Erasmus Encore: Coimbra

This was the first of many lasts I am going to experience in the upcoming weeks. Some will be harder than others. For now, I started off with one that is a little to easier to leave behind. Erasmus Life Lisboa (ELL) has played an influential role in my life since I arrived in Portugal, a significance I couldn’t have imagined before coming here. I will leave my ode for ELL to end this post, but for an organization I didn’t know existed until I embarked on this European odyssey, they’ve done nothing but make it more memorable. They helped me have “No Regrets” one last time. They took me (and around 50 others) to Coimbra, a city rife with history to be unpacked and explored.

A School With Many Names

After a comfortable 3 hour bus ride (which I spent sleeping, having only had 2 hours of sleep the night before), we traversed one of the many bridges over the Rio Mondego, and arrived in Coimbra proper. The city sits looming on a steep hill, with one specific and significant landmark sitting as a vigil. That would be the University of Coimbra, the oldest in Portugal, founded in 1290 (nearly 350 years before Harvard), and is eponymous with Coimbra. It’s history is evident everywhere on the old campus. The oldest buildings on campus have held many functions since this university moved to Coimbra. It has been a prison, palace, and showcase of the king, all whilst holding functioning college classes. The first room on the guided tour is the former prison on campus (not in use; the school isn’t stuck in the Middle Ages like much of Portugal seems to be). The university was granted its own autonomy in regards to civil law once it was moved to Coimbra, and thus was allowed to imprison its students! If students missed classes, or were to get into a fights, they would get put into the general cell to cool off (imagine getting imprisoned for skiving off of class just once!). There were also solitary cells, reserved for those troublemakers who dared oppose the monarchy or the opinions of the dean. They were left in the dark to contemplate their “crimes” for thinking outside the box. Continuing up the stairs, one makes it to the prize possession of the university, their 18th century baroque library, commissioned by the (in)famous Dom João V. Gilded with gold overleaf, and with wood painted to be like marble, the cavernous library houses books up to 300 years old. The king, when he wanted to flex his supreme power and authority, would show off this library to visiting emissaries and nobility (even though this is the same king who had almost no money left in his country’s coffers after all the palaces and buildings he commissioned to flex were completed). It was beautiful, in a similar vein to the library in the palace at Mafra (a palace built by the same king). The similarities did not end there, as this library ALSO has bats living in the wall, coming out at night to eat all the pesky critters that dare try to defile the books by chowing down on their fragile pages. As one continues through the old campus, you continue into what was formerly the palace and stronghold of Portuguese royalty, but later the dean’s residence. Why a former stronghold was picked as the ideal spot for a university, I don’t know. But, if I had to guess, it was because the Portuguese king at the time had yet another thing to show off (the Portuguese nobility were a braggadocios bunch).

But, there are still signs of the students taking over around this part of campus. There is a tile fox that everyone touches for good luck (it is much worn than the other tile around it). The clock tower is called something unsavory in Portuguese, as it was originally used to wake up students for class (it no longer does that). Ribbons are tied to the gate into the plaza, another attempt at soliciting good luck for final exams. A tale of these traditions is unraveled as Coimbra is explored further. The Old Cathedral (originally built in the 12th century!) is the site of an emotional Fado performance that kicks off Queima das Fitas, a festival that is the college tradition to end all college traditions. A 8-day period of partying starts after graduating, as the city overflows with people coming to participate in the revelry. In particular, the “highlight” of the festivities is the beer parade through the city. What do I mean by that? Students fundraise throughout the year (I assume the students selling magnets and postcards as we got off the bus were examples of this) to buy enough beer to flood a small city! Tens of thousands of liters of it are distributed from cars overladen with it driving slowly through the winding city streets, and the city gets drunk together in celebration of graduation. I wonder what the proud kings of Portugal would think of this tradition. But, it is one of many things that makes Coimbra what it is: a unique peace of history proudly displayed for all to see on a magnificent vista.

An Ode to ELL

It is now that I will write my ode to an organization that has changed my life. I undoubtedly knew that there would be international students at ISCTE, and I was excited for the opportunity to meet people from other countries, but I had assumed that I would get to know more Portuguese students than anything. I will forever remember that conversation that changed my conceptions. I was talking to a German girl (who I never talked to again) about where we were from at an ISCTE meet and greet, and she started talking about Erasmus. I was confused. It was then I first learned off this haven for European university students with wanderlust and a desire to have fun (while getting paid to do it). I couldn’t escape Erasmus after this. API offered to pay for the ELL trip to Sintra, and it was here that Erasmus really started making a difference. This trip presented ELL as a fun-loving organization bent on bringing people with different backgrounds together in the universal language of party. It aspired to break down barriers that we often tend to build up so easily (ahem, *USA*), and create lasting friendships. I made good friends on that trip, and only continued to make more friends as I purchased the ELL card, and attended walking tours, trips to the mountains, and social events galore. So, it was fitting that one of my last excursions would be lead by ELL. It was even more fitting that my guide, Jorge, was the same one I had for the Sintra trip. I had rolled down a hill at a national palace with him on that trip, and this time, we plotted on how we would extort our Fransechinas from the waitress after waiting over an hour. It was also fitting that I made even more friends on this trip, friends I was able to enjoy the beautiful botanical gardens filled with gurgling fountains and iron strong bamboo forests. The number of friends from different places I’ve made at Erasmus events are numerous. Germany, Russia, France, Italy, Slovenia, Lithuania, Belarus, Portugal too, Spain, Poland, even Zimbabwe. My network of friends has grown to become multinational, a network of friends I know I can rely on if I ever choose to travel or study again in Europe (and there is nearly a 100% certainty that will happen again). ELL has opened up my world, and I will forever be thankful for their contributions to the meaningfulness of my study abroad experience.

Thank you for reading yet again. The feelings of how close I am going to being home are hitting hard. Saying goodbye is tough. Luckily (or unluckily?) the hardest goodbyes are forthcoming. But, the hellos are coming too. Look for a post later this week reflecting on my study abroad experiences, as the 4th entry of my Blogging for WWU. Until next time,

Jeremy Caldeira