AIFS Abroad: Intern Abroad in Italy

I really enjoyed my internship, I worked at a refugee center and so it was really interesting hearing all of the stories of the people who came. Furthermore I got to teach English classes and work with the art therapy group. I also greatly enjoyed my hours. I was scheduled to work from 9am-1pm everyday at the center. Ending work so early in the day gave me a vast amount of freedom to explore Rome. Rome itself is also a beautiful city, with stunning architecture and so many Museums. I really enjoyed my international internship.

My internship with Deskmates Archtiects was amazing. My colleagues are all very dedicated to what they do and very passionate and knowledgeable, as well. They were very welcoming with me not only in their studio, but also making me part of the team. They invited me to their site visits in L'aquila and Gavignano. The also had intentionally planned the work that I would be doing, which made me understand the full scope of the work that they do. Lucy from AIFS was very helpful in Rome. She checked in with me a lot to see how I was doing, and was always prepared ti solve any problems. She was also very generous with her time in our organized activities, such as the photography activity, the beach trip to Santa Marinella, etc. I appreciated very much that she made sure to do the photo session with me individually, because i couldnt make it to the one with the whole group! She always had an energetic demeanor and readiness about her. I also appreciated that she would answer the phone when I would call for a problem, even if the problem wasn't too big!
As far as interning abroad goes, I HIGHLY recommend all the future attendees to already have a good and solid knowledge and practice of the Italian language (if they are interning in Italy). I don't mean being able to say "buongiorno" but to be at a solid B1 level. This will be extremely helpful to not feel lonely, out of place, or unaware of what is going on around you. Also in the office, even if your colleagues talk english to you, they will talk italian with each other, and being aware of the conversations around you will make you feel like part of the team and included.
Also, don't expect to have AIFS make you "immersed in the culture". YOU should immerse yourself in the culture. For example, apart from speaking the language, I also tried to do the same things in Rome as I was doing in the city I normally live: I went to boxing lessons and tennis lessons, I went to church and also their weekly meetings, instead of studying in my apartment, i went to the local library, etc, stuff like these. This even helped me create some solid relationships with the people I was doing these activities with! Again, i couldnt have done these things without speaking the laguage (i wasnt super fluent, either, but fluent enough to carry day-to-day conversations with limited vocabulary. Basically, don't just go there to finish your internship, stay un at night partying, and then get out.

My summer internship abroad in Florence, Italy was an amazing experience. It provided me the capability of meeting and networking with so many people, and not only in my job but also everyone else in the program. Doing this allowed me to grow in my communication skills, and being able to focus as I worked remotely. I met so many people and made so many friends which was a great aspect of this program. They provide activities to do with everyone in the program, and also give you all the freelance in the world. Me and my roommates traveled with each other and with others on the weekends getting to see so many amazing things. I highly recommend this program.

Global experiences went beyond my expectations and much more. I was able to meet the best people and be placed in the best place for what I want to do. Amanda and Antonella were awesome and helped with every single problem or situation. They organized super fun things for us to do with our group but still made us feel like we had complete freedom throughout the entire 8 weeks stay. Our housing was perfect and clean, the locations of the apartments were in amazing spots and we were able to see every part of the city. I can’t recommend this program enough!!

While I was abroad I met the most amazing people who I was able to travel all around Italy with! Meeting them through Global experiences allowed us to get to know each other really well. Being able to go to all of the planned events together was super fun…from vineyards to boats, the social events were awesome! I would do it all again if I could! I would say that putting myself out there and showing up as me allowed me to fully embrace this experience and people and helped me grow a lot too! If that’s what you’re looking for totally go abroad!

The internship was amazing for so many reasons. The denominator of all of it though, is the support of the program and the coordinators. Being thrown into a new country to work was stressful and amazing. There were surely times where I needed support or felt a bit lost. The program worked so hard to make us all feel heard, respected, and understood while also having an AMAZING and CRAZY (in a good way) time. I feel so so blessed for this!!! I don’t want to go home. This really was a story I will have forever. I have grown so much.

I’m so glad I decided to participate in global experiences program this summer it was so fun. I felt very safe the entire time and everyone was so helpful. I highly recommend this program to anyone who is wanting a great adventure. I have learned so much and grown as a person and now I want to continue traveling all around the world because you learn so much from other cultures and experiences. My roommates were also so good and we had so much fun living together and traveling on the weekends. I hope to be back soon!

I had so much fun and loved this experience. Antenella and Amanda were so helpful the entire time and I couldnt have asked for anyone better than them. I loved getting to learn all about Italy and to experience a new culture. My internship went well and I got to experience and learn so much about showrooms. I would recommend this experience to everyone and felt that it was very much worth it. I traveled during the weekends and saw so much of Italy that I had never seen before. This experience is the best!!