#reeyadesai

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One Week Later

So, it has been about a week and a half since I got back from Portugal, and now that I’m here, it’s so strange to think that I was in Portugal for 3 weeks. Almost like it’s some ALTERNATE reality.

I, for some reason, have the ability to never have jet lag no matter how long the time difference is, so the five hour time difference wasn’t really that much of a hassle. On the way back, my plane went from Lisbon to Washington D.C and then, finally, to Columbus! When I got to DC, I only had an hour and fifteen minutes to get through customs and get to my plane. HOWEVER, somehow magically, my plane from Columbus got delayed, so I had time to grab a bite to eat at Smashburger (smash fries anyone???) and then board my plane.

The couple of weeks before I left, I was running around to make sure I had everything ready, so when I was home after spring term, I didn’t have much relaxation going around. I have to admit, reverse-culture shock IS a thing. I woke up on my first day back, and I wasn’t in my hotel room, didn’t have to get up and see my teammates, which was really weird.

An artsy picture of my boarding pass to Washington D.C and passport

I don’t really think I experienced that much reverse-culture shock because it’s something I feel like I’ve gotten used to especially when I travel back and forth from campus to home. I’m so used to my environments and cultures changing that it doesn’t affect me AS MUCH, but I still miss Portugal.

This weekend, since it was my brother’s last weekend before school started (Ohio schools start MEGA early), my parents decided to take us on an impromptu vacation to Myrtle Beach, so not even after being back home for four days, I hopped on another plane to go to South Carolina. It was a relaxing trip, and it was good to see the beach again since I saw one everyday for three weeks.

Another artsy picture of Myrtle Beach

A wall in the Hard Rock Cafe at Myrtle Beach. The message is so simple, yet powerful. Also, I HIGHLY recommend their Cauliflower Wings (same crunch, same buffalo taste, HALF the calories)

I learned a lot from studying abroad from Portugal, and I’m so grateful to have come home with a suitcase full of memories. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am so privileged to have experienced. 

As we come towards the end of summer, after spring term, travel, it’s safe to say that I’ll be enjoying these last few days at home binge-watching the Flash before I have to be back on campus again!

[umichenginabroad]

My Final Words

I can’t believe I leave Portugal tomorrow morning. It seems like just yesterday that I flew into Lisbon and lugged my two roller bags across the entire airport. Pitch day was such an amazing experience, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate. My CEO was the one to pitch, and it was a general consensus that he would pitch because we could all tell that he REALLY wanted to do it.

We didn’t make it to the top ten, but it didn’t really affect me. To even have this experience was enough for me. However, while I didn’t make the top ten, one of the other Michigan students did, and I may or may not be biased, but his was definitely the best pitch. Some of the ideas were absolutely brilliant, and it was no surprise that they made it.

Afterwards, EIA had a final cocktail party where we had a chance to say goodbye to our teammates and the other friends we made that we don’t go to school with. It was a bittersweet feeling. Saying goodbye to my new Portuguese friends made me a little sad, knowing there’s a chance I may never see them in person, but I felt satisfied, leaving with a boatload of memories that I will never forget.

A final pic with my team! 

When I returned back to my hotel, it was time to say goodbye to some of the Michigan group. Even though we’ll be back on campus and will see each other, it was still EMOTIONAL seeing everyone leave after we spent the past three weeks together.

I leave on Sunday, so I have all day today to do whatever. I decided to take a walk along the beach from my hotel and go to Cascais for the day. There, I went to the shopping center and went to a store called Bershka. I ALSO bought my first pair of Birks, and I have to say, no WONDER my friend has six pairs. They are WORTH every penny.

For lunch, I went to a restaurant that specialized in Piri-Piri chicken, which is basically roasted chicken with a special oil poured on it, made from the piri-piri chilli. IT was SO good. And for DESSERT, I went to Santini, which is a super famous Portuguese ice cream store. I got mango and coconut, and it was the most amazing thing I’ve eaten. The mango was sweet unlike the tangy mango sorbets you get in store, and the coconut had real coconut in it, so mixed together, it was HEAVEN. Blank Slate who???

A picture of literally the best ice cream I’ve EVER had

A picture with all of the Michigan kids!

As I pack my bags, I realized what an amazing time I had in Cascais. I’ll be honest, the idea of going to a foreign country with six other strangers was incredibly intimidating, and it could have gone either way. I was a little scared before leaving because I didn’t want to spend three weeks alone, but it was nothing like that. Aylin, Emily, Maggie, Nick, Varun, and Thiago were all such genuine, kind, talented people that I am so grateful that I got the chance to know them, and will continue to know them as we hang out more on Campus. I’m glad only seven of us went to Portugal because I got to know each person so well, and we really bonded. Saying goodbye and watching them pack their bags was a little sad, but I know I’ll see them soon!

