I am Croat and that people speak in Croatian with me

- X-cards and going to cantines

- Dorm life

- Balkans humor

- Croatian hospitality and nationalism

- Take the shoes off when I enter a house

- To “sing” Croatian music and enjoy it

- To be everyday out of my comfort zone

- To refer to Croatia as “my country” when referring to AIESEC

- Not to understand what people talk in the tram or in the streets and not care about it

- Bakeries with a lot of salty stuff and pizza slices

- Not to read subtitles

- To think (and dream) in English

- The security level even at night, even in parks!

- To buy something in a bakery and then eat it in a bar (basically a different place from the one which I bought it)

- Not to be polite

- People calling me “bitch”

- To have internet at home

- Go to supermarkets and not understanding the name tags

- Being called Cata and even introduce myself as such

- Too many things which I can’t recognize anymore…

Things I still didn’t get used to:

- To have my best friends "living" in my PC

- The weather

- The lack of cultural diversity

- Not having sea near Zagreb

- To be with AIESEC’ers and to do AIESEC 24 hours per day

- People judging others based on first impression

- “Bitch is good, polite is not” mindset

- To be the only girl without makeup in faculty or in a party most of the time

- The fact that people don’t wait for me to answer their questions and continuously interrupt me

- To have friends here that I know that in one year from now won’t be part of my day to day life anymore

- Their wine (shitty) and wine with Coca-cola

- Lack of waves in the sea

- The fact that all the people with whom I work with were born in a country which does not exists anymore

- The kids speaking in Croatian so easily and I can't!

- Their “Turkish” coffee

- To use Croatian keyboard (Z and Y are opposite)

- Not to do other stuff besides AIESEC, not to attend concerts, not to go to non-aiesecers parties...

- To update my blog :p

- Not playing Boat Race every week

- Not having Bairro Alto once per week

- To drink Rakija

- Borrow money instead of lending money

- Snow :)

- To have posters with my picture

- That some people “pity” me because of my choice

- That I can’t read newspapers

- Expressing myself in English...

V2.4

2008-10-24T21:18:00.006+02:00

I’ve turned 24 years old this week.

It’s the second time I celebrate my birthday in Croatia. I got used to hear “sretan rođendan”. I received birthday wishes from over 100 people (thanks to facebook I guess). I am almost a quarter of a century. If I am 24 it means my brother is almost 34. I had a good excuse to invite people for a beer.

But… did I change? What changed? I still refuse to believe that I can’t change the world, I believe everyone has something worthwhile, I have hope that there is a solution for the world, I still like to sing in the street and to do other embarrassing stuff, I still have energy to party all night and wake up at 9am so I still feel like a teenager of 20 years old and sometimes less.

And thanks to all of you who make part of my life and that made me feel better with my v2.4 than my v2.3 ;)

Let’s get things started...

2008-10-19T23:55:00.006+02:00

After IC I would say that a new period of my life started. You know that feeling when a new year is beginning? The feeling that things can be different, that there is a change and above all there is hope that the New Year will be better than the previous one? That’s exactly the feeling I had during September and I still do :)

First I got a new “home”. I’m now living in a student dorm and I love it! My own room with internet 24 hours, toilet and a fridge (I know these things seem very simplistic but in some situations they are not and I won't go into details. But believe me, when you are living abroad you start appreciating many more things that were taken as granted before).

Also, I finally managed to get my MC team together because my MC VP TM (from Ukraine) managed to get her visa finally. So we started working properly since then, I would say.

In the beginning of October we had our first national conference as MC current :) It was a very important conference because it kind of represents the kick off of our term, where EBs already have done some mistakes and where we have a clear picture of what we want to achieve. And besides that I think it was a very good conference from the feedback we received :)

This is my SPAHHHHH team (also) finally all together ;)

And here we have AIESEC in Croatia National Team (MC plus National Support Team) all together (finally also).

Then after that we had the visit from the Growth Network (GN) Board (AIESEC is divided in different regions of the world and the board that manages Central and Eastern Europe Region came to visit our country to check how are things going and give support to the country growth).

The person that came to visit us representing the GN board was Barbara who is from Brazil so I had opportunity to speak in Portuguese a lot. Obrigada por tudo guria ;)

Then this last week I went to visit AIESEC in Osijek for which I am responsible for. I think the visit was useful for them and I also had a great time there. Now they just need to make it happen.

The city center of Osijek.

Osijek EB plus me... also finally together! (Now we are only waiting for Ondro)

And at last the photo from a great night where I felt the good and warm hospitality from Slavonia.

And here I am today... Life is good and finally with my blog is completely updated!!! I hope I manage to keep that way for a long period but I won't promise ;)

The weirdest thing...

2008-10-12T18:23:00.012+02:00

A lot of people ask me if I miss home and Portugal, if I miss my family and friends, if I like the food and so on...

Well, yes, I miss all of that but the weirdest thing is that my best friends live in my computer. I cannot hug them, have a beer with them, go to a concert and sing together with them, go for a dinner, share a walk on the park or simple share the silence of the sunrise after a hard party night. I cannot find support in their eyes, or the understanding of their look when I’m feeling down or when I’m feeling happy, I cannot “see” if they are having a good or bad day, I cannot even call when something great happens and I really want to share it and I cannot be with them to say in the right and needed moment “You can do it, I’m with you”.

It’s not that I feel they are distant (the computer helps a lot) but it’s hard to share my life and to understand what is going on in their life's using words or pictures when before we were used to use gestures, smiles and expressions.

It’s hard and I am having the exact same feeling right now... words are not enough...

So, and just to clarify, if I am online doesn’t means that I am working or answering e-mails. Most of the time it means I’m spending time with my friends :)

Brazil and International Congress 2008

2008-09-29T21:18:00.008+02:00

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.

...

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.

Non-stop travelling

2008-09-24T23:43:00.007+02:00

During July and August, after returning from Portugal, I’ve spend a lot of time travelling and moving my things around…

First I went to Czech Republic to attend a meeting of AIESEC Presidents (MCPs) from Europe and North America.

It was interesting to return to Prague, visit the city, listening to the language and imagine that actually I could have lived there last year instead of Zagreb because I have applied for Czech Republic before Croatia heheh. I was never sad that I didn’t got elected specially because I believe that everything happens for a reason but it is interesting just to think about the possibility, look around and see which people would I have spent my year with and … it is weird right?

One of the best things (besides meeting MCPs) about my trip to Prague was to experience a party tram! Yes, you pay the entrance, you get a beer and there you are, going around the city during the sunset with a tram full of AIESECers, it's unbelievable! The only problem is that when you want to go to the toilet, well, there is no toilet, it’s a tram! So it can not be a long party I have to say…

Then I returned to Zagreb, we had MC planning and then my second trip was to Slovenia border. I had to go to Slovenia, more concretely to post office, to pay mine’s and Ana’s airplane ticket to Brazil. I know, it sounds crazy but it is quite near, approximately 40 minutes by car from Zagreb. Cool, ah?

Afterwards, a couple of days later I went to Split (which was basically my vacations this summer) for ISP conference. I had a great time with amazing people from all around the world which were delegates in ISP:

I had the opportunity to visit beautiful places in Dalmatia:

Roman ruins of Salona ancient city

Trogir Island which is UNESCO World Heritage.

Then I also visited Brač, a beautiful island situated in front of Split and I loved the boat trip (I didn't get seasick, there are no waves, its the sea not the ocean ;).

Besides that, Nastya, my MC VP TM from Ukraine came to Croatia and I almost managed to gather my team heheh (but there is a space for Bonny):

And although I’ve spend more time there than planned, I had to return to Zagreb but not for long because then I had to travel again to Požega for a 5 days meeting with LCPs which exceeded all expectations ;)

Then, I went from Požega to Osijek which is 90km distance but this time in a motorcycle… Those who know me know that this was a challenge for me but I actually enjoyed it. It was great to reflect and chill...

And then during my stay in Osijek I experienced a completely new thing for me: to swim in a river :) First, we enter the water in one place, we go with the flow and we go out in other place because of the water stream. How fun is that?

