A flavourful dive into Portuguese culture

New month, new culture to embrace and explore! We dedicated the entire month of October to dive into the rich Portuguese culture. We truly had an amazing time playing fun games, taking our taste-buds on some delicious gastronomic journeys, learning Portuguese and moving our hips like there’s no tomorrow. What are our thoughts and biggest takeaways from this experience, you may ask? Let’s find out!

Arina:

In October, without moving anywhere, I could have a glimpse of unique Portuguese culture! The sound of their language, with a rich amount of vowel sounds, is pleasant to the ears, and their exceptional cuisine wakes up your taste buds and inspires to cook and discover more of the traditional dishes their culture has to offer. Not to mention the friendliness, kindness and warmth of the people from there! I enjoyed learning introductory phrases, playing traditional games, listening to Portuguese music and eating all together the most! I can not choose the favourite meal that I tried because I liked them all way too much! I have never been to Portugal, but now it is a MUST on my list! Muito obrigada Raquel and Érica!!

Margot:

Ciao! I arrived halfway during the Portuguese month and those cultural evenings were a nice way to learn about my new team. It is definitely not easy to keep all of us focus during a whole evening, but our Portuguese knew how to attract our attention. First, we learned a little bit about their language. Portuguese has a very warm and generous accent. Second, we played games! Words game, cultural quiz, etc. Did you know that Portugal has around 10 million habitants? Finally, we also learnt a little bit of kizomba. Work still needs to be done so I look forward to our next lesson.

Akrem:

For a first contact with the Portuguese culture and language, it was surprising to see the similarities with other cultures that were familiar. But the most surprising part was the differences in the Portuguese and Brasilian-Portuguese dialects. It was extremely useful to hear and to have some exercises about the language. It showed that it was fairly manageable to learn its basics as it didn’t sound new or unfamiliar. The food was unusual, but it was delicious and savoury. It shows that they devote a lot of time and energy to prepare those magnificent meals. It was also a good chance to have more general knowledge about the Portugal and its history. Long story short, I believe I came out more interested in Portugal and most definitely more enthusiastic about trying to learn the language. Thank you for sharing with us.

Kristians:

For me personally, it wasn’t the first time I encountered Portuguese culture. After graduating from university, I went to Lisbon to do my postgraduate internship. That was my first solo trip abroad and it will always have a special place in my heart. Portuguese cultural month brought back many beautiful memories and reminded me how much I miss that spectacular country. Portuguese are one of the warmest and friendliest people I’ve ever met, and they will always be glad to help you. Their cuisine is incredible, it’s full of wholesome and loving flavours that leave you wanting more. I really enjoyed listening to Fado, which is known to be the soul of Portuguese music. It really has a unique sound that captures my imagination. Oh, and the language… Despite having similar sounds with Latvian, I find Portuguese a difficult language to learn, BUT its phonology and rhythm, in my opinion, is something phenomenal. I really can’t wait to visit Portugal again (hopefully very soon). Raquel e Érica, obrigado pela experiência!

Petra:

After a month without cultural nights, I was happy to have them back so we can all together enjoy another countries culture through food, music, and language. Raquel and Erica, representatives of Portugal, did an amazing job and made me curious enough to try their local dish Bacalhau à Brás, a dish that is made with cod and chips. As someone who doesn’t like fish in general, I must say that I loved it. Hopefully, Portuguese words that I have learned will stay in mind long enough to use them one day when I will go to visit Portugal!

Gonzalo:

Portuguese culture is not something unknown to me, since living in Spain we have many connections with the neighboring country, even so, this Portuguese cultural month has been very interesting for me, because I have learned a lot of things that I gave for known and actually had no idea, such as the unimaginable quality of their towels or their professionalism when preparing the cod. It is true that Spain and Portugal are very similar culturally, but at the same time, it is interesting to realize that in some aspects we are so different, despite the proximity!

Oussama:

First of all, I want to thank Raquel for everything. Few nights have never been enough to present a whole culture but for our beloved Portuguese friend was enough to give a general idea about Portugal. We started with the food as a first step into the Portuguese world, different meal every time, different names, different way of cooking and different taste. Personally I got “jiggy” with the “zoupa di feijao“ original taste mixed with some special flavors. Passing by the historical part, she presented some important information about Portugal through games, and throughout all the cultural nights she was smoothly teaching us how to say some words and what are common words between Portugal and Italy, and the last part was about the Portuguese lifestyle. A trip to Portugal was an excellent experience that I will never forget. Muito obrigado, ANA RAQUEL!

Which culture we will explore next? Stick around to find out!