This is the story of how an idea is able to gather 40 people from different countries under one roof and transform them into a small family for 15 days.

The parents of this idea are the Asociación ProAtlántico From Portugal. This association, established in the quiet town of Cruz Quebrada, Oeiras, provided the opportunity for these young people to be part of the Erasmus + Youth Exchange project “Europe: Sharing is Caring” with the intention of encouraging solidarity, tolerance and intercultural cohesion between young people from the 8 participating countries (Portugal, Estonia, Greece, Italy, France, Romania, Bulgaria and Spain).

Before continuing with this adventure, you must first introduce the protagonists.

Four young people from Girona: Adrià, Carla, Marta and Núria were selected for this trip. All of them, after exams, work and wanting to start a different summer, took a risk with their backpack in the direction of Portugal. But they did not travel alone. Júlia, group leader by the Mundus Association, accompanied them on the journey.

Here begins her story:

“During the 15 days we stayed at Casa Europa, an old school that has been renovated to accommodate the participants and volunteers of the different projects.

During these days we learned a lot about different cultures and how people from other countries are, what we share and what sets us apart. In the planning there were different activities, some to learn about social inclusion, volunteering in a dog shelter, a market of cultures and others were showing us more about the EU and Erasmus + programs.

Not everything was teaching hours, but we also had free time to discover the city on our own. From ProAtlántico they organized a visit to Lisbon, another to Sintra and another to Cascais, during the art festival. These free moments gave us the opportunity to create groups among the participants to visit the surrounding places. As for example the day we decided to go to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of the European continent. We wanted to see the sunset, so we missed the last bus back home and stayed until after ten. The return was an adventure but without a doubt it was one of the best sunsets we had in Portugal.

The fact of being able to share traditions and customs with other countries was very curious. We had programmed different "cultural nights" where the representatives of the different countries told us the most characteristic features of their country. And so we end the exchange, learning to say good morning in the eight different languages.

We want to thank the Mundus Association and ProAtlantico for the opportunity they gave us. None of us imagined that 40 complete strangers and from different countries would end up getting so much together. It seemed as if we did not want to say goodbye, and we would lie if we said that a couple of tears did not escape us. "

The fifteen days passed so fast that without realizing it, the protagonists of this adventure were again sitting in a plane, but this time back home. Of course, with a backpack full of new experiences and new challenges. New friends, laughs and moments of great complicity.