Week 3 of My Internship at La Casa de las Vides

Hi everybody,

It is now the third week in Valencia, Spain and at Las Casa de las Vides. Until now, I’ve been primarily working for Emilio, while he was abroad. As I mentioned before, I didn’t know anything about wine, and in this three weeks, I’ve learned a lot more than I’ve ever imagined. I am not an expert (yet), but at the end of the internship, I think I will feel well educated. And when I go back to the Netherlands, I can advice my family at home about wine!

During my day, I research various importer sites in order to create a comprehensive database. As a result, I learned a lot about the wine regions in Spain and the history of one. I didn’t know that Spain is one of the biggest wine producers in the world and that they were able to produce high quality wines at a very rapid pace historically speaking.

It is not only the work that is new for, but it is all new for me. The country is new, the culture, the city and it is the first time I lived on my one. In the Netherlands, I still live with my parents and brother, but now I am all alone. It was all new, but I am used to it and am starting to like it - even to cook and do the laundry.

The language is also new for me, and I try to learn it, but it is very hard. Harder than I expected, because Spaniards talk very fast and that makes it hard for me to understand. But I learn some Spanish words and I try to speak it, so at the end of my internship, I will be able to converse a little.

Ontinyent is a nice little city nearby the winery where I live. In the beginning, I didn’t know anybody, but now I have met more people and they are all very nice and kind! So I am not lonely on the weekends.

Last Saturday I visited Valencia with a friend from the Netherlands who is also in Spain for an internship. She came over to my place and we went to Valencia city, which is a beautiful and huge city. I definitely want to go again, because there is no way you can see it all in one day. Marieke (the friend from Holland) likes to shop, and we have seen a lot of shops, including “Zara”, which is very popular here. The next time I want to see more about the city, like historical landmarks and new architecture. There is much more to see in this area, so I trust that I won’t be bored.

If I have new experiences you will hear it.

Kind regards,

Sjoerd Heijkoop