Then I got back to Zagreb and to be honest my wish was to stay there for more than 2 weeks, relax, rest, not to travel more. But Brazil was waiting for me so not even a week later I had to leave for IC in Brazil.

Another reason that made this harder was the fact that since the beginning of July Celine, MC CEEDer from AIESEC UK, was in Zagreb but only until the end of August (which means that when I would return, she would have left already).

AIESEC is a great experience but it has these things: I meet amazing people with interesting personalities, fascinating life stories, full of life, people that bring the best out of me but then, they don’t live in the same country as I do! Who knows when I will meet them again, have a coffee or beer, have a walk in the city, have a nice chat… It is hard and to say goodbye to Celine was hard because she became one of those special people in my life eventhough we only shared a couple of weeks together.

But also AIESEC has another interesting thing: it makes the world seem much smaller so eventought it may seem I won’t ever meet the same person twice, experience has proved me that that is wrong, and there are ways...

Soooo, sooner or later, I know my path will cross again with my friend Celine. And thank god there is internet nowadays!

Jesen dolazi...*

2008-09-23T12:19:00.006+02:00

Since last week that Zagreb has temperatures between 10ºC and 13ºC...

I know that this is normal for Zagreb but honestly, I'm still not used to it!

...

I come from a subtropical island (last weekend my mom called me when she was returning from the beach that she will be going at least until the end of October), I lived 5 years in Lisboa and now... how is it expected for me to adapt?!

We are in the middle of September! I want warm sunny afternoons, I want outdoors concerts, I want to chill in coffee bars outside with a small jacket, I want to have a cold beer outside...

...

They say Autumn is arriving but for me this is like winter. I don't want 4 seasons, I want only 2 like in Portugal :)

*Autumn is arriving

Je ne sais quoi...

2008-09-20T23:00:00.010+02:00

In June I had my last exam to finally graduate so I had to travel to Lisboa and then I had to stay there longer because I didn’t pass the first time…

...

I would say that Lisboa has a certain “Je ne sais quoi”… It’s something I can’t explain but that fascinates me and that makes me fall in love for that city every time I return there.

...

Is it the river? The hills? Its nature and beauty? The architecture? The cultural events? The history? The social life? Maybe but I would say it’s also related with my friends… So, Lisboa for me is:

In the end, I managed to pass my last exam so I’m not a student anymore… It doesn’t feel that way and I didn’t feel that excitement about finishing my major of psychology. I just felt relief.

...

But, although I love Lisboa, I did feel excited about returning to Croatia this time and it was great to feel that :)

...

And thanks everyone for making me feel home*. You are always with me, all of you…

...

*Some definitions of home:

An environment offering security and happiness.

The native habitat.

The place where something is discovered, founded, developed, or promoted.

Boring life?

2008-09-20T01:34:00.010+02:00

I don’t update my blog for way too looooonnnnnngggggg… I’m a bit sad about it because most of the things I’ve experienced are not fresh anymore in my mind so I started making a list of all the things I’ve done since my last update and you know what? I’ve done a lot of stuff, I’ve been in a lot of places and I’ve meet many people. So, in the end it’s a good feeling and it will take me a while to do this update… But I’ll try to be efficient ;)

…

Well, just a random night in Varaždin, definitely a crazy city, I love it.

A visit to Jarun Lake during the weekend. Who said there are no beautiful and nice places in Zagreb?

Then, the unexpected actually happened and I have elected a full MC team: Nastya from Ukraine, Josip from AIESEC Split, Jelena from AIESEC Varaždin and Bonny and Fico from AIESEC Zagreb.

In Lider Magazine, yes, I’m a celebrity… Not!

During April AIESEC in Zagreb received a CEEDer, Mona from Germany, with whom I had some cool moments like Croatian beers night (we bought all Croatian brands in the supermarket and drink them all to see which would be our favorite... It's not the one in the picture).

I was invited by Varaždin to give a session about international experience and did I mention already that I am a celebrity?

We had a gathering with MC alumni and we also realized a CSR Forum in ZSEM Faculty.

I had great visits from Michal, from Poland, who I have meet in Portugal when he was doing an Erasmus, later when he was doing an internship through my LC also in Lisboa and then when he was doing a project in Croatia through the company he works in. The world is small.

Then came Livadijada, an event organized by LC Zagreb in Jarun Lake. Basically doing nothing during an entire day besides drinking, eating, chatting and singing: Croatia way ;)

Požega, a small but sweet city in Slavonia (North of Croatia). Danijela’s home who took me to a party in the middle of the forest and where I’ve spend the 1st of May. Hvala ;)

Then MC transition started, as well as, the National Conference in which I’ve worked a lot because I was conference manager, anyway, details! My TM functional team plus our successors. Only girls again…

My MC team without Nastya who was far to come to Croatia…

The SPAH team (one day I can explain you what that is and how to pronounce it but basically these are the LCPs).

And I think the most important was to remember why and to meet Geoffrey, a friend for life. Thanks for the patience and support… You are one of those special persons :)

P.S: muitas saudades

And then goodbye to one of my favorite bars in Zagreb (after a while I was informed it closed), also goodbye to my term as MC VP TM in Croatia and a big “Bok” to June and to a new beginning…

Venezia: Tourists, stairs and water

2008-04-21T13:45:00.009+02:00

In March, during Easter, there was a great opportunity to visit Venice with a friend from Portugal, Marco, so we went.

...

A little bit about Venice… It is built on an archipelago of 118 islands formed by about 150 canals in a shallow lagoon. The islands on which the city is built are connected by about 400 bridges. In the old center, the canals serve the function of roads, and every form of transport is on water or on foot. Venice is Europe's largest urban car free area, unique in Europe in remaining a sizable functioning city in the 21st century entirely without motorcars or trucks.

The buildings of Venice are constructed on closely spaced wood piles (under water, in the absence of oxygen, wood does not decay) which penetrate alternating layers of clay and sand. The buildings are often threatened by flood tides pushing in from the Adriatic between autumn and early spring.

...

So, I went by train where I meet two Brazilian girls who were travelling around Europe during their Easter Vacations and I arrived Venice at 7am. This was the best time because the city was still calm and waking up, sellers were opening their shops and the sun was showing up smoothly. I walked around the city and later I meet Marco who arrived from airplane in Milan.

On the second day the thrill started. We went down the Canal Grande and started to get to know the exciting experience of having a boat as main transport. We went until the Piazza San Marco which was packed with tourists from everywhere in the world! We had to wait in queues to visit anything and after climbing the tower and visiting the Basilica the San Marco we decided to go to a more calm place with less people…

So we spend the day walking by foot or boat and enjoying more relaxed spots like Arsenale, Isola di S. Pietro and other places.

...

The third day we decided to visit some Murano island where the famous glass from Venice is made. It was a nice trip but there was not much to see, so we travelled to another island, the Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore with an amazing view over the Piazza San Marco. After that we returned to more crowded places and an interesting event is that I found a friend from Croatia who was travelling back from Tunisia that decided to visit Venice while he was waiting for his train back to Zagreb. What a coincidence…

...

At night, with the high tide, we decided to go again to the Piazza San Marco so check if it was flooded and we were surprised by an amazing sight: the combination of the flooded square with the lights of the buildings which was worth the cold and rain that we cutch because of it.

On the last day, we went to see the Jewish Ghetto but we were a bit disappointed because there was basically only another square and soon Marco had to leave to Milan to travel back. Thus, I went again around the city appreciating some calm spots and travelling by boat.

I enjoyed my trip to Venice, it is a quiet extraordinary and magic city, but I was also a bit disappointed because it’s too much people, too much commercialized, there are people selling everything everywhere, we need to pay for everything and everything is very expensive, I got really tired of so many stairs and after returning everyone that visited Venice told me the same :)

But it was worth, it is a unique and interesting city, you just need to go with the right expectations.

Busy March

2008-03-29T17:46:00.009+01:00

After returning from IPM the most difficult was to get back to real life since it was a quite busy period.

