Erasmus is over

Everyone is starting to leave, one by one the spirit of Erasmus group is fading and sadness is always takes part in each party that we go or each place that we visit.
"the last night, the last time, the last trip"
Erasmus is almost over, many goodbyes have been said, many tears and promises of meeting each other again. It is always sad, everyone knew that things would come to an end, and still its impossible not to be blown away by feelings of sadness, sorrow and already starting to miss things.

We all know that this is the last time we will ever experience anything like this, in this time of our life, and with such group of people.
This is what being an Erasmus is all about, we became something more than a family, we have been through many things in common, and shared many moments together in a country that was not our own, but that eventually became our "Erasmus home".
Even with good things and bad things everyone and everything will remain unforgettable because here our emotions are doubled and our memories will remain strong and will not fade.
Experiences were taken and lessons were learned.

If anyone wants to try Erasmus experience for good grades I don't think it is the best choice.
Erasmus is learning how to live and how to survive on your own, it is a journey that will take you to many places but mostly will make you grow, as a person, as an individual, as a friend, as a family member.

And another step of our life will be over, but with many experiences and open doors for us to take other steps.

"not goodbye as in forever, but goodbye for now, we will keep in touch and we will see each other again"

Břeclav, Vienna, Dresden, Wroclaw

Ok trips to Břeclav and Vienna I will be posting with pictures so I will re-edit this post.
Also I went to Germany, to Dresden, I will also re-edit this post with pictures and stuff.

Czech Flu

I got the czech flu...wohoo...
i cannot post anything with any sense because im delirious with this high temperature..heheh..so cool!
I'll get back to you as soon as I physically can
Ahoj!

Big trippin'

Wow I haven’t posted for such a long time… (stupid internet… )

Well I decided to go to Brno and Karlovy Vary for that weekend.

Ok, Brno was quite a disappointment, the trip there was quite comfortable but once we got there there was such a mess, and so many gypsies wandering around that it seemed as if I were in a different planet. Besides that we were supposed to go stay on the Univesity’s dorms for accommodation, besides getting lost with a heavy backpack and asking a greek girl directions via mobile we managed to get to the dorms in less than 2 hours. Important news, a night in the dorms costs 17 euro and it’s really far away from the centre, if you ever go to Brno DON’T stay in the dorms.

So we had a slight change of plans, instead of dorms we would look for information centre and ask for accommodation.

We returned back to the main train station and realized that information centre was right in front on the other side of the street.

Another important news: if you go to Brno don’t go for the weekend it’s impossible to get accommodation anywhere in or outside the centre! After many trials from the information centre lady we finally got a room in some lady’s flat which was in the centre for 13 euro.

Really important news: ask to see the place first!

What an oddity… the place is quite indescribable so the best way is to view it on www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkDle82xt24

Train Station





Cathedral



Church


Statue in Main Square

Temple in Greece... ok joking...still in Brno

Cow Girl

We tried to find out cool places to visit in Brno, but there isn’t much to see. We went to a couple of pubs but nothing great really just one that had a really nice venue but happened to be hip hop battle night. Ugh! So instead of continuing in Brno and waste a whole nice weekend we changed plans again, we decided to travel to Pardubice at night to repack everything and catch a really early train to go north to Karlovy Vary, and really early means before sunrise!

We somehow managed to be awake the whole night and fell asleep on the train. We only had to change train 3 times during the whole trip, so we could rest for a while. The trip was quite tiring and once we got to Karlovy Vary’s train station it felt that we were dropped in the middle of a field, we tried to ask for a map in information centre but all they gave us was a badly copied notebook sized map that didn’t even had the names of streets! So best next thing to do was get a taxi and go to the centre, not very expensive 100 Kcz. Luckily some friends had already been there and recommended and hotel in the centre that cost around 17 euro so we immediately got there to check in and sleep before sightseeing.

The city is really beautiful, one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen since I’ve got here. From what I have understood after (or DURING) the communistic regime the Russians bought the old buildings from this city and betted on tourism by refurbishing them and turning them into shops and hotels, and that’s the main reason why all the buildings in the city seem very fresh and detailed. I also believe that leaving Brno to come to this city was the best choice that I could ever make.

