Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Portugal

„Do not fear the future” - “That fits”, I thought this morning when reading this quote on my astrology app. I am still a bit afraid, but at least it seems like the universe is on my side concerning my semester abroad at the Instituto Politecnico de Lisboa.

My flight is already booked and the next step is finding a flat. On our WhatsApp group Erasmus Life Lisboa I found a wonderful solution: I’ll be sharing a flat with two Italian girls and a guy from the Netherlands. I was overwhelmed with the support, open-mindedness and the many offers I received once I had shared my flat request in the group. We instantly exchanged our Instagram names and over the next two hours, I was busy watching the Portugal Story Highlights of my soon-to-be flatmates. I was taking hundreds of screenshots of the most beautiful places in their stories so that I would be prepared to visit these spots myself very soon.

I also saw an event calendar posted by Erasmus Life Lisboa with the events for April. Students can purchase the Erasmus Life Lisboa Card for around 16€ and then receive up to 50% discounts at local surf schools, gyms or language schools. In addition, card owners are granted free entry to five parties a week hosted by the organisation as well as they are allowed to join offered activities, such as a Wine and Cheese Tasting, a Rooftop Sunset Session, a Trip to Nazaré and many more.

I cannot believe it! At home in Germany, I am only allowed to meet with one other person and have to be at home by ten o’clock whereas life seems to be back to normal in Lisbon. Just for a split second, doubt comes creeping in. How is it possible that Portugal was the country with the highest case numbers in January and now has the lowest case numbers in Europe? But to be honest, I don’t really want to think about all of this, as by now, some things just aren’t logic to me anymore. When talking about my plans, I often get irritated views from people signalling: “She can’t seriously think that this will go as planned in times of corona”.

But I try not to let this get to me as I am the one that wants this semester abroad and luckily, my friends and family have my back. Of course, I still have the virus at the back of my head but as I already received my vaccination and due to the stable situation in Portugal, I do not worry too much about it. From my point of view, fear is not the right emotion to guide me through all of this. However, I am aware that I am some sort of privileged, as so many other students won’t be able to enjoy their semester abroad on site. I appreciate it and am therefore planning to make the best of it! The lecture period of the university has already started. They are held digitally and until now, I really enjoy them! The groups are small, lecturers encourage active participation during the meetings and all in all, the atmosphere is very homely. I don’t have the feeling that I am just a student with a number, instead I feel like a fully integrated member of the university, even though I haven’t even met anyone in person.

Despite the physical distance, we have a lot of group works and luckily, all the Portuguese students, as well as the other exchange students, have given me a warm welcome and make me feel at ease. The Portuguese students volunteered to look after us and have kind of become our mentors so that we have someone to talk to if there are any problems. It’s similar with the professors. They are all very helpful and reply to emails almost immediately. I am so looking forward to this experience and I am already counting down the days until my departure. Until I am leaving, I just have a few more things left to do. I have a meeting at my bank to get a credit card as it makes things, such as renting a car or paying for events, so much easier. What is left to say is that I am 100% ready for my semester abroad and I have set myself the task to enjoy my stay more consciously, to just switch off, to maybe make less plans and to live more in the moment.

I just want to recharge my batteries as the last semester has been very hard. So, here’s to new memories, nice people, art, culture, stunning beaches, good food and a lot of inspiration and happiness. ‘Cause “Why else are we here if not to live with unreasonable passion for thing?"