FELLING SZCZÊŒLIWY

Yeah, that`s how I`m feeling: incredibly happy! Although today the cold wind had come back (it was - 9oC at 9 a.m), I had a very special day. In the morning, we had our last polish lession - now it`s up to us - and a lecture with 2 guys from United Nations Development Programmes (www.undp.org), the organisation that raised our traineeships. It was pretty good and many trainees, by the end of the session, were thinking on promoving some kind of PEACE Project in their countries when they come back.

The thing that I`m actually liking most so far is exactly this interaction with wonderful people. It was one of my expactations, but I didn`t think I would be so nice. I have already talked about the world`s situation with an american, a malaysian, a polish and a chinese person. Besides, we share dreams and thoughts and plan to meet each other again in the future. Enlarging network for a better world!

GETTING TO KNOW WARSAW

Yesterday (27th), we`ve got a task: save the Earth! Actually, it was just an exercise, in which the group, divided into 3 smaller groups, should visit many places in Warsaw, get some information and discover some sentences that could be formed with the answers. In the end, we didn`t accomplish the mission, but the sightseeing was excelent! We visited the old center, that wasn`t destroyed during the II World War; some monuments, including one dedicated to Nicholau Copernicus; a beautiful cathedral, where is Chopin`s heart; and so on.

At night, I went to a salsa place. Yeah, that`s it! I`m impressed, because I found a place in Poland where people speak spanish and dance tango and salsa. And it was really fun!

Aldous Huxley`s message about exchanges

Travelling...

"... So the journey is over and I am back again, richer by much experience
and
poorer by many exploded convictions, many perished certainties. For
convictions and certainties are too often concomitants of ignorance...
I
set out on my travels knowing, or thinking I knew how men should live,
how
to be governed, how educated, what they should believe. I had my views
on
every activity of life. Now, on my return, I find myself without any of
those certainties... the better you understand the significance of any
question, the more difficult it becomes to answer it. Those who attach
a
high importance to their own opinion should stay at home. When one is
travelling, convictions are mislaid as easily as spectacles, but unlike
spectacles, they are not easily replaced."

Aldous Huxley, following his first around-the-world trip in 1926.

MEETING MANY TRAINEES

After skating for 2 hours on Friday, I met many trainees on saturday. Even more got in Warsaw on Sunday, when we went out together to visit some museums, eating and having fun.

Our preparation week just started on Monday (24th) and it`s being wonderful so far. We are 27 trainees, from: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Brazil, USA, Peru, Germany, Austria, Macedonia, Latvia, Ucrania, Slovenia, Greece and Australia - unfortunalety, none Africans.

During the first day, we had some integration sessions, polish lessons and discussed a little about cultural differences. Coming to thesecond, the worked in team building and had activities converning cooperation, communication, leadership and integration. Besides, we went through some survival training outdoors, when we spent the whole afternoon in snow. If we don`t take polish cold weather, the day was great!

It`s important to say that after working we use to have some integration parties, where many AIESEC members and other people join the group. On Monday, for example, we went to a really nice pub, when I could meet some nice AIESECers, former polish trainees and still a salsa teacher! I was spoko (cool, in polish)!

Yeah, this week is being awesome! Regarding to my expectation of enlarging my personal network of visionay people, I`m really realizing that!

SUNSHINE

Today (21/02) is the first day I see the sun shining. Before, the day was quite clear, but very cloudy. This means that, in some weeks, we won`t have snow anymore. So, I`ll try to enjoy it as much as I can. Maybe today I`ll go ice skating.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

This subject deserves a special description, because, as long as I`ve seen, is really good. In the city, we can use many kinds of public transportation: subway, train and bus are the most important ones. The good thing is that you just need 1 ticket to use all of them! Indeed, there are buses during the night each 30 minutes and each 6 minutes during the day.

