When I arrived in Kraków for my Erasmus year, I felt at first. I shared a with four other students: two Polish girls, a boy from Portugal and a quiet guy from Lithuania. Everyone was friendly, but they were always busy with classes or , so we only said hello in the corridor. I was worried that I would spend the whole year without making real friends.
Everything changed one rainy Sunday. I felt , so I decided to make my grandmother's paella, a dish I have cooked many times in Spain. The smell filled the , and soon my came into the kitchen one by one to ask what I was making. I had cooked , so I invited them to join me. We sat around the small table for hours, talking about our families, our countries and our plans for the future.
After that evening, we started a tradition. Every Sunday, one person cooks a typical dish from their country for everyone else. Kasia taught us how to make pierogi, which are Polish , and Tiago prepared a delicious fish soup. Not every meal was a success – once, I the rice completely – but we always laughed about our mistakes.
The biggest surprise for me was Darius, our quiet mate from Lithuania. For the first few weeks, he said a word during our dinners. Then, when it was his turn, he made a cold beetroot soup. It was bright pink, and at first we didn't know what to think. However, it tasted fresh and amazing, and Darius explained that his mother makes it every summer. While we were eating, he started telling us funny stories about his childhood on a farm. We realised that he wasn't unfriendly at all – he was just . Since that night, he has become one of my closest friends, and he often helps me with my Polish homework.
, our Sunday dinners became more than just meals. We began going to the market together on Saturday mornings to buy fresh vegetables, and we shared the cost of the ingredients, which was cheaper for everyone. Sometimes classmates or friends from work joined us, so there were often ten people our tiny kitchen. We didn't have enough chairs, so some of us sat on the floor. Through these dinners, I also learnt a lot about other cultures; for example, I discovered that in Poland people often eat their main meal in the afternoon. Our no longer felt like a place where strangers slept – it felt like home.
In my opinion, cooking is one of the best ways to . You don't need to speak a language perfectly to share a meal. Now, when people ask me for advice about , I always tell them the same thing: don't stay in your room. Go to the kitchen, cook something simple and share it. You might be surprised by how quickly strangers become friends.
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