After I graduated I gave myself two options; look for work or gain more experience in an
international environment. I focused on the latter and, through my university, got in touch with
AIESEC. They provided me with one of the best experiences so far.
Soon after I applied and was considered suitable my LC coach of AIESEC Tilburg introduced me thoroughly what AIESEC is all about and how the database worked. In the beginning I was looking for a global internship to work for a company. However, the database didn’t contain many (related) internships regarding my field of study Real Estate and it was very hard for me to get a match. Together with my coach I then decided to look for a global community development internship to volunteer. Since the number of global community development internships is much bigger than that of global internships I could narrow my search to my preferred country Brazil, an emerging country in a continent I haven’t been before.
When I was in touch with several LCs in Brazil one of them pointed out a TN which would be more suited for me. The TN described a project called ‘Embaixadores Globais’ in which current global issues are discussed and presented towards Brazilians students and anyone interested. Since it was mentioned that I would work together with five other students all around the world, Portuguese wasn’t necessary and that I would learn more about the issues on a global scale I accepted the TN and applied. That Juiz de Fora, the city in which the internship took place, was only a three hour busdrive from Rio de Janeiro and that there would be at around thirty trainees during that time made the TN even more attractive.
Both my AIESEC coach in The Netherlands and the project coordinator in Brazil were very professional and helped me with any questions. So by the time I went to Brazil in July I knew what to expect and what they would expect from me.
One week before the start of the internship I arrived in Rio de Janeiro and stayed there for a couple of days to visit the city and to get used to some cultural differences. In general, life in Brazil isn't that much different as it is in the Netherlands. However, one of the biggest problems of Brazil is its poverty and especially the favelas which made a great impression on me. Even though I heard stories before and during my stay about mugging I haven’t seen it myself and I felt pretty safe during my stay. One thing that did happen to me and what foreigners should be carefull about is taxi drivers trying to rip you off. But of course, this is not typical of Brazil and apart from being a bit more careful the country has a lot of beautiful sights to offer.
When I arrived at the bus station of Juiz de Fora there even were three people of AIESEC picking me and another trainee up. One of them brought us to our host families. My host family consisted of a mother, her daughter and her son. They were very welcoming and friendly from the beginning and were very helpful with my questions. The only big barrier was the language since I don’t speak Portuguese and most of her family don’t speak English. Luckily the daughter spoke English fairly well and was very helpful to translate. She also gave me a tour around the city in the first couple of days which was very useful for my orientation and let me taste some great food at mobile food stands. When every trainee arrived in the city the project manager contacted us to meet everyone for the first time. The project and its schedule were pretty straightforward in that the project manager mentioned us that in the last week of our internship we had to present for five days and that the weeks before were necessary to discuss, prepare and promote the presentations. The project manager set deadlines in the first couple of weeks to make sure that the five different presentations would be ready on time. How to manage our time in between was up to us which made it easier for us as a group to plan trips to sightsee the country which happened mainly in weekends.
The project group consisted of three more guys from Northern Ireland, Egypt and Bangladesh and two girls from Russia and Pakistan. We were a close group and not only spent a lot of time together inside the city but also visited Ouro Preto, a former colonial mining town, and national park Ibitipoca. In addition to the ‘Embaixadores Globais’-project the project manager asked me and seven other trainees to give a presentation about our home country at a private school where they teach English.
Soon after I applied and was considered suitable my LC coach of AIESEC Tilburg introduced me thoroughly what AIESEC is all about and how the database worked. In the beginning I was looking for a global internship to work for a company. However, the database didn’t contain many (related) internships regarding my field of study Real Estate and it was very hard for me to get a match. Together with my coach I then decided to look for a global community development internship to volunteer. Since the number of global community development internships is much bigger than that of global internships I could narrow my search to my preferred country Brazil, an emerging country in a continent I haven’t been before.
When I was in touch with several LCs in Brazil one of them pointed out a TN which would be more suited for me. The TN described a project called ‘Embaixadores Globais’ in which current global issues are discussed and presented towards Brazilians students and anyone interested. Since it was mentioned that I would work together with five other students all around the world, Portuguese wasn’t necessary and that I would learn more about the issues on a global scale I accepted the TN and applied. That Juiz de Fora, the city in which the internship took place, was only a three hour busdrive from Rio de Janeiro and that there would be at around thirty trainees during that time made the TN even more attractive.
