Romanian Erasmus pressed enter into 2010 in Portugal

In Portugal, I relived Romanian New Year’s Eve traditions through YouTube.  I remembered how, back in my hometown, Adjudeni, children and teenagers get together, and, wearing funny clothes and masks, they go from house to house, on 31st of December, to wish good luck on the new year. The “Little Plough”, the “Goat”, the “Bear”, “Sorcova”, all these traditions reminded me of my childhood. Of the snow, the joy and fun, the happiness when receiving sweets, the rumor. The laughs.

In Portugal, I believed Romanian New Year’s Eve superstitions. I cleaned my room before New Year. I wore red clothes, new clothes. I putted money in my pockets. I filled the fridge with fruits, sweets, drinks, cooked food. I paid my debts, I placed a mistletoe plant above my door. I putted candles on the table. I didn’t fight with anyone.

In Portugal, I thought about the things I learned, tried, achieved, lost and experienced on 2009. Erasmus scholarship, traveling, new friends, new language, Lisbon, Oriente Station, Covilhã, pastel de nata, bacalhau, Beira Interior University, URBI, Porto, Coimbra, Almeida, parties, Serra de Estrela, lot of rain, Pedro Álvares Cabral residence, small room, Gran Canaria, Tenerife.

In Portugal, I made a wish list for 2010, a list that I’ll keep secret, revealing only: Porto, Portugal, Romania, UK and Australia.

In Portugal, I used technology more than never. I talked for hours home with family through MSN, wrote tons of messages on people’s walls on Facebook. I  uploaded hundreds of pictures on Flickr, downloaded music, movies, sent sms and mms.

In Portugal, I lived the meaning of word “different”. I wished Happy New Year in Romanian, Portuguese, Polish, Spanish, Italian, Slovenian, Latvian, Turkish, Estonian. I drank champagne three times in the same night for welcoming  new year.  I ate pastel de nata,  tried bacalhau cozido and I drank Porto wine. I experienced Polish food and sweets as well as Brazilian, Slovenian, Estonian and so on, at the same table.

In Portugal, on New Year’s Eve I thought about my hometown, Adjudeni, about Iasi, family, friends, fireworks, concerts, snow, cozonac, sarmale. I thought about my country and wished … “LA MULTI ANI ROMANIA!”