Intensive Internship Experience in Barcelona

Traveling gives you everything you need but nothing you want. It answers your questions but not the ones you originally asked. I know reverse culture shock; I know it well and every time I arrive home from a major trip I start to doubt everything I know. I go through my closet and throw out clothes that I wouldn't wear abroad. I go to the grocery store and choose ingredients that remind me of the shelves in Spain. My circumstance was a little different than most of my travel companions. I never had the chance to study abroad in college. That was a luxury that I couldn't afford. Not at 21 anyway. I always wanted to live abroad. A boyfriend and I always joked about moving to Chile for a summer. I'd work at a coffee shop and learn Spanish. He would fix up his mom's house and we'd have the adventure of a lifetime. As the story goes, we broke it off and our plans of moving dissolved. Flash forward a year later, September 2017, just graduated college, bartending and still heartbroken. I knew I needed more. I just didn't know what of. More freedom, more adventure, more challenges? I googled my options, researched grad schools in London, volunteer programs in South America and after a week of contemplation I submitted my application for CISabroad's internship abroad program. Despite my excitement, my peers and community had mixed views and a lot of doubts about my moving to Spain, and they were not afraid to be verbal about it. No one understood the point of me spending money to work somewhere without pay, no one understood why I was leaving my very lucrative job bartending for an internship, after I already graduated. I didn't know how to communicate with them that I knew there was a void in my life and I needed a change. Those who were excited for me, told me they hope I meet a Spanish man, one I can marry and have a wonderful life with. I always replied, “That would be awesome, but honestly I’m not going to find a man, I’m going to find myself.” I never thought that statement would hold so much truth.

After three months, long walks through the gothic quarter, a job that reminded me that passion gets you farther than practicalness and copious amounts of tapas, I found what I was looking for. My life will never be the same post Spain, but I couldn't be more proud of my new-found self. I did it, I lived and worked abroad, I feel as though I can do almost anything. Of course, some days I long for café con leches in the mid-morning and vermuterías on every passing corner in Eixample. I wish all cities in Europe and the United States were as walkable as Barcelona; where the art, the love, the color of the city makes you want to stop in your tracks and just look up and take it all in. Barcelona will without a doubt be one of the best chapters of my life. But I am so excited to see what rivals it.

My advice to anyone thinking about traveling, studying abroad, working abroad etc. is, travel hurts, it pulls you a part, confuses you and convinces you to doubt everything you know. Slowly but surely you discover new pieces of yourself you never knew existed and eventually those parts of you (old and new) are put back together. You are forever changed, and as hard and stressful as it was, you come back home with the urge, the want, the need to do it all over again.

I knew no one going into the experience. I traveled alone and didn’t meet anyone from the program until I got to Barcelona. I ended up becoming great friends with a lot of people and a lot of stay in touch through our groupme chat called “Carrer Ample Squad” - the street where some of us stayed. Personally I really enjoyed my internship experience. I worked with locals and really felt like I was contributing to their company and an proud to have gotten to know them. As recently as last week I was in touch with one of my old coworkers and reminded her that it had been a year since my first day there! The program and its staff was great. They provided events for us but also gave us a lot of space to do our own thing, they were awesome!

The CIS Abroad Internship in Barcelona program was absolutely phenomenal. The CISAbroad team was extremely helpful, friendly, and accommodating. They helped us get prepare for the trip and embark on the trip by thinking of anything we might need or problems that may arise in advance. They were also always available if we needed any help or had questions about the city. They were prepared, knowledgeable, and nice.

Living in another country for 6-9 weeks is pretty life changing. You get to be completely immersed in new culture, improve your language skills, make unforgettable memories, eat great food, make amazing friends, and of course gain professional experiencing by interning. Our internship group is now a group of lifelong friends that still occasionally meets up to have dinner and catch up.

Interviewers have asked me about my internship abroad experience and I think it's quite valuable to be able to say that you worked in a foreign country for a foreign company and have that experience under your belt. It's something on your resume that really stands out.

I'd strongly recommend this program if you have time to do fit it into your schedule. It's a great alternative to an entire semester studying abroad which an experience that is arguably more valuable since you gain professional experience.

