A few days ago, I read an article (in Portuguese) about living outside your birthplace, and it made me think about my last 3 years and a half. How it all started with me leaving my comfort zone.
First impression after moving to Portugal
On 21 September 2015, I was getting a plane to move my life to Portugal. I was leaving behind my everyday contact with my family, my best friends, my job, my house.
Changing the country I lived in, after almost 30 years, made it seem like I was being born again. I was not just restructuring my work, my home, and material things, but also rethinking my old standard of living to adapt to a new one.
I was kind of lucky, the language is the same (well, not really, but that ended up being the funny part). However, I was adapting to a new culture and dealing with bureaucracies without mom’s help. And the worst part was that I didn’t know many people here.
Looking back
It is not easy at all. It takes a while to accept that we will miss social events and commemorative dates of our loved ones. But looking back, there are so many good things on the way!
It’s so good to see all my achievements along these years. A lot of them actually happened here, in AV.
Here, I had the opportunity to have my first job in Portugal, and yes, that meant a lot. When you come from another country, you don’t know how the labour market works. And it doesn’t matter if you have years of experience, you probably will have to start all over again.
“Desemerda-te”
It was in AV that I was presented to a new concept: “desenmerda-te”. In essence, it means to make things happen without having to depend on anyone. That made a lot of sense to me, not only for work but for life.
It was in AV that I figure out that designers, marketers and developers don’t have to be enemies. Actually, when these professionals work together, the project really gains meaning.
“Bora beber um copo?”
It was in AV that I began to expand my circle of friends. I’ll not lie, Portuguese people are much more difficult than Brazilians! But believe me when I say that, along the way, you will find someone that makes you the question: “Bora beber um copo?”
More than that, you will find someone to who you talk about your sh*ts and someone who brings your best laughter.
Now I can say that Lisbon is my home. Thank you, guys!
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#Designer, #BrandStrategist and #SolutionFinder. Oh... And I'm also an expert in Brazilian Portuguese. Crossing borders with @AngryVentures
