Ola, friends! I am in Porto, Portugal participating in the European Innovation Academy business accelerator. I have been here for a bit over a week and think I am settling in pretty nicely! I am living in a student apartment complex 10 minutes from the venue where we work which is very convenient. The studio apartment is super nice, and I even have my own mini kitchen that has come in handy. Every day, I make my breakfast of yogurt and peanut butter toast and walk to the venue for two keynote lectures in the morning. After lunch is group work time and meetings with business mentors until we head home for dinner. I am on a project team with four other students from all over the world: Michigan, California, Spain, and Greece. We are working on building a business from scratch to improve how fast project groups turn into efficient teams. It is super interesting to learn about each teammates home culture and university experiences.

A few times this past week, I have taken the 20-minute metro ride into downtown Porto to have dinner with friends. There is a ton of seafood here with octopus tentacles being one of the most common dishes. Downtown Porto is known for its picturesque buildings covered in all different colors of tiles and the many bridges that stretch over the river. I am excited to continue exploring the city for the next couple weeks and updating you on the cute places I find. Ate logo!