The cloud cover opened. Down below the water was sparkling in the sunlight. In a big curve we approached the white city. I watched out of the little window, exiting wriggling at my seat. Sophie was waiting for me radiantly. Since she had left at the end of August, I hadn’t seen her. Now we were walking around Lisbon up hill, downhill over bumpy streets. ”What is with Madeira?” she asked. “My Project will start in January” I replied cheerfully. ” One year in another country!” .We passed the steam of good smelling hot chestnuts. Old houses hid their beauty under crumbling fronts. Coloured clothes were fluttering in the wind and cats were running from one side to the other side. We turned around the next corner and a part of the grey-blue Tejo appeared in the end of a tiny alley. I was impressed from Sophie’s new hometown.
The next day I accompanied her to work in the German school of Lisbon. I was walking on the big playground, when suddenly my phone rang. “Good morning, I am Mrs. Schmidt of your Organisation. I am sorry, your Project have been cancelled, because the EU won’t support it anymore.” I hung up shocked. Suddenly I had no idea how my future will look like. “I don’t know what to do I was so happy about the chance to travel, to learn a new language…and now…”I shruged my shoulders. Sophie sat down next to me and listened to the moaning about my situation. ”Maybe I have a solution“, she said. I was watching her suspiciously. “It is a bit crazy but it might work. You could stay here, working at the German School! I am sure they do need another voluntary and there is one room free in my home”. I liked the idea. Lisbon was so different to my hometown, but I didn’t feel uneasy. During the day I phoned my parents, spoke with the headmaster and the owner of the flat. Everything was unbelievable easy. When we walked back home, the evening sun was making the dirty streets shine golden. I had found my new city.