Who am I?

My name is Elsa, and I’m currently interning in the marketing department at Enter Coliving. I’m 20 years old and from Rotterdam. I’m living in Barcelona for six months to complete my internship. I’ve always wanted to do an internship abroad since high school because I saw it as an exciting and educational opportunity.

Last year, when choosing an internship, I quickly decided on Spain, specifically Barcelona, for its vibrant, international atmosphere. This experience would help me learn from diverse cultures, which is valuable for my future career. I found Enter Coliving, applied, and was happy to be accepted. The internship offers a great mix of marketing and content creation, allowing me to explore the city while gaining work experience.

Tips: Currently living  in Barcelona:

I arrived on Friday evening, and my internship was set to start on Monday, so I had the weekend to prepare. I went grocery shopping at Carrefour, a huge supermarket here that has everything you need. I also sorted out my public transport pass. I went to the metro station at Sagrada Familia and got the T-jove pass. With this pass, you can travel all over Barcelona for three months for just €45.

I’m now in my second week of the internship and have been living in Barcelona for nearly two weeks. Living in a new city where I don’t know anyone has been challenging. However, having a daily routine through my internship is helpful. I go to my internship every day around 9 a.m. using public transportation, so I arrive by 9:30. My internship usually lasts until 5 p.m. In Spain, it’s quite normal to have dinner around 9 or 10 p.m., which took some getting used to for me. Because of that, I often explore more of Barcelona after my internship and usually don’t have dinner until around 9:30 p.m.

Since I don’t know many people here, I’ve had to open up and approach others to make new connections. It’s a bit exciting, but it’s also a valuable learning experience, especially since many others are in the same situation and are eager to meet new people. Also for my internship, I often create content at events they organize, this time was Yoga Paddel Surf. Besides enjoying content creation, it’s also a great opportunity for me to meet new people. Last week, they held an event for paddle surf yoga with sunset with people around my age. This Thursday, I’ll be creating content again at an afterwork event at Club Caramel.

By elsa reijtenbag