Work

Every day I started at 7 am with a tour of the hotel and the restaurant to check if all the rooms were cleaned properly and the restaurant was left tidy in the evening. Also, the tables had to be set for breakfast. I had to ensure a smooth, trouble-free workflow in the hotel and restaurant. The hotel opened a year ago. The team was new and my main task was to observe and evaluate the employee performance. This was not easy as I only had basic Spanish skills. So I had to learn Spanish quickly. Since no one spoke English apart from my boss, I had no choice but to speak Spanish. The hotel had the perfect size to get to know all areas. If necessary, I also helped out in the kitchen, as a waitress or at the reception. I also help with bookkeeping and purchasing. One of my tasks was to test and evaluate the food in the restaurant. That was my favourite task. Every day I was allowed to choose something different from the menu. In August, my boss sent me on a 2-day trip through the area of San José de Chiquitos. This tour was about getting to know the culture, landscape, history and gastronomy of San José. So I travelled with 30 other students from Santa Cruz. I learned how to cook traditional dishes and also got to know traditional dances. Since the hotel is part of this route, my boss then asked me to write an article about this experience for the website.

Experience

Three very nice members of the IAESTE national committee picked me up at the airport in Santa Cruz. We spent the day together in the city. They helped me to get a Bolivian SIM card for my phone and to exchange currency. In the afternoon I was taken to the bus station. There I got to know the owner of the hotel and together we took the bus to San José de Chiquitos. Before I came to San José de Chiquitos for the first time I didn´t know much about this place. First, I noticed the huge sand-coloured church. It is a quiet and very hot place with many sand roads. It seems original and peaceful, people all seem to know each other, chickens and cows run on the streets and the people are very friendly. Close to the hotel was a small hotel called "hotelito". I had my own room with a private bathroom in the hotelito. It was about 3-4 minutes walk away from my work. I enjoyed the peace, cycled through the area, was allowed to use the gym and spent some afternoons at the pool. I enjoyed the evenings with colleagues or hotel guests in the restaurant. I was lucky that I was also able to witness some traditional festivals. In my free time, I also went to Santa Cruz a few times and participated in IAESTE events or had meetings with other students for bowling or similar activities.

Discover

The time in Bolivia was a great experience and I would recommend anyone to do an internship abroad with IAESTE. An internship abroad is the perfect opportunity for personal and professional development. It is also a great way to improve your foreign language skills. Despite the language barrier, all colleagues were patient with me and we had a lot of fun together. Of course, at first, I thought about whether I would be taken seriously as a student in a leadership position. It is a completely different experience if you have always followed work instructions and then you have to give them work instructions to the employees. The IAESTE-Team in Bolivia was great. I was helped in many situations. From little things like money change, to accompany to the doctor when I didn't feel good. It's good to know that you have an organization on-site you can count on. I´m very thankful for the experience.