Part 3 - Catching up with our Interns!

Megan - Talking about working at Cooperación Internacional

'So far, the internship has been extremely rewarding in terms of the job role and the challenges that I am trying to overcome. As an A1 Spanish beginner, my biggest challenge has been adapting to work in a Spanish organisation. Luckily, the members of staff are so kind and patient, taking their time to speak slower or to rephrase their Spanish so I am able to understand them (or at least attempt to). Additionally, teaching has been incredibly fun, and I’ve been uplifted by the positivity and hard work ethic of all of the teenagers.'

Alexandra - working as an English Teacher at One Way

'During my first two weeks of work at OneWay Language School, I have taught 5 different classes of students. Two A1 classes of two year olds and four year olds and three A2/B1 classes of students aged 9-13. The first week I mainly observed my colleagues' teaching styles and only took one full lesson myself. This was on my first day! They really threw me in the deep end but in hindsight it madeI me gain so much confidence and experience in front of a class. The second week I had total control of my classes - planning and delivering lessons and marking homework. The students are generally a pleasure to teach and seeing their progress and enthusiasm, especially that of the little ones, in just a short period of time has been really rewarding!'

Rachael - Who also works at Cooperación Internacional

'I've been loving my time in Seville so far! I work in a food bank run by Cooperacion Internacional. It's great because the work is so varied- some days I'll be working on the paperwork for each person who uses the food bank, others I get to chat to the local people and deliver their food packages and other times I'll be working in the back with the rest of the staff organising boxes of food and preparing packages. One of the best things about my job is being able to use Spanish every day, I feel like I’m already so much better after only a couple of weeks! None of the staff in the food bank speak any English at all, so there’s definitely been more than a few challenging conversations trying to adjust to the Andalusian accent, but everyone at work is so lovely and always willing to help me improve which makes it a great place to practice. I can’t wait to spend the next few months working with them!'

- Photo by Rachael - Flamenco in the streets in Seville

Rob - Talking about his internship working as a Research Assistant at EBD

'So far, my job is to assist in a variety of investigatory projects with the Wetlands Ecology Department at EBD. The placement provides good experience as I get to gain laboratory experience and learn new ecological research methods and ideas, which is highly useful to me as a budding researcher. Sometimes I get to go out for fieldwork in or near the fantastic Doñana Reserve, Europe’s biggest wetland, and have seen Greater Flamingo, Black Stork, Eurasian Bittern and other amazing birds.'

- A Bittern. This peculiar bird was spotted near Doñana in some rice paddies close to a village called Veta La Palma. They put on this erect-display to mimic the reeds that they hide amongst. They possess downward-pointing eyes so they can stare at you even when their bill is pointing upwards!

Anna - Working at CBS and walking about life in Seville

'For my placement I am a teaching assistant at The British School of Seville, I work mostly with a year 2 class. I help out with the main lessons in all subjects apart from Spanish and I also do some one to one English tutoring with the students who need a little more guidance. It is hard work but I absolutely love my class they are all so enthusiastic to learn and they come out with the funniest things.

In my free time I’ve been exploring some of the historical sights in Seville during the day and many evenings the interns will all go out for some tapas and drinks around the Alameda. We’ve also done a few day trips including a kayaking trip around the coast.

The first 2 weeks here have gone by so fast, the biggest thing I initially found hard to adjust to at first was the weather - with 35 degree highs in the day it was a little overwhelming at first but we got used to it quickly and the weather is already noticeably cooler now we are into October. I also feel like I know my way around a lot of the city now so it’s starting to feel a bit more like home. I’m looking to what the next couple months bring!'