My internship at Fundación CICLO

I am Noortje Peverelli, a Dutch student at Utrecht University. Since Noortje is difficult to pronounce for Argentines, my colleagues call me ‘Nora’ o ‘Nori(s)’. I arrived at Buenos Aires the first of October to fulfill an internship of six months at Fundacion CICLO as part of my master ‘Western Literature and Culture.’
The last three months I did a lot of different things. Among them, teaching English. I had already taught Italian, Spanish and Dutch in the past, but never English. I love to do it, because we have a lot of fun in class, thanks to the interactive method we use. They learn while listening and talking. In February I also hope to start with Italian. Besides teaching I searched for more Dutch interns, and I am happy to say that in the coming months various compatriots will strengthen our team. I also searched for a language teacher, but at the moment we are still in the selection process.
I also really enjoy the administrative tasks that I fulfill at our organization, above all taking phone calls and helping course members and visitors. Argentines are normally really friendly and interested in me, so I spent a lot of time chatting here! Since writing is my big passion, I also love to contribute to our blog. I wrote about my experiences here and about a Dutch festivity, in the languages I manage: Dutch, English, Spanish and Italian. I will take this opportunity to invite you to read those as well!
Besides these tasks, I thought out two projects. The first one is a visit to the ‘Centro Ana Frank’ (Anne Frank Centre) in the City of Buenos Aires with children of less fortunate primary schools. The second one is to attract more interns to the areas where you normally find few foreigners (besides the ‘Cono Sur’, Argentina and surrounding countries), like for example our zone (the Western part of ‘Gran Buenos Aires’ (the City and its suburbs). I am pleased that more Dutch will come, so they can help me realize and continue my projects when I will have left.
I think it’s clear that I am really feeling at home here. The work is varied and challenging and I am having a lot of fun with me colleagues. Together with living with an Argentine family from Ramos Mejía, it’s an 100% Argentine experience!