Coimbra, PORTUGAL – “Home.” It is a very peculiar word, the kind that can either sour or warm your heart. There’s always that bittersweet sensation.
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But despite all this, the biggest debate is where we can actually call home. Is it only where we were born? Where we live now? Or can we go beyond that?
In this scenario, this can depend largely on who you ask.
For some people, I am Brazilian, to other, Portuguese and some even try Spain. In fact, they are all right. But also wrong, too.
I have lived in all those countries long enough, celebrated their festivities, studied their history and eaten their traditional dishes. I’ve been there. I have lived there. Nonetheless, where do I belong?
This is only up to me to say. And this answer comes from the heart. Coimbra.
It’s not the city I was born in, and neither where I currently live.
But it’s the place that raised me, the city I am proud to say that represents me. With its more than 2,000 years of history, Coimbra has profoundly shaped who I am today.
Above, left: A street lined with houses in Alta de Coimbra, characterized by its medieval architectural style. At right: A Manueline civil building built over part of the city’s old medieval defensive structure, with a passage arch connecting its two houses. It’s called Paço de Sub-Ripas. (Ana Campos/YJI)
The city welcomed me for the first time when I was 2 years old. It was where I first went to kindergarten, where I first started reading. It’s the place that saw me transform from a baby, to a child, a teenager and finally the young woman I am now.
It observed carefully my rebellious phases, creative bursts and even the first victories in my swimming competitions. It scolded me every time I was wrong, celebrated every step, and supported me even in the darkest times.
It’s a city that whispers its history in every corner. It made me love nature, life and above all, value everything that makes us who we are.
I made my first friends here. Some stayed, others became people who I used to know. Yet Coimbra is still here.
Its traditions are part of my culture, and its food part of childhood. I take pride in my Portuguese accent and its memories will always be in my heart. This city made me stronger, more ambitious, happier and purposeful.
So if someone asks me, “What’s your home?” I will always answer, “Coimbra.”
Not the place where I once lived, not where I was born or even where I came from. But my home. The place that warms my heart, brings tears to my eyes and runs in my veins. The place I swear loyalty to. The place that made me human.
The place where I never say farewell, but see you later.
Coimbra is where I belong.
Coimbra is my home.
Ana Beatriz Campos is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
