Connect-123 Buenos Aires Internships

My work place was walking distance from where i was living so every day i would be able to walk through beautiful Buenos Aires to my internship, and it is beautiful. My work place were encouraging of me getting around and seeing beautiful Argentina and therefore flexible with my work times. The work experience its self was really great. i was given trust and responsibility through my time there and felt like i was truly helping to make a difference. Everyone was so friendly and through Connect 123 i made some friends fro life who truly made the journey a wonderful one.

My program experience was pretty good with Connect-123. The program lends itself to a lot of flexibility, depending on your preferences for what type of company or organization you would like to work. I appreciated that they went to great lengths to find an internship with an organization I liked and wanted to work for. I think the thing I was most unprepared for was living IN A CITY. Buenos Aires is HUGE. Coming from a background of suburbs and farmland, this was a huge shock to me and added to the stress of culture shock. I also was not prepared for the smoking. I had issues with people smoking in the house I was placed in, and Connect-123 was not very responsive to my complaints and requests to move housing. They said that I should have informed them of my severe second-hand smoke allergy. The one problem was this - ALL of the housing information I received from the program said their housing facilities are all non-smoking. If given this information, it seems logical to assume that I should not need to specify that I have a second-hand smoke allergy on my applications.
Apart from the smoking, the internship itself was great. I enjoyed working for the non-profit research organization where I was placed, including the people I worked with. The office was small, with only two other people working in my section, but I enjoyed the closeness with my coworkers and the ability to have open communication. However, I would say that I did get lucky in my placement. I spoke with a few other interns in B.A., and some of them were not happy with their placements because their bosses wished they had had a better/higher understanding of the Spanish language. Connect-123 says that it's okay to participate in their internships even if you don't know the native language of the country you're traveling to. Personally, I would recommend not looking in Buenos Aires if you're not in any way familiar with the Spanish language or only have an intermediate level. I was lucky enough to have a boss mostly fluent in English, but others on this program were not so lucky, and this definitely affected their overall experiences.

My internship and time in Buenos Aires exceeded my expectations. Connect-123 does a great job of matching you with an internship that is relevant to your career interests, as well as making sure your stay in Buenos Aires is comfortable and fun. While interning for two months, I got valuable international work experience that stood out on my resume when I applied for full-time jobs. I improved my Spanish, lived in an exciting city, made great friends from different countries, traveled all over Argentina, and overall had a lot of fun.

My two months in Argentina flew by! I clearly remember arriving, completely terrified of the unknown. Paula and Katie made sure to alleviate those fears the very first day and walked participants through the "need to know" facts about the city.
Connect-123 did a fantastic job placing me at my intern site. I had the chance to work at a hospital five days a week, rotating through different units that included trauma, gynecology, oncology, and cardiology. Having had all this exposure to different sides of medicine, I have a clearer picture of what I want to do in the future as I pursue a career in nursing.
Not only did I grow professionally, I also grew in my confidence with Spanish. Arguably, the best place for me to practice Spanish was in my home-stay, which was also set up by Connect-123. My home-stay was ideal, and I still keep in touch with my roommates from Argentina. We were able to explore the city together, and wow, does Buenos Aires have a lot going on!
I couldn't have dreamed of a better two months. Many thanks to Connect-123 for facilitating a life-changing and memorable stay. Hasta luego!

For two months this summer, I interned as a public policy and law researcher for a non-governmental organization that studies economic crimes - such as drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking and more. Before becoming involved with Connect-123, I very much wanted to gain work experience in this field. Thanks to Connect, I had the opportunity to do so.

My time in the office was very productive: I analyzed laws and governmental policies surrounding certain issues (I mostly worked on civil forfeiture and the illicit drug market) and I would write reports on them. My work felt valued and worthwhile.

Argentina was what I had hoped for and so much more, truly. Buenos Aires is a huge metropolis with something for everyone - concerts, cultural events, museums, and seemingly unlimited opportunities to pursue other niche interests. The local cuisine is very unique. It lends a lot from Italian (milanesa a la nepolitana, anyone?) but with a local twist characteristic of a country built by immigrants. My absolute favorite food was pizza from Güerrín - there's nothing like it in the States. So many other foods - empanadas, asado, choripan - are to die for too.

Focusing on Connect-123: They were very much invested in your success and your enjoyment of the program. The program coordinators were very friendly and often would go to social outings with us! This helped us get a footing in a foreign land and to learn the local customs. Connect also made sure that your housing and work was at expectations: my housing was perfect (I lived with an Argentinian family) and it was Connect who was able to make that contact happen.

There are also opportunities to travel during the program. I personally went to Mendoza, Argentina for a long weekend to see the Andes Mountains and vineyards. The views were breathtaking! There are plenty of other travel opportunities too - Iguazú Falls, Patagonia, Uruguay, and so much more. Connect-123 helped me get contacts for a productive weekend trip.

To conclude, I loved my experience in Argentina and with Connect. If you're looking for professional development and a good time, this could be the program for you!

When I started university, I knew that I wanted to spend one semester abroad. I completed an internship with Connect-123 in Buenos Aires from February-June 2014 and it was the best decision I could have ever made.

I interned at two NGO's. One dealt primarily with issues affecting women and children with HIV/AIDS. My responsibilities included looking for funding, compiling a master list with the funder's requirements, explaining the grants and sending them to the organization, as well as the translation/revision of their entire website, many grant proposals, budgets and official e-mails. At this NGO I learnt a lot about non-profit work in Argentina, the inner-working of the UN, marketing, grant writing, budget creation and translation.

The second organization was a feminist non-profit that dealt with women's rights in the context of domestic or any type of violence. I was more independent at this internship and initiated my own project which was a creation of a blog for the organization. I also assisted them with a bit of translation and writing up material/preparing for workshops that they were to hold later in the year.

In both of my internships I learnt greatly about women's rights in Argentina, the inner workings of NGOs and the impact both groups are making domestically and internationally. My level of Spanish also went from barely speaking to conversational fluent in a matter of months.

In my free time, I met up with friends, explored the city, went out, ate some great food and also visited other regions in Argentina and countries in South America. Buenos Aires is really the gateway to many destinations and there are several ways to travel affordably.

I loved everything about Argentina: the food, the people, the expressions, the places, the cities, the music, literature, culture, nature and my apartment!

Thank you to Paula and Katie from Connect-123 for warmly welcoming me to BA and helping me make the best out of my experience.

I would highly suggest this for anyone to get out of their comfort zone and pursue international opportunities like this one so as to learn, be taught, share, travel and experience.

I had the opportunity to participate in the perfect internship! Connect-123 offered me exactly what I was looking for and where very helpful during my process. At first I was afraid, but they made me feel like home. It's a great opportunity for personal and professional growth.

Everything about my Buenos Aires experience was wonderful. I was able to pick a meaningful internship that was not only relevant to my university degree but also allowed me to have a traveling gap year that didn't sacrifice my professional development. The program staff was always available to answer any questions I had, from the best method to get across town, to where to find certain food items, to their favorite weekend vacation spot. Buenos Aires itself is a wonderful city with an indescribably vibrant culture that you need to immerse yourself in to fully understand. I met some of the greatest people in the world and improved my Spanish to a near fluent level. I really cannot recommend Connect-123 and Buenos Aires higher, and I feel so fortunate to have been able to partake in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.