Thank You Red Cross Youth

It was a warm, rainy afternoon, when autumn announced its departure, and I- surrounded by the sound of Adriana Evans and her poetry of winter, was assaulted by pleasant memories. I am no longer on my cozy couch, but rather on a beach, a street, dancing, smelling salt air, recognizing smiles. Intoxicated by a nostalgic tranquility, I browse through some albums - the environment is good - and photos of Trashore emerge.

I'm not sure what was the feeling that came over me at that moment: melancholy, delight, absence, maybe. 

Absence of: laughter, the sidelong glances, sharing, and above all living today, now: no economic crisis, no unemployment issues, none of those and a few other problems; being genuine, simply, being yourself. 

It has been little over a month, yes, one month after completing the Trashore. It’s possible to describe day after day, but what I think is most important, is what was left after 15 days lived with great intensity. The various activities, the long and intoxicating conversation, the games: these memories last, however now with different feelings. Regarding the environment, an edgy sense of commitment - a sense of duty.  All are responsible and we all have the utmost ethical duty: from  preserving, to protecting - through a pragmatic and incisive approach.
 

Certainly, it is necessary to speak the language of knowledge, but also to communicate desire. Willingness to share, willingness to know, willingness to learn. The gestures showed more and more each day the cumplicity and the binding of intense ties among people who did not speak the same language. One writer wrote that arriving is a transitional state between two parties, everything ends up in arriving - and when we arrived to Braga, the Trashore ended. In the first days that followed there was a deafening silence. I didn’t hear the noise in the hallway, while waking up, no longer could smell the sea or speak English. Time is running too fast. Suddenly we were in Braga, at home, back to study, work - certain that the environment experienced cannot be repeated. However,  we surely were much more enriched and emotionally fulfilled.

I would lie if I wrote that nostalgia is not what I feel. Red Cross Youth thank you for this opportunity, thanks to the fellow travelers who were surprisingly fantastic, I believe that without them this experience would not have been so rewarding.
 

Maria José Pires