I´m a volunteer from Latvia. I arrived on Wednesday with my friend Adrija. It was a long journey.
The very first person we met here was Monica. She is one of the sweetest and most genuine person. She took us to the volunteer house. On the drive there she asked us some interesting questions about snow. That was very kind of her.
At first the volunteer house seemed odd, it felt cold. Back home every house has some kind of heating system. It’s going to take some time to adjust to that.
The next day we were invited to celebrate Ratos 24th birthday. I was afraid to meet everyone.But my fears quickly faded- they took us in as one of their own. Everyone in Rato has been welcoming and kind. That’s a bit of a culture shock. In Latvia you could work at the same place for a year and barely anyone would take the initiative to introduce themselves.
Savas and Laura were showing us around the office. They seemed proud of it, and rightfully so. The Oficina is an amazing place of opportunities. They have many cool technologies that they encourage to use. They offer workshops to learn how to use their stuff. The Oficina also has an embroidering and sowing machine.
A fact about me is that I studied fashion design back in Latvia. I know how to use sowing machine quite well and can teach anyone interested. I also finished art school. For some time my life was art, it was everything I did.
Throughout the years I have tried many new things, new experiances. But the last year I have spent focusing on my wellbeing. I have decided to be more careful about the people around me. There are good people everywhere, but I’ve noticed that in Portugal they are more. I wanted to go to Portugal because of the culture. I have heard that it’s nicer. And it is.
I chose Rato because they have such a creative environment. This place is filed with talent and potential. Right now, I really want to explore as much as possible, learn everything I can.
Yesterday, Monica said something that stick. She said that a workspace should be your safe place. It was strange to hear, because in Latvia it’s not like that. There if you haven’t suffered in your job than you haven’t worked at all. Monicas words made me realize how truly toxic our work culture is.
In this short time being here i have already found some crucial diferences. One of them being the Portuguese keyboard. Portuguese language has diacritics, that you must know how to use. I have also learned a couple new words in Portuguesse.
My first impresion of the culture is warm, unlike the weather here. It is warm because of people, especially the ones in Rato. They are a diferent breed of nice and accepting. I hope that I can fuly use this experiance to my advantage, and after these two months I wish to come back as a better version of me. I believe that this project and Ratos team will help me achieve this goal.
