Jesen dolazi...*

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!

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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...

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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...

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…

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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.

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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.

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

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

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*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?

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 ;)

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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

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

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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

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 :)

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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.

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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.

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

Ohrid and Skopje in Republic of Macedonia

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.

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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…