Both my AIESEC coach in The Netherlands and the project coordinator in Brazil were very professional and helped me with any questions. So by the time I went to Brazil in July I knew what to expect and what they would expect from me.
One week before the start of the internship I arrived in Rio de Janeiro and stayed there for a couple of days to visit the city and to get used to some cultural differences. In general, life in Brazil isn't that much different as it is in the Netherlands. However, one of the biggest problems of Brazil is its poverty and especially the favelas which made a great impression on me. Even though I heard stories before and during my stay about mugging I haven’t seen it myself and I felt pretty safe during my stay. One thing that did happen to me and what foreigners should be carefull about is taxi drivers trying to rip you off. But of course, this is not typical of Brazil and apart from being a bit more careful the country has a lot of beautiful sights to offer.
When I arrived at the bus station of Juiz de Fora there even were three people of AIESEC picking me and another trainee up. One of them brought us to our host families. My host family consisted of a mother, her daughter and her son. They were very welcoming and friendly from the beginning and were very helpful with my questions. The only big barrier was the language since I don’t speak Portuguese and most of her family don’t speak English. Luckily the daughter spoke English fairly well and was very helpful to translate. She also gave me a tour around the city in the first couple of days which was very useful for my orientation and let me taste some great food at mobile food stands. When every trainee arrived in the city the project manager contacted us to meet everyone for the first time. The project and its schedule were pretty straightforward in that the project manager mentioned us that in the last week of our internship we had to present for five days and that the weeks before were necessary to discuss, prepare and promote the presentations. The project manager set deadlines in the first couple of weeks to make sure that the five different presentations would be ready on time. How to manage our time in between was up to us which made it easier for us as a group to plan trips to sightsee the country which happened mainly in weekends.
The project group consisted of three more guys from Northern Ireland, Egypt and Bangladesh and two girls from Russia and Pakistan. We were a close group and not only spent a lot of time together inside the city but also visited Ouro Preto, a former colonial mining town, and national park Ibitipoca. In addition to the ‘Embaixadores Globais’-project the project manager asked me and seven other trainees to give a presentation about our home country at a private school where they teach English.
This was very fun to do since I presented to ten Brazilian students in a small room which made it very
intimate. There was great interaction and as requested by the organization I brought and cooked
some typical Dutch food which they really enjoyed.
Since the people from AIESEC in Juiz de Fora like to have a good time as well, they created a Facebookpage to which every trainee was invited and posted activities to meet each other. We met most of the trainees of other projects mainly in weekends and in the last week of our internship when there were a lot of goodbye parties.
A point of critisism towards AIESEC Juiz de Fora would be that they could be more transparant in their communication since it wasn’t always clear to everyone when the next meeting would be and what promoting our project is all about. However, they did surprise me with their punctuality. I heard that Brazilians aren’t that punctual but in most cases the project manager was right on time.
After the internship I visited Ilha Grande, a largely undeveloped island which is known for its scenic beauty, to see more of the country and to have a relaxing end of my amazing internship and time in Brazil.
I really want to thank AIESEC and especially my coach from AIESEC Tilburg and my buddy from AIESEC Juiz de Fora for giving me the opportunity to meet a lot of great people from all around the world, learn from each other and visit beautiful places. The experience even exceeded my expectations and if I had the opportunity I would go on another AIESEC adventure.
Tchau, Nick
Since the people from AIESEC in Juiz de Fora like to have a good time as well, they created a Facebookpage to which every trainee was invited and posted activities to meet each other. We met most of the trainees of other projects mainly in weekends and in the last week of our internship when there were a lot of goodbye parties.
A point of critisism towards AIESEC Juiz de Fora would be that they could be more transparant in their communication since it wasn’t always clear to everyone when the next meeting would be and what promoting our project is all about. However, they did surprise me with their punctuality. I heard that Brazilians aren’t that punctual but in most cases the project manager was right on time.
After the internship I visited Ilha Grande, a largely undeveloped island which is known for its scenic beauty, to see more of the country and to have a relaxing end of my amazing internship and time in Brazil.
I really want to thank AIESEC and especially my coach from AIESEC Tilburg and my buddy from AIESEC Juiz de Fora for giving me the opportunity to meet a lot of great people from all around the world, learn from each other and visit beautiful places. The experience even exceeded my expectations and if I had the opportunity I would go on another AIESEC adventure.
Tchau, Nick
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