Intercultural melting pot in Portugal
Hi, my name is Ketai and here is a little story about my first summer camp in Portugal this year (“Dialogues between cultures”, S. Pedro da Cova, Porto, Portugal (July 2008).
On the 16th July 2008, I found myself on an early morning flight on route to Portugal. A bit sleep deprived but happy. I was very excited about my summer camp in Portugal. I have never been to Portugal, so this was going to be something new for me.
As I boarded my flight, I was very certain I was alone but I decided to look upon this experience as an adventure, my adventure. I found a spare seat and sat next to two girls, who seemed to look more sleep deprived than I was. I started up a conversation with the two girls beside me. They told me that they where from Poland and also going to a summer camp in Porto!
I couldn't believe, it turned out to be exactly the same camp as I was going to! What a small world indeed! I definitely knew I wasn't alone.
We arrived at the workcamp and found out that we already had beds made, kindly borrowed from the army. We met some of the volunteers who arrived the day before. A few hours later, the other volunteers arrived and our camp leaders, Claudia and Maria, told us we all had some free time before dinner.
We had dinner around 8:00pm till 9:00pm but it seemed to last for longer, Portuguese style. I loved it, everyone was so relaxed and for once not in a hurry. Coming from London, I was used to the fast pace of life, and this for me was something I could easily get used to. It was really nice to be able to slow down and not have to worry about time.
Mr Duarte, the mayor of the village joined us for dinner most days and he was a happy and funny man. He even introduced us to the music of Fado. In the next few days, we had a schedule or timetable to follow and some of it included knowing the village and the history of Sao Pedro Da Cova, discussions about our own cultures, traditions, history, cultural evening's, visiting the Serralves garden's, church's, museum's, lunch at the beach and most importantly playing traditional games from each country with the children of the Vai Avante. Association etc.
We visited a few youth centres and met up with the representatives and of course spending time with the kids, playing games, baking cakes, painting and dancing, which is my favourite hobby and passion. We also spent some time visiting the city centre of Oporto, the city of Gondomar, going to a local beer festival, etc.
We really had a good time and I made friends from Serbia, Estonia, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Russia, Turkey and France. We all had different cultures and languages and this taught all of us to be more open and understand the world around us.
I loved Porto as a city, its people and their culture, this had made me realise everything is possible if you give it a chance and if you believe in yourself. I hope to return to Portugal soon and even learn Portuguese.
Ketai