First I was invited by LC Split to be part of the LCP Election Board in which Nina (currently in my Functional Team) was the only applicant. So I went by bus and during my trip started to snow, check how it looked like:

Then I participated in the whole election process which is a bit different from I am used to. First there is an interview with an Election Board that has the responsibility to give a recommendation for the General Assembly. Then there is the normal Q&A and then votes.

It was a very short visit but I can say that I have learned something and Nina was elected :)

...

Then, I came back to Zagreb (again) and I went to receive a great friend of mine from Italy, Federico which came to visit Zagreb for the weekend. I have meet Federico in IC 2005 in India, then in EuroXPRO 2006 in Czech Republic, later in 2007 in Lisboa and now in Croatia :)

Also, he and Geet meet in IC 2006 in Poland, so basically we spend the weekend the three of us.

...

We made sightseeing in the city center (I know how to show much better Zagreb than Lisboa or Funchal already).

We went to the cemetery but it’s always weird to do this kind of sightseeing.

It is very common for people to buy candles and light them in the cemetery. And for this purpose they have these interesting candles that come with a plastic coverage so they are protected from rain and from wind because of the weather conditions. Isn’t it interesting how people adapt small objects depending on the conditions and surroundings?

Even though we were very tired (some more than others)…

We went to meet some friends in their student dorm and went clubbing. It was a soft but very nice going out.

In the day after, I went with Federico to the other side of the city to Lake Jarun and then we meet Geet in Maksimir Garden where we enjoined the last minutes of daylight.

Thanks for visiting us Federico, it was great and refreshing. You are always welcome.

Besides that during the week LC Zagreb organized the Career Day which for me was also something new because in Portugal we don’t organize such event. In the last day of Career Day they also organized a party heheh.

Then another surprising event happened during the weekend, the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day which is an Irish celebration. I still didn’t understand exactly why they celebrate it in Croatia but it seems there is some kind of Irish community so me and Sinisa we went to join the outdoor party in the city center.

Also that week it seemed the spring was here to come with the sun shining and then the snow came again. I have to admit I am still not used to wake up and have such view:

And to finish this month was the deadline for applications for my MC team but I did not had any applicants which was a bit difficult to deal with. I tried to see the other side of this situation, it was a good moment to challenge my capacity to think positively and I want to thank to all the people that gave me support and remind me WHY.

...

“Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end”.

Ohrid and Skopje in Republic of Macedonia

2008-03-17T19:34:00.006+01:00

I have to say that the idea to go to Macedonia is not so exciting at the first sight. But I must say that it was in this country that I found the most magical place I have ever been in, the Ohrid Lake. This lake was in 1980 proclaimed a place of world cultural and natural inheritance by UNESCO, Macedonia's only World Heritage Site.

. ..............................................................................................

The conference started in Skopje but the venue of the conference where we spend 9 days was Ohrid. So, just check the view from my window room.

Then, during the fourth day the organization arranged a boat trip in the lake. It was amazing! I could have spent the whole day on that boat despite the cold… I felt I was in the most magical and extraordinary place on earth and since then this is my desktop photo.

And during those days everyone became a great photographer because it didn’t matter how bad your camera was or your skills, the nature would do the job. I saw amazing sunsets and it was just breathtaking every time I would open the curtains in my room… You may not believe but those are real pictures taken by delegates in the conference.

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I definitely have to return to Ohrid somehow at some point of time. Maybe when I decide to write a book heheh.

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Then, after the conference I had the opportunity to visit Skopje for one day with a much diversified group with representatives from India, El Salvador, Peru, Puerto Rico, UK, Malta, Brazil, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina…

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We started by going to the MC Office in Skopje which has great computers and a lot of space. Then we went to the Fort of the city after crossing the river Vardar. From this Fort it was possible to have a good overview of the city but besides this there isn’t so much to visit.

Afterwards we decided to do a religious study tour so we end up going to a Orthodox church, then to a Mosque and then to a Catholic church. It was quite interesting because we had people in the group from the 3 religions who could explain the rituals and customs, and also by doing this we walked around the city and got to know it better.

After, we went with some friends from Macedonia to have some drinks in the forest, which is also normal in Croatia and then we catch the bus to Belgrade.

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I end up spending 2 days in Belgrade with my friend Mia who received me like a queen and toke me with her everywhere around (Hvala puno Mia!) and then I returned to Zagreb, back to real life…

International Presidents Meeting 2008

2008-03-16T23:10:00.011+01:00

To say that IPM 08 was the best conference I have ever attended won’t be enough to transmit you how the conference was to me, but is the first thing that crosses my mind.

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First this is a unique conference where the current presidents (MCPc) and the elect presidents (MCPe) from all AIESEC entities gather for two weeks to discuss about the organization, where the current team of AIESEC International (AI) is present but also where partially the next AI team is selected and it’s the most diverse conference in AIESEC having in consideration that the number of delegates is around 200 with around 100 countries and territories represented! How crazy is that?

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So, basically I was very excited to attend this conference as you can imagine. So in the middle of February me and Alchy (the MCPc) went by train until Belgrade and then we went by bus until Macedonia more concretely Skopje. In both these countries they write in Cyrillic which is always interesting to see :)

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As soon as we got there we went to a Kavana, a typical bar in Balkans with traditional music and a lot of drinks. There I could immediately find great friends and get into the mood of the conference.

. ................................................................................

The next two days we had Pre-meeting with the Central and East Europe (CEE) Growth Network (GN). We focused a lot on external analysis and my focus was to get to know as many as MCPe as possible and start to bond. These two days were soft and calm but the excitement of the conference was noticeable.

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Then, the big day came and started with the Global Village in the city center. Everything was organized and prepared, but the temperature didn’t helped (0ºC) so at some point people just went somewhere to have coffee because it wasn’t possible to be outside for so many hours like that.

But it was incredible the number of Macedonians that showed up to see and participate in the GV… So many people that didn’t seem to mind with the cold!

Then we had the official opening with traditional dances and songs but everyone was too tired to enjoy it properly, so most of people appreciated the 3 hours bus ride until the venue of the conference, Ohrid.

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Then the real conference started with the usual Roll Calls, the speeches for President of AIESEC International (PAI) and for Director of the GNs, as well as, the Q&A.

The Q&A in the GNs can be very different, especially between West Europe and North America (WENA) and CEE. So, as I am originally from WENA for me it was quite interesting because in CEE first people share the questions they have, then they point out what are the most relevant for the GN, then a order is made and if after those questions there is still additional time anyone can make questions. And all of this happens in a matter of minutes. Then, all questions start by “Give 3 concrete…”, “State 3 specific…” or “Tell us 3 tangible goals…” and of course, in the end there is the sarcastic sense of Humor of CEE with some crazy and weird question which I cannot mention because I guess it will be used next year again :)

. .............................................................................................. Then Juan Cajio, the current Director for Iberoamerica GN, was elected PAI and during the conference the Directors and VPs of AI were also selected.

. ................................................................................

Besides that we had the Global Planning, the Global Focus Areas selection, sessions about specific topics, we had a whole day deliver by David J. Pollay with strengths assessment, then skills blocks, Macedonian night with traditional dances, the SG Dialogue, GN time, Official Dinner, the UBS Awards and of course the Legislation (You can see photos from all of this in the slideshow).

I also spend those 10 days talking with people, asking them advices, opinions, catching up with friends and making new ones, and in the end I ask myself how come there are so many amazing people out there?

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Some flashpoints:

- AI organized an amazing game which was just pure fun, no debriefing, no sharing, just fun. They were actors that would perform some sketches from which we had to find out who was the murderer. It was perfect;

- Portuguese speaking people are taking over the AIESEC network, I say this because besides the obvious Portugal, Brasil and me in Croatia, the MCPe from France and from Germany are Portuguese, and now Angola joined the Network. PSGN, GN, GN, Eu Gosto, Ahh ahh.

- The parties were amazing. Can you imagine we had party in the Global Legislation day? Boat Race!

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So, just to finish, the organization was amazing, the sessions were useful, there were real parties and the people were just perfect.

