My graduate traineeship at Repostería Valverde

Hey there!

I’ve always been an adventure seeker who believes that true life begins at the end of one’s comfort zone. This point of view made me exploit the Erasmus possibilities twice. Two years ago I decided to spend one semester in Sweden, studying at Dalarna University. Since the experience I gained there was invaluable, I had no doubts to go abroad again. This time I did an Erasmus+ graduate traineeship in Spain.

I was working in a traditional family-owned bakery in a tiny village located between Madrid and Valencia. From the first day I got there, I was treated as a family member and assisted with all sorts of tasks. My main responsibilities were contacting prospective clients, preparing packing slips and helping with the company’s accounting. However, I wasn’t bounded to these tasks only. I was also giving a hand in the company’s shop and working with the customers. Besides all this, I became familiar with the production process: from baking all kinds of delicious pastries, to packing and distributing them to the clients.

I must mention that during my internship I had a great opportunity to improve my language skills. When I first came to Spain, I was pretty shy and didn’t speak Spanish so well. However, after a while I realized that the best (and most of the time the only) way to communicate with people here is to cross the language barrier and speak the local tongue. I must admit that it wasn’t easy in the beginning (the dictionary was my best friend for a while), but after some time I noticed that I became more fluent and felt more confident about my Spanish. So for those who doubt about going abroad because of the language: don’t be afraid! If you are motivated and interested in learning it, you will be fine:)