MEDSKOS - the Braga, Portugal mobility
My diary
On this page, you can find a bunch of memorable stories. After reading them, you'll see why I was sad to leave Portugal. For the first time in my life (and I travel A LOT) I cried and was extremely sad because I had to leave and go back home. These are some people who I met while in Portugal who I'll never forget. Complete strangers who turned out to be charming and fascinating.
Let's start from the very beginning. During our drive from Osijek to Budapest I sat in the front seat with the teacher and the driver. 10 minutes into the drive the band Opća opasnost started playing on the radio. Since they're one of my favourite bands, I have a tradition of saying that everything is going to be alright if I hear them on the radio. Whether it be a trip or some exam the upcoming day. So when their song started playing, I said that everything was going to be alright. The teacher started laughing, but it kind of felt like she truly believed me and like she felt relieved. Everything truly was alright in the end.
Monday afternoon, Nea and I are waiting for this mysterious person who's supposed to drive us to the institution. Even though it was a two-minute walk, we drove because it was raining. So, because of the traffic that drive lasted 15 minutes each way. We didn't mind because on the way back the driver told us basically his life story and how war affected it. How it affected his parents, the country, other people and everything they owned. While talking about how he is supporting some music students from Afghanistan, he told us that he is in a band. I immediately had to stop him and confirm I heard that right when he pulled out a sticker with the name of his band. It's a metal band. I was delighted. That's when it started. The first sticker. From then on, we continued randomly getting stickers everywhere. This trip will definitely be remembered by stickers.
During the first few days, we didn't really know where to go as a group after dinner, because not many cafes were still open. So, a few of us asked Vasco for some recommendations. Who's Vasco you might ask? He's a waiter at Vianna. He's our age, listens to Iron Maiden and has a bunch of tattoos. Another one of our favourite waitresses is Daniela, she had pretty nails, hair and cool piercings. She always smiled while Vasko always looked serious. Unfortunately, we didn't see Vasco during the last few days, but on the last day, Daniela gave us a big hug for both of them. Back to the story. Vasco told us about a cafe called Ber-Ber, wished us a good rest of the night and shook Noa's hand. Vasco wanted to shake my hand too, but I didn't get the memo, turned around and left. He stood there sad because I left him hanging. Iris saw that and shook his hand instead. Later when she told me about it I was extremely embarrassed. The day after when we went there for dinner, I apologised and shook his hand. Back to the story again. Noa and I guided everyone to Ber-Ber. When we got there a teacher asked: "Where are we?". Someone answered: "By the looks of it, at a brothel." We laughed it off even though it really did look like it. We had a great time there after all.
The first time I heard our language in Portugal was while I was waiting for Iris in front of some really cool store. They were gossiping about someone quite loudly. I just laughed. It's great when you can gossip without worry because no one can understand you. Another time I was taking a walk with Nea when I heard a group of people our age talking in our language about how many days they wear their socks at some restaurant. Another *failed* case of "I can talk about anything, no one understands me."
One day while in a hurry to get some souvenirs before dinner Vanessa and I walked past some people our age while talking to each other in a narrow, dark street. Suddenly I heard "They're speaking Croatian!". Amazed, I turned around and said "Yes, Croatian.", then proceeded to ask them where they were from. Of course, they were from Zagreb. Since I never miss a chance to call anyone from Zagreb a "Purger", I did that as I continued walking to the souvenir shop. Vanessa stayed a bit behind, I heard her talking to someone. The people from Zagreb came up to her and tried selling her Marijuana. Of course, she said no.
The next time we met people from our country was at Fátima. We heard a song in Croatian. We thought we were going crazy, but turns out there actually was a Mass in Croatian going on. The ladies we met there were extremely sweet, and their priest told us more about the history of that sanctuary.
While exploring Braga Iris, Vanessa, Marija and I came across a store called TeeLegend - Para Geeks, Nerds & Jedis. It was full of nerdy movies, music, games, and shows-themed merch. T-shirts, keychains, magnets, jewellery, figurines, and stickers (of course!!). While Iris, Vanessa, and Marija were looking for stickers they wanted to get, I was spending time in the T-shirt section of the store. I collect band T-shirts, I own over 50 of them - but I've never seen such cool shirts as the ones in that store. The lady who works there came up to me and told me about the history of the store and some more interesting facts about it. She has dark hair but colourful braids, such a cool outfit and beautiful makeup. I told her all of that as a compliment and she complimented me right back. Her smile and sweetness were contagious, I was delighted to talk to her.