None of this would have been possible had the University of Michigan not given us the opportunity to participate in the European Innovation Academy. I am extremely grateful to be able to go to such a prestigious university that gives me the chance to challenge myself and push me out of my comfort zone while exploring the world. I would also like to thank the International Programs in Engineering office for giving me the chance to blog about this amazing experience.

As my third visit to Europe comes to an end, I realize that it takes a certain privilege to travel the world, and I am so incredibly grateful that I have this privilege. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for instilling in me the importance to travel and encouraging me to see the world and learn about other cultures.

I don’t mean to sound like every single cliché college student who studies abroad, but these three weeks DEFINITELY changed my life.

Reeya Desai: College of Engineering - European Innovation Academy (Cascais, Portugal)

[umichenginabroad]

The Moment I Fell For Portugal

This week was SUCH A blur! I can’t believe that I only have one more day of EIA. These three weeks really flew by!

Over the past weekend, we went to Lagos, Portugal. It’s 3 hours away from Cascais, so we woke up at 6 AM to go to Lisbon, and take the bus there. I slept the WHOLE way there. When we got there, we decided to stop and have lunch before we went kayaking, so we would have some STRENGTH, which I clearly needed.

After lunch, we walked around a bit and then met the kayaking tour company’s desk, and got on our kayak’s. I’ve only been kayaking once and that was in a RIVER, so I guess you could say it was my first time doing REAL kayaking. The last time I went White Water Rafting in the Smokey Mountains, I fell off the raft, so falling off boats is a TREND I have. Now would also be the time to mention that I am only mediocre at swimming because I’m allergic to chlorine, SO I could never completely finish my swim lessons. HOWEVER, good news, the life jacket makes sure you don’t really need to know how to swim. Just make sure to be COMFORTABLE falling into the water. I somehow managed to FALL OFF the kayak three times, but to be honest, I’m going to say that was the best part.

HOW MANY OF YOU CAN SAY YOU FELL OFF A KAYAK 3 TIMES IN LAGOS, PORTUGAL?

This is where we had our kayaking excursion. The water was Caribbean blue, and the coves were absolutely BEAUTIFUL. 

Afterwards, we had a couple hours before our bus back to Lisbon, so we walked around Lagos a bit. We went to the Official Portugal store, and I got my dad and brother customized jerseys (they were only 35 euros including the personalization).

On the bus ride back, I got the extreme front seat, so it basically was like I DROVE the bus.

Sunday was a more chill day because we were all so exhausted from Saturday’s water activities and travel. My roommate and I went to Cascais and had fresh juice from this organic cafe, and I immediately felt 300 times healthier.

In the evening, all of us (as in the Michigan kids) went to a sushi restaurant in Cascais, and it was absolutely AMAZING. The seafood in Portugal tastes so good because of how fresh and natural it is. If I’m not mistaken, the European Union’s food laws are way more strict than the FDA’s, so food in Europe tends to be less chemical intensive. I had two sushi rolls, one had fried crab and the other one had fried shrimp and avocado, and it was SO good. My bill was 22 euros, but it was WORTH it.

Pictures of the sushi that dented my wallet. The one on top was fried soft-shell crab and avocado. The one on the bottom was fried shrimp, avocado, and salmon on top. 

On Monday, we went back to work. When we got the list of teams who made it into the Product Sprint, initially, our team was not on it, so our team was a bit disappointed and confused because we had turned everything in two days before the deadline. Once we talked to the advisors, we were able to prove that we got everything in time, so we made it into the product sprint!

I was a little nervous because this week was all about coding, but after talking to my software mentor for the past few days, he said that they don’t expect you to have a perfect app if you only have three days to code something, so I didn’t really have to stress about it that much.

Also, our app got an article feature in a Portuguese news website called the Jornal Económico! You can read it at: http://www.jornaleconomico.sapo.pt/noticias/cinco-jovens-desenvolvem-a-togather-a-aplicacao-para-por-turistas-a-visitar-locais-frequentados-por-residentes-340177. 

A tip: it’s in Portuguese, so open it in Google Chrome, and it will automatically translate the page for you!

Today, we meet with one on one with investors and work on our pitch for tomorrow. I can’t believe tomorrow is my last day at EIA!

STAY TUNED as I reflect about my time here in Cascais, Portugal!

Reeya Desai: College of Engineering - European Innovation Academy (Cascais, Portugal)

[umichenginabroad]

Week 2: Startup Expo & More!

