Maureen, how was your internship?

Time flies! My internship at Andalucia Tours and Discovery is over now. In this blog, I will look back on my stay in Seville and the things that I have learned during my placement at ATD Spain.

The first six weeks were amazing, I've learned so much! In the beginning, I was very nervous to give the bike tours, but little by little I became more confident and less nervous. I think I really will be less nervous about giving a presentation now. I’ve also learned how it is to maintain the social media platforms for a company, it’s a lot different than doing it for your personal social media accounts.

Unfortunately, after these six amazing weeks, the other weeks of my internship turned out completely different from what I expected. I expected to live for five months with my boyfriend in Seville, giving bike tours in the city and doing all my tasks at the office in the ATD bicycle shop. I expected to travel to other cities in Spain, learning the Spanish language, and experience the Spanish/Andalusian culture. I have done all these things, which was amazing! But after six weeks, everything changed due to the coronavirus…

At first, we decided to stay in Seville, because we were optimistic and thought after 4 weeks everything would be normal again, but they kept extending the lockdown. We stayed positive, but at the end of April, we decided to go home, because, honestly, it doesn't make a change working from home in Seville or working from home in the Netherlands. The last two weeks of our stay in Seville were much better than expected, the rules had been relaxed and we were able to walk through the city and enjoy our last days in Seville.

I really want to thank ATD Spain for the guidance throughout my internship, but also because of the fact that it was possible to finish my internship from home in the Netherlands during this crazy time.

Un saludo,
Maureen