First two weeks at work

Ola,

I have written so much about my adventures and cultural experience (that is 50% of the internship for sure). But what about work??? A part of this message will be the first week at work and discoveries connected with working experience in Portugal.

Do not be surprised to find a very long message as I have put 2 weeks experiences here:)

Here come the discoveries:

17. Work:)
18. ´Secret´ canteen

19. Azulejos (special ceramics) in metro stations (I will write and upload photos about it in future messages)

20. Gringos - a special day during week where AIESEC people from all 4 Lisbon LCs (Local committees meet and have fun).
21. Tea in the microwave oven

22. Cristo Rei - a big statue of Crist (quite similar to the one in Brasil)

23. St. George castle

24. The nuances of Portuguese music - discussion with colleagues at work what are the popular singers in here

25. Not coffee but `kavyte` with a very interesting Portuguese person:)

26. Portuguese theatre

27. Portuguese student traditions

28. LT presentation in the company - to be an ambasador of Lithuania is a very pleasant feeling

29. International Cooking day

30. Cinema in Portugal - STARDUST:) It was just a little discovery that cinema is the same everywhere:)

Company. I work in company called REFERTELECOM that is a telecommunications company here is Portugal. However, it has nothing to do with operators that provide network services. We work in two main fields:

1. with telecomunications in railway stations and between them. The history about this service comes from the mother company of REFERTELECOM that is REFER - the biggest railway company in Portugal that is owned by the state. As REFERTELECOM is a concession of this big company most of the activities are related with it.
2. with hardware or IT services, such as transmitions, hosting, etc. (I am really not the best person to talk about this:)).

Luckily I have nothing to do with the technical part of my company´s services because I work in planning and control department. Talking in details: first week I have worked on consolidation, from the second week - on budgeting.

Working culture and environment. As you might expect the working culture and environment in Portugal is much different from the one in Lithuania. The main differences I have noticed are:

1. coffee breaks and relaxed culture are very common and sometimes you can go for a coffee and drink water - remember the culture of communication?;) This is my first job where I was asked not to rush, not to be stresses and relax (hm, I cannot really follow this rule, so I try to keep the balance - to adapt to the culture and introduce a little bit of mine as well:)). However, do not think that Portuguese do not work - in my department we have a `seasonal`work - it´s really busy at the end of every month and year.

2. the separation between the executive board and other employees. As I have found out from my colleagues, the local companies have quite a strict hierarchy and I have noticed this from very first day.

3. the separation between men and women:) This is not something typical for Portugal - but in REFERTELECOM they have this funny separation. Guys go to lunch together, girls - separately. Guys have founded a ´secret canteen`to have their lunch there. But again, after I asked if this is something wrong, people told that this happened naturally and it is more funny than serious:)

The funniest part of this story is that I go to lunch to that `secret canteen´and guys even invited me to their traditional lunch at the end of the month. Am I becoming a masculine here in Portugal?:D I hope no...

4. tea in the microwave oven. Another cultural experience happened when one day I had a thought - we have tea packs in the kitchen but where is the kettle for boiling the water? The answer was - pour water into the cup, put the pack into it and let the water boil in the microwave oven... That´s how I make tea.

5. THE TOPIC. Almost everyday of the work brings a new topic. When I tell a topic, I mean THE TOPIC. Imagine myself looking around and seeing people starting to move, going from one place to another, ´argueing´about something and putting a lot of emotions. At the end I find out that THE TOPICS are about prohibition of youtube or arrangement of desks in a new office...:) In general, not understanding the language gives possibility to know another ways of communication - body language, intonation of voice, etc.

Working area. To my mind, I am working in the nicest area of Lisbon. It is called Oriente or Expo area or Parque das nacoes (nations´park). Before 1998 it was an industrial and deserted area with no attractions for people. However, everything changed when it was decided to organise EXPO´98 there - the world exposition called ´The Oceans: A Heritage for the Future`. The area was rebuilt and now it has an oceanário, cable cars, parks, pavilions, and around 17 km long Vasco de Gama bridge which is the longest one in Europe.

You can check for more information here: http://www.parquedasnacoes.pt/inicio.asp?V=4&L=en

Working place and other logistical nuances. To be direct - I am working under the railway:) I am not joking:) the office is situated very nearby the metro station with a railway on it (it is quite symbolic when our mother company is the biggest railway company in Portugal). So, everytime the train passes, we hear a thunderstorm. And the first day I was really thinking that there is the storm outside but when I went out - it was the most beautiful shiny day:D

This is one the three logistical misunderstandings I know in Lisbon. Another is airport in the middle of the city. So, everytime I am in AIESEC office chating with people and the plane passes - it is almost impossible to continue the conversation.

