Portugal: Rachel Anderson (We’re not in Madison anymore moment)

When we first arrived in Lisbon, we went straight to the hotel which was in more of a business center, which meant that we were surrounded by tall buildings that mimicked an old 80’s style business building rather than the beautiful buildings you typically think of in Europe. We were all exhausted and hungry from traveling the last 24 hours but our coordinators at CIEE had already had plans and activities for us. We walked 5 minutes to a nearby campus where we had our orientation and from there, we were told we would be going on a walking tour of Lisbon. At this point, I wasn’t sure what to expect as the only thing that made Lisbon feel different than the U.S. was the cobblestone sidewalks. We took a long walk to get to the specific metro we needed, and it was interesting to see how this type of transportation worked as I had never been on a metro or subway before. When we got off the metro, we walked up a couple of stairs and it was something out of a movie, like when someone experiences New York City for the first time. We walked up the stairs from the metro and at the top we were met with the picturesque side of Lisbon right in front of the Arco Triunfal da Rua Augusta and the Rio Tejo (Tagus River). The scenery was something you would assume is on a postcard and it was my “We’re not in Madison Anymore” moment.

 

Rachel Anderson

Hometown: North Mankato, Minnesota

Major: Exercise & Movement Science

Program: UW Movement as Medicine

I choose the Movement as Medicine program because it will allow me to critically evaluate and learn from contrasting the pharmaceutical-dependent American medical model with the exercise-dependent Portuguese medical model. This opportunity will enable me to be a better physical therapist for my future patients and to advocate for the extensive preventative effects exercise has on many of the leading causes of death within the United States.

One goal that I have for this program is to cultivate a positive and growth mindset by immersing myself into another culture and allowing for everything to act as a learning opportunity. Embracing this mindset will allow me to embrace challenges, learn from failure, and persevere in the face of setbacks which will enable me to grow as an individual and in my profession. I am most looking forward to learning about the culture in Lisbon, Portugal. As someone who has never been out of the United States before, I am very excited to be able to experience and learn from a different culture than my own.