Youth wor(k)ld!

Youth wor(k)ld!

From June 17th to June 25th, two participants from Slovakia traveled to a training course in the small town of Rio Maior in central Portugal, for a project called Youth wor(k)ld!

We opened this course with a traditional Portuguese dinner, where we had the opportunity to informally meet and get to know each other. Participants came from 10 different countries: Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, France, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, and Poland.

The project program was diverse; during the day, we learned and discussed the European Youth Strategy, and in the evenings, we had free time or an intercultural night, where we could taste dishes from other countries, learn new phrases in a foreign language, or compare customs and traditions in these regions. In addition, we visited places where the H2O organization, which organized this project, operates. This included, for example, an elementary school where they held celebrations for the end of the school year.

The weather really surprised us, as the organizers had warned us about the heat typical for this period before our arrival, but the temperature never rose above 25 degrees Celsius the entire time we were there, so it was cooler than in Slovakia at that time 🙂

And finally, advice and tips for those who would like to visit Portugal:

• don't expect dinner in Portugal before 8 PM

• you can communicate in English almost everywhere, from the airport in the capital to a pharmacy in a small village

• food prices are comparable to those in Slovakia

• and if you order coffee, they won't always bring you the same size and content as in Slovakia, so it's always better to inquire beforehand about what you are actually ordering 🙂