FIRST WALK ALONE

Yesterday (20/02), I went to downtown by myself. I took the subway, found an information room, took many brochures and maps about the city and started explorting Warsaw. I went to the Palce of Culture, a really nice and high building, where there are many theathers and cinemas (but, unfortunalety, they were closed by that time). After that, I walked a little and entered a huge library, where many people were reading and buying books. Can you imagine what I bought? An english-polish dictionary!!!

I think not many people noticed I`m foreigner, because I`m not very different here. Besides, I`ve learnt some basic expressions - like hello and thank you, which are helping me a lot.

In the evening, I and Michal walked and took some pictures in the old part of the city, that wasn`t destroyed by wars, There, we can find many churches, monuments and government buildings. Among the monuments, we found one dedicated to Nicholaus Copernico, who was polish and I didn`t know!
To finish our night, we went to an interesting Bar. It was downstairs and I felt myself in a safe room for war, as I saw many times in movies. There, we drank grzane wino, a kind of hot strong wine with spices (quentao) - very good!

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WARSAW?

So, check the following websites:
-> www.thevisitor.pl
-> www.cityguide.travel-guides.com/cities/war

And may we meet here!

FIRST DAY IN WARSAW

I arrived in Warsaw around 22:30p.m, after a 2-hours flight from Zurich and Michal (polish trainee in Porto Alegre in 2002) was there to pick me up. It was really nice to get in a totally strange country, where everything is written in polish, and find someone known there, talking to you in portuguese!
After talking a little, we took a bus and a subway and got Kasha`s house, who is a really nice Peace OCVP and host. We drank some tea (that`s very common) and talked for a while, before sleeping a lot (because I almost didn`t sleep the night before).
In my real first day, I woke up about midday and had breakfast. Then, a new member came, we went to Warsaw School of Economics (where AIESEC is) and met many AIESECers there. They have 2 offices, with 4 computers each, and about 170 members! They do exchange mostly through projects (like Peace) and are among 10 top LCs in number of exchanges in AIESEC. I`ll try to know more about those projects and way of working.
After that, me and Grzergorz went to donwtown and to his house. It was wonderful! I met his family (mother, father, sister and grandmother), that is amazing! They made special food for me (they eat lunch and dinner altogether around 4p.m), which was a soup and, as second dish, potatoes with pig meat. For dessert, we had strawberries with milk cream and - the thing I liked most - compot for drinking. Compot is a sort of juice, in which they boil a fruit (in my case, cherries) with sugar and, after a while, put water and let it become colder. You can drink it with or without fruits. Besides enjoying polish cousine, I kind of talked to his grandma (in polish), listened to his sister playing the piano and went with them to a park where we skyed in some little cars for children. It was really funny!
A strange (for me, obviosly) thing around my first day was that a good part of the day and the activities happened while it was dark, as night comes about 5p.m.
About 20:30p.m, I met Michal again and went tohis house. There`s brazilian things everywhere: flag, map and other objects. He came with me to Kasha`s house and I hd my first polish language class. I really intend to learn some basic expressions, in order to be able to talk with people. But polish is really difficult, specially some sounds and inpronouceable words. Anyway, I want to accomplish it!
Czeæœ (tchau).

IN ZURICH

As soon as I arrived in Zurich (6a.m. local time; 2a.m. in Brazil), I participated in an almost unbelieved situation. There were 3 brazilian (2 girls and a guy) that came alone to Switzerland in order to meet someone (internet boyfriend in girls` case, and sister in guy`s case) without money, contact address or phone number, and without speaking a word of german, french, italian or english. When I noticed this situation, I talked to the guard, explaining the situation. He said that he`d wait half an hour and then, if nobody appeared, he`d send them back. as I couldn`t be in that place with them, I went out. The guy`s sister arrived in a minute and was very gentle. She was living in Switerland for 11 years working in a beaty parlor and now she invited her brother to come too. I don`t have further information about the girls.