The third one - Lisbon has a very broad rive Tejo. There are different ways to cross it: by car, by train, by ferry. And guess - there is no way to cross it on foot. So, if there is no transport - the easiest way is to swim across:)

No offense to Portuguese civil engeneers;)

Lisbon from above - Cristo Rei and St. George castle.

One nice weekend was devoted to seeing Lisbon from above. Cristo Rei and St. George castle were the sites that were 100% on my checklist:)

Cristo Rei is around 110 metres high statue of Crist that was built in 1959 and is very similar to the one that is in Rio de Janeiro. Just look at the pictures and you will see the beauty and majesty of it and the view around.

And if you interested in knowing more, you can chech this link: http://www.cristo-rei.com/default-uk.htm

Besides this, very nearby there is Costa de Caparica beach where I saw another ´mood´of Atlantic ocean - not calm pond but a real ocean with waves, people surfing or kite surfing and sun setting in it.

St. George castle was the second destination that weekend - the castle is in the middle of the city on a hill and you can see Lisbon under your feet:) The castle was built many centuries ago and was the witness of many periods of Portuguese history: Moorish times, first king, first discoveries (because Vasco da Gama was once invited there by the king) and many other. Now it is a perfect place to see Lisbon from the wall or through a big periscope (a special tool with which you can have a trip around Lisbon:)).

Portuguese theatre. I have experienced some Portuguese cultural life as well. One nice Wednesday together with one friend we went to a theatre, to a performance called SHALL WE DANCE IV. And this was an interesting experience. The part I liked the most was about benches. Yes, about such simple thing on the one hand and quite complicated one on the other. When you sit on it, your time stops but you can see the time of other people passing by - people hurrying to their work, stairing at you and wondering why you are not in a rush... An interesting perspective to a very simple thing.

However, let´s put a little piece of irony to this experience:) We entered the hall, the lights fade away, the man and the woman in official clothes came to the front and told something in Portuguese. Then they went to the back of the stage, took of their clothes (ALL clothes), came to the front and sat on the seats with their backs to the audience... and for half an hour read a story in Portuguese. I had really precious time to reflect about my day and my plans for the next one:)

The second part was about benches and I really liked it, besides, it was in English.

The third part: a woman in T-shirt and panties came on the stage and very expresionally talked smth in Portuguese. I do not know why, but I believed what she talked:)

So, this was my first experience in Portuguese theatre.

Student traditions. Portugal is very rich with student traditions. On 24th September their study year started but the first week was to really celebrate this. There were a lot of big events. One of them - a big party of all universities happened near my work place, in Oriente. And if you have ever been stuck in a traffic jam with a car - that was the situation there, when we were going on foot:) See the photo?:)

Another interesting fact - older students have special black suitsand cloaks with different emblems. And this puts some romanticism to students and their life:)

The third thing - every university has a band called TUNA (as I was told - no association with the fish:)). They make performances during different events, celebrations, they have an event where TUNAS from different universities compete. One of the performances I saw was in the yard of my Local Committee university - ISCTE (see the video).

International cooking day. This was a special event that has happened one nice Saturday evening when it was raining outside. Around 25 people gathered to have an international cooking day (or better to say - night:)). Mmmmmm, this was a very delicious time with food from Italy, Serbia, India, Germany, Poland, Romania, Spain, Cape Verde, Portugal. I prepared Lithuanian food as well. Which one? The potatoe cake or kugelis:) It was an experience to grate all the potatoes manually:)

Another funny remark: I have not found sour-cream in Portugal, so kugelis was with cream (translated into Lithuanian - kugelis su grietinele:D)).

A PROMISE - all the recipes that are not secret ones will be uploaded in this blog.

Different ambasadorships. Here I feel very much like ambasador:) Portuguese ambasador in Lithuania (writing this blog), AIESEC ambasador in the company (doing my best during my internship), Lithuanian ambasador in Portugal.

I have already done my country presentation in company and my suggestion for all Lithuanian and not only interns is - DO IT!!! If you still doubt - just DO IT! People are really interested and especially when Lithuania is quite a small country and there are different prejudices (no, we do not spaek Russian; no, we are not in Scandinavia; yes, we are in EU:)). But this is a great feeling when you can really represent Lithuania and give people the real understanding about country of green nature, basketball and rich cultural heritage (if you want my ppt - just drop an email;)).

I am sure that some of my colleagues will visit me in Lithuania afterwards.

