Hey friends! This blog post has been a long time coming, it’s also a long one so you might wanna grab a snack while you read. Let me just start by saying I absolutely loved my time in Lisbon! I wish I would have stayed there longer. Everyone was so incredibly nice at the food bank which made volunteering so enjoyable! What was refreshing to see was that the Portuguese have a whole different mindset when it comes to volunteering. They would much rather volunteer than work for money. I was shocked and greatly impressed by this, if only more people could also be this selfless in helping others. And I am referring to millennials with college degrees who would spend more time volunteering than working at a career.
After the first week and a half I was the only other volunteer with the organization I was volunteering abroad with. To be honest, I was really scared when I found this out, which was the day I arrived in Lisbon. I literally thought I was going to be all alone, in a foreign country, for the whole summer. Thankfully that was not the case! I ended up making new friends each day in the hostel I was staying in. I loved making new friends who were from all over the world and learning about new cultures. I was also fortunate enough to have my aunts in Estoril, Portugal for three weeks while I was there and I was able to go on a few weekend day trips with them and the students from EIA- European Innovation Academy. Estoril/Cascais were only a 30 minute train ride away so I was able to visit a few times after volunteering and attend a few EIA expos, which were so impressive!
What I did there
The reason I went to Lisbon was to volunteer at a food bank. I volunteered at Banco Alimentar in Lisbon. This food bank receives donations from local super markets who donate perishable and non-perishable food. Other non-profits would then receive the food directly from Banco Alimentar and distribute it. The food bank was in a warehouse which was divided into two main sides. One half was boxing pallets of non-perishable foods for the non-profits, the other half was all the perishable food that the non-profits would directly pick up. Such items of the non-perishable food would be: flour, sugar, sardines, pasta, rice, ect. While the perishable foods would be: Pineapples, tomatoes, yogurt, gelato, cheese, bread, vegetables, grapes, ect. Based on how much food was donated each day would depend on how much food was allocated for each non profit. Once that was all calculated out we would know precisely how much was allocated for each non profit with the exact kilos for each item.
On the non-perishable side I would put each item one at a time into the pallet and take it to the scale to confirm the proper amounts had been added to the pallet. After one category of food had been precisely weighed then I would proceed to add the next item to the pallet. These pallets would be filed up to six feet high and then wrapped in plastic to avoided items from spilling over.
The other half of the warehouse would have all of the perishable foods. That side the non-profit would come and pick up a pallet on a cart and individually pick out which specific cases of food they wanted. The volunteers also would have a sheet with how much food each non-profit would receive that day. For example when I volunteered on that side I would read off the list one by one to who was receiving the food, such as: 5 cases of tomatoes, 8 cases of yogurt, 3 sacks of onions, 1 case of pineapple. I had zero Portuguese lessons and I was quite proud of myself for being able to communicate in Portuguese with the volunteers from the non-profits who were picking up the food. I knew all of the foods and most numbers up to 40. If they didn’t understand the quantity I was saying I would just hold up my fingers LOL. Not that many people spoke English. During my first week there some of the Portuguese taught me how to use a forklift, while only speaking Portuguese to me.
There are over 200 non-profits who receive food from Banco Alimentar. On my last day at the food bank I was actually able to go and visit one of the non-profits who receives the food from Banco Alimentar. The non-profit I visited was a church who passes out food to 500 homeless people in Lisbon each night, it was not a soup kitchen, rather they would personally go up to the people, hand them food, and talk to them one on one. This church also has a rehabilitation center for those who have drug addicting problems and are seeking help and recovery.
Experiences I had
One of my journal entries:
“Today while I was waiting for the train, so I could return back to the food bank after visiting one of the institutions that receives food directly from the food bank, I was reflecting on all that God has done while I’ve been in Portugal. I was listening to Worship music and “No Longer Slaves” started playing, these lyrics hit me hard, ” You split the sea so I could walk right through it. You drown my fears in perfect love, You rescued me so I could stand and sing, I am a child of God!” This wrecked me. When I first arrived in Portugal I was scared out of my mind for several reasons and questioning if I made the right choice in coming here. I know I did make the right choice in coming here and God is a faithful God and He broke down my fears during my time here. “I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God.” I am extremely thankful for my time here and all that God has shown me, taught me, and blessed me with while I’ve been here.”
I grew so much constantly being in situations outside my comfort zone. I know I can accomplish anything I want to on my own. God is absolutely amazing and blessed me countless ways while I was there. I have also realized it truly is such a small world. Probably have a good 6+ examples that come to the top of my mind that are just mind blowing on how so many people are connected to one another and through everyone. That is a good reminder to always be nice to everyone because you never know when you will see them again.
I would get roasted quite frequently for always talking about food, eating food, just returning from eating, or planning my next meal. I mean my first sentence of this blog post literally mentions snacks HAHA. Let me just say the food was absolutely AMAZING in Portugal. I wanted to just indulge all of it. I’m quite a picky eater, but there I was pretty much willing to try everything. Pretty sure I ate bugs one day that were in this typical Portuguese dish. Some days I would even eat two dinners. First one at 6 like I do at home, round two at 9 when my friends would want to go out to eat. My favorite Portuguese dessert would have to be the Pastel De Natas. I’m not even joking I would eat a box of 6 at a time. The city Belém is where the Pastel De Nata originated from when the Catholic Monks at the monastery wanted to find a way to use all their extra egg yolks they had remaining from using the egg whites for cleaning purposes. Belém was only 1 train stop away from the food bank and let’s just say I ventured out there a few times for the original Pastel De Natas. I carried a dozen Pastel De Natas plus 7 pounds of chocolate onto my flight back to the U.S., and yes, I weighed it at the airport to know precisely. It’s safe to say I can now put Pastel De Nata connoisseur on my resume.
I would always say, “It’s leg day, all day, every day” because Lisbon is so hilly, They would have a tram specifically to take you up one hill! I can proudly say I never once used that tram. Honestly I never used the city trams except my last week I felt I needed to do one main stream tourist activity in Lisbon so I took Tram 28 which is the most popular line. On average I would walk 7-12 miles every day just to get around.
Places I visited
I volunteered Monday through Friday, I was able to explore nearby cities on the weekends plus two other countries. A few Portuguese cities I was able to visit were: Aviero, Belém, Cascais, Evora, Ericeira, Sintra, Lagos, Porto. I was able to visit Amsterdam and Madrid as well during a weekend trip. I will be sure to have a blog post detailing more of my travels while abroad. If I wasn’t volunteering I was always on the go. I would feel guilty if I just stayed in the hostel and did nothing. So I would go out and walk around Lisbon if it was only for an hour, or venture out a little further if I had more time. Most of my travels were done solo. I have moved across the world twice, but going on a weekend trip alone scared me at the beginning. I did not want to have any regrets so I put on my big girl panties (obvi not the ones I had stolen by a random girl in the hostel) and ventured to nearby and distant cities. At first I also thought it would be really boring traveling alone, but there is a lot of freedom to do as you wish when traveling alone. Also I am a grown, independent woman who don’t….. I think you get where I am going with that.
Overall I had an incredible experience and I am so thankful I went to Lisbon to volunteer. Portugal is such a beautiful country that is so rich in culture and history and I cannot wait to visit again! And just remember I put the Gal in Porto-Gal Get it! LOL
Fresh Princess of Bel-Ém #portugal
