Hello Everyone!
Throughout the span of the past week I’ve been truly settling into a daily routine and life here in Spain! From conversations with my co-workers, meeting new people, advancements on my projects and assignments and a day trip to Segovia, this week has been filled with many memories.
Internship Update
This past week with my internship I began to settle into more of a schedule. I’ve been able to establish and figure out my daily expectations and adapt more to the schedule that I am working. However in other ways it has been slightly tolling as a full 8 hour day plus an hour lunch, with an hour commute to my job both ways. Totaling to about 11 hours a day centered around my internship. Although I’ve enjoyed what I’ve been doing, my days have been very full and I started to notice that I value a full 8 hours of sleep after a long day.
That being said, this week I had the opportunity of working on some exciting projects. I continued to make progress on my client database and have officially researched over 200 universities and recorded over 1000 programs. The database contains their location in Spain and type of housing as well as contact information and general information comments. Further I have helped on daily tasks like entering clients information into our system who have expressed interest in our residences, accompanied my supervisor on tours of the facility, helped translate emails and assist in speaking with clients who do not speak Spanish.
I have also begun a newer short term project on Friday where I have been looking into buyers with reservations who have incomplete profiles on our sales platform Salesforce. Whether they are missing a date of reservation or the source of first contact, I’ve been looking into these things to help assist in the overall research done by the marketing department. For instance this past week I was able to identify a buyer who we did not originally know the source of. I was able to find two profiles in her name further condensed them into one allowing us to see she initially called our sales department for more information. Finding these discrepancies allows for a more accurate analysis of buyers and how they come to our company and further helps the overall marketing our department chooses to do for our residences.
Spain Adventures
This week was a bit less eventful compared to other weeks in terms of adventures. However I’ve enjoyed getting to have conversations with my host family and coworkers while trying new restaurants or cafes throughout the city.
This Saturday I traveled to Segovia for the day and got to experience and see the rich history and architecture of the city. From the aqueduct to the Segovia palace and cathedral it was truly an amazing day with some stunning views. Being in Madrid which is right in the center of Madrid makes a lot of these day trips or short weekend trips very feasible and overall quite affordable which I have really enjoyed. Attached below are photos from the trip!
Week 4 Question → Adaptability and Flexibility
When looking at my ability or lack of ability to adapt and be flexible to the Spanish culture there are definitely some areas that I find easier than others. When it comes to broader culture based items I’ve found it hard to adjust to the eating schedule here of a lunch around 2 or 3pm to dinner around 9 or 10pm. However to combat this I’ve started eating some kind of protein bar around 12pm to help me last until lunch and then eat a true spanish lunch that is slightly on the larger side to help hold me over until dinner.
One thing about my coworkers is they all eat lunch together in our co-working space which is also where my co-workers and I work. Towards the beginning I sometimes would go out and get lunch at a local cafe or restaurant, however the director of the residence in a more discrete way (high-context work environment) said that everyone eats lunch in the office and that I should join them. Although I enjoy getting to eat lunch with them and often we all take a half hour or so to watch netflix or Tik Toks being in the same space for 9 hours a day can sometimes be a bit drooling and that one hour of getting to walk around was rather nice. However in the mornings I have started going to the Retiro park to run and get some fresh air before my day.
Overall I feel as though I am adapting quite well to the workplace of my company and the culture of Spain in general. In many ways it has taken some adapting and flexibility but that is part of the process with any job and life experiences in general.