viottonahungria

This is the first post I write in english (da licenca, Brasil). It goes out to all of you who I met this year, in Budapest or in in one of the many european countries Ive been to. It is a way to retribute by telling you all what Ive been doing at least in the last 4 or 5 months. Its actually an attempt, cause Ive been writing this blog since the beggining of the year and I was never able to tell all the stories- in one post its even harder!
As most of you know, from january till june I was in Budapest, as an exchange student. For sure, 4 to 5 months that I will never forget, just the way I think every other students who were there also wont. Budapest is simply beautifull and more than that it was magical because of the same spirit everyone shared. Living day after day like there were no tomorrow, open to new things, new people, new love - all with the same goal of enjoying life to the fullest. Its the perfect recipe for happines: everyone with the same spirit of sharing, learning, living, experiencing, discovering. Budapest in one word for me is: intensity. You live a lot, you learn a lot, you meet people, you laugh, you cry, its the full pack!
Not only that, but Budapest is romantic and charming, just like the hungarian girls, who are beautiful.
After this great time I took off on a trip which in the first plan was set for 2 months and no more than 5 countries (I was very interested and decided to go to Russia and Italy and, as a brazilian, I had to be in Germany for the World Cup). The whole time in Budapest I was planning this trip and a lot of changes were made: i got interested in other countries (actually everything seemed interesting) and 2 months started to seem a short time to travel in Europe. Besides that, I met many people from different countries in Bp and many of them invited me to visit them in their countries. I left Budapest on the 4th of June without knowing for how long I would travel and if I would go back to Brasil as scheduled on 4th of august. I had the chance of changing my flight easily, but the bigger decision was "What would I do? I would have to stop my university for one semester and do whatever here in Europe". I didnt know what I would do, but I did wanna stay and also I didnt wanna go back. Didnt wanna go back to my routine, my university and all. Observation: I do like my life and my university in Brasil, its just that in that moment I felt like I had more to see and to learn staying here than going back.
The trip started off in Poland. I did most of my trip using hospitalityclub, which is network of people willing to host other people in their homes. I totally recomend it, not only is cheaper but its a much more valuable experience. You get to see the daily life of a local, you drink beer where the students drink - in a cheap place. You learn about the country and the people talking to people who live there and gives you a totally different perspective.
I wont write about my impressions in all the countries I ve been to because it would turn this post into a book. So, this was the itinerary:

Poland (Krakow, Warsaw), Lithuania (Vilnius, Klaipeda), Latvia (Riga), Estonia (Tallinn), Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow),

Pause: Russia was an unique experience for me. Its not easy to travel in Russia, but I do recomend it. It is a country full of contradictions, its qualities (history, culture...) are as big as its problems, such as bureaucracy and corruption. But in St Petersburg I stayed in Zhenia house. She is russian, I found her in Hospitality club, but she didnt speak english very much. And my russian is not so good, besides vodka I can only say Anna Kournikova. At the beggining it seemed like nothing would work - she didnt speak english, nobody spoke english, the police always stopped me, but in the end I stayed almost a week with her and her 2 flatmates and we really had fun, one of the best times in my trip. The experience showed, once again, that language is not a barrier for meeting people.
Leaving Russia completed the first month of the trip.

Finland (Helsinki), Sweeden (Stockholm), Germany (Hamburg, Bremem, Berlin) - in all these countries I was in friends house from Budapest.

Pause: When I was in Berlin...no, im not talking about the world cup, of course I was devastated like any brasilian. But in Berlin was a decisive period for me, in which I had to decide if I would stay or go back. I called my parents, and actually I stil didnt know what I would do but I wanted to stay. My parents were very comprehensive and even without a plan they supported me on my idea. Therefore, I "locked" my university and changed my flight.

Holand (Amsterdam), Belgium (Brussels), France (Paris, Eric, whats the name of your town? I forgot, sorry!, Marseille, Nice), Italy (Cinque Terre, Pisa, Firenze),

Pause: Here ends the second month. After this it was my new period. Yeah, the one I didnt know what I would do. I told my parents that I would find jobs in order to maintain myself during this extra time I was in Europe, but they said it would be ok for them to "finance" me on my "adventure". Stil, I wanted to try out a summer job. I had heard about working in Greece and so I went there.

Greece (Athens, Santorini,Ioanina), Bulgaria (Sofia, Sozopol, Nessebar), Turkey (Istambul, Ankara), Romenia (Bucarest, Brasov, Ploiesti), Hungary, Budapest, where it all started.

Pause: Greece was also a good experience. If in Russia I knew how to say vodka and Anna Kournikova, in Greece I couldnt say anything. To learn only how to say thank you took me a few days. But now I can say "Thello carpuzzi ston kolo"
I got there with actually no idea of what to do, where to go, where to find jobs, etc. Lets not forget Im not european and therefore if I wanted a job itd have to be on the black market. In the end everything works out fine (thats what I learned this year) and so it did. I found a job in a restaurant in Santorini where I worked for 2 weeks, which was enough. Relativelly good money, but hard work.

The trip was marvellous, just one thing was tough - since I didnt know when I'd go back to Brasil I was travelling with all my luggage, which is small for one semester, but big for a long trip (something like 13kg). I did the trip on my own, without fixed plans, I did what I felt like doing. In fact, I never made a reservation, even during the high season and I booked only one flight. Of course sometimes you get in a situation that you fell like nothings is working and there is no way out, BUT in the end everything is fine.
When thinking of trips, the smaller your budget, the bigger the experience. Thats another philosophy I addopted. I actualy did everything without spending much.

Well, the end of the story is that the trip lasted 4 months and I ve been in 17 countries.

My top 5 cities in Europe are: Budapest, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, Istambul and Berlin. Lets make it 6 and include Paris. I have to say that I do have a thing for eastern Europe and find it more interesting travelling in the east that in the west.

After Budapest I went to Italy once again, my parents were there for a Congress. And once again, i could go back to Brasil or stay. One more time I decided to stay. I felt one thing was missing: learning a new language. Ive always liked the italian language, so I decided to stay in Italy. Palermo, Sicilia, it seemed to me the right place, calm and cheap. After the trip I was really tired and I think I am stil. Its been already one month and half that Im here. It was difficult in the beggining when I couldnt find a place and couldnt speak a damn word. Remember people: in the end everything is fine. Now I can speak italian, obviously not fluent, but people understand me, Ive made good friends, im living in a nice place and thats it. Trying to live la dolce vita italiana, lot of carbohidrates, gelatto and all.

I would really really like to say Thank You to all of you who are reading this. Thank you for hosting me, thank you for helping me out, thank you for a sandwich, thank you a nice conversation in a long train trip, thank you for being a friend.
Im grateful to all of you, Im grateful for this year I had, Im grateful for everything. Everything happened the way it was suppost to. Some things seem, sometimes, like they were bad, but they came for the good. I encourage you all to go on a long trip AND by yourself - its better, try it.

You know you are all invited to my country, Id be glad to have you there. I should be back in january. Maybe I can stil meet some of you before going.

There are pictures from my trip on the album (top left) Mochilao (which means "big backpack", which means "big backpack trip" in Brasil). All of you who were curious about my backgrounds or doubted I was brasilian, you can check out pictures of my parents on the post Taormina e Giardini Naxos, my dad's family is italian and my mother's japanese.

Abracos!
Hope to see all of you again!
I hope all of you enjoyed the post! you are all invited to check out the rest of the blog and practice your portughese!
Szia!

Marcelo