Re-integration?

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.

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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.

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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

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!

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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.

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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…

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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 :)

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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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

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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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...

...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.

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

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