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Thank you all for making IPM such an amazing and unforgettable conference for me :)

Experiencing Zagreb

2008-03-15T20:11:00.010+01:00

In the end of January I got to know more the cultural side of Zagreb because of the Free Museum night. I had already heard about his initiative in others countries and gladly I had the chance to experience it in Zagreb.

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So, basically I went to the Archeological Museum, to Mimara Museum, to the Museum of Arts and Crafts and finally to the Ethnographic Museum all for free. My favorite was Mimara Museum because of the Photography Exposition from Stanka Abadžića with black and white photos from different cities.

This initiative grew in me the desire to get to know better the cultural side of the city so hopefully I will find a way to attend some events and expositions :)

. ................................................................................

Then in the beginning of February was a great period to explore a little bit more Zagreb and its nature.

We had a birthday in the team, Geet’s birthday, so we decided to go to Sljeme, the mountain near Zagreb to have lunch and connect with the nature. So we went up by bus and we came down walking.

In Sljeme it is possible to find a few cottages with delicious traditional food and for me is always incredible to see so many people in these places walking in the mountain and enjoying the fresh air:

To get in contact with such places is always refreshing and I hope we manage to do this more times, it wasn’t even exhausting :)

Afterwards we came home and we surprised Geet with a cake, it was a simple but very nice birthday.

In the day after I decided to continue enjoying outdoors so I went to walk near the river. The river that crosses Zagreb in Sava, which starts in Slovenia, goes through Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and ends in Serbia where it converges with Danube in Belgrade.

For me it’s a real pity that they don’t take so much advantage of the river. Basically there aren’t any bars or facilities near the river. Even though, it is possible to find a lot of people walking their pets, riding a bike or simply walking with friends or family despite the cold heheh.

But it's a pretty sight for anyone that can appreciate beauty and I am so grateful that finally I have my camera working again (miraculously) because soon I will need for my trip to Macedonia ;)

Carnival without Brazilian Music

2008-02-13T12:29:00.027+01:00

In January I was chatting with a friend of mine and I asked him if he likes Carnival which he replied that no and that maybe it was in part due to the fact that he is not fan of Brazilian music…

. .............................................................................................. .... It was then that I decided to attend the Carnival in Rijeka (the biggest and most popular Carnival in Croatia) because it just came to my mind that for sure in Croatia they don’t listen to Brazilian music, so I had to see and experience a Carnival without Brazilian music… So I went :) . .............................................................................................. ....

I got there on Saturday, went to do sightseeing under rain and after dinner we went to a concert inside an improvised tend. Until then everything was fine but that concert finished and we went to another one outdoors with 4ºC of temperature and wind! The place was not full but there were a lot of people dancing and having fun… I don’t understand how they can…

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On Sunday morning (Carnival and Parade day) we woke up at 9am and at 10am I had a cultural shock or whatever you want to call it. . .............................................................................................. ....

Basically what happens is that AIESEC people join and create a group, there is an organization that arranges the dresses and everything, you just need to go with the flow, so I didn’t have any clue of what was going to happen. Rijeka’s VP TM just told me “Come, you can stay over my place and we will take care of you” (thanks Zana!). And for me that was enough so I didn’t even made many questions, I only knew we were going on a parade dressed as bees.

. .............................................................................................. .... So, after getting dressed everyone started to drink wine with coca-cola at 10am on a Sunday... I thought I couldn’t do it, but I did…

. .............................................................................................. .... Then we went to the streets and I started to get into the Carnival atmosphere. First we went to take the Millennium Photo: everyone that goes in the parade joins and they take a photo from a derrick (Rijeka has the biggest port from whole Croatia and it’s a very industrialized city).

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And also another interesting characteristic of this Carnival is that the groups that go in the parade are all friends that invite other friends and those friends invite other friends and together they become huge groups that just pick a theme and dress according to it.

. .............................................................................................. .... Meanwhile, everyone drinks and the only rule is that TV cannot record people drinking in the parade. So people invent ways to hide the drinks within the disguises…

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In the meantime we had to wait for our turn (it took us 4 hours) so meanwhile we danced, we drinked, we meet other people. It was amazing!

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Thus when our turn came we were very ready :) During the parade we passed by various stages and all of them presented us: AIESEC Rijeka group with people from many places (Portugala heheh) and even with the rain, we didn’t mind at all:

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When the parade was over for us, everyone was dying, we went to the improvised tend to have a meal that the organization provided and most of people stayed there dancing and partying.

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Some of us went home, me included… I felt like if I went out for clubbing and had a really hard party time. And later we came back but it was too late. There are other traditions in this Carnival that I missed, for example, they burn at sea a pust to scare away bad luck :)

. .............................................................................................. .... On Monday I also had opportunity to do some sightseeing and we went to visit Trsat Sanctuary and the Trsat Castle which has a great view over the city.

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So, to conclude I missed a little bit the Brazilian music but most of the time I didn’t even remembered that. It was just great and different. I loved it.

I will repeat next year, for sure :)

Back to the routine?

2008-02-07T23:11:00.000+01:00

Returning to Croatia in the beginning of January was not easy, I must admit. I believe that many of you felt like that after vacations, I mean, to get back to the routine is complicated and besides the cold in Zagreb was not appealing compared to Portugal.

But gladly we had to make visits to the local chapters in Croatia, so just two days after being in Zagreb I travelled together with Geet and Alex to Osijek. Osijek, like I mention before is in the North East of Croatia and it’s a small and nice city.

Besides all the work, I also had the opportunity to get to know Osijek night live and I must admit that it was a positive surprise. First a private party in a basement with great music and then a nice club, very fashion.

And I also had the chance to meet again Sanda, the part-time MC member that studies and lives in Osijek :) After Osijek we travelled to Varazdin, a city in the North of Zagreb. I had a lot of experiences there, like riding a bike (which I haven’t done for years), sharing a sofa with Geet and Alex (which I don’t want to repeat) : And also I got a serious virus in my laptop, so after returning to Zagreb I’ve spend two days doing backup of all my files and restoring the system (I don’t wish this no anyone).

But also we had normal things, like giving sessions and trainings:

And going out, have some beers, the usual.

Then we returned to Zagreb and in the end of the month I enjoyed the free museums night, so I went to 4 of them. This is a great initiative and definitely I have to start enjoying more the cultural side of the city and its events.

So, back to the routine? Not really... Not yet :)

Matar as Saudades*

2008-01-27T21:44:00.000+01:00

Home. After some time living abroad that concept takes a different meaning. Where is home? The city you live in? The country where most of your friends live? The place you were born? The streets you know since you were kid? What is home?

After some time living in Lisboa I also had the same questions, I’m sure some of you also had the same questions when you changed residence because of studies.

When I went in December to Portugal, more concretely to Lisboa and then Madeira, I had the same questions. “I’m going home” I said to some people and I actually did go home.

The first days in Lisboa I used mostly to be with my friends. In the first day I had dinner with people from my LC who were returning from their National Conference in that day, I also had a great dinner organized by Marta and this time it was real surprise because there were many other people there and I had no idea, I had great lunches, I had the chance to go to Bairro Alto and meet many friends who are also living abroad.

Then, Margarida and I arrived in Madeira on 23rd after many hours of waiting in Lisboa airport because our flight was overbooked, which is normal in this period because of students and tourists that spend Christmas and New Year Eve in Madeira.

