VIE+W | My love for international relations and the European Union

Hi! My name is Marta and I come from Padua in the North-East of Italy. I really like my region since, from a geographical point of view, it has everything: mountains, hills, lake, rivers, and the sea.

After the high school years, in which I studied economy and obtained a chartered accountant qualification, I decided to go to the university. I enrolled in a private university in Padua called CIELS, in a degree called language mediation for international and diplomatic organizations.

During these three years, I was able to improve my language skills in English and French and to study topics like international law, contemporary history and diplomacy. During the first semester of my third (and last) year, I went to Mons, in the Wallonian part of Belgium, for my Erasmus. I loved living there. The city was not at all big, so you could walk everywhere and it had this nordic vibe with these typical Belgian brick houses that I love. Moreover, I loved the multicultural atmosphere Belgium has and the fact that you can easily travel across all countries. I think that my favourite Belgian city was Bruges (or Brugge in Flemish), it’s really a medieval jewel. If you have never been there you should go.

After my bachelor degree with a thesis on the translation of comic books, I started working as a language tutor, teaching English and French to those students (both young and adult) wanting to obtain a diploma. At the same time I have also translated two comic books (The Shepherd and The Last Hunt) from English to Italian.

My love for international relations and the European Union has led me to enroll to a Master degree on European and Global Studies at the Università di Padova, a master degree completely taught in English and focused on the understanding of the European Union and its institutions. In the future, I would like to work in an international environment, preferably in the EU.

I decided to do my internship here, at ICDET, because it is an NGO working with the EU and with trainees coming from everywhere and because I had never been to an eastern country and I wanted to know it. Unfortunately, I will be here only for two months, but I will do my best to learn as much as I can.

I am currently working in the Project Development department since it is about what I have studied in my Master degree. I hope I will develop some interesting projects!

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Marta Bragagnolo, intern@ICDET

LIFE+ | Indian engineer in Bulgaria

I am Akash Kambampati pursuing my master’s in Aerospace engineering at Sapienza-University of Rome.

My interest in management brought me to ICDET organisation in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria through the Erasmus program. Upon my arrival at the airport of Sofia, I was received by one of the associates of the organisation who helped me to reach my accommodation and make me meet my manager who also made a warm welcome for me and also, they even made sure to get my basic groceries from the nearby supermarket where I find it difficult to get at new place with new language and culture. This was a sweet gesture by the organisation which made me less worried at a new place.

The place where I was accommodated has a kitchen with a private bathroom and the ambience is peaceful with a nearby metro-station, mall, supermarket, and beautiful park with a lake which makes it a perfect accommodation for new people.

The first 3 days are my on-arrival training days where I will get introduced to my work in internship, but after that I was ready for some exploring.

It was cloudy, perfect weather for a tourist to explore a place in my opinion and being one I thought it would be a great day for us to explore the city of Sofia. My friend and I got ready and started from the place by taking a one-day transport pass which costed us 4 leva each.

We took a metro from Druzhba to Serdika, walking through the beautiful streets of the city we reached “St. Geogre Rotonda”, surrounded by the modern buildings the church was preserved at the center. St. George Rotonda church is cylindrical domed structure built on a square base with frescoes inside the central dome was built in early 4th century which makes it the oldest building in Sofia.

And from there we took the streets to walk into the city garden where you can also find “Ivan Vazov” national performing arts theatre facing towards garden. This cultural theatre was opened in 1907 that makes the theatre almost 113 years old and has gold finishing on the sculptures of the theatre which strikes at instant look even from a certain distance.

After having a pleasant lunch from an Indian restaurant our next stop is the most iconic Bulgarian iconic church in Sofia, “Cathedral St. Aleksandar Nevski”, which is a Patriarchal Cathedral Stauropigial Memorial-Church.

Since it is not possible to visit all the landmark places of Sofia in one day we left some more places to visit on an another day. By the end of the day we are tired but enjoyed the beauty and culture of the city. The interaction with the other interns and colleagues during the work and my free time made me feel comfortable which happened because of their kind and welcoming behaviors, I feel.

These are my first impressions and on-arrival experience after coming to Sofia.

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Akash Kambampati, intern@ICDET

MOVIE+S | Erasmus+ : Through The Eyes Of An Intern

Hello from ICDETv! Here's story through the eyes of our Greek intern - Υρώ Λυκάκη! Going abroad for an internship is the perfect opportunity not only to strengthen your CV, but also to improve your social skills while learning how to become more independent. You won’t be alone - you will meet others like you, of similar age and interests, coming from all around the world. You will also get the chance to discover more about the daily life of the locals and practice the local language. Through an internship, you can take your studies to the next level and practice what you have learned. It is the best way to start your career, or just to test the waters in the field which interests you. So don't be afraid to apply! Enjoy the video and stay tuned for more new thing from us! :)