Train Station

Giant Absynth Bottle

Riverside

Garden pound

The mythical .... Japanese garden...

Next weekend we visited Zlin and Ostrava.

Zlin is a very small city in the south Moravian province that we happened to visit just because in Easter weekend there is nothing to do anywhere and we booked some laser game play for the Saturday afternoon. It was quite fun but very exhausting, and then on the next day at night we went to some bowling alley in the centre and played for a while. During that night we sat for a while to decide where to go next day and the best choice was Ostrava. Unfortunately Ostrava on Easter day is really boring because everything is closed. We stayed on a very strange hostel by the bridge but then we realized that everyone in Ostrava is really strange! The best thing in Ostrava is really the night life! I will definitely be coming back.

(imitating the friendly creature at the end of the pole)

The rest of the journey to Breclav and Wien on the next weekend I will post up anytime soon, because now that I have managed a wireless connection from the window of my room I can post more times! YAY!!! (Yes, I know it’s ridiculous -_- )

(To everyone that managed to go to SWR Fest back in Portugal: have a great time and get me posted anytime soon ^_^)

(To everyone that is back at the island : i miss you... but not enough to make me go back into that hole!!! :P )

(To everyone who is reading this: are you that bored??)

FF /KAA Studijní agenda UPa

Another weekend at home... again.. stayed at home lazing and eating...pretty nice.
Also went to supermarket and spent 1000 czk on random stuff...woho..!
The most different experience was to eat a meal prepared by a czech - ill take some more time to describe it...ill get on this topic on my next post
But today is a great day to be outside but i have nothing to do im just siting at the computer trying to get into local czech university website......grrrrrrrrrr, emailing teachers etc.
The boys will return from Prague sometime today, i could probably meet them at the hlávni nadraži and go for a walk in the centre...still i dont know...



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Bored BORED bored bored bored BoRed bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored borED bored bored bored BORED BORED bored boREd bored b o r e d bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored
bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bOOOOOOOred bored bored bored boRed bored bored bored bOREd bored BORED bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored

When boredom starts to kick in

Ok, weekend in Poland was great! I stayed at Claudia’s flat in the centre of Wroclaw with Paulo. Maja and Tomec met us there to spend Saturday with us.

I hope I will come back to Wroclaw with time because unfortunately it wasn’t the best weekend for me to travel. First because I was ill, same flue that has been haunting me since I set foot in Czech Republic, and secondly because the two days I had to see the city the weather was horrible.

Also the train trip was quite exhausting, I was hoping that I could have taken some rest during the trip which was suppose to take 5h30m from Pardubice to Wroclaw but it ended up to be 7h due to strange delays and also crossing the border, and I had no chance to rest because many unexpected things would turn out to happen. Also during the trip I ended up tagging along with 3 Spanish Erasmus students in Germany. Samuel, Pedro and Maitê, they were taking one month to travel Europe by Inter-rail. I also met them in the city on the 2^nd day during sight seeing, I hope they have a good time with their travelling.

The city is very beautiful and the food and nightlife are so nice. Too bad I cannot remember the names of the pubs, only Spiz and Intro, but there was that one under the synagogue and the other one that means “heaven” in Polish. One of the high moments was when Paulo let a glass fall on the floor and the barmaid handed him over the broom to clean up…eheheh. What nice customer service! Also the xenophobic moment with Claudia and a Polish guy in a pub that called her “black woman”.

It was also nice to meet Claudia’s Erasmus Portuguese friends Filipa and André, some interesting conversations would come about and it’s always nice to have some group discussions in Portuguese when things get carried away.

The second day was just to wake up late and still have the taste of that awful Kebab that we had at 6 in the morning, we just rushed to get lunch with Maja and Tomec at Kurna Chata and take them to the station to say goodbye. Then after waiting an hour to buy my return ticket to Pardubice we tried to see some more stuff around the city, but Sunday afternoon everything is closed and it’s a lazy time of the day. The Portuguese guys invited us to go over their house for dinner but I passed it, I really needed the rest to be fresh for the morning train, and also it had been a while that I have talked to my mother so I took the chance to send her some pictures and chat without hurries.

The return trip was right on schedule, unfortunately I couldn’t rest much because someone would always come to ask me to put my feet down, or see the ticket, or ask for ID.