On that night we meet with friends from high school, as always, to enjoy the very famous and best night in Funchal, “A noite do Mercado”. Streets around the old part of the city, where the market is, are full of people and improvised bars. It’s a very old tradition to go to market on the night of 23rd, you can taste the best sandwiches, typical drinks and find everyone there. During Christmas I spend most time at home with family, besides I was sick, can you imagine? When I left Zagreb it was snowing and in Madeira this was the average temperature outside: During the next days I meet some old friends, I went to travel by car around the island, had some dinners where I had the chance to taste the typical food from Madeira, nice… Then New Years Eve arrived. In Madeira the tradition is to watch the fireworks with the family in some friend or family house in Funchal. Then, after that amazing 10 minutes, we meet in the city center with friends to go to some bar, club or disco. Normally people dress up a lot for this occasion but I really don’t like that, so normally I meet with Margarida and drink in some cheap bars and enjoy low quality music heheh. But this year some friends at 6am convinced us to try to enter this really fashion club, and even in jeans, we manage to enter :) Part of our tradition also includes watching the first sunrise of the year… in one word: Perfect! After Madeira I returned to Lisboa and I’ve spend the weekend with a friend in the north cost of Lisbon. We have visited Alfeizeirão, São Martinho do Porto, Foz do Arelho and Óbidos. The ocean was wild and beautiful, it was a dream trip but unfortunately I don’t have any pictures…

Besides that it was again the same routine: coffees, lunches and dinners with friends. This picture is from the last night with Margarida, Rita and Marco, where we had a cool and improvised dinner. So, to conclude, I think home is not a place or a time, is a feeling, a feeling of belonging, of being known, of understanding, a feeling of safety and peace, that feeling that makes you lose conscience of time and place, a deep and comfortable feeling.

And I definitely felt I was home :)

...

*Saudade (singular) or Saudades (plural) is a Portuguese word for a feeling of longing for something that one is fond of, which is gone, but might return in a distant future. Although it relates to feelings of melancholy and fond memories of things/people/days gone by, it can be a rush of sadness coupled with a paradoxical joy derived from acceptance of fate and the hope of recovering or substituting what is lost by something that will either fill in the void or provide consolation. Saudade has no direct English translation; its translation is dependent on context. No other languages in the world have a word with such meaning, making saudade a distinct mark of Portuguese culture. It has been said that this, more than anything else, represents what it is to be Portuguese. Some specialists say the word may have originated during the Great Portuguese Discoveries, giving meaning to the sadness felt about those who departed on journeys to unknown seas and disappeared in shipwrecks, died in battle, or simply never returned. Those who stayed behind—mostly women and children—suffered deeply in their absence; the state of mind has subsequently become a "Portuguese way of life": a constant feeling of absence, the sadness of something that's missing, wishful longing for completeness or wholeness and the yearning for the return of that now gone, a desire for presence as opposed to absence—as it is said in Portuguese, a strong desire to "matar as saudades" (lit. to kill the saudades).

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.

My next step

2008-01-26T15:49:00.000+01:00

After HMS I had time to taste more international dinners and to say “see you soon” to new friends:

But November is a month to make decisions in AIESEC, or at least to start thinking about them. For me it wasn’t an exemption.

In these last months in Croatia I had my ups and downs, my victories and defeats, I have learned to appreciate this country, I’ve understood how relative our principles can be and I realized that in life I have to define my own standards. And although it was the most difficult decision I took until now (at least the one that took me more time) I have decided to apply for MCP of AIESEC in Croatia for the term 08/09 because I believe I can contribute and because I still feel I have much to learn with this country and experience.

Thus, during CNC (Croatian National Conference) the elections would take place which includes speech, election panel and Q&A, so in the previous weeks I allocated time to read and above all to speak with people.

Then CNC came and I have to say that the whole experience was very important for me. Applying for the same position was also Sinisa, the VP Finance.

I couldn’t have chosen better person with whom to share this experience. I didn’t felt in any moment that we were opponents, I always felt that we were actually together in this challenge and experience.

Parallel to this was always the usual crazy parties from AIESEC Croatia. You need to experience it to understand the whole atmosphere and craziness, I definitely advice: Alien Party Fun here ;) My Functional Team Who? Me? Nooooooo…

Meanwhile, I also meet two very cool and inspiring girls, Viola (Maltese) and Mia (Serbian) with whom I had great time and conversations.

And concerning the process for me it was a strong cultural experience because in AIESEC Portugal questions are very different and the whole atmosphere of the election in my perspective is much more positive. For me it was quite challenging to understand the relevance of many questions or to frontally say “I don’t know”.

Then, after my final speech I had an amazing surprise because my biggest friend, Eduardo, came all the way from Portugal to support me… I was speechless… Obrigado gajo!

And yes, that is me with a skirt heheh.

Then we went for the official dinner and people surprised me again. Before the announcement and dinner they just started dancing and having fun, while Edu asked me “Aren’t they curious to know the result?”

Then the moment arrived and I was elected MCP 08/09 of AIESEC Croatia :)

So, this means I will be staying in Croatia one more year and I will lead the country next term.

And like so many people told me: “Good Luck”.

Hrvatski Motivacijski Seminar 07

2008-01-24T12:39:00.000+01:00

In the middle of November AIESEC in Croatia had its National Motivation Seminar for new members, in which I was conference manager.

Of course that for such occasion I had to gather the troops, so I invited a good and old friend to chair the conference, Eduardo and he brought with him another good friend, Ricardo.

All started back in Zagreb with a great international dinner with food from Slovakia, Czech Republic and Portugal (and drinks from many other places).

We had a great and big faci team with whom I had a lot of fun preparing and delivering the conference. Thanks to all of you for those great moments wherever you are ;)

The conference took place near Split, in Stobreč Elementary school, the theme was football and I will leave the pictures to talk for them:

Opening plenary Sessions during the day The winning Homegroup from the simulations, Porto ;) LC Split, my LC in Croatia and then the parties...

“Aí gaja, para quê que me trazes para este país com Rakija e gajas giras?” quote from the drunkest chair ever...

In the train returning to Zagreb, it seemed that we didn’t have enough yet.

Hvala. This was a very important conference where I meet many people that made me think about my future and what I wanted to achieve. It was the moment where I started to think about what to do next :)

My Brother and trip to Vienna

2008-01-24T12:06:00.000+01:00

A long time has passed since my last post, so I will do my best to update my blog with what happened in the past 2/3 months… if for nothing else, for the sake of having my memories abroad all together in one place.

So, in the beginning of November my brother, Sérgio came to visit me in Zagreb.

The highlight of his visit to Zagreb was to do sightseeing in a cemetery, the Mirogoj cemetery. It’s a real open air museum because of its architecture and memorial monuments. Also, one impressive fact was to see the amount of flowers in the tombs, which I believe it’s connected with the fact that Croatian people are very religious, therefore they frequently visit their relatives in the cemetery.

And during the weekend we went together to visit Vienna where we made a quick study tour of more or less 24 hours.

We started by visiting the Danube Tower with 252 meters height that was built in 1964!

From the top it’s possible to have an amazing view over the city and the river:

Afterwards we went to the city center and we had our first interaction with the old part of the city when we immediately got out from the subway and faced in front of us the St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

Then we went to Mozart’s House Museum and to the Church of St. Charles Borromeo:

In the middle of this church there is a structure that allows the visitants to climb until the ceiling of the church. Let’s just say that after climbing those stairs, my brother took a picture and we got down as soon as possible…

Then we went back to a small but beautiful church where we had the opportunity to listen to a free organ concert.

Next we visited a famous museum, Albertina and we still tried to visit the palace but it was too late. But for us the night only started, so we went for a concert of Mozart and Strauss music heheh.

When we got back we decided to go to a Disco near the Hotel we were staying. That disco had 3 different dance floors and cheap drinks, and it was full of kids, like us ;)

In the morning after my brother left but I still had time to visit the Palace, Sisi Museum and to formulate my own conclusions about Vienna. It is a beautiful city to visit and it makes us feel surrounded by culture and history. It is very well organized and prepared to receive tourists but the people are not that warm when they noticed that we cannot speak the language. But after seeing this advertisement, I gave an excuse:

Oh well, it is definitely a city to return and to enjoy the cultural part of it ;)

October, a busy month

2007-11-26T15:15:00.000+01:00

October was a very packed month where so many things happened…

The month started with a National Conference of AIESEC that took place in the north of Croatia, in Osijek. Osijek is a small city where shootings happened during the war in the 90s and for me this was an interesting fact because it’s still possible to find some buildings with small holes of bullets as you can see in the picture:

For me it was interesting because I always pictured a city after a war devastaded, buildings competely bombed… And to see these buildings with those holes was just a different perspective.