About 8a.m, I took a train to downtown by myself (Paolla, where are you, my travel partner?) and started noticing some things from the country. First of all, it was exactly the way I thought: snowy, with old and beatiful buildings and very polite people. Everybody could speak english (till the airport cleaner!) and was always available for answering questions - but not to talk more than that. So, I visited the main streets, the lake, a cafeteria and a nice museam. But I couldn`t afford more than that, as it was really cold - about -5oC. When I came back to the airport (about 2 p.m), a nice scene happened: an old man ask me for a chair in german, I answered it in english and another girl also aswered, but in french. And all of us understood everything! Nice, isn`t it?

After that, I heard a brazilian and an uruguaian voice. As soon as I had the opportunity, I started to talk with them, as I was tired, but couldn`t sleep, because I was afraid of losing my flight. After a while, they told me they were models. Then I remebered that lady in Sao Paulo subway ;o)

IN THE PLANE

During the plane trip, besides talking and eating, I read everything I had nearby. And some nice information were from Switerland, as the plane company was Swiss and I would be arriving in that country in some hours, to spend the whole day.
So, here come some curiosities I read:
-> the M-11 plane (in which I was travelling) can flight until 13000km without stopping and can take off with 286000kg of weight;
-> average land altitude in Switzerland: 1307m above sea level;
-> Switzerland has the biggest subterranean lake in the world: 6000m2, in Saint Leonard;
-> Switzerland has the Foehn.

The Foehn has a really interesting history. It is a warm wind that comes from southern Switzerland in direction of Alps. People say it is capable of changing the peaceful pace of the reagion for a thrilling courage of doing strange thing. Isn`t that nice?

SAO PAULO WITH EMOTION

Afer a huge sunrise in Floripa, I arrive in Sao Paulo, wearing pants and shoes, as I would arrive in freezing Europe in some hours. Luckly, it was about 24oC in Sao Paulo, as it was raining.
Wonderful Malhado picked me up in the airport and we wet to his house. Afer that, we had lunch with M'arcio, Hanna and Nigel.
Now, the emotion moment of this title: my flight time - which should be 4:20 p.m, left at 3:05 p.m. They changed the time with the end of summer time, but I didn`t know! Luckly, I got in the airport at 2:30 p.m and was the last passenger to do the check in.


STRANGE CHARACTERS

During my time in Sao Paulo, I had the unique opportunity of meeting some strange characters. The first of them was a woman from Blumenau, who was living in Sao Paulo for 9 years. I met her in the subway and she told me 3 times to not be a model, because it was hard and, in many cases, girls just become poorer and without dreams, as they don`t reach success. And I told her 3 times that I just was in Sao Paulo for some hours, as I was leaving to Warsaw. As long as I notices, she tryed to be a model ans didn`t believe me.

Another interesting guy was a massage maker, who I met in the bus. He started talking about politics and imigrants and gave a present with his phone number by the end of the trip. See?

The last interesting guy I met in Brazil was Marcelo, from Brasilia, currently living in Lisboa. He had the seat right beside mine and did`t know a work in any foreing language. It was really funny when he tried to ask for wine for swiss flight attendants. Obviouly, I helped him after the first frustated scene.

LEAVING FLORIPA

My departure was really strange, because, at the same time I know I`ll stay away for 2 months and a half, I didn`t have a lot of time to thing about that. The end-of-semester feeling was more intense this year, as I had to do many tests and many papers in many days. Besides that, I remained in contact with @, even with the end of my term. To have more precise information, I had my preparation activity within AIESEC on Saturday, 15; finishe my last paper on Sunday, 16; and left Floripa on Monday, 17th.

Anyway, I`m ready for my international experience through an organization I really believe in. My main expectations are:
-> exploring Poland and its culture by interacting with people and learning about history and language;
-> living diversity, as we`ll be around 25 trainees from many countries;
-> enlarging a visionary and competent network of friends;
-> involving myself with AIESEC, as I think I can teach and learn a lot from they;
-> visiting many places, in and out of Poland.

Let`s see. Now, it`s coming real!