After a nice, relaxing weekend, we had to get back on the GRIND and start working to get ready for the startup expo. Luckily, my team was pretty ahead in terms of the schedule, so we had a little wiggle room in terms of PROCRASTINATION. I am the CTO of my team, but the CDO and I decided to share the responsibilities since we both have coding experience and didn’t really know much about design. My only design experience was in Entrepreneurship 390 where I designed apps in four hours because I’d ALWAYS put it off until the end. The hardest part of the design was trying to perfect the menu bar, but eventually, we got it done in time for the startup expo!

My team’s table at the startup expo! We have our design prototypes (left) and our landing page (middle).

The startup expo kind of reminded me of Career Fair (except there aren’t 400+ students in suits stressing about talking to companies). There were TONS of tables with all the team members with their pitches ready. For our team, the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and CBO (Chief Business Officer) delivered the pitches while the rest of the team had the chance to walk around and look at the ideas. As I walked around, there were a lot of amazing ideas! After the start-up expo, everyone was super tired, so most people went home at 5!

My wonderful teammate, who is from Lisbon, brought me this pastry. It was SO good. The bread has the consistency of a danish, and the topping is coconut and sugar. 

Over these past two days, we’ve been prepping for our launch which is today. In order for us to get access to software mentors, lawyers, and pitch coaches, we have to have a digital protoype uploaded and all of our marketing pages done. Luckily, my team and I are right on track. In the evening, my teammates and I decided it was a good day to go to dinner!

We went to Lisbon for dinner, and it was AMAZING. We went to a mall food court, and I had probably some of the best chicken I’ve had. After that, we went to go get pasteis de nata, which is a famous Portuguese dessert. It’s basically a custard tart! And to get the FULL experience, you have to sprinkle cinnamon on it! It was SO good, and it was really light and delicious!

A pasteis de nata (custard tart). The outside is a crust made from a filo dough-like ingredient, and the inside is filled with a custard/pastry cream!

We ended up talking until 12:30 am in front of the river, which is something I’ve only EVER seen in movies.

I can’t believe that we’re ALREADY done with two weeks, and this weekend is my last weekend in Portugal!

I don’t know what the final week is going to be like, but I sure am excited!

Reeya Desai: College of Engineering  - European Innovation Academy (Cascais, Portugal)

[umichenginabroad]

Portugal Week 1: Lisbon and Sintra

Reeya Desai: College of Engineering - European Innovation Academy (Cacais, Portugal) Okay before I say anything, I just need to say, if you like to make poor decisions in footwear, I’d HIGHLY recommend the American Rag brand from Macy’s because I wore those bad boys (WITH heels) for walking the entire day, and while my feet hurt cause I walked so much, my feet have NEVER hurt less while wearing inappropriate footwear.

SO for the past few days, my team and I were (somehow) a couple of days ahead, so we decided to get started on the UI/UX design. After the digital design keynote speaker, I realized that I had done this exact thing in my Entrepreneurship 390: Digital Product Design, a class I had taken pass/fail in the fall semester. For the rest of the week, my team and I worked on the design and interface for the app and marketing strategies based on our customer validation, which is basically researching if there’s a need in the market for our product.

Here are some of the Michigan kids on this study abroad as well! From left to right: Maggie, Nick, Me (My name’s Reeya if you missed my first couple of posts), Varun, Aylin, and Emily. 

It’s only been a week, but honestly I feel like I’ve been here so long that I’m a Cascais native (I’m clearly not). The learning experience so far has been amazing. I’ve learned so much in just five days at EIA, and I can’t wait to learn more! I’m the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) of my team, so that means my work is just beginning, which I am a little nervous about because I’ve never coded an iOS app, so I’m not sure how exactly that’s going to go. I’m coding it in Objective-C, which is syntactically similar to C++, which is the language I’m most used to. However, in EECS 281, the instructors tell us that it’s purposefully so challenging, so we are prepared for any other coding we would have to do in an internship or other class, so hopefully, the professors are correct!

During the weekend, the other Michigan students and I explored parts of Portugal during our free time.

On Saturday, we went into Lisbon. THIS is where my shoe story becomes relevant. Long story short, Lisbon has a lot of uphill and downhill walking, and I decided the SMARTEST thing to do was a heeled sandal. My feet didn’t even hurt that much, but I still would advise against it. In Lisbon, we went to the Castle of St. Jorge, which had AMAZING views of Lisbon. Afterwards, we went to Zara, and I spent money I knew I shouldn’t have, but it was 13 EUROS for a pair of shorts that even at Forever 21 would be way more EXPENSIVE, so it was definitely worth it.

