The Italian students' memories of the Portuguese mobility

During the week from Sunday 25th February to Saturday 3rd March, we participated to the second mobility of the Erasmus project "Our Common European Tale", aimed at studying the common roots of the popular folk tales of the six countries involved.

We were hosted by a Portuguese family in Almada, a nice and lively city, separated from the capital Lisbon by the Tago river. After the initial shyness, we started to know people from every country and we really enjoyed our time, especially during the trip to Peniche and Óbidos, two villages not so far from Lisbon. The main activity was the theatre and we were both very pleasantly surprised by the way the two "crazy" teachers, Mrs Monica and Mr Faustino taught us very simple but necessary rules to do a good play. They made us work together with no pressure and with fun, but still with commitment and professionality. This theatre experience made us connect with all the other students involved in the project and developed our creativity, thanks also to the creation of our own puppets at the "Museu du Marioneta". Our last moments together were at the final dinner and the representation of "A Salty Bet", the play we had been working on all week. It was really amazing the way we had fun and entertained the audience at the same time. We shared our anxiety and expectations, overcoming problems and understanding the true meaning of friendship.

We will always remember this experience as one of the most beautiful moments of our lives, mainly because of the people we met, not only the students and the teachers we worked with, but also the families that hosted us and treated us as part of the family. They gave us the most moving moments in Portugal, such as an unexpected birthday cake and a touching goodbye letter.

This experience didn't just help us to improve our English, but it also bettered us as people and let us meet new friends with different habits and cultures. We are impatient to meet the students who are going to participate to the Italian mobility.