Well my experience out here has certainly been unique. I definitely wonāt ever forget it – not for the reasons I thought, as things are vastly different now from how I imagined theyād be. Nevertheless I have learnt a lot and am trying to think positively. This is a long post – skip to the end if all you can manage is some bullet point lists!
Iāll start from the beginning (a very good place to start)
Week four began with a talk at work on Monday morning about the coronavirus. Our office is in the main tourist centre of Lisbon and concerns were that we all had to pass through it every day. Protocols were implemented such as washing your hands immediately upon entering the office in the morning and after lunch.
At the time it seemed wise but also quite intense. Obviously there had been lots in the news about the virus but this was before the WHO declared a pandemic and before the situation got bad in Italy. It seems like a million years ago and I canāt wrap my head around it being six days ago. My parents were still here at this point and I met them for dinner on what was their final night in Lisbon.
Everything seemed fairly normal but we had to be more alert to the virus as itād hit Europe and we were working somewhere a lot of international tourists pass through every day. On Tuesday I went to work as normal. And then that evening one of my colleagues contacted me to say that our CEO had initiated a new protocol that we would all work from home with immediate effect.
Never had I been so glad that I moved accommodation. The mere thought of having to work from home in the previous flat was awful. The new place I got moved to is lovely and already felt like home, so I was quite happy with spending most of the days there.
On Wednesday I met someone from the January Erasmus+ group for lunch as he works not far from me and kindly suggested I could do with some social interaction. The WHO officially declared a pandemic that day. We talked about the coronavirus and I mentioned the metro being quiet but other than that life seemed normal-ish.
Thursday was the last normal day, as Richard Osman rightly predicted:
In the early hours of Friday morning I got a text from my boss here. He said that a colleague in our office was with friends at the weekend whoād tested positive for COVID-19. She had symptoms and was trying to get the test done. It was highly likely she had the virus and we all needed to self-quarantine for 14 days. Itās a small office, so a significant risk that it may have spread.
So my self-quarantine began. Advice on the news made me feel a bit isolated when it said āget friends and family to bring supplies for youā. I left a note for my flatmates to explain the situation and that I would try to keep my distance from them, use the kitchen at different times, etc. The advice doesnāt really take into account people like me who share houses.
Official advice said that you can go into your garden, and Iām very lucky that we have one here. And a lovely cat apparently, who randomly appeared. I spent most of Friday working outdoors, and on Saturday it was about 23c so I sunbathed in the garden and read my book. At the time, it seemed like such a shame I had to use two weeks of my stay in Lisbon not going anywhere or doing anything. But on the other hand, I would never have chosen to spend a day lying in the garden reading and it was really nice.
The UK organisation who administer the Erasmus+ programme emailed all the participants on Friday night. We were all given the option to fly home if we wanted. (Normally, if you quit the programme early, you have to pay back the EU funding which is about ā¬7k.) I emailed back and said I was in self-quarantine so didnāt feel that going to the airport was a safe option. Plus, I really didnāt want to cut my trip so short if I didn’t have to.
On Saturday evening the Erasmus+ administrators called me and said most people had taken the offer to fly home and urged me to do the same. I didnāt know what to do as I was following public health advice to self-isolate and hated the thought of going on a plane and potentially infecting others, if I might be carrying the virus.
But I was advised that if I stay and get stuck here, there was no guarantee my funding would continue and I could end up in financial difficulty having to pay the rent and living costs here. The organisation was also concerned that there was a possibility my work placement may not be able to continue as things were hitting crisis level. Plus working from home indefinitely as a fairly new intern wasnāt an ideal situation for me to get the most out of the experience anyway.
After speaking with family back home who were also very concerned that I may get stuck here, I decided that I should go back to the UK. The situation on Friday night was drastically different from the situation on Saturday night. Portugal shares a large border with Spain which declared a total lockdown on Saturday morning.
My close friend lives in Madrid and theyāre only allowed to leave the house for the supermarket or the pharmacy. The US closed more borders, as did Poland, Germany, France and others. It seemed likely that Portugal could be next.
The other concern was that the UK – which in my opinion is reacting far too slowly to this crisis – could also close the borders. I was meant to be in Lisbon until mid-May and by then, things might be ok and I could fly home as planned. But those around me were right – it is too risky to stay here.
If the Erasmus+ programme is cancelled and the contract becomes void I could become liable to pay the rent for months. And in the unlikely scenario that I needed medical help, itād feel more secure in the UK than trying to work out EHIC and travel insurance situations over here.
Iām a confident flyer and experienced traveller; I donāt normally feel nervous about going to an airport. I suppose I did on the way here but those were nerves about moving to another country on my own.
My slight nerves now are about a real, dangerous, threatening, unprecedented and mad situation. I donāt know what challenges I might face at the airport but I am hopeful that itāll all be ok. Thankfully Iām a very calm person and not easily panicked.
As I keep trying to reassure my parents: if the worst happened and I had to stay here and also got sick, I will be fine. Iām young and fit and healthy, and actually, I have too many red blood cells for some reason, meaning that my immune system is abnormally strong. I only get a common cold once every two or three years.