Well, besides that Osijek is very sweet city where everything is just some minutes away walking, although I didn’t have much time for seightseeing…

About the conference the first day was in the Faculty and then we moved to an elementary school where the biggest shock for Geet and me was the fact that there were no showers…Besides that, this is the MC Mozaa;)

And this is the TM 0708 Functional Team (from the left to the right): Marijana, Ana, Nina, me, Zana and Jelena.

(The pictures from the parties are censured heheh)

And during the entire month in the LCs was happening a very important moment: the recruitment of new members of the organization, so I leave you here a picture of the AIESEC Stand from LC Zagreb.

Anyway, during this month I also had the opportunity to experience more Zagreb and Croatia Culture: After Osijek, we got back to Zagreb and together with Ajdin, the OFM Chair and MCP of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we had the opportunity to do some seightseeing and went to the tower in Zagreb where it’s possible to see the whole city: Also, I went to a free rock concert of two Croatian bands. It was cool but a bit weird to go in a concert where I don’t understand what they are singing about :) Then, during the weekend we went to explore Medvednica, a natural park near Zagreb. This was the team of the expedition before we start climbing:

The climbing was great and refreshing, and the most suprising was that so many people took the day of to do the same, there was so many people in the trails and in the mountain house when we got there. This is something that I really appreciate in Croatian people, they like to walk and enjoy their time outdoor and they do so always they can.

We also went to the castle that has a great view of Zagreb:

Concerning MC life, in October we had a great night “sponsored” by Porto:

And I went to Varazdin, a city in the north of Zagreb, to celebrate my birthday. I went there together with my MC team (excluding Sanda) because the Local Training Seminar of the LC from that city was taking place during that weekend, so the idea was to celebrate my birthday in the same party. First, it was really good to reach midnight and have everyone singing “Stretan Rođendan” instead of “Parabéns a você”, second I had a great time with the new members, third I felt among friends, and fourth I wish I could remember more…

About the city, I can’t say much but this next photo is basically all I have seen in Varazdin, so I must go back and visit the city properly. Then, to finish the month, I went to Split for the MC Visit. AIESEC Split had their Local Training Seminar at the same time as AIESEC Lisboa ISCTE, my two LCs. So it was quite interesting to have the feeling that 3000km away the same sessions were happening, to know that in both countries new people were starting to feel passionate about AIESEC, and so on…

So, I just leave here some photos of the conference so you can have an idea how cool it was:

But my visit to the LC wasn’t just the conference, so I spend more days there with the EB having common and individual talks until the end of the month… I had a great time and I always feel home:

And to finish this post, also an important event that happened in October was that Teresa, my VP Finance 06/07 in AIESEC Lisboa ISCTE, left Portugal to embark in a great experience: her internship in India. During the last days of October I was very nostalgic remembering when I meet her, realizing how much she changed and developed herself, and how much this experience will add value to her… Well, it just made me feel happy and proud of you, Teresa. Beijinhos amiga :)

I’m an AIESEC’er

2007-10-24T12:20:00.001+02:00

After returning from Portugal the best way I would describe what I was feeling would be like this: I’m an AIESEC’er, a person who has developed in the past 5 years leadership skills, competencies and self-confidence; who has developed true friendships based on intense moments, good conversations and a common passion for diversity; a person who lived the entire life in one country but is willing to leave behind its best friends and to travel to a foreign country where everything is unknown for the sake of challenge and personal development…

Because in the weeks after my visit to Portugal I realized that good friends stay no matter the distance, I realize that what is meant to be will happen no matter the months apart, I realize that this is an experience that I cannot express in words. I reflected most of all about the internationals that while in Lisboa I have received, I reflected about the things that during those years they have shared with me. I came to the conclusion that when I answered to them “I understand what you mean”, I had no fucking idea what they meant, I had no idea of what is to be living abroad.

Now I can say “I understand what you mean”…

Going home – Lisboa

2007-10-24T11:49:00.000+02:00

My trip to Lisbon in the beginning of September had one main purpose, to do two exams for my faculty. But besides that I also wanted to meet my friends and enjoy the beauty of Lisboa, so this is how my two weeks looked like…

To be with my sister and to put it in one sentence: to be with her is like to be home. Dinner with my previous team from AIESEC Lisboa ISCTE in a cheap restaurant where we used to go many times. To experience a bit of the magic of Lisboa: the guy from the restaurant, that had already been drinking, looked at us and started singing Fado to the girls’ suddenly… To go to this night club “Why Not” and officially, I have to admit, David won Ruben and me in Boat Race 3 times (yes, I have said it..). To watch a match between Portugal and Poland with older AIESEC’ers ... The stadium, the flags, the national anthem… What a feeling. Go to Bairro Alto! That magical place full of memories… Dinner with two great friends to plan our trip to Santiago de Compostela by foot in the next year heheh. And later, we went with another friend to the one which is known as the older bar in Lisboa… Party at one of my best friend’s house, Ruben from my previous team, with friends. Who was more drunk?… Coffee in a great bar in Lisboa in a perfect afternoon with an old friend... A surprise dinner which was everything but a surprise dinner with my best friends in Marta’s house (thank you so much Marta for your effort to surprise me). Goodbye dinner for me, but at the same time welcome dinner for the new intern in AIESEC Lisboa ISCTE, Ruta from Lithuania. Then saying goodbye to Bairro Alto and to the Fruits Shots. Meeting old friends, having a beer, update each other... Then to say goodbye to the beach and to the closest one.

So, in the end, my goal was achieved, I passed my both exams :)

AIESEC International Congress 2007

2007-09-29T12:10:00.000+02:00

So, AIESEC International Congress is one of the world biggest educational conferences, and was the reason why I went to Turkey. Through a series of discussions and seminars with global business, cultural, science, political, GO and NGO leaders, over 700 students from 100 countries have a unique opportunity to exchange opinions and discuss the most relevant issues affecting today's world.

I was one of them. This wasn’t my first IC (my first was in India in 2005), but definitely I was much more prepared to live such experience and to enjoy it to the fullest than in 2005.

The first 3 day of those two weeks were spent in Central and Eastern Europe Region Pre-meeting. As I had to represent AIESEC in Croatia because my president was unavailable to go, most of the time I was among the Presidents. Nevertheless, this was a great experience because I had the opportunity to meet better the AIESEC International Team and such.

The best part of these days was to meet again Pita, the person who chaired the conference, and who influenced and inspired me in so many moments during my path in AIESEC. Also, it was a great feeling to meet again other Portuguese people, and I even felt difficulty in speaking my own native language at the beginning. How easily can a human being adapt?

Then the first day of the conference started… It’s impossible to put in words how does it look a plenary of IC in its first day. So much energy, diversity, sounds and people. It’s empowering and intense.

We had a long opening plenary with all countries roll-calls with traditional music and dances, innovation and creativity, and for the first time I went to do a roll-call from other country other than mine :)

Afterwards, we went back to Europe (heheh) and to the famous Global Village where each country has its own stand and shares its culture traditions, foods, symbols and costumes. It’s unique.

The next days of the conference seem now to have gone so fast. On the second day I had the opportunity to participate in a gathering of ex-Yugoslavia countries. Basically I’ve watched around 15 people singing, drinking and celebrating their common language. Despite the fact that they are from countries that some years ago were just one and that went through many years fighting between each other everything was normal… I felt privileged to participate in such moment.

On the fourth day we had around 30 collaborators from 2 partners of AIESEC delivering sessions and interacting with delegates. It’s amazing to experience such occasion and IC itself because you really see how much these companies value the AIESEC Experience and it’s impossible not to feel that definitely this is one of the best experience we can have at this age (in this IC 200 externals participated from at least 30 different companies and organizations).

The fifth day was the most amazing day of the conference, the Alumni Day. Basically we had 3 panels of Alumni that shared their generation challenges when doing AIESEC. Again I felt so privileged to live that moment, to understand that AIESEC is not about doing what’s easy, but it’s about doing what’s right by defending what the organization stands for at any cost.