When I finally got to Pardubice, Ruben and Luis started updating me on what I had missed on the weekend, many strange things happen when I’m not around, and I don’t know all of the stories!

This week was quite a dull one; things are starting to be boring, same places, and same routines. Dydy Baba is becoming a heathen place, but still is the best we can get to relax and distract ourselves without having to walk to the centre. But trips to the Gas Station are becoming strange and funny experiences during the night. Hehe.

I could mention classes, but that’s not a nice subject to talk about while making an Erasmus journal, unless I talk about Czech private lessons…ehehe. But that is something I will reveal with time.

This weekend everyone is travelling out, but I will stay at Pardubice, Ruben and Luis went to Bratislava with the Greeks: Elena, Christina, Giorgos and Christos and also Portuguese, Mariana, the Spanish guy Rafa and the Lithuanian guy…Ondrunas which name I don’t know. I don’t know if anyone else joined them but I think not.

André and Pablo went to Pilsen and tomorrow are going to Kralovy Váry, and Rita, Roberto, Sara and Sofia are meeting them there.

The Italians I don’t know where they at, since Stefano lost his mobile I haven’t been able to track them around but I always meet them during night outs and I’m also a bit uncomfortable to call Vera because I don’t want to interrupt anything.

Now I just realized that Romana, Czech girl, has disappeared, I hope everything is alright with her, I haven’t seen her for exactly a week!

Yesterday we celebrated our 1^st month here in Pardubice, and we are already starting to fear the day of our return to Portugal, time flies.

So I will just stay home this weekend to save money, try resting a bit and hope that time will not pass by so quickly.

- . -

Weekend at home was quite magical, I had time to myself and to do whatever I wanted without having to spend too much, it was pretty much perfect. Lazing and sleeping all day and then with so much time to spend it was pretty nice preparing good and tasty meals at home.

Also the company was perfect.

Then the week began, nothing to do for a change, people have started to get bored of doing nothing so planning weekends are the weeks main concerns.

The choices are going to Budapest on Thursday and coming back on Wednesday via Bratislava or going to a ski post in the weekend and stay only for one night. Neither of these choices is appealing to me so I’m more likely to stay at home.

What to do?

Greek Flu vs Czech night out

So many days since the last time I wrote, so many things have happened.

It all started when my flight from Funchal to London- Gatwick got delayed on Wednesday, transfer from Gatwick to Heathrow was almost impossible, such an expensive ticket for such a horrible trip. The smell was hideous, no one had cleaned the bus toilette and there was no air conditioner or opening windows, to worsen the situations there had been an accident in the speedway heading from Heathrow so a huge traffic jam got me to get to Heathrow airport 5 minutes before the flight departure to Prague.

After running from the bus with my entire luggage I ended up reaching the right terminal and right check in desk, but it was already too late.

Still, with short breath, I tried getting another flight to Prague, but there was only on the next day at 8 a.m.

After thinking for a few seconds that I would have to spend the entire night in Heathrow Terminal 1, waiting for an early flight, and feeling extremely tired from all the running around and getting lost in the airport. Me, and my friends, got booked in a nearby Hotel (Renaissance) with transportation, dinner and breakfast.

Staying at the hotel ended up being the best part of the day, we managed to get a good rest and decent meals. After a very hot shower and several dishes of every food we could see, we went out for a walk and see the vicinity, it was quite pleasant even with the wind and cold. After that we went to the lounge and got ourselves a pint of beer which was followed by a good sleep. Although waking up at 5h30 to go stuff our faces with jam covered croissants and cakes isn’t seen as a normal thing by the local people.

After some incidents on the Heathrow Airport, luggage policy and police control, the flight to Prague went smoothly, we arrived on schedule, and everything was fine, except my luggage case had been broken which allowed me to ask for a refund… that I will manage to get when I feel that I need extra money for something.

To get from Prague Airport to Pardubice, what an adventure, first step was to restore my luggage case and withdraw some Czech crowns, and then we were guided by our “Buddy” Alena via SMS to Pardubice, first a bus, then metro then a train.

