Timișoara is, in my opinion, a city that never stops. But behind all the culture and entertainment, there was something that caught my eye since the very first time I came here.
Unlike what I was used back home, students here seem to have a voice and, more than that, power of initiative.
There are dozens of activities made by students, for students. From concerts, to exhibitions and theaters. The students here seem to want to get active, and that fascinastes me.
During the past 10 days, a theater festival was taking place in the Youth House. The festival is aimed at high school students who belong to theatre groups, something that in Romania seems to be quite popular.
Despite the fact of not speaking Romanian as I wish to, one of my favorite things to do since I started my project is going to the theatre, which I’ve done quite often (I think I can say I went to more theater plays in these few moments than I did in Portugal for the last year).
It is an exercise for learning Romanian, and it made me realize that first, I’m good at reading body language, and second, theater is way more than what the actors are saying.
These type of events are very inspiring to me, in the sense that it makes me genuinely happy to see that there’s life among youngsters. It’s great to see how all these people have a passion and are getting together in order to show it to the rest.
Timisoara is preparing to be European Capital of Culture so, I don’t think there is a better place to look for these type of initiative.
On another topic, this week, I had the chance to interact with a Romanian public institution that I didn’t before: the hospital.
After twisting my foot in one of the dumbest possible ways, I took my chance with Romanian public health services and, what I have to say, is that Portugal has something to learn from it! Not only the service was great at every point, as it is free, totally free.
This might be trivial for some, but for me it is extremely meaningful to see that everyone has the right and opportunity to access health care when needing.
And that’s it for the week(s)!