At night we had Middle East and North Africa party, and due to cultural differences, and above all respect, in that party there was no alcohol. So the Portuguese people gathered in some benches outside and I had a great time singing songs and having fun… in Portuguese :)

The seventh day was one of the most intensive days because I had to get prepared for Legislation where I had to represent AIESEC in Croatia among the Presidents, which means a lot of reading, talking and deciding. It was very stressful but Legislation is closed to MCP’s, so I was very happy to be able to attend this meeting. The only problem was that at the same time, other delegates were having one of the best parties, the CEE party…

The legislation lasted from 10pm until 6:30am and I don’t want to say more.

At day eight it was already possible to feel some nostalgia among the people because IC was coming to an end…

It was a very good day to finish some contacts, share some ideas, put on paper agreements. And to close this day there was the Official Dinner with Awards Ceremony. The dinner was a bit random and the place didn’t have the best conditions to receive so many people, but that dinner is always memorable. Among so many photos I had to choose these two, a photo with my successor of AIESEC Lisboa ISCTE and also great friend, Inês and all the Portuguese present at IC.

Then the last day... Saying goodbye, make sure we have transportation to train station, packing, running, last sessions, hugs, business cards... And then the closing plenary…

That is one of those moments that you don’t want go through after so much. You just don’t want to leave and go back to normal life, especially because you never know when you will meet so many amazing people in the same place and when will you meet again those particular people that already are part of your daily life.

IC is not an easy conference: it’s very long but very fast, with too many people and very easy to be carried away. It requires people to take an active role, to appreciate the beauty of each conversation and the uniqueness of that particular moment. It requires determination and energy, and with a bit of passion, it can be the best conference ever, otherwise it can be very disappointing. I can happily say that I had the time of my life.

Turkey

2007-09-20T23:33:00.000+02:00

From Beograd to Istanbul took us only 26 hours by train. But it was an interesting experience: to sleep in a very instable bed, crossing Bulgaria, stop in Turkish border at 3am to wait for a stamp for one hour outside the train and to party with Serbians :)

We were received by the organization at the train station and we went directly to the first dorm where we would be staying.

During that trip with tram and bus, we were immediately surprised with this image:

Now, that was impressive!

After that we went to Taksim, which is consider one of the centers of Istanbul (in such a big city, there is not only one center), which is basically a huge street with restaurants and shops in every door, and all kinds of people you can imagine.

Near that street we went to the top of a building with an amazing bar where you can have Turkish coffee, Turkish tea, and off course sisha/nargila. With an amazing view, that was one of the best moments that Unur (our Turkish guide and friend) made possible to happen.

That day we also had the opportunity to visit the huge office from MC in AIESEC Turkey, to dinner Turkish food and to party in a club.

The day after the Study Tour to Istanbul, organized by the Local Chapter of AIESEC in Istanbul, started with approximately 160 people. In that day we went to Topkapi Palace and to Blue Mosquie:

And Hagia Sophia: After the dinner and party, during the last day of that visit we went near the sea to a very rich palace, a sort of museum, the Dolmabahçe Palace: After we went to Basilica Cistern and then to Gran Bazaar:

Then we crossed a bridge that took us from Europe to Asia. What a feeling (please notice the guy in the beginning of the bridge selling a typical bread):

So, to wrap up, Istanbul in an incredible city: it’s full of special places to visit, hundreds of Mosques, amazing views to the sea, always with something to discover, filled of historical symbols; on the other hand it has too many tourists, too many people and too many people that don’t speak a word of English, it can be confusing and it makes one feels very small, but it’s impossible not to feel passionate about that city with such atmosphere that it’s possible to feel in every conner…

Serbia

2007-08-14T02:57:00.000+02:00

On Friday I left raining Zagreb, to find a also raining Belgrade (for those who are interested to know in Serbian its called Beograd, which means white city).

In the first night we went clubbing near the river, a very cool place and on Saturday afternoon we did some sight seeing. I had the best guide tours, Alex and her brother, Velimir.

From what I’ve seen, in the last five years Belgrade is making many efforts to overcome the destruction and abandoned of its heritage during the last decades. It is possible to find a lot of influences from Turkish, a little bit of Hungarian and Austrian, and also still some from bombing. It’s a different city and I would characterize it as a city that is alive, you can find so many people in its large streets, cultural events and the traffic is more chaotic and crazy than Zagreb.

And I also heard that Serbian people are a bit crazy, and I understood what those people meant…

I could find this sign in the fortress of the city, Kalemegdan, and I thought it meant "Please, don’t step in the grass". It actually means that "This is the invisible tree that can read your mind" in Cyrillic.

In that night we had fun at home with the Sangria that I’ve made and in the next day we were ready for more sightseeing. So we went to Zemun, which is in the other side of the river where it was possible to find a beautiful view over the Danube river and Belgrade.

In this last day in Belgrade all people that are going to represent AIESEC Croatia in the International Congress 2007 in Turkey (where I am going next) arrived, therefore we start preparation. I had the opportunity to visit the MC office of AIESEC Serbia and also the LC of Mihajlo (for those who know him, will understand how funny that has for me). To finish big we went just to relax in a cool coffee bar, enjoy Alex’s mother cooking’s and to buy very cheap cigarettes for some Portuguese people that requested heheh.

I will see you in turkey :)

Slovenia

2007-08-04T12:23:00.000+02:00

My trip to Slovenia is definitely worth a post…

The beauty about being in the center of Europe is the following: Saturday, 29th of July, in Split speaking with a Serbian Girl who had an internship in Slovenia:

- So, where are you going after Split?

- Oh, I’m going on Tuesday to Slovenia and I leave from there on Thursday to Italy. And you?

- Well, I don’t have any plans.

- Do you wanna come and meet Ljubljana? You could come with me and on Wednesday we can see the city because one day is really enough.

- Yes, why not? Let’s go.

The possibility to go to another country, to pay less than 20€ and to take less than 3 hours. How great is that? So you can imagine my excitement, I even forgot the passport and we had to take another train (“European Union People” my friend would say).

About the city, it’s a small city but it has some magic I must say. There is this river that breaks into two and then joins again giving the city a tough of Amsterdam appearance, with bridges and lovely buildings in both the sides. The castle from the top of the small hill remains very well preserved and gives the opportunity to the hundreds of tourists to see the entire city (people from Croatia and Serbia would say that it’s possible to see the whole country, because they are always making fun of the small size of Slovenia).

This photo is from this place called the 3 bridges.

A view from the Castle tower

And… Even if Slovenia didn’t have anything else, I believe that only for this it would be worth to visit this country. Imagine, walking around and to see a lot of signs saying that! Because in their language Cona means Zone… I don’t think I need to say more…

Well, it was great, I loved the feeling to go to another country is so short notice and the city. Thanks Bojana and see you soon.

Why does it always rains on me...

2007-07-31T16:16:00.000+02:00

The weekend in Split was really great. In the first day I went to an amazing coffee bar with a great view over the city. In the second day I had the opportunity to try Octopus cooked via a typical cooking method from Dalmatia Region which is called “Peka”, I also went to an amazing sightseeing place in memory of the war soldiers from which it was possible to see the islands and cities around. In the third day I went climbing this mountain in Split called “Marjan” with an amazing view also and also I went up the St. Domnius’ Bell Tower of the Palace of Dioclatian. I was completely fascinated with the old part of the city, the palace, and the streets, so full of history. What I liked most is the fact that local people are still living inside the palace in so pictorial small houses. Also, a funny thing that happened is that I was walking in the Riva at night and suddenly I hear Portuguese. There was a large group of Portuguese people doing some kind of study tour to the palace and I found myself following them just to hear a bit of Portuguese. It’s was such a great feeling :) Besides all this, I went everyday to the beach and I had great parties. Thank you all guys for such great moments. Now I’m back to Zagreb, its 18 Cº outside, and it will probably rain. Actually, in this city I think it rains every week at least once. This is a picture from the beginning of July, so you can see. And now, I’m going to take advantage of the fact that I am in the center of Europe and start travelling. Today the destination is Slovenia.

Wine with Coca-cola

2007-07-26T14:44:00.000+02:00

Last week I had a lot of work because I was going to have an AIESEC Conference (5 days with the 5 local responsibles for HR, all girls!) mainly for knowledge sharing, decision making and define actions steps for the term.

