Exploring in Porto
By: David Arroyo, CAS ’25
David with friends on a beach.
GRIP: Wine Production in Porto
After getting settled down and downloading a map from Google Maps, I started exploring the city of Porto and in turn, getting to know more of the local people. I befriended some of my coworkers and quickly became close with them. I asked them for recommendations but also if they wanted to hang out and do activities that they usually do. I would go to local spots where they knew people and other college friends of theirs would be. We all became close and would occasionally go dancing together. We would all stay out late dancing and most times just talking and speaking about our hopes and goals.
The language barrier was a bit tough because I didn’t speak Portuguese but understood a good amount of it so it wasn’t too much of an issue. It was fun to listen to Portuguese and slowly start to get better but sadly my Duolingo was not super helpful because the Portuguese it taught was Brazilian Portuguese not Portugal Portuguese. Other than that Porto was an amazing place to meet people and meet locals. I wanted to get involved in recreational sports and found people playing ultimate frisbee. It was great to meet so many people who were out there playing frisbee. There were people from Portugal but also people from all over the world just hanging out playing frisbee. Some of the best and most friendly people I met in Portugal.
I definitely fell in love with my host destination and the people of Portugal. One of the most memorable days was the Festa de São João. The other interns and I did not know what to really expect or how big the festival would be but our coworkers told us about how many people show up for the celebration. During the day people cooked sardines and other meats in the streets. After it got dark people would walk down to the river with toy hammers and bonk people who they fancied and or just wanted to bonk.
Everyone would stay by the river until 12 am when the fireworks would start to go off. It was a thirty-minute display while the streets were filled with thousands of people just staring. After they finished people would stay socializing and dancing in the streets until the early hours of the morning. The next day I walked to work and the streets were filled with bottles and remints of the night before but empty of life. All the shops were also closed because they had been open so late the night before. It was one of the most memorable nights with people I cared about. I had so many lovely experiences from dancing with locals to celebrating their holidays in the Summer. I made connections that I want to continue speaking with and hopefully will be able to visit them again.Â
The Global Research and Internship Program (GRIP) provides outstanding undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to intern or conduct research abroad for 8 to 12 weeks over the summer. Participants gain career-enhancing experience and global exposure that is essential in a global workforce.