Some good news is that my colleague with suspected COVID-19 had the test and it came back negative. I know that there are still risks with me being out and about, but it was a big relief to find out that I havenāt knowingly been in direct contact with someone who has the virus. I feel less guilty about going on a flight and being sat with others.
For the second time during my short-lived residency in Lisbon I must pack up all my things and attempt to squash everything into two suitcases. Itās a totally bizarre situation to be in actually. At the start of my adventure if you told me Iād have to escape in a hurry because there was genuine chance that the borders will be closed, I wouldāve laughed in your face. But here we are!
It goes without saying that Iām absolutely gutted to be leaving. My experience hasnāt been 100% positive but the good definitely outweighs the bad. The last two weeks in particular have been so nice – I feel like I was just getting started with really enjoying my time out here. My new flatmates are lovely, Iāve made some friends, the accommodation is really nice and homely and the weather was starting to get good.
But Iām trying to see these things as positives – I can say with certainty Iāve made the most out of my time here. Iām grateful to myself for not staying in bed at the weekends or going straight home after work (despite the long days of 9am-6pm).
I walked miles and miles, saw the whole city about three times over, ate in lots of great cafes, visited some of the places from my list and had my parents come to stay. Thinking about it, I managed to cram an awful lot into four weeks! Not to mention the non-sightseeing things.
This is turning into a long blog so hopefully some bullet points will break the text up if youāre still reading! (Thank you if you are. While weāre on this subject, thank you to everyone who has sent me messages out here, whether it was to see if I was having a nice time, to console me about the accommodation situation, to compliment my writing skills, or see if I was ok during the pandemic and self-quarantine – I really appreciate it.)
What I’ve achieved:
- I moved abroad alone (obviously; but I am classing it as an achievement)
- I started a blog!
- I stood up for myself, wrote an excellent email (if I do say so myself – but it must be, I got moved within 40 hours of sending it) about my accommodation and took charge of my situation
- I learned a new language
- I made friends (British and international)
- I went on a night out with complete strangers, most of whom didnāt speak my language, had a great time and learned about Brazilian culture
- I had a wonderful five days with my parents and got to show them around
- I ate a lot of great food (mainly thanks to my parentsā visit and shared love of food)
- I gained (almost) two marketing qualifications (one in London prior to flying out and one Iāve been doing online)
- I worked in a new organisation and learnt things there
- I walked 115 miles (according to my phone)
- I thoroughly embarrassed myself, but had lots of fun, when I was chosen by a dance group for audience participation (video embedded below for your entertainment)
- I took lots of photographs
- I went to all the major sights, plus two museums, and took day trips to Belem and Sintra
- I got used to eating out alone and grew fond of it
- (Not related to being in Lisbon) I applied to be a contributing writer at Talk About and was successful – soon I’ll start writing pieces for them about politics and the environment
What Iāve learnt:
- Always give something a go, and if youāre not happy, speak upĀ
- Be a bit less overly polite and stand up for yourselfĀ
- I have good friends who care about meĀ
- How to make coffee in a percolator
- Portuguese people say āalsoā a lot
- Iām a good writerĀ
- How to light a gas stove with a naked flame (this was a genuinely terrifying prospect for someone as clumsy as me)
- Make the most of your time, wherever you are and whatever youāre doing – you never know when it will end!
- In the same vein, make time for resting and take a day off now and again to recharge
- Lisbon has some of the best pastries in the world (ok I already knew this before)
- It is actually possible to get sick of seeing custard tarts
- Coffee in Portugal is both very cheap and excellent
- However unfortunately for my bank account, the best coffee in the city is at the Copenhagen Coffee Lab which isnāt as cheap (or Portuguese)
- New knowledge about marketing, organisational culture and WordPress
- Residents of Lisbon are some of the friendliest people youāll ever meet
- Living abroad isnāt always fun fun fun
- How to be alone for long periods of time
- Sharing a bathroom is easy to get used to when the toilet seat is in one piece
- Comfort TV is very important (future blog coming about this)
- Itās quite hard not to touch your face, for some reason
- Trump and Boris are both as useless and frightening as I thought
- You just never know what life is going to throw at you
On arriving back in the UK Iām expecting Iāll be advised to self-quarantine (again) for 14 days. Iāve started making some arrangements for this and know I will be ok, although I may go completely mad. Iāll certainly need plenty of tasks so look out for more blogs! Iām planning to write more about my experience as itās something Iāve enjoyed. My trip got cut short but my blog project doesnāt have to be. Planning to write about what Iāll miss about Lisbon and what Iāve missed about York.
Also, on the subject of self-isolation boredom, if any readers would like anything then please get in touch. That sounds oddly vague and bit creepy. What I mean is that I have skills! In marketing, social media, SEO, websites, coding, copywriting, communicationā¦ if you have some kind of project that could use my help on this then Iād be grateful for the work to fill my evenings and weekends (for free obviously).
Or perhaps youāre also self-isolating and just want a chat? Message me on social media or email me at chamomehannah@gmail.com!
Since I’ve just started reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, this seems an appropriate message for now:
Chamo-me Hannah 