EUROPEAN OLYMPICS 2018 - EXPERIENCES IN PORTUGAL.

A few months ago, I spent one of the best weeks of my life. The school gave me the wonderful opportunity to spend a week with a Portuguese family, who would have a son or daughter of my age. Besides Portuguese, we would also meet Slovenian and Bulgarian boys. When they gave me and my seven companions the news, I was anxious to go to live the experience. I used to imagine what activities and adventures I would live during those 7 days, but I never thought that I would enjoy so much, much less could I imagine the number of friends I have known and that I take, that may not last forever, but I love having them and that after several months they keep sending me messages and photos to ask about me and know how I am doing.

This exchange has taken place in a small but cosy village of Portugal called Bombarral, it is located between Peniche and Óbidos. This experience has served me at the social level, as well as at the level of languages ​​and personal level. It's true that it's only been a week, but it's been 7 days living with an unknown family, people from different parts of Europe and colleagues I barely knew. Although short, it was very intense.

During these days I have gone through many experiences, but above all, what I have been through the most has been through different situations and feelings.

Love: It is not the typical love of "I like someone" or anything like that, it is the love of affection, of friendship, of those moments that people remind you that are there by your side.... important was when, at night, you were exhausted and you called your parents and you heard good night, they told you: even if you are far away I am still there. There was also that love of my friends, if I had a bad moment they were by my side, raising my smile and worrying about me.

Happiness: This is the feeling that I had constantly, there is no concrete moment or situation.

Confidence: When all this started, I barely knew the three Carlos and this trip allowed me to discover three great friends. They have shown me that they are trustworthy people, that they listen and that they support you when you need them. I also thank the rest of my classmates for listening to me and for teaching me to trust them, but my big surprise was the three of them. They have served me in many moments of relief. We have created a great group, and I loved it when we had our moments alone, in which we could speak in Spanish without any problem, talking freely since the rest did not understand us. Those moments were the most special because we ended up talking about everything, even personal things. I take this opportunity to thank you.

Optimism: Always necessary. You always have to have a positive opinion of things and if they twist, look for other ways to solve them. I remember that on the last day the Portuguese wanted to take us to "Bar da Praia" and the teacher told us that it was better not to go because it could be messed up. Everyone was disappointed, so I tried to encourage people and in the end we found a solution: Pappy Tommy, he invited us to his house to do the farewell party and it was undoubtedly the best night of all, he was full of feelings and emotions .

Appreciation: This is what I feel towards my Portuguese family: to Daniel to be on the lookout and making sure that everything was to my liking, to his parents for every detail they have had with me, the meals that prepared me to take me on the routes like burgers, croquettes , pizzas ..., all delicious. Also thanks to the two teachers who have accompanied us, for giving me the opportunity to live this experience and for treating us as their children, and finally to all my colleagues, my friends.

Link: It is clear that the key to this trip has been friendship. We were lucky that we all got along well, there have been no bad moments, but it is true that there were people with whom you connected more and spent more special moments. I have had the good fortune to meet these wonderful people who have been taken very much affection and we did not want to separate.

Sadness: The worst was the last day, all crying and with a huge pain to leave. I remember getting into the van with the head down and the back bent. During the journey each one had his moment, we were talking about the moments lived, and the luck of having had this experience. While we were remembering these moments we were crying on the part and I loved seeing how we encouraged each other.

Shyness: I think this is the one that you felt most of the time, whether it was for fitting, for your level of English, for saying nonsense, for not understanding the rest ... the two worst moments for me were the day we arrived and we were on the verge of knowing the ones that were going to welcome us. We knew more or less you wanted, since we had seen photos and talked to them thanks to social networks, but never in person and we did not know how they would react. We were inside the van without wanting to leave, all laughing dead of shame, while the Portuguese saw us from outside through the window, you could see how they were also impatient. The second time was the day of the Olympic Games, Pedro Ferreira and I played mini golf, the first ones were left, so they made us go up to the podium giving us a gold medal, it was a special moment, but being in front of the whole school and on taking pictures, I was very embarrassed.

Respect: Everyone there was very respectful, they always cared for you and if they saw you something sadder than normal they all came to ask but if you did not feel like talking they gave you a hug and did not ask questions. As we were many, we had to be careful with the jokes, games and photos because there were people who did not like it, so we had to be careful not to disturb and offend. We also had to respect the privacy of the rest of the people, since each one has their personal problems or way of being.

Generosity: In every family they teach you to use this value, but during that week we were able to develop it, and I think we increase the value of this word. We spent all day sharing things, especially the food, of course. I was an incredibly lucky because my family was always looking for me, and as I said, every time we ate outside they prepared me croquettes, pizza, hamburgers ... Even though I had that privilege, other companions sometimes did not bring food, that a lot of times we made a kind of "picnic" and shared all our food. Not only did we share our food, they called me "mommy" because in my backpack I had everything and I was always paying attention to them, giving them what they needed. The best thing that I have shared has been this experience with them.

Doubt: There were many occasions, you were not sure what to do, for example every morning I was not clear at what time I should get up or go to breakfast. Every day you had to go to the school at a different time and they did not tell me, so, just in case, I got up at 7, I got ready in my room until I heard some noise and then I went down. But everything was very uncomfortable, because it was the only one in the house that had breakfast and while I was sitting there, taking my toast almost ready to go out, everyone was asleep. Again I was not sure what to do was Wednesday, the day we celebrated the Olympic Games. I was on the Badminton list, but a few weeks before I went I injured my knee, by then I had not healed enough and I did not know what to do, so I finally decided to change to golf so that my knee would not get any worse than what It was and will not harm the route of Thursday through Lisbon.

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