The view on the top of St. Jorge’s Castle in Lisbon, Portugal

Sunday, we left at 9:30 in the morning to go to Sintra, Portugal. It was only 30 minutes away, and it was a lot faster because we Ubered there from our hotel. It was SUPER windy up on top, so I’m glad I brought a jacket, and wore sneakers. We first visited the Pena Palace, which was absolutely beautiful. The rooms were designed with an Islamic influence, so they were very unique. After that, we went to the Moorish Castle, which was a long trek to the top; I haven’t used my inhaler in like eight years, but boy could I HAVE used one there. Nevertheless, the view from the top was absolutely worth it.

The Pena Palace - the fog gives it a REAL aesthetic in my opinion

6453726472367 hills and stairs later, we got to the top of the Moorish castle and got this AMAZING view

I’ve enjoyed these past couple of days because I got to experience the beauty of Portugal. To be honest, I didn’t know anything about Portugal before coming here, so seeing all of the wonderful places this country has to offer is really a pleasANT surprise. EIA Week 2 starts back up again tomorrow, and I’m ready to work after a nice, relaxing break.

The Portuguese laundromat I had to go to so I didn’t run out of clothes. (If my MOTHER sees this picture, then she’ll for sure make me do laundry at home if I’m successfully doing laundry in a COMPLETELY different country)

If you read this entire thing, I APPRECIATE YOU. 

Reeya Desai: College of Engineering - European Innovation Academy (Cascais, Portugal)

[umichenginabroad]

EIA Portugal: Week One

After a long journey, I finally arrived in Lisbon at 9 in the morning. Our hotel was 20 minutes away from the airport, so we could have taken the train, but I have a BAD HABIT of overpacking (Do I really need to bring 5 pairs of shoe? No. Am I still going to pack them? Yes.) I hadn’t slept on the plane, so when I reached the hotel it was 3 in the morning in America, so I tried to take a nap. I couldn’t really sleep, so I decided to watch Netflix, and LET me tell you, the Netflix selection in Portugal is 100X better than the selection we have in the states. I mean, they have Princess Diaries 2 AND Victorious, so.

In the evening, I went with some of the other kids from Michigan to dinner and got to meet them since I didn’t really have a chance to meet them at the pre-departure orientation.

The next day was Day 0, so since I hadn’t already formed a team, I had to find one. There were so many great ideas, and I also got to meet a lot of talented, smart people. It was kind of intimidating at first, but eventually I found my team. After that, my newly formed team and I watched the World Cup Final together and then went to the beach to hang out and get to know each other. They were really nice, and I’m excited to work with them.

Cascais (the place we’re staying at) is ABSOLUTELY beautiful. 

On Day 1, we had our first keynote speaker, and we also had our first day of work. I was excited to start working, but also kind of nervous because this program is extremely out of my comfort zone academically speaking. At 5 pm, there was a welcome party with refreshments, music, and food, so I got to talk to other students there that weren’t on my team or from Michigan. After that, my teammates and I went to dinner in Lisbon because one of my teammates is from Lisbon and knows the city extremely well.

Day 2 was the most tiring yet. We worked for 7 hours. I’ve had my fair share of study marathons at the Ugli, but this was by FAR the most rewarding. There was a lot of interesting work we had to do such as talking about the importance of our product in the industry, finding similar apps software wise and design wise.

Overall, my experience so far has been pretty good! My teammates are great; we get along well, and we are all determined, to do our best in this. I’m here for the learning experience, so even if I don’t end up with a successful product, I am fine with it. The other kids from Michigan are also great.

I can’t wait to see what the next few weeks hold for me!

Reeya Desai

College of Engineering: EIA - Cascais, Portugal

[umichenginabroad]

T-1 Day!

Since, this is a pre-trip post. I’ve attached a picture of me in Europe last summer, visiting Florence, Italy. My name is Reeya Desai, and I will be attending the European Innovation Academy in Cascais, Portugal. Cascais is a small beach-town located near Lisbon. I am a computer science major, and in this upcoming fall semester I will be a junior!

I’ve lived the past two years in boxes, transferring them from my various dorms and apartments in Ann Arbor to my house in Ohio. It’s kind of weird, especially since I’ve lived in the same place my entire life before college. After a long, fun, tumultuous spring term, I packed my bags finally to spend 2 weeks back home before I leave again tomorrow.

For the next three weeks, I will be in Cascais, Portugal attending the European Innovation Academy. There, we will be working with people across the entire globe to create a tech startup from scratch! I’m excited for this unique, hands on experience. However, I will be lying if I was not a bit nervous. I’ve been to Europe twice before. Once with my friends, and once with my family. But I’ve never gone alone, and I have never gone with anybody I haven’t known.

I hope that this trip brings me joy, adventure, and excitement.

But above, all I hope this trip lets me learn something about myself that I didn’t know before.

Thanks for listening! Goodbye for now!

Reeya Desai

College of Engineering: European Innovation Academy (Cascais, Portugal)