In October, a group of 20 Polish students with their teachers was hosted by euromind in Seville, to carry out a three weeks-long internship placement. They were working as animal care assistant, administrative assistants, housekeepers, cooks, pastry cooks, veterinary assistants and one student worked as a gardener of a nursery garden.

The trainees doing placements as Veterinary Assistants were tasked with performing simple examinations of animals, feeding and supplying water for the animals, sterilising workplace tools and cleaning and disinfecting cages and work areas (among other responsibilities). Those who were taking part in Gardening placements had tasks such as soil preparation, learning about different types of seeds, making spiral gardens from aromatic plants, installing irrigation equipment and sowing the mandala garden. As demonstrated the trainees had a great number of responsibilities in both placements.

Cooks and pastry cooks were learning about the typical Spanish cuisine and local specialties, performing skilled cooking and food preparation, assisting in coordinating food service activities to have meals prepared at scheduled time, washing and drying kitchen pots/utensils and ensuring their proper storage and observing and testing food to determine if it has been cooked sufficiently, using methods such as tasting, smelling, or piercing it with utensils.

Students working as housekeepers were practicing in a 4-star hotel which was founded in the 16th century and then renovated as the Fontecruz palace. It is located in the centre of Seville. Their main tasks were checking if the rooms have been vacated before cleaning, making beds daily and changing bed linen, vacuuming cleaning carpets, floors, and upholstery, cleaning bathrooms and supplying fresh towels and toiletries and checking and restocking tea, coffee, sugar, milk, and mini-bar supplies.

Additionally, the group were able to experience a few exciting activities in Seville when they weren’t hard at work on their placements. The first of these was a tour of Seville which was run by a member of the euromind team. The group were shown some of the most important and interesting landmarks in Seville, and their historical and artistic backgrounds.

The students were also lucky enough to visit three other important Andalusian cities: Cadiz, Granada and Malaga. They were also able to participate in the Tapas Night which was a wonderful opportunity to taste the local cuisine and have lots of fun. Tapas are small portions of various types of typical Spanish food served with a drink. They were taken to a local bar and let them experience a little bit of the typically Spanish socialable atmosphere while tasting some Andalusian specialties. The tapas night was located in the most relaxed place in the whole city, where all young people from the city tend to spend their free time.

After a busy 3 weeks, everyone in the group was very proud of what they had achieved. As well as having an unforgettable cultural experience, the students developed skills that will help them in their future careers.