In May, a group of 18 Polish students with two teachers was hosted by euroMind in Úbeda, to carry out a three weeks-long internship placement. Here, they were working as cooks and farmers.

On the one hand, the farmers’ boys worked in the countryside, some of them on a farm with an orchard and others in an olive crop, and they developed tasks related to their positions but all of them connected with nature and ecology, they were in charge of preparing the land for planting the seeds and taking care of animals such as goats. They worked hard and they learned new agriculture techniques

On the other hand, the cooks (most of them girls) were working in different prestigious restaurants and bars from the city, where they had contact with the Spanish gastronomy preparing tapas and typical dishes such as “empanada de morcilla”, snails, “ochios”, paella…

During their stay in Ubeda, the trainees not only developed their practices, but they also took part in different cultural activities and workshops which allowed them to immerse themselves in the environment of Spanish culture and feel like Spaniards in the city of Ubeda and its surroundings.

They had the possibility to travel around Andalusia region. Their first trip was to Malaga: an international city well known for having a good climate throughout the year, and it is also the city of birth of several famous people such as Antonio Banderas and Picasso. The group visited the historic center of the city and took the first bath of the year under a splendid sun.

The group also had the chance to visit another city in Andalusia – Nerja. There the group visits the famous Balcony of Europa where they admired nice views of the sea and they went directly to take their second bath on Spanish beaches.

The trainees also took part in a tapas night, which was a fantastic opportunity to try the local cuisine in a local bar and to experience an authentic Spanish atmosphere as well as the tapas specialties. Moreover, they took part in a tasting of olive oil workshop where they learned to differentiate different varieties of olive oils depending on their quality. They also discovered Churros with chocolate (the famous sweet breakfast) thanks to a workshop that showed them how to prepare them. Furthermore, they also visited “Sinagoga del agua” in Ubeda, a magical and historical place.

The students have really enjoyed their internship and experiences in Ubeda, and they are sure that it will be useful for both their professional and personal life, and they are grateful for the opportunities that this Euro mobility project will offer them in their future careers.