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You should meet my colleague who spent the two weeks at Centro Social de São Lázaro before I say anything else. Her name is Nea, and she's a physiotherapist. I never saw her at school before. When I shook her hand I instantly knew I was going to like her. There's nothing worse than a bad handshake. I'm never the one to stay silent when someone's handshake is embarrassingly bad, I always tell them to fix it. So, when Nea's handshake was perfectly firm the first thing I had to say was that we were going to get along amazingly.  Both Nea and the teacher had the confused look on their faces, so I had to explain myself. They agreed with me. I was right, as I spent more and more time with Nea, I learned that she's an incredibly funny and responsible person who you could trust with anything. I'm glad she was the colleague I got to spend the two weeks at the institution with.

The overall experience at Centro Social de São Lázaro was a positive one. Especially because it took us only two minutes to walk there every day. Nea and I were the only ones whose institution was this close to the hotel. We were always the first ones done with the practical classes, so we had a lot of free time after that. As I said, it was a bit difficult to get the employees to accept us, but when they did we had a great time. I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't form a connection with the people at our institution as others in the program did. It's still fine because it was easier to leave. 

I learned about different principles of working and new ways of getting things done. I am excited about sharing that knowledge with others. 
At Centro Social de São Lázaro the concept of doing patient's hygiene in bed does not exist. Every resident, no matter mobile or not gets up from their bed for a shower. While one caretaker gives a shower to the resident, the other one makes their bed. The bed making is completely different from our way of doing it. The medicine distribution is very interesting as well. Every resident gets a pack with their medicine in it. Dressing wounds is different too. Nuno would only use betadine, NaCl, a Nivea cream, and bandages of course. Nothing else too special, he says he doesn't believe in anything fancy for healing wounds.

Their routines at  Centro Social de São Lázaro are very strict. I find that to be very useful for residents. Predictability is always an advantage. They know exactly when to expect breakfast, lunch, dinner, and church. Same as when is the priest or kindergarteners coming to visit. Oh yeah, Centro Social de São Lázaro is not just a nursing home, but a kindergarten too. They organize a bunch of activities including both the elderly and children. Most of those activities are creative ones that improve their motor skills. That kind of institution does not exist here.  
The biggest difference is the independence that nurses have at Centro Social de São Lázaro and in Portugal generally. They are extremely hardworking while studying to get their degrees. When they do, no one can tell them what to do. They even have more autonomy and freedom than doctors.

I enjoyed the laughs we had there, the music we heard, the language we tried learning. I'm grateful to everyone who agreed to teach us new skills. I will never forget their amazing personalities and what they taught me. 

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