Noortje Peverelli, Dutch intern
This first of October I left for Argentina to fulfill an internship at Fundacion CICLO ('Foundation CYCLE'). Since years I literally dreamed of visiting this country. Besides, with a bachelor Italian and a bachelor Spanish as a background it's an obvious choice, since almost half of the Argentines is from Italian descent.
The foundation is located in a suburb of Buenos Aires, called Ramos Mejía. In contrast to the centre of the city (just forty minutes away) you won't find any tourists here. This way you get totally immersed in the Argentine culture. And there isn´t missing anything here: discotheques, movie theatres, nice restaurants and bars (with wifi) and stores, parks, etcetera. Besides, they organize a lot of cultural activities in the neighborhood and surroundings: markets, music- and dance festivals… And there are infinite spots to visit, in Buenos Aires and outside the capital. A nice side-issue is that everything is relatively cheap here. My first weekend I went to Tigre, a city situated at the mouth of a river with lovely cottages at the bank that made me think of the village from One hundred years of solitude from the famous Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez.
It is true what the travel guides and experienced travellers told me: Argentine people are very nice, and tolk a lot! After the first acquiantance you get often immediatly invited to a dinner (pour vegetarian me, almost always barbeques) or outing. (Also an old lady in the supermarket gave me her phone number, in case I needed any help or advice!) Because of this I haven't felt lonely for a second, also because the foundation found me an Argentine host family which treats me as if I where their own daughter. (They call me 'Norita', at the foundation they call me 'Nora'.) And when all the talking becomes too much for me, they understand that as a little less social northerner I need some time for myself.
In contrast to a lot of stories of friends who did an internship in Spanish-America, fortunately at CICLO they did expect something of me. After years of only studying I really felt the need to gain some practical experience. Among other things I already gave two classes of English and as my first personal project I will try to reach more possible Dutch and Flemish students. The atmosphere at the foundation is really friendly but luckily they're also serious in their goal to offer affordable/free and good education and culture in this Western part of 'Gran Buenos Aires' (the centre and its suburbs) and to bring foreign knowledge and culture to their inhabitants.
The foundation is located in a suburb of Buenos Aires, called Ramos Mejía. In contrast to the centre of the city (just forty minutes away) you won't find any tourists here. This way you get totally immersed in the Argentine culture. And there isn´t missing anything here: discotheques, movie theatres, nice restaurants and bars (with wifi) and stores, parks, etcetera. Besides, they organize a lot of cultural activities in the neighborhood and surroundings: markets, music- and dance festivals… And there are infinite spots to visit, in Buenos Aires and outside the capital. A nice side-issue is that everything is relatively cheap here. My first weekend I went to Tigre, a city situated at the mouth of a river with lovely cottages at the bank that made me think of the village from One hundred years of solitude from the famous Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez.
It is true what the travel guides and experienced travellers told me: Argentine people are very nice, and tolk a lot! After the first acquiantance you get often immediatly invited to a dinner (pour vegetarian me, almost always barbeques) or outing. (Also an old lady in the supermarket gave me her phone number, in case I needed any help or advice!) Because of this I haven't felt lonely for a second, also because the foundation found me an Argentine host family which treats me as if I where their own daughter. (They call me 'Norita', at the foundation they call me 'Nora'.) And when all the talking becomes too much for me, they understand that as a little less social northerner I need some time for myself.
In contrast to a lot of stories of friends who did an internship in Spanish-America, fortunately at CICLO they did expect something of me. After years of only studying I really felt the need to gain some practical experience. Among other things I already gave two classes of English and as my first personal project I will try to reach more possible Dutch and Flemish students. The atmosphere at the foundation is really friendly but luckily they're also serious in their goal to offer affordable/free and good education and culture in this Western part of 'Gran Buenos Aires' (the centre and its suburbs) and to bring foreign knowledge and culture to their inhabitants.
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