Coffee or `Kavyte` with yourself. Another small theory for you. In all these 3 weeks, there was no day when I spent the entire half a day alone (not talking about sleeping:)). And it was very strange to do so this weekend. But I felt really good - thinking about the time that passed, that will come, creating some new interesting ideas, drinking tea and coffee. And I thought - I really need this. I like to have coffee with myself:) How other people could like having coffee with me if I did not enjoy it myself?..:)

Beijinhos:*

Ruti

Xtreme and international weekend

Ola,

it was the last weekend before the start of the internship... New discoveries - new exciting moments. How was the preparation going - you could ask:) See the photo on the right:P

What were the discoveries from those two days:

15. Extreme things - climbing up the wall and motorbikes show.

16. First time swimming in the Atlantic Ocean.

Xtreme. The weekend started in Expo event where the youth day was taking place: some modern art expositions, some presentations and stands of companies, different governmental and non-governmental organisations, including AIESEC.

There were 2 things I liked most there - modern art exposition inside the building, however, with a green grass on the floor. This is something I sometimes miss - the smell of the grass after the rain.

The second things was Portuguese army stand or better to say - WALL. And guess - I climbed up this wall for the first time in my life.

A little bit of extreme taste for my internship.

Another extreme thing that has happened was motorbikes show. No, no, do not think that I was doing smth extreme:) This time I was just an observer. And I will not try to describe all the tricks that those crazy guys did with their motorbikes: playing with them, on them, near them, destroying them.

Check the movies;)

International. One of the beauties of AIESEC internship is that you can not only get to know the culture and people of internship coutry but also you can meet people from all over the world doing their internships in that coutry. Here I have already met people from Brasil, Venesuela, India, Poland... The moment when I felt the most internationally was spending the afternoon on the beach with the intern from India and his roommate from Spain, originally from Armenia:)

Language. The biggest challenge for me here is still the language. From totally bird´s language it´s getting more familiar. However, I cannot speak and understant the main point only if people use international words and some known names:)

My name and surname for Portuguese people is a learning point as well (see visitor´s card on the left:)).

Actually, my name in Portuguese language is pronounced with a french `r´in the beginning, so it sounds like ´chuta´:)

Estoril.

The spot near Lisbon that is for sure worth visiting - I spent there a few hours but managed to catch that different atmosphere of a resort - with big green parks, casino, fancy cars, beautiful beaches, paths near the Atlantic Ocean.

Cascais (first time swimming in the Atlantic Ocean). Remember part about spending time with Indian and Spanish guys on the beach. It was in another resort point near Lisbon - Cascais. The first time I really touched the Atlantic ocean and swam there. Well, the fact that I was swimming in the ocean was amazing, but in general - it was a salty lake. Because the sea in that beach was really calm.

Some facts for curious people - there are no sharks in the ocean near Portugal coasts. But there used to be some dolphins even in Delta of river Tejo.

Stay tuned for the next updates about my discoveries in Portugal.

Beijingos (kisses):*

Ruti

4 more days - many more discoveries

Ola,

First of all - many thanks for your comments and wishes! I really feel closer to Lithuania, USA, Turkey when I get feedback from you:)

So, new days - new discoveries. An interesting remark - in 15-16th centuries Portugal was a very strong empire which eplorers discovered a lot of lands in Africa, South America, Asia, explored oceans and seas over the world. And it´s not strange that my stay here is also full of spirit of discoveries and eagerness to do this.

Discoveries of 4 more days:

11. Old town of Lisbon, Belem district - sighseeing and visiting touristic places... and eating cookies from Belem in the old town:) (Pasteles de Belem are very typical national tasty cookies that you cannot resist)

12. A very strange discovery: Lisbon, 3 a.m. at night, empty streets, open windows in the car, QUEEN concert is on very loudly. Amazing feeling that can be

13. Traditional coffee in a traditional cafe
14. Going in a trunk of a car:)

Coffee or kavyte. This is THE ritual. Here they have one the most delicious coffees in the world (Portuguese people say that it is THE BEST but let´s stay with the phraze ONE OF THE BEST here). And one of the discoveries for me was a small cup of coffee that is the most usual one here. I do not like strong coffee and especially espreso but this one is different, it is strong but has a veeery delicious taste (see the cup in the picture).

Old town. I enjoyed the days of finding the country in a local way but the touristic places are awesome as well. The old town of Lisbon is beautiful - with many statues, squares, St.George castle, little tram going around, their mosaic from ceramic bricks called Azulejo. So far I know their old town only from outside. But one day it will be a huge discovery while finding out the inside of those historic buildings.

