Portugal and I, from Sep 2023 to Sep 2026 :
Lisbon has welcomed me very warmly. In fact, I can’t ask more from an international studying experience. Since teenage, I have dreamed many times about going abroad for studying. I pictured it in such different places, under so many different circumstances, with such different emotions, tons of scenarios that took place in my mind throughout the years. But I never imagined it, going to Portugal one day, for my studies, It is a destination I have never thought about until a bit more than a semester before moving there. I was looking forward studying veterinary medicine abroad and one of the countries I was looking into was Spain, so I received a random suggestion on day, “Why don’t you check for some opportunities in Portugal”, I did, I applied, got accepted and went there and Lisbon got me; They say it is the Lisbon’s effect.
September 2023, that new chapter of my life begun. For 3 years, I have mainy lived there and I kind of got accustomed to it pretty well. I have been living in the south margin of Lisbon, Almada. Overall, it is a a bit of a chill place, where many students live due to the presence of some important university campus around there and where it feels less crowded than in Lisbon. There is that fantastic beach close to us, Costa Da Caparica, a super well known surf beach that is just super well developed with a long pedestrian road separating the many cafes, restaurants, bars, sports areas and else from the brillant sand and water. If I were to talk about each thing in details, I’d need hours and for this reason, I’ll be doing that through the other articles. In this one, I will be trying to talk about my experience in Portugal as whole.
Before coming here, for a few months, I have been learning a bit about the country, the culture, the language etc… Afterall, it is a bit important to know where you’re landing although i have been told that Portugal is considered one of the safest places and easiest to adapt within, in Europe. I also read in different online blogs and posts, that people there were very nice, warm-hearted and full of life. I directly felt that way during my 1st weeks there. It was pretty chill around, It was rare to hear of or see incidents happening around and the atmosphere felt different. Well I felt it was probably less warm and close-knit than I felt in Morocco since in terms of warmth and Interconnectedness, Moroccans are legends. It is often good to feel connected to people but sometimes too much is not what you need and I felt that in Portugal it would be more balanced and I discovered through the years that it was indeed. A very good mixture of warmth, friendliness and independence too. For me it just felt like the community balanced very well the self-oriented and community-oriented aspects. Till today, when comparing to many other countries, I feel the same way.
The first months were special for me and very vibrant. I had a full new city and country to discover entirely, that sensation just felt amazing. It felt like an adventure, each day with its specific quests. During these first months, I was that curious guy, wandering around, not engaged in anything in particular, just discovering that new world. I’d visit many places, meet many people, be listening more than I’d talk, be asking much more questions than making statements … Most of my friends were international people back then, most of them from the building I lived in, which offered a very particular vibe too. It is a small cozy place, that was just opened for students and young workers. During the 1st semester, it was very helpful to be surrounded by those and figure my way out to learn about Lisbon and Portugal through them. It was all new to most of us, so we most had that same goal of learning more about where we were. After these 6 months, many left the residence, they were staying temporarily and since then, the building has been filled in and off permanently with new young people till now. After the 6 first months, Portugal, and in particular Lisbon begun to feel familiar, little by little. The streets I once had to look at on Google Maps became familiar, I knew which train to take, where to get my groceries, which cafés I prefered and which places I would go when I simply wanted to walk around. Even small things, like hearing Portuguese around me or seeing the same streets every day, slowly became part of my routine. Today, it feels totally normal for me to be living there.
The first year, I traveled a bit around the country, I went to Porto, Braganca, Coimbra, Setubal, Cascais, Sinta and many other places around Lisbon. Hiking, that was what I was doing the most. For my 2nd year, I spent most of the year in Lisbon and during the 3rd year, I moved a litte bit more within the country again for example to Guimares where Portugal must have been born, since it represents Portugal’s political and historical beginnings as an independant country. I went back to Porto, and visited again many parts of the areas around Lisbon. Now, a few destinations still remain among my plans, visiting the Algarve region, the portuguese Venice; Aveiro and Obidos where there is Óbidos Medieval Market every July. Portugal has places with totally different vibes and I really appreciate that. Just around Lisbon, you can have access to a huge number of vibes, landscapes and experiences. If you want to walk through old streets and experience a slow pace, go around Alfama, Mouraria and Graca. If you want a vibrant atmosphere, good cafes and restaurants, plus the crowd, Rossio, Bairro Alto, Baixa, around Cais de Sodre, Principe Real would be a good idea. If you want to explore the modern city and authentic places of Libson, Parque das Nações, Alcântara / LX Factory, and avenida da Liberdade are choices I consider suitable. If you need to have a walk in nature, go for a hike or a run in lisbon or around it, I’d suggest Mosanto Natural Park, Sintra natural reserve, hiking around Praia da Ursa / Cabo da roca or the Arrábida Natural Park. This is a few about daylife. About nightlife, I feel that Lisbon is very active, especially during weekends and wether you want a chill, relaxed night or a crazy one, you can find every vibe there. This is just about Lisbon, Portugal seems to offer a much bigger diversity of things and places ! Old towns, new cities. Specific traditions to each region / town or mainstream ones spread through the whole countries. Local areas but also cosmopolitan places. Highly pedestrian cities or others that you can barely visit walking alone, the choice is big. It snows in the north east and in the high mountains in winter, in the south, people tan during summer in the beautiful beaches of the Algarve. The landscape is also very diversified with mountains, beaches, forests, lakes, rivers… For hikers, it is something I’d guess.
Returning to my story, after the 1st months as I said, I started feeling more and more normal about Portugal throughout time. After my previous group of friends spread out, I had to target wider and in fact, Lisbon is just a place where meeting people is very easy. There are so many things and events taking place every week, that if you attend only one per week and meet two new people there, you’ll end up with a bunch a contacts after a few months. There are so many international people in Lisbon too, and it makes integration much smoother but I’d recommend not to stick to international people only since many are there temporarily and also because meeting locals outside of these contexts matters very much with the integration into daily portuguese life, at least it helped very much with me. Throughout the months, while in many places, life would be centered mostly around university, for me, in Lisbon, it is not. Sticking to it didn’t make much sense for me with all the things to discover around so I built a few lives outside of it in different circles and communities. Going out from university, outside of the usual activities with friends and colleagues… I’d later either join a sport group for training, a foreign language event, a hike, a project, a social community event, a random board games event.. It is literally easy to find these anywhere, either through social media groups, apps like meetup, contacts or just cafes / restaurants that often advertise these. It just requires to go out or look into your phone for it.
Today, I feel grateful to be there. There have been many tough moments in Portugal and as an international guy, it’s not quite easy. But I wake up every morning and realize that it was not a bad choice I made a few years ago. This adventure has been helping me evolve much faster. In such a diversified and free-spirited place, one can just find the best parameters to find himself better, meet different people and live life at his own pace, without feeling pressured.