Internship at AIESEC – Daniela from Universidad de Monterrey
Sometimes you win; sometimes you learn. Daniela (the girl second from the left) is pursuing Commerce and shares her memorable experience of internship days.
The story about a mexican intern in Bulgaria.
Q= What does a Georgian, a Tunisian, an Azerbaijani, a Nigerian and a Mexican have in common?
A= A summer, an internship, an apartment and a great time.
“Varna? Is that in Europe?” was the answer I got from my father after letting him know I’ve applied for an internship there. “Yeah, it’s awesome, let me show you”, I answered as I quickly googled the place.
Two weeks later, there I was. Standing in front of a smiley girl introducing herself as a Georgian and a guy offering a helping hand with my baggage introducing himself as a Nigerian.
Later on, I met the Azerbaijani girl and the guy from Tunisia. We had in common an internship with AIESEC, a program made for students by students everywhere in the world with the purpose to serve as a network and send and receive students abroad. We’ve all applied to the same one, six weeks in Varna, accommodation included, working in the morning in cities nearby and the project consisted in the interns teaching Bulgarian youth about the importance of literacy and education. We had a program stating the topic for each day of our 45 days internship.
The first week came by and we went to a public school in a small town nearby and oh surprise, just 5 kids were waiting for us and oh surprise again, not a single one of them spoke English. Luckily Georgia spoke Russian and the kids understood it. We spent 5 days there teaching the kids about our countries, since that was way easier to teach them with the language barrier between us, and they seemed to enjoyed it way better.
The next week we got on a bus an traveled to another city, we were meeting high school students. We were very excited since they actually spoke English but oh surprise, there were just two of them and we didn’t have a classroom. Anyhow, we went to this beautiful park and started getting to know each other and prepared for the week. Later on other students joined and we had a “global village” that Friday where we brought food and souvenir and information about our country. That night when we got home a guy was standing in our kitchen staring completely in shocked at us claiming it was his apartment. We called the girl from the organization who took us there and turns out the apartment was from someone she knew who was out of town but decided to come back earlier, and of course he knew nothing about it. So there goes our provided accommodation, we now had to pay 100 euros each for a new place.
The next weeks went by, we spent one in the local library where the woman had to turn off the wifi so the kids would actually listen to us. The week after that the association gave us a number and it turned out to be some group from Macedonia who were visiting and wanted someone to show them around, we showed them around the beach, clubs and restaurants. The last working week, consisted in us moving to another town, the major wanted to meet us and the teachers as well. That week right there is where our internship really started, the kids where eager to learn, they had a great understanding of English and we were excited to teach them. One girl even offered me her kitchen to cook my Mexican dishes and her whole family offered some help.
The last week was travel week, we went to Bucharest and traveled around Bulgaria as well. By that time we were really disappointed with the program and the organization crew. Until this day I still am, but during those hard times and struggles I had a team with me, I lived, worked, ate, and traveled with them. Those people were my family and best friends at the same time. Do I regret my internship? Not at all. I’ll even do it again, those four guys are worth it all. That gets me thinking on how a group from 18 to 26 year olds, from four different countries and four different religions could transform a house into a home, my frowns changes into smiles, a disappointing internship into one of the best summers of my life. On our last days we decided to write letters and place them into an empty glass bottle and left it at the shore so the waves would carry it away. We wrote our experiences and thanked life for the opportunity, the memories and most important the friendships.
And suddenly one day you find yourself laughing and smiling on the other side of the world with sand on your toes, a drink in your hand and surrounded by people you now call friends. You have no idea how that happened, you’re just glad it did. I think about the post cards I’ve been collecting for years now, I think about the cities, the friendships, the food and the adventures. I realize it’s the stories behind each and every single one of them what makes them so valuable to me.
Funny how a 1€ piece of cardboard can hold so many memories, adventures and lessons. Years from now when I take a look at my Bulgarian postcards I’ll remember six weeks of pure joy, invaluable friendships and beautiful landscapes. I’ll think about the girl I shared a room with, I’ll remember her contagious smile, her admirable sense of direction and our late night talks that made me feel I’ve known her for a long time. I’ll smile when I remember the guy from Tunisia and his silly comments and funny personality, the laughs we shared and his unique dance moves. Oh, and then about the other girl, the one who seemed so shy at the beginning and ended up being a great party partner. I’ll remember the long walks, the songs we used to sing and the long list of drinks we shared. Then I’ll think about the other guy, the one who was always fun to be around, the one with the enviable cooking skills, I’ll think about the conversations, hugs and beers we shared. That place and those guys will always be part of my most cherished memories.
Bulgaria, thank you for an unforgettable summer. Until next time.
If Daniela’s experience motivates you, you can check the latest International internships.
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