Churches. Something from my short sightseeing experience:) I have visited 2 churches here in Lisbon - not enough to make an absolute conclusion but enough to say that they have a pure beauty inside. What I mean by `pure beauty´ is that almost everything is made of stone. Even the colors are got from different kinds of stones.

Belem and it´s cookies... Belem is a district of Lisbon where they have monuments for discoveries, amazing park, Jeronemos Manastery but the most known point in that area of Lisbon is the cafe where special cookies of Belem are made. Even though I tried these cookies in the Old town, local people say that it´s not comparable with the ones in Belem.

The trip in Belem was full of crazy mood: I took many interestin pictures, was walking in water spray, drank a cup of semi-hot coffee in the cafe in modern arts museum and got a nice paper swan from my buddy (person responsible for me from AIESEC).

Mothers. Hm, quite an interesting title for a blog, isn´t it?:) But I could not not to mention it. While my stay, I already know two mothers of AIESECers and they are really great. My buddy´s mother even helps us to fix the legal financial things. That´s when I went to financial institution of Portugal where she worked, was introduced to her colleagues and was treated to the national cookies of Portugal -Pasteles de Belem). Many thanks for that!

Football once more. Oh yeah, this is for sure not the last time I am going to tell about football. This time me a bunch of AIESECers went to watch football Portugal-Serbia. The match finished in draw and during the game were many emotions about the game and the goal (Serbian made it in offside, Portuguese coach wanted to beat Serbian players, the game almost finished in a fight). It is a very strange feeling when you watch a football match in a pub and you know the stadium is soem kilometres away. And the funny remark from the game: `Ruti, do you know that Portuguese wear red and green?` (no offense to the person who told this;)).

My welcome dinner. My welcome dinner took place on 14th, Friday and was together with one girl´s bye bye party. More then 20 people gathered there: delicious food, interesting chats, pool tables, and the slogan `let´s make Ruti drunk´. If I did not know that, maybe the mission would be possible but with a good publicity, the mission turned into almost impossible one and at the end of the day I was almost sober:) For the finish of the dinner we went to Bairro Alto streets and had some great time there (the description of Bairro Alto see in the previous message).

Going in a trunk. During one week I have seen people going in a trunk at least 3 times - something typical for Portuguese people, I thought... The same day, going back home from my`welcome party` there were 6 people who needed a drive. I guess... I was the one to go in a trunk. And I really enjoyed this strange cultural experience - seeing street lights above, hearing people asking if I am alive:)

Toy theory. During this week I kind of formulated one theory about internships and in general working abroad that I called ´Toy theory´. When you come to a new country and meet people there, you are a new and interesting toy for them. Some of ´children´ are keen on this new discovery, some of them are a little bit afraid. However, after 5-7 days you are not a new toy anymore. What happens? (no, shit does not hapen in this case:)) What happens is that after 5-7 days you are left with ´children´ who would like to know even more about you or already feel the beginning of a long term friendship (the feeling from the toy should be the same:)). So far, label `Made in Lithuania` is quite strong:)

For the summary of this message I could say that my life in Lisbon is very diverse - I have lots of crazy experiences, but not less intelectual conversations about poetry, economy, history, civil engeneering, etc. with interesting people. That´s the beauty of diversity:)

Kisses:*

Ruti

First 4 days and discoveries

Here comes the first report from the special reporter in Portugal - Ruti. The first 4 days passed in the country that is the Europe`s farest point from Lithuania. The country where the land meets the Atlantic ocean....

... and where crazy AIESECers met Ruti at the airport.

My credo for the internship is: EACH DAY - AT LEAST ONE DISCOVERY.

And the first 4 discoveries are:

1. Lisbon - the WHITE city.
2. Meeting the guard - climbing up the rocks to the statue.

3. Bairo Alto - night life in the streets of Lisbon.

4. ´Local party´ with crazy Portuguese people.

People. Here in Porutgal people are really friedly and a bit crazy. Imagine my first hours in this country: singing and dancing people at the airport, a lot of posters around, a glass of local beer in a local bar, lunch. However, the craziest part is that most of the people I know here are guys. I tried to find out what has happened to the feminine part - and as they told this is the kind of the reception they have. They send boys to make the reception for interns-girls.

