The Light at the End of the Tunnel

There usually is one, it just takes a long time coming.

For most of us, this past week was a long, dark tunnel with no end in sight.  As mentioned previously, the Intensive Spanish course, midterms and interviews in Spanish kept us from truly enjoying beautiful Sevilla.  Well, there’s nothing better than ending the week with a high-note Friday. 

That Spanish midterm, not as bad as I thought it would be.  Most of my class felt the same way.  And I FINALLY got my internship placement call.  To my surprise, I was preferenced by three companies: Pampling: a start-up, online clothing company based out of Sevilla, Vorsevi: an international engineering and consulting firm, and Ghenova: a multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm.  After narrowing it down to the two engineering/consulting firms, I decided to intern with Vorsevi. 

While both firms were compatible in sector, internship opportunity and company size, Vorsevi stood apart because of its establishment in Spanish, Portugal, Morocco, Mexico and surprisingly the United States.  It never hurts to have another successful company in my back pocket when back in the states (JK, I love you Wrigley).  I am both nervous and excited to start my internship in a few weeks and hope that my experiences will not only improve my language skills, but also give me a better understanding of business etiquettes in Spain.

Adding to this good-news-Friday, our program took us on a tour of La Catedral, the third largest church in the world, after St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City and Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil.  La Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede, a dedication to the Virgin Mary, was initially a Mosque during the 12^th Century, when the Moors were in power.  Renovated with breathtaking, Gothic styles and elaborate paintings, jewels and sculptures representing the Reconquista, La Catedral preserves La Giralda, the only feature of the once Almohad Mosque.   Yet another great historical experience in Sevilla!

To top off what was an excellent weekend, we celebrated RJ’s 20^th Birthday (the baby of the group) in great style! Once again, the students were in high spirits as smiles and laughter filled the night!

A friendly reminder to my fellow colleagues in Sevilla, as we enter yet another challenging week: “The night is darkest just before dawn.” When you think things couldn’t get any worse, I promise you, everything takes a turn for the better.