Carrying luggage across Czech Republic is not exactly fun, not to say safe and easy. The first time that we confronted the “Czech reality” was at Prague main train station. No one would know how to speak English or German, (or any other language) drunken beggars following people around, contradicting information such as time schedules, train lines etc. (oh and the 5 kcz to use the WC)

When we got ourselves to Pardubice 1h and 10 minutes later we got confronted with a 2 level staircase while holding two pieces of luggage and a backpack on the back.

Alena met us at the train station and showed us the way to the University by bus, after helping us to check in on the reception desks at our dormitories she guided us through the campus.

After leaving everything at “home” we went out to get food and ended up having dinner at 6pm, a large pizza and half litre Czech beer (Pilsner Urquel) then we met the other Portuguese ERASMUS that had arrive, Roberto and Rita and also Brazilian exchange student and Peruan regular student, André and Carlos. We went out for a walk to the centre and visit local hang out clubs like Hanybany and …

The next weekend the dormitories were going to close the water and cut of the power for maintenance, so we decided to visit Prague, stayed at a local Student Residence and visited Prague main sites and went out at night. When we got back for the weekend we finally had a meeting with all the other ERASMUS that had arrived, we had dinner at Sofa in the centre and then went out to Patapouf and Hanybany.

After that night we got more familiar with the Greeks and ended up hanging out either at my room or at Helena’s room to make Caipirinhas. On the next weekend, after partying at Club A Dydy Baba and ERASMUS rooms at night during the week, on Sunday we made a surprise party at my room for Ruben and Yoryos who had their birthday already at Czech Republic, but didn’t celebrate them properly. On the next week the classes started, some of them were nice, other were just boring, usually the classes that were mainly ERASMUS students were the best ones, because Czech students aren’t exactly nice towards foreigners.

Then this weekend, everyone was supposed to be going to a ski post but this year the winter was shorter and there is no snow, some of the Portuguese and Greeks went to Prague for a long weekend. Meanwhile I will try to recover from my Greek flu, that I seem to have contracted from Helena, and try to organize things for the next week in order to spend less money because next weekend I want to go to Poland and I don’t think I will be able to go if I keep spending money like this!

This is my last post from Madeira Island.

I’m finally done with packing, I should be going to bed anytime soon…I believe tomorrow will be an exhausting day and all energies should be restored.

I had a final meeting with some friends today, the closest friends;

From what went on, I realized that I’m not aware what will be going to happen. Some said goodbye while shedding a couple of tears others with a “see you soon” and the best that I could come out with in the end was “…that’s it”.

I hope that tomorrow with all the worries and anticipations and physical fatigue I won’t freak out during flights or even when arriving at Prague. I want this to be a pleasant journey, including travelling.

I don’t know when my next post will be, or where it will come from, but I hope that will be soon.

(14th Feb)

tear a Tear

I have an urge to cry…
I’m building up too many unknown emotions that when tied together make me unable to deal with anything else;

I really hope that crying would help me lighten this pressure, even if temporarily, but it won’t.

Tears that carry unknown emotions aren’t genuine tears.

In a Lull..

I’m finally coming to terms with the fact that I am leaving.
Mixed feelings of apprehension and content are lurking.
I see myself wandering around the house, lazing as much as I can.
This journey will be taking much of my energy and peace;
I need to make it last for the couple of days I have left.
Meeting with an old friend made me realize how this island has a castrating core of narrow sighted self-centred action towards people.
Meaning, this is not the place for me. I’m still lost, but I know where I don’t want to be.
I feel a void inside of me, I try filling it with comfort and affection but it doesn’t seem to ease.

Should I look for someone or for something?

On a quest...

Less than one week from my departure, anxiety runs low; “last minute” preparations make me abstract from the journey that awaits me.
I already find myself saying goodbye to daily routines, subjects and images. I wish I could say goodbye to all of those I will truly miss in a proper way, but I can’t help fearing that my emerging emotions will bring me down. I’m not into “goodbyes”.
Winter semester is over, no subjects behind, that should put a smile on my face… but it really doesn’t.
Unfortunately, studying for this examination period was quite an effortless act, thus no sense of pride and achievement could ever come out of it.
These last months I have been quite restless, can’t seem to find my role in life, I’ve been living without ambitions, goals, interests, passion…without a soothing sense of existence.

I hope this turns out to be a life changing experience.