Other typical things for Portuguese people:
1. they really talk a lot:) much more than an average Lithuanian.
2. because Portuguese people have a culture of really intense communication - they have a lot of rituals for this. Coffee ritual - there are lots of cafes there and people enjoy drinking coffee with friends. Eating - they usually do not eat alone (the food is not that different from other Europian countries).
3. day schedule. If Portuguese do not have to go to work, the usual time to go to sleep is even 7-8 a.m. and then they wake up at 1-4 p.m. So, for me - morning person - it was a kind of shock:) Even after going to sleep at 5 a.m., I woke up at 11 a.m.
4. relaxed. People here are slower and their pace is not that intense as I am used to. Even the economy here is ´relaxed´ - see the bill of the cafe in photo. 5. greeting. Kisses to both cheeks.

Football vs. basketball. Football is called their first religion here. And this is really true. I got a chance to see people arguing about which is the best team in Portugal and they were really emotional (the best three teams here are Benfica, Sporting and Porto). One day I will for sure go to the football match and see what is happening in the middle of the heat.
Basketball is not very popular. Just a few people know that European championship is happening, not mentioning that noone looks the game even though the Portugal team is in another round. However, here I am, the real Lithuanian, crazy about basketball, who informs them about their and Lithuanian results daily:)

Beer. As I already wrote, I found out what Portuguese beer is very quickly. Actually, it is really tasty. Especially, I liked the black beer from their best brewery. However, the most funny story about the beer is that Portuguese people as well as Germans, Czeck people, Lithuanians and many other nations think that their beer is the best in the world:) Well, noone could judge the taste...

Lisbon.

Even when flying over the Lisbon by plane I saw what name I will give for this city – WHITE. And this is true. Here I found a lot less green colour then in Lithuania – most houses, pavements are white. And just after some time I found a connection – the architecture is really similar to the one they have in Arabic countries. This is not strange when you know that in VIII century it was concured by moores.

Sintra - PART 1.
A green spot near the Lisbon. If I wrote that Lisbon is white, so Sintra is for sure a GREEN place. This is the place who takes the second place among the places I am in. 2 out of three first days in Portugal I spent there. To tell the truth, most foreigners find Sintra in a very boring way - going around to some tourist sites, visiting palaces and other ancient buildings (I am going to do this as well).

However, my first acquaintance with Sintra was the following. Firstly, me and few local AIESECers (who know who they are:)) went to a park to one of the palaces. We climbed over the wall and entered the place absolutely `legally´. And we saw a very nice statue of the guard. And then came the proposal to visit that guard and say ´hello´. As you can see from the photos, it took us some time and alpinistic skills to use. At the end it was worth anything - this is what I like - finding out places in a local way.

Beaches and Atlantic ocean. The same day I was in Sintra, we also visited the beach there. And for the first time I touched the Atlantic Ocean. The water there is usually much colder than in the Baltic sea. That day it was 18 degrees Celsius. It was a bit exotic place for me with a really broad beach and rocks nearby.

Night life. There were 4 types of night life I have experienced in Portugal.

The first night we went to the docks of the river that crosses Lisbon - Tejo. We had a calm walk along the shore and had some beer in the pub there.

The second night was a real cultural experience for me as after the dinner and a coffee we went to a part of Lisbon where they have a lot of reaaaaaly small pubs - Bairo Alto. How do they cope with the situation that pubs do not have space even for 15 people? They simply buy drinks in the pub and go to drink and chat outside:) So, in Bairo Alto we had some ´shots´ (stikliukus) of really tasty cocktails (strawberry, peach, and kivi-peach taste, and they have many more that I did not taste). What is interesting in Bairo Alto is that people have a group drink - one person invites a group of people and pay for them. Afterwards, the turn goes to other persons. After drinking and chating in Bairo Alto (at around 5 a.m.) crowds of people either go home or to the discos.
The third night was devoted to know the ´underground´ night life in Lisbon. Me and some guys from Sintra (SINTRA - PART 2) went to one of AIESECers house and had a dinner there. And some Portuguese wine as well. The further part was an experience of night life in Sintra - ´killing´ driving in the narrow streets of Sintra, having some more sangrija, stopping to take a guitar, forgetting the guitar in the yard:), remembering it and coming back to take it, and the evening (or the morning) was finished singing some melancholic songs...

And the fourth one was a calm one - cooking and chats at home with my roommates.

Living place. I live in a flat with 5 bedrooms, living room, bathrooms and a kitchen with another people who rent that flat. In total 6 people (another girl from Spain will come soon). The flat is not big but it is really cozy and comfortable to spend that little part of my time there.

Summing up my first 4 days in Portugal I could say that I feel like being here for 4 months. So far I have many many more discoveries and impressions every day - absolutely ´drunk´ of this culture:) To be continued...

Kisses and regards!