New life Khira
I almost gave up about getting a Ph.D. in Europe… I don't want to say that my story with Europe started in September 2016, no; our story with Europe is very ancient in history and is continuing...
We got independence, and we still celebrate it every year...yes, is a very important day, its price was painful…but the reality is that when we were colonized we were more independent, we were maintaining our identity more than now...at that time we were oppressed under colonization, but now we are enjoying the blind dependency, we are losing our identity day after day...even we are not talking our native language, it becomes mixed with different European languages... colonialism is an experience that we had to live and it deeply influences our culture and lifestyle, especially. It was in the past, and from the past, we should only learn lessons and move on to a better future for all of us, for Humanity and for the world that we share…Africa is very different from Europe in everything, although we are able to live together and to handle each other.
In 2016, I got a great opportunity to do my second year of master and my master thesis in Portugal as an Erasmus student for ten months. And here, I would like to acknowledge the European Union for that great program. It is a program which aims to do Science in an international environment which is the most creative environment in which various nationalities with various cultures, civilizations, languages, and skills will interact and complement to develop innovatively Science and strengthen the scientific communication between nations and people.
It was an amazing experience in my life in which I face Europe. The first thing I would say that the Portuguese people are very friendly and helpful. Although our lifestyle is quite different, we were able to live in comfortable conditions. Everything we need was available. Then, I had to go back to my country, with a sad feeling because I want to do my scientific career in Europe, but also with a big hope that I will get an opportunity for Ph.D. studies. After one year and a half, I would say that I finally got the opportunity of my life…
I am in Portugal again, but this time is really different, last time I was with my friends from my country because we were chosen together for the Erasmus mobility, but this time I am alone…last time I was mostly talking my language, this time I have to use English as the main language, sometimes French but also to understand Portuguese…and it was my difficult part because is very difficult for me to learn languages. Most of the times, people speak with me in English, rarely French and many times in Portuguese. I understand a bit of Portuguese as I had some Portuguese classes during the Erasmus mobility. There were only some rare cases when some people get angry because I am asking them if they can speak with me in English or French because they think since I am in Portugal I should speak Portuguese. Moreover, where I am living is far away from where I am studying, I have to use public transportation. Public transportations constitute a small world in a tiny space, I meet every day many nationalities from all over the world, sometimes we interact and mostly by smiling to each other, sometimes not. The residence where I am living constitute another small world and most of them are Erasmus students. It is a six-floor resident and we are all using a big kitchen on the ground floor, and there is another funny story. In my country, we like red and spicy food unlike European but also many African countries. Many times, when I was cooking, some residents were telling me that the smell but also the appearance of my food is very good, and honestly, I feel so happy when I hear that because, in the beginning, I was thinking that they will look for me as strange.
Africa and Europe are too different, but also too close…
We got independence, and we still celebrate it every year...yes, is a very important day, its price was painful…but the reality is that when we were colonized we were more independent, we were maintaining our identity more than now...at that time we were oppressed under colonization, but now we are enjoying the blind dependency, we are losing our identity day after day...even we are not talking our native language, it becomes mixed with different European languages... colonialism is an experience that we had to live and it deeply influences our culture and lifestyle, especially. It was in the past, and from the past, we should only learn lessons and move on to a better future for all of us, for Humanity and for the world that we share…Africa is very different from Europe in everything, although we are able to live together and to handle each other.
In 2016, I got a great opportunity to do my second year of master and my master thesis in Portugal as an Erasmus student for ten months. And here, I would like to acknowledge the European Union for that great program. It is a program which aims to do Science in an international environment which is the most creative environment in which various nationalities with various cultures, civilizations, languages, and skills will interact and complement to develop innovatively Science and strengthen the scientific communication between nations and people.
It was an amazing experience in my life in which I face Europe. The first thing I would say that the Portuguese people are very friendly and helpful. Although our lifestyle is quite different, we were able to live in comfortable conditions. Everything we need was available. Then, I had to go back to my country, with a sad feeling because I want to do my scientific career in Europe, but also with a big hope that I will get an opportunity for Ph.D. studies. After one year and a half, I would say that I finally got the opportunity of my life…
I am in Portugal again, but this time is really different, last time I was with my friends from my country because we were chosen together for the Erasmus mobility, but this time I am alone…last time I was mostly talking my language, this time I have to use English as the main language, sometimes French but also to understand Portuguese…and it was my difficult part because is very difficult for me to learn languages. Most of the times, people speak with me in English, rarely French and many times in Portuguese. I understand a bit of Portuguese as I had some Portuguese classes during the Erasmus mobility. There were only some rare cases when some people get angry because I am asking them if they can speak with me in English or French because they think since I am in Portugal I should speak Portuguese. Moreover, where I am living is far away from where I am studying, I have to use public transportation. Public transportations constitute a small world in a tiny space, I meet every day many nationalities from all over the world, sometimes we interact and mostly by smiling to each other, sometimes not. The residence where I am living constitute another small world and most of them are Erasmus students. It is a six-floor resident and we are all using a big kitchen on the ground floor, and there is another funny story. In my country, we like red and spicy food unlike European but also many African countries. Many times, when I was cooking, some residents were telling me that the smell but also the appearance of my food is very good, and honestly, I feel so happy when I hear that because, in the beginning, I was thinking that they will look for me as strange.
Africa and Europe are too different, but also too close…
