- My motivation
Since I worked as an au pair in the USA and made many friends with people from different countries there, it has been my dream to travel to other countries and get to know other cultures, and it was very important to me that my degree program required at least one stay abroad and gave me the opportunity to gain further voluntary experience abroad.
My university offers funding programs such as Erasmus or PROMOS: Erasmus or the PROMOS scholarship, both of which I was able to use for my stays abroad.
My university also made me aware of the NICE program, which offers internships in Argentina. I wanted to improve my Spanish and get to know the work culture in an international company, but to be honest I didn't think about Argentina first. However, after taking a closer look at the NICE program and reading the positive experiences about Argentina, I thought to myself: this country will be my next destination. Argentina not only has a beautiful and unique landscape and nature to offer, but also an interesting culture and history that I wanted to get to know.
I finally found an internship in an international trading company in the NICE job advertisements and applied for it. I chose this because I was not only offered the opportunity to apply areas related to my studies, but also to get to know new content. I also wanted to improve my Spanish and learn subject-specific vocabulary.
Even before I was accepted for my internship, I was already thinking about how I could finance my stay. As I had this plan a year in advance, I put aside part of my salary from my part-time student job. I had also applied for BAföG funding abroad, but unfortunately didn't receive it because the authorities didn't want to fund a second stay abroad. So I pinned my hopes on the PROMOS scholarship, which I was lucky enough to receive. So I went to Córdoba, Argentina, in February 2019.
- My internship company DAGRI - Comercio Internacional
The trading company is a small and medium-sized enterprise that operates as a customs broker and logistics forwarder and has a total of 12 employees. The company is located in an office building in the center of the city of Córdoba, where you have to give your name to enter and are checked by a security guard. DAGRI is located on the fourth floor and the office consists of five open spaces: the reception room, administration room, a room for meetings, an area for all export and import employees and the manager's room. The rooms are bright and inviting and always accessible to all employees.
A general description of the company is that it is made up of a flat hierarchy, which is divided into four areas: Management, administration (including finance, accounting and human resources), marketing, export and import procedures. In terms of imported and exported goods, the majority of products fall into the categories of car parts, air navigation systems, food, grain, agricultural machinery and road construction machinery.
The following diagram shows the processes that an import or export operation goes through until it is fully executed and completed by the employees in DAGRI.
3. experience in the company
On my first day at work, I was warmly welcomed by all members of the company with a kiss on the cheek, as is typical here. During my first week, I was introduced to all the key tasks and functions that are important for the import and export business. After that, I was able to get started with my own tasks. Among other things, we have to check the numerous commercial documents and contracts in the company so that the export or import can run smoothly. I also got to know the administrative and financial areas and was able to apply some of the knowledge I had gained at university in practice. As the company acts as a customs broker, I had the opportunity to learn about areas that were not covered in such detail during my studies. This allowed me to expand my knowledge in a new direction, which was very good for me. In addition, I became more confident with the language and was able to make new friends in the company.
What will remain particularly good in my memory are the traditions that are anchored in DAGRI. For example, every employee receives a gift on their birthday, to which everyone contributes financially. In addition, employees have got into the habit of bringing bread rolls, croissants or other sweets every now and then when they come back from vacation or have good news, such as passing an important exam. We also ate lunch together every day and were able to talk about everything and switch off from work for a while. The openness, cooperation and community at DAGRI were also striking. The motto "my door is always open" is consistently enforced in the company and meant that I was always able to ask questions from day one and immediately felt at ease.
4. life in Argentina
Life in Argentina is characterized by constant ups and downs, people are used to the fact that their money is suddenly worth less from one day to the next due to the strong and constantly fluctuating inflation. Nevertheless, they have developed a fighting spirit that keeps them going in these situations. This attitude of some people in Argentina really impressed me and gave me the message that no matter how difficult and hopeless a situation seems, I should always fight for what I want to achieve and set myself.
Sunset in Cordoba I lived in Cordoba, which is the second largest city in Argentina. The city center has beautiful little "plazas" where you can meet up with friends and drink mate, the typical warm drink. There are also various districts with lots of shopping opportunities, bars, restaurants and dance clubs. My favorite district is called "Güemes". It always reminded me of Neustadt in Dresden because every building has its own individual design and every bar is different and some have huge, open courtyards. As soon as you enter a bar, you either hear reggae music or a soccer match is playing. People sit together in large groups and start eating dinner at 11pm.
In Argentina, you get to know new people incredibly quickly; the moment they hear that you're from Germany, they start asking you all sorts of questions. They also tell you that their ancestors came from countries like Spain, Italy or even Germany and that they would love to travel to Europe.
An extremely important ritual is the "asado" in Argentina. In Germany, we would call the "asado" a "grill or barbecue". The Argentinians buy enormous quantities of meat, it almost resembles a whole animal, and then everything is grilled. Every house has its own asado, which you can imagine as a kind of open oven with a grill grid, on which the meat is then grilled. This asado can sometimes last from midday until late in the evening and is always prepared by a large group of family and friends on almost every Sunday.
Fortunately, I had the opportunity to go on a few trips in Argentina on long weekends. For example, I went to Iguazú, a town on the border with Brazil and Paraguay. The famous waterfalls of South America are located there.
Waterfalls of Iguazú It was an incredible and unique trip. The waterfalls were red at the time, due to all the rain that had washed the earth with it. These views are impossible to describe. Moreover, some of the waterfalls were so huge and conveyed a tremendous power and strength. Another unique experience was simply taking a cab across the border to Brazil. I got a stamp in my passport there and when I went back to Argentina on the same day, I was given another stamp. The result was that I suddenly had 90 days more right of residence in Argentina. As soon as you leave Argentina via another country's border and then return to the country, you are automatically given 90 days' right of residence from the start. For this reason, you do not necessarily need to obtain a visa.
When you are in Argentina, you must of course also visit Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is a huge port city with numerous beautiful districts that are very similar to Italy, Spain or even France. In some areas, I felt like I was walking through the streets of Florence. This helped me to feel at home straight away. My favorite neighborhood in this city was definitely Palermo. It consists of unique bars, restaurants, small stores and narrow alleyways. There is also a huge market there every Saturday, where you can find the famous mate cups and the associated "bombillas" (drinking straws) in a wide variety of designs.
Casa Rosa (presidential house) in Buenos Aires 
Palermo district at night 5. conclusion
In my opinion, a stay abroad is the best way to expand your knowledge in a different way. It gives you the opportunity to develop on a professional level as well as on a human level. Experiencing the culture of a foreign country, learning different approaches, making new friends and building networks are probably the most meaningful achievements you can take away from a semester abroad.
Preparations for the semester abroad are crucial. You should be clear some time in advance about how you want to finance such a stay. You should also check ahead of time what you need for the application documents, what insurance or any health precautions need to be taken. All these steps seem overwhelming at first and can be demotivating. However, as soon as you are able to tick them off one by one and get closer to your goal, they no longer seem so complicated. As a result, time flies by and before you know it, the day of departure is upon you. Once you've arrived abroad, all the stressful preparations are quickly forgotten and it's just a matter of enjoying everything to the full. It's definitely worth the effort, as the experiences, adventures and personal development make everything that seemed difficult before seem completely unimportant.
The Sierra outside Cordoba 
Argentine gauchos