CIS Abroad provided me with the opportunity to go overseas post-undergrad. I graduated from Texas A&M University in December 2015 with a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology and English minor. I had been working full-time for almost a year after I graduated college but felt stifled and unfulfilled. I was in the process of applying to law school and sensed I needed to truly isolate myself in order to determine if I was making the best decision for my future. I've always wanted to learn Spanish and felt the only way to do so would be to immerse myself in the culture. I've always had an affinity for Barcelona and had traveled there in the past so CIS Abroad was a dream come true. I received an internship tailored towards my unique interests and skills. I always had a passion for fashion and was afforded to opportunity complete a fashion marketing internship where I gained invaluable insight into the start-up community in Barcelona. As an intern at Lumumba Fashion Company I Collaborated with marketing and design team to develop content strategy aligned with marketing targets; created and published engaging content and edited and improved other writers’ content; and conducted research to assist clients with product branding and differentiating. I am currently a second year law student at Pepperdine University and I know that my internship experience has contributed to my success and versatility in the legal profession.
I was also afforded the opportunity to take Spanish courses that were instrumental helping me learn the language. I loved the classroom atmosphere and the commitment to my success.
Most importantly I met the most amazing group of people through the CIS Abroad program. I formed a family with strangers and explored Barcelona and beyond. Every day was a new adventure and I truly thank God for such an amazing experience.

The two months that I spent in Barcelona were two months that I will never forget. They were packed full of interesting and new experiences that I would not have been able to get otherwise. CISAbroad had good lines of contact to their students in the program, but sometimes fell short with communicating with their internship placement supervisors. My internship experience was just that, a simple job that helped me gain semi-professional work experience, but didn't match exactly what I want to do in the future. The housing provided was sufficient, although sharing a closet-sized room with a stranger was difficult at first, you learn to adapt accordingly. The location was prime, that being right by La Sagrada Familia and steps away from bus stops and the metro. One thing that everyone needs to do who is going abroad in Barcelona is to explore. Know every inch of the city! This will make more a much more enjoyable experience for you and your new friends! Take advantage of all the program has to offer, but don't be afraid to go out on your own. My roommates and I became super close by traveling all around Europe together on our trips separate from the program. You are too close to so many other amazing places that you shouldn't pass the opportunity to get there by a plane, a train, or any other form of transportation! I would recommend this program to anyone who is thinking of studying/doing an internship abroad.

I was in Barcelona for 10 weeks in the summer of 2017. While there, I interned for a real estate technology startup called Nested. Nested is an online co-working marketplace that seeks to match unused office space with users who want flexible workspace. My bosses, Tomaso and Jordi, were great guys. I am embarrassed to say that I am not a fluent Spanish speaker and did not improve as much as I thought I might, but that did not stop me from developing great relationships in the office. Everyone was very patient with me and made sure that I understood what I needed to be doing. I worked M-Th, typically from around 10am-6pm, but they were always gracious enough to let me leave early if I needed to (usually to catch a Thursday afternoon flight).

And then there was the out of office experience. I loved my apartment on Career Ample. The program housed all of the guys in the program in three apartments one floor after the next, which was a great way to make friends with everyone. We were close to the beach and public transportation (I had about a 30 minute subway commute to work). Being based in the same city for 10 weeks gave me ample time to explore everything the city had to offer. I can now say with certainty that Barcelona is my favorite city in the world. My biggest tip is that even though you will sometimes be tired, try and do something everyday that you are in Barca. Once you are gone you will wish you can go back!

Barcelona is straight-up amazing, but the "cherry-on-top" of my summer was that I had the opportunity to travel pretty extensively on the weekends. There are great (and cheap, by American standards) direct flights out of the BCN airport, and there was even a week I booked a Thursday flight that Monday for a reasonable price. I ran in the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, hung out on the beaches of Nice and the casinos of Monte Carlo (quick uber ride), explored the charm and quirkiness of Prague, was floored by the natural splendor (and skydiving) in Interlaken, and took in everything that Amsterdam had to offer (c'mon, I'm talking about the Van Gough museum). And even with all of that, I think my favorite weekend was when we stayed in Barca for La Nit de San Joan, where we shot fireworks on the beach with our local friends and partied all night.

Throughout all of this fun and activity, the CIS Abroad team was right there to provide support whenever needed. I had multiple team member phone numbers that I knew I could call, both in case of emergency or if I just had questions. One memory I have of them being a huge help was when I ordered a mattress pad. I'm a pretty big guy and the one in the apartment wasn't cutting it (trust me, there will be something that doesn't work out for you while you're over there, its no biggie). So after about a week, I decided to do something about it and order a bigger one on Amazon.es. However I knew that I couldn't order it to my apartment because it would likely get left on the front step of a very busy street. When I called up CIS they were more than happy to tell me to have it shipped to their office so they could hold it for me. I was able to pick it up after work one day, and (after lugging it through the subway and up my stairs) slept great for the rest of my stay.

If you've actually read this far, and are on the fence about going abroad, let me just give you one final piece of advice: GO!!! My Barcelona internship experience constituted the greatest 10 weeks of my life and condensed many years' worth of experiences and friendships into a summer. If you need proof, I wasn't planning on writing more than a paragraph in this review and look what happened above. The memories are almost literally overwhelming. I will cherish the summer I spent in Barcelona forever!