Introducing: Corien van den Brandeler Nationality: Dutch Age: 23 years old Study: Psychology In Colombia for: 3 month
Interests: besides learning about new cultures and learning other languages, I like to play field hockey, sail, sky, and snowboard.
Why Colombia: because I wanted to go to a place where I never had been before. Since I never had been to a country in South America, Colombia took my interests. I liked the description of the internship so much that I decided to send a motivation letter. Not long after this I got an invitation to for an interview.
When I first told my parents about my plan, their reaction was not as positive as I hoped for. But when I talked to them a few days later, they changed their opinions. And when they brought me to the airport they were very positive about the country. They invested a lot in updated information.
So far: My first impression of Colombia and especially Medellin is very good. But it is completely different from home. In the first week there was on every corner!
What I noticed: People are more relaxed, they don’ t look stressed at all. The weather is great! It is so much better than the cold winter which I escaped. My cold is also over! Traffic is crazy, it is one big chaos. People are very fond on a good appearance. There are places where you can work-out for free everyday, all over the city. My overall impression is that Medellin is a great city, where you can do a lot of fun things and where the people are very friendly.