The girl who was our guide in Lisbon and Porto wasn't liked by everyone. I never agreed with them and was always on her side. She seemed sweet, smart, and creative. Her colleague who guided the tour in another language seemed like a cool person as well. In Fátima, while waiting for everyone to finish souvenir shopping, she sat beside me and asked if she could see my photography. She said that I was really talented and that my photography was next-level good, the other guide said the same. Later she showed me she's studying clothes design. She's very good at it as well. We continued talking, I gave them some photography and camera advice since they are very interested in photography as well. I'm glad I got the chance to meet them because once again I proved to myself that my ability to read people is as sharp as ever.
Of course, Stipe and I took our Hajduk and NK Osijek scarves everywhere. We took pictures holding them in front of the Monument to the Discoveries in Lisbon. As we were walking away, a man selling sunglasses saw the scarves and yelled: "Dinamo! Hajduk!". I answered: "No, Osijek!". He continued: "Yes, Osijek! Rijeka!". I can't believe someone would go through the stress of HNL voluntarily.
In Porto, as Iris, Vanessa and I were walking, a man yelled; "So freaking beautiful! All different coloured hair! The most freaking beautiful thing I've seen in Portugal!" It was funny. We never realized that before! All of us actually had different hair colours. Iris has ginger hair, Vanessa's hair is red, Marija is blonde and my hair is blue. This drawing was created in Porto a few hours after that.
On the last day of practical classes, Nea and I got permission to leave earlier. Which meant we had time to take a walk before lunch. Right by the Arco da Porta Nova, there was a small shop called "Obrigada" selling souvenirs. But, those souvenirs were different. Most of them were handmade and different from the made-in-China-looking ones. We walked in and greeted the owners with "Bom Dia!". The lady started talking to us in Portuguese. We told her that we speak English, and with a confused look, she said that she'd thought that we were Portuguese because our accent was incredible. We complimented her on the store because it was unique and continued talking to her. We learned that she's French and that she and her family moved here recently. She travelled all over getting to know different cultures and artists. She noticed that a lot of artists didn't appreciate their work, and wanted to show off and sell their art. Here's a selfie with that sweet sweet lady.
During the certificate ceremony, the representatives from the Braga Mob pronounced our surnames flawlessly. They even did a better job than I would have done myself. I am not sure how they prepared for the event, or who helped them, but their attention to detail was appreciated. This small but thoughtful gesture only confirmed my belief that the people from Braga are incredibly kind and friendly.
It's the last day. The last dinner. We're all sad and not ready to go home. Marija, Vanessa, Iris and I took a group photo with my Instax camera at the dinner table, in Vianna. We got a tortilla and fries for dinner, which was disappointing. We kinda hoped for rice since it was a part of almost every meal during the two weeks. While the photos are developing, Vanessa is crying and saying how that exact moment is going to be her favourite memory of the whole trip. We understand her because only two weeks ago the four of us were complete strangers. We still tell her to stop because everyone is going to cry. The teachers came to tell us that if we don't leave now we're going to be late for our meeting at the hotel. They left and we stayed to say goodbye to Daniela. As we are walking out of Vianna for the last time, Vanessa and I can't stop crying. Marija says how this is possibly the last time we're ever going to stand here and how that street singer is really setting the nostalgic mood. I suggested that we go sit across from him and listen for a bit. Enjoy our last moments, even though we were already late for the meeting. As we were walking towards him, the song started sounding familiar to me so I told the girls to be quiet. Then we realised that he was singing a "Daleka obala" song. Someone singing in Croatian in the middle of Portugal was unbelievable at the moment. All the tears, the excitement, the sadness...all at once. It was crazy. He couldn't believe it either when we came up and talked to him. His name is Lovro, he's from Zagreb - studying in Braga via Erasmus as well. He is attending the 5th year of some smartie pants fany named college. We sang some more "Daleka obala", "Za nju" by "KinoKlub", and I specifically asked for "Supermen" by "Hladno pivo" since he said they were his favourite band. He was once in a punk band as well, it was called "Marginalci". This was his 2nd month in Braga, he'll be there until June. We were extremely sad we met him during the last day, because we would've been great friends.
