Summer Internship in Seville

First, I need to say I love the city of Seville. When it came time to choose a program, I had to pick between Barcelona and Seville, and I ended up choosing Seville because I wanted a truly immersive Spanish experience. I wanted to brush up on my Spanish speaking skills, and people were less likely to speak English in Seville. In addition, I knew about Seville's history with Arabic culture, and I had a strong interest to learn more about it.

However, Seville is not a popular program, so I ended up being the only student. The on site API coordinators were amazing and helpful, so I had no complaints there. However, I was slightly disappointed with my internship placement. I was placed at a startup where I was meant to do marketing for a kids phone app. While I loved my co-workers and their support, I didn't have much to do. I helped them with the initial setup of their product, but there wasn't much for me to do after the second week there. The best experience I had at my internship was my ability to practice my Spanish at the workplace.

As for my living situation, I was placed in an apartment. I was the only one in my program, so I had a room all to myself. There were others in the building, but they were mostly graduate students from other countries. We did talk/hang out every so often. I ended up traveling most weekends and meeting people at hostels/couchsurfing so I can be a bit more social.

Truthfully, I wish I had done a homestay instead, or had the chance to study at the University instead of partaking in an internship. Perhaps I would have been more social otherwise.

While I don't regret my Spanish experience (and I will always choose Seville over Barcelona) I wouldn't recommend this for people who aren't willing to be independent and try new things. Seville isn't as popular as Barcelona or Madrid, but that's exactly why I loved it more than those cities. Seville was a truly an immersive Spanish experience, and that's what made it the best.

This experience made me more confident in my abilities to travel, communicate, and explore. I learned a lot about the world and myself, and while lonely at times, I think it was worth it.