So, after 1 hour of sleep I left Zagreb on Thursday to Starigrad (it means old city), a small city in the coast near Paklenica, a National Park.

We really had a good time, we have covered everything we needed, we were very flexible but effective, we made important decisions, we danced, we still had time to go to beach everyday (the water is around 26-28 Cº), to get to know and to drink. One interesting custom here is to mix wine with coca-cola. Young people normally buy very cheap red wine and mix it with coca-cola and also in AIESEC conferences the same happens. With white wine, they mix it with mineral water.

(This is a photo when we left home one night; the one that we took when we arrived is censured). I had a great time and I am very satisfied with the final outcome. It was somehow challenging but I’ve learned a lot of important things about the country and especially about the AIESEC culture in Croatia.

I can say now that one of the biggest strength of AIESEC in Croatia is the mindset that people have that they are One AIESEC. Just to give an example, in LC Meetings it’s normal to present the activities and projects of others LC’s. So, it was very interesting to see them discussing about things such as “How to communicate selection to new members” because they were concerned in transmitting the same message, otherwise it wouldn’t be good when different members from different LC’s talked about it and perceive differences in the process…

So, after those five days I’m back in Zagreb, I’ll soon start my vacations until 10th of August and I’m going to Split and to Belgrade for sure, and probably some other places...

Last Month Update II

2007-07-16T12:54:00.000+02:00

Continuation...

- Fourth week: I went to do some sightseeing with Geet (Indian) to downtown of Zagreb. I really like this city, specially the coffee bars in every street, the parks, and the large roads with a lot of space to walk.

- Fifth week: this was a very busy week with a lot of work. Me and Sinisa we manage to clean the office and now it seems a new place (I think it’s smaller than the Portuguese MC Office but it was a window, and that makes all the difference).

Also that week, there was an AIESEC’er from Brazil here, Luis, so it was pretty cool to speak in Portuguese with someone heheh. Another coincidence is that he is Lilian’s friend, an intern of AIESEC ISCTE in 2003, they were from the same LC. So we went clubbing in Zagreb (finally!) with AIESEC people and we went to a barbecue near a lake in Zagreb in the weekend.

Well, we started playing drinking games and this is the photo after the four of us going inside the lake (including the mobile :\) - Sixth week: in the last week the highlight was to go to a football match: Dinamo Zagreb (2) vs. (1) Wolfsburg, a friendly game. It was pretty cool so see that the lyrics change but the melodic of cheering groups are the same as in Portugal football matchs heheh. So, were it is a very brief resume of my weeks here, ufa…

Last Month Update I

2007-07-16T12:38:00.000+02:00

So, what happened during this first month?

- First week: it was mostly preparation to visit the LC (Local Committee) of AIESEC in Split, for which I am responsible to coach. Here you can see photos from MC (it’s the team that I belong to and it stands for Membership Committee) house (we live in the second floor) from which I take 45 minutes to get to the office and 40 to the city center.

- Second week: the visit to Split. It’s a very beautiful city and reminds me Funchal.

I had the opportunity to visit the castle and the beach (twice, and I even went to swim once). More than once, we went to the beach at night to drink (in Croatia that is very usual among young people, to buy drinks, go to some place outside and then to go clubbing). I was very well received and it was very interesting to get to know better the LC, but there is definitely a lot of work to do.

Two interesting episodes: one German guy that last year was in Split for an internship was there during my visit period in vacations and I had the opportunity to meet him. The funny thing is that it wasn’t the first time because we knew each other from EuroLDS (AIESEC conference in Spain 2004 where I was delegate and he was from the organization). What a coincidence :)

Second episode: the EB (Executive Board) from Split wanted to learn a Portuguese Roll Call, so I have teach them “Estou Alegre” song, and here it is one photo from what they have wrote to be able to tape the video I have sent to the communities heheh. Can you understand anything?

Then I went back to Zagreb and finally I meet the Indian girl that had arrived meanwhile to Croatia. That week I also went to an LC Meeting of LC Zagreb (they have LC Meetings every week!).

- Third week: finally we manage to gather all the team together. We started with the MC planning and we also had some Teambuilding moments. We went to this very beautiful and big park in Zagreb, Maksimir.

To be continued...

My first days in Croatia during May 07

2007-07-10T16:25:00.000+02:00

For me, this blog purpose is also to assure that by the end of my experiences abroad I have my own testimonies in place. So, it makes sense to post an old e-mail I have sent in May during my first days in Croatia:

“Bok!

I’m writing you directly from Zagreb, Croatia. The city where I will live for one year in the next term. These last week has been amazing and there is a lot that I would like to share with you guys:

The City: I haven’t seen much, but it’s very green, I haven’t seen traffic until now and there are people in the street until very late, which is great. An interesting thing is that from 9pm on no one buys tram tickets because they know that there isn’t anyone at that time checking heheh.

The Language: These will be definitely my biggest challenge. I have learned some key words, but the pronunciation is quite difficult for me. Just a curiosity, there is a girl who people call “Keka”, so you can imagine my reaction when I first heard it, and what goes through my mind when someone calls her :)

The People: I think that in general they are similar to Portuguese (from my perspective until now): going to the coffee doing nothing after lunch, not being that much worried about time, sometimes is difficult to people to be focus, they also in a discussion start talking at the same time as others, are friendly, are very often saying jokes.The main differences until now are the ratio of smokers, in this country is huge, at least in young people! They say more jokes than we do, they have an amazing capacity to laugh from themselves much bigger than Portuguese, the men seem and act more as gentlemen’s, they eat a lot of sweets, most women use make up everyday…

The MC 07/08, my team: One of my main expectations was concerning my MC team. For those that don’t know, we are by now 7 people (MCP, VP Finance, VP ER, VP Exchange, VP Talent Management, VP Communication and IS Coordinator): 4 from Croatia, one from India, one from Serbia and me. I only knew the VP ER, so I have really looking forward to meet the rest. What I can say by now is that they are mature people, committed and able to deal with time pressure. I also feel that we are aligned with what we want to achieve and there is team cooperation. By now, we had a great time together and I already have a lot of good memories to take with me :)

AIESEC Croatia: The other main expectation that I had was to meet the real AIESEC Croatia (the people, the attitude …) and in the last 4 days I had the opportunity for that in the National Planning Conference (very similar to Start). There are a lot of differences in the processes and in the state of AIESEC Croatia, but on the other hand, there are many things that are exactly the same. I don’t have much time now (we are already late heheh), just would like to share the main difference that I noticed, the honesty, transparency towards others: they admit their mistakes in front of others (whether MC or EB, doesn’t matter), they talk easily about their problems, they say what they think, they are not political as AIESEC Portugal, as far as I can see. And the parties, well, everyone dances a lot and many people don’t sleep at all :) They also have the “Azeiteiro” party, but with another name heheh.

Last thing, I already have a new LC for which I will be responsible for this term: LC Split :) They have a very strong culture and challenges, but I really feel I will be able to deal with it and contribute to support them. Can’t wait for it.

I think that it’s all for now, miss you all and see you soon. Pozdrav.”

14-05-07

Welcome...

2007-07-05T17:37:00.000+02:00

After a month in my first destination, I resigned to the fact that creating a blog is the best option to keep track of my experiences and, off course, to share with my friends what I’ve been doing :)

Therefore, here is my blog for those who are interested to know what I’ve been experiencing. And if it’s not your case, well, don’t waste your time here heheh.

Just to remind: a month ago I travelled from Portugal to Croatia, to start my one year term as Vice-President of Talent Management (HR) in AIESEC Croatia, being part of a team of 7 people (6 full-time, 1 part-time) with 3 Croats, 1 Croat from Serbia, 1 Serbian, 1 Indian and me, Portuguese. This also includes living with the indian girl, the serbian girl and the Croat/Serbian guy in Zagreb, being the responsible to coach the local office of AIESEC in Split, to learn this country language, to travel around East Europe and to face a cold winter heheh.

And after this year, we will see what the future holds.

Welcome…