CISabroad - Intern in Barcelona

Summer 2017 has been one of the best one's of my life! Currently a Senior at the University of Texas at Austin I had the grand opportunity to intern abroad as an education intern. From the food, the amazing strangers who instantly became friends, the breathtaking architecture, navigating the metro, to simply relaxing at the beach reading a book, Barcelona was everything and more that I wished for. I love traveling independently, as a student with a congenital physical disability accessibility was important for me. The program personnel were extremely communicative to ensure all my accommodations where in place for when I arrived. This made my stay comfortable and allowed me to experience the city to my full potential. My work environment was enjoyable. A good experience lies in your attitude. Yes you will experience challenges, but that is part of life. Enjoy every second and capture a mental image every moment. Go out by yourself, and explore. Meet strangers, get acquainted. Most of all be positive and make the most of your time in beautiful Barcelona.

CISabroad was amazing from the beginning to the end of my program. They were always there to answer my questions. They did an amazing job pairing me with my internship. I learned more than I ever thought I would. Plus, it was extremely hands on!

The best part about CISabroad is that it is cheap! It was actually cheaper for me to intern and take courses abroad than it was for me to stay at my home university!

The fact that I was in Europe made it for easy and cheap access to traveling. The only problem I had was that it was not long enough.

Since the reviews online were a significant factor in making my decision, I'll give you guys a thorough summary of my experience :)

APPLICATION PROCESS:
When I decided I wanted to do an internship abroad, I started to research and research. Most study abroad companies were too expensive for my budget, so I was trying to find an internship on my own and arrange everything myself. However, I had very limited dates available and most "free" internships had very strict start-end dates and lasted anywhere from 3 months to 2 years! I finally decided to search for scholarships and other financial help, which I got from my university, and after a lot of research, I decided to try it out with CISabroad. I chatted a lot with CISabroad staff, who happily answered my questions, and I read reviews on every website. I found that CISabroad was the better-reviewed program. The only negative reviews I found, I shared with the CISabroad staff and asked them to clarify them for me, and they were happy to do so. They finally convinced me to apply, giving me step-by-step instructions. My only complaint would be that, sometimes, they would take their time to answer my questions, but to be fair, they never ignored any of my concerns. When your applying to a study abroad or intern abroad program, you must understand that there will be times where you will just have to be patient. CISabroad has hundreds and maybe thousands of students applying to programs all over the world, which is really cool, but also takes a lot of time from the staff.

HOMESTAY + Getting there
Thankfully, I got accepted into the Intern in Barcelona program and received a discount for applying early :) The day finally came and I was officially on my way to Barcelona to have what would become one of the best experiences in my life. However, I had some flight delays/cancellations, which affected my schedule, but the CISabroad onsite staff worked around that, which I appreciated so much. I got to my homestay, which I absolutely recommend, and had a nice lady waiting for me. I stayed in a really nice neighborhood in Barcelona really close to my internship placement. I had my own set of keys to the apartment, 2 yummy homemade meals a day, and an amazing host family (for real, you guys, EXCELLENT!)

INTERNSHIP PLACEMENT:
Throughout the process, I was really anxious to know what my internship placement would be. I asked the CISabroad staff about it, and they told me they had to wait because they couldn't know until they had all my information since the internships they provide are customized to the student preferences. In order to get to know me, they called me a few times and we also had a Skype interview. I had to wait some time for them to tell what my placement would be, but at least they told me a week before getting to Barcelona, so I had an idea about what I would be doing. My 2 interests were management and international business, which are my two majors, but I also have a minor in Strategic Communications, which allowed them to place me in a communications agency focused on the health industry. At first, I was a little bit confused because my internship didn't have much to do with international business, and I wasn't very excited about the health industry either. However, I quickly adapted and loved everything about my internship because my coworkers gave me a lot of responsibility and allowed me to do significant work, which was the most important factor to me. Plus, they sent me to two different business events in Barcelona, including an amazing advertising festival. In fact, this internship made me realize that I want to pursue corporate communications after I graduate college.

CULTURAL IMMERSION + TRAVELING:
CISabroad holds many meetings that help students understand the local culture. They go from classroom orientations to neighborhood tours and sharing a meal afterwards, and even cooking lessons! The amount of activities CISabroad has for students and interns lets you get to know other foreign people, but the onsite -local- staff are so kind that they become your friends, too. In order to get to know more locals, you must really participate in the process. My co-workers, host family, church or other encounters, and other students were gateways to doing this. In addition, my internship schedule was Monday to Thursday from 9-2 pm., which allowed me to explore the city afterwards. I fell in love with Barcelona and its unique culture. There is so much to do, a great transportation system, constant opportunities to meet new people, amazing food, and... the beach: all I need to be happy hehe. Also, since I had long weekends (sometimes used for CISabroad activities, like going to a nearby town), I had the opportunity to travel to other European cities, including cities in Spain, France, Italy, and England. To read my adventures go to: https://theanecdotalistdeb.wordpress.com/

Last advice: research and go for it! CISabroad makes your dream possible :) Good luck!

I loved living in the city of Barcelona because my trip to work took me about thirty minutes which also allowed me to see the city as I traveled into work every day. Public transportation was my means of getting around on a daily basis, walking was also the easiest way and sometimes fastest way to get around the city.
For ten weeks I worked for a Mobile-App Developing company as an Online Marketing Intern. I learned more in those ten weeks as an intern than I ever did in any of my Marketing classes at home in the United States. I was very lucky to work for people who spoke very good English because my Spanish was very poor. They were all so helpful though and they loved teaching me Spanish and they loved having me teach them English. The things I learned and experienced in Spain are things that will stay with me forever.

I had the most amazing time while I was abroad and whenever I hear anyone talking about going abroad I immediately tell them they have to experience it and should definitely do an internship abroad if they dont want to do the whole semester. It was a life changing experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.

This summer I interned abroad though CIS. I cannot imagine doing my interning abroad experience on my own. They were so helpful and se me up with such a wonderful internship as well as homestay. Leading up to my flight, my program coordinator in the US was so helpful and more than willing to answer any questions I had. When I got there, all the onsite staff and activities that they provided us with were amazing. It was a great way to experience a new culture in a "structured" way. I feel as though if I did this whole process on my own, I would have been such a mess and wouldn't have been able to enjoy my abroad experience as much as I did. I could continue to rant on about how stellar of a time I had, but you should all just read all of my other blog posts about my summer in Barcelona. You can get to it by going to the CISAbroad blog and finding vqbarcelona on Wordpress!! (:

I had an incredible experience in Barcelona.
Every day I went to my internship for around 4 hours and, after getting lunch, would spend the rest of the day exploring the city. I highly suggest buying a guide book prior to arriving in Barcelona. This was a GREAT help to me as it suggested particular restaurants and various activities around the city.
CIS also offered a handful of walking tours around the city. I suggest taking advantage of these as it gave me a better idea of the layout of the city. I do wish that these tours had been given at the beginning of my time in Barcelona because I think it would have helped orient me to the city.
Some of the best things I did in Barcelona I found randomly. For example, I really enjoyed watching castell (human tower) competitions. I would definitely suggest to anyone going to Barcelona to explore and branch out from the touristy areas.