Jona war 11 Monate in Portugal – und hat fast jeden Monat einen Blogeintrag über seine Erfahrungen geschrieben.

Portugal, Outubro de 2017

Olá, my name is Jona Mitschitczek, I am from Austria and I am 18 years old. Since i have been in Oeiras, Portugal, on my voluntary-experience for one month now, I would like to describe my journey until now.
Arriving on the airport in Lisbon, everything felt surreal. I had no idea how it would be leaving his home country and jumping into this adventure. With my two luggages in both of my hands I looked for a person who was said to hold a sheet with: „EVS“ on it. Fortunately, I found him and the journey began. One month living in my apartment I cannot complain about my accommodation. I am 20 minutes away from the beach and 15 minutes from my working place, all by foot. The only point of criticism is that I am have to adept to the train times. So I cannot stay in Lisbon as long as I want. The last train is leaving at 1:30 which can be annoying sometimes. Despite those limitations through the train I got acquainted with some local people and I am eager to make these acquaintances to friendships.
My employers and colleagues at work are incredibly friendly, even if I can just guess what they are saying by their lip movement. I am not that well common with the portuguese languag yet. The work itself is also pleasant. It is not too demanding. The elderly people with who I am working with see me as their grandson which is quite enjoyable.
All things considered this is experience is incredible and I am really glad that I made this step. I am looking forward to all the other things which are likely to happen during the next few months. With that being said:
Beijos
Jona

 

Portugal, Novembro de 2017

Olá, my name is Jona Mitschitczek, I am from Austria and I am 18 years old. Since i have been in Oeiras, Portugal, on my voluntary-experience for two months now, I would like to describe my journey until now.
After the first month I was motivated to start my second one. The working place is really nice, exactly like the environment in Portugal in general. In November I also had my Arrival Training, the greatest EVS-experience I had until yet. Every single participant had his very own interesting story, from which I could learn a lot. I heard what different project and housing situation they have which made me compare my situiation with their’s. I was informed that these kind of thoughts should be avoided, however I started to see the grass on the other side greener. It made me realise that the project should fit you perfectly and you should not fit the project. But maybe I am wrong. I would like to be more helpful form my project than I am right now. With this intentions I am ready to go into the next few weeks.
Apart from the working place, I enjoy living in Portugal. Lisbon is a unique city and there is a lot more to discover.

Portugal, Dezembro de 2017

Olá, my name is Jona Mitschitczek, I am from Austria and I am 18 years old. I have been in Oeiras, Portugal, on my voluntary-experience for three months now, a lot has happened and I would like to describe my journey until now.

My December started in favour for me. On the second weekend I met some volunteers of the Arrival Training in the north of Portugal. They were tremendously friendly and we had a lot of fun. My work is becoming inevitably routine now, which makes it not so exciting anymore as it used to be. So I intended to change something and I brought the guitar of ProAtlantico to my working place. I played some songs and wanted the elderly to sing with me. Unfortunately, only two people like to sing, so I was a bit disheartened. I will try something new with the guitar in January (don’t know what yet). For the end of the month I took some free days to get back to Vienna and visit my family and friends. The stay home was extremely reinvigorating and I just realised how I needed this when I was “home”. Christmas and New Year’s Eve were magical.
With the energy gained of my vacation I am looking forward to getting back to business in Oeiras.

Portugal, Janeiro de 2018

Olá, my name is Jona Mitschitczek, I am from Austria and I am 19 years old. I have been in Oeiras, Portugal, on my voluntary-experience for three months now, a lot has happened and I would like to describe my journey until now.
My January started in my home country, Austria, where I celebrated New Year’s Eve. With the energy I gained from my seeing my family and friends I headed back to Oeiras, Portugal, in the beginning of January. The first few days back I felt strange being so far away of my previous life again. It was a different feeling than the first time I arrived in Portugal in October. Because I knew what I could expect, the feeling of excitement I had in October was replaced with the hesitation to get back to the routine. However; I settled down and I had a pleasant month.
I celebrated my Birthday and invited a few volunteers, which was the ideal mix between cosy and joyful. This day made me realise what I had accomplished the previous year. Magical day.
In the end of January my mother visited me and we explored Lisbon. I finally went to the Castello and experienced the culinary class of Portugal in small restaurants in the city center.
In a nutshell, the last month was beautiful and I am curious about February.

Portugal, Fevereiro de 2018

Olá, my name is Jona Mitschitczek, I am from Austria and I am 19 years old. I have been in Oeiras, Portugal, on my voluntary-experience for a few months now, a lot has happened and I would like to describe my journey until now.
This month was basically normal routine. Nothing extraordinary happened. I still struggle to understand my clients in my working place; therefore, I learn Portuguese every day. Although, I think my Portuguese definitely improved, I am still not completely able to speak the language and comprehend everything.
Carnival was this month. To celebrate it I travelled to another volunteer from a different organisation and we spend the weekend at his house, I don’t remember the place (it was close to Lisbon).
The weather was not that awesome. Which kept me often at home. However; I also liked to have a calmer month in which I could restore my energy. Unfortunately, we had some problems in our apartment due to room arrangements. We were not able to clear them totally… Yet, I am confident the next month will be prolific.
I am looking forward to the next month of this once in a lifetime journey.

Portugal, Março de 2018

Olá, my name is Jona Mitschitczek, I am from Austria and I am 19 years old. I have been in Oeiras, Portugal, on my voluntary-experience for a few months now, a lot has happened and I would like to describe my journey until now.

I started my month with a vacation. I visited my father in Germany, I haven’t seen him since Christmas, so this reunion was very enjoyable. Refreshed from the negative degrees in Germany I was motivated to come back to my working place. I already have built some relationships to the elderly. Senior Isidro, for instance, always teaches me Umbundu, one of many languages in Angola. Sometimes it is annoying when he tells me the translation of „ Fica aqui“ or „Onde vai“ for the forth time a day, but mostly it is really amusing and I transformed it into a memory game for me.
Everything went back to normal in our apartment. Right now I am enjoying my single room, while my roommate is on vacation abroad, which lets me realise what I had to go without the past few weeks. Made me acknowledge that the things I took for granted are precious.
At the end of the month I prepared some eggs for the elderly to paint. As this is a custom in Austria I wanted to do the same thing with my clients. I hollowed out the eggs with other volunteers from my apartment and the elderly painted them. Unfortunately, Senior Isidro cracked an eggshell and did not apologize; hoewever, we were could manage to paint the other eggs, which are used as decoration now.
In a nutshell, it was a „mais or menos“ good month and I am loking forward to the next one.

Portugal, Maio de 2018

Olá, my name is Jona Mitschitczek, I am from Austria and I am 19 years old. I have been in Oeiras, Portugal, on my voluntary-experience for a few months now, a lot has happened and I would like to share my journey until now with you.

My month started very enjoyable. My father came to visit me on the first weekend. We lived at some friends’ house. I was extremely pleasant to go out to good restaurants and get some well cooked food again and, of course, to see my father. I hadn’t seen him for a long time, thus I was grateful for seeing him again.
Two weeks later ProAtlantico planned to go to a house in Alentejo with the volunteers. That was an amazing weekend. I think I can really say that I built some deeper connections with other volunteers. The location was beautiful. Escaping from the city life and arriving somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The landscape was breath-taking.

In the end of May I even went to my hometown, Vienna. Seeing my mother, family and my friends after such a long time was wonderful too. I had some amazing days there and charged myself with energy for the last few months in Oeiras, Portugal.

I am looking forward to the next month of this once in a lifetime journey.