IAESTE Ecuador Johannes Bender 28/09/2015 1

IAESTE Ecuador
Johannes Bender
28/09/2015
Internship Report – Ecuador 2015
Hola a todos!
I had the pleasure to be elected for an internship in Quito, Ecuador this summer. After I applied for the
offer, I’ve seen at the IAESTE-webpage of my country that it didn’t take long to get the confirmation
from the committees and my future company. At this point, all I knew about the internship was that a
medium sized catering-business is looking for an industrial engineering student for the improvement
of quality standards and logistics in the area of food service. Good English skills required. It sounded
quite interesting although in my mind I already imagined my upcoming summer: myself doing the
dishes in some small kitchen somewhere in the vague country of Ecuador, “helping improving the
quality”. Fortunately it came totally different and I had one of the best summers of my life. But I’ll
continue on this later.
First impressions
After a bumpy 40 hours flight and a wild night at Miami Beach, I landed at the Mariscal Sucre airport
in Quito, where an IAESTE-alumnus was already awaiting me. He was very friendly and drove me to my
accommodation in Northern Quito, explained a lot about the Ecuadorian life and his experiences with
the organization. The next day he would show me the way to my workplace as well. I really appreciated
his guidance since the bus system in Quito is quite complex for the ignorant (and also local people as I
found out later).
I shared the apartment with five other students, all of them IAESTE or former IAESTE students who
continued to work in Ecuador after their internship.
My room was a cozy little chamber behind the kitchen without window and a tiny bed. Not to fancy,
but for two months it was quite sufficient. Especially the daily smell of scrambled eggs and coffee that
came crawling through my door sill every morning was quite useful to get started in the day. The rest
of the house was really nice, particularly the little garden and roof terrace spread a Mediterranean
flair.
On my first night my colleagues had a little party and I got to know the whole IAESTE community which
would accompany me during my stay in Ecuador. I never expected so many people doing a technical
internship in such a small country as Ecuador. Lots of names and nationalities to remember that first
night!
Quito is with 2850 m (9350 ft) officially the highest capital in the world and it took some time to get
used to the altitude. Especially the way home was a challenge in the first days because I had to walk
up a small hill. When an elderly lady packed with groceries and a gallon of water passed me in a fast
pace I felt like an old man. But after one week these problems faded and I was almost able to catch up
the local people.
Land and People
Ecuador is a country of many shades and colors. Not only geographically – it divides into coast region,
the Andes, the Amazonas rainforest and the Galapagos Islands – but also politically and culturally there
are many differences. Most of it revealed to me in the course of time during my internship when I was
talking to my friends and colleagues from work about daily things and their political attitude. On the
one hand people are quite patriotic and favor their country and on the other hand there are many
economic and social problems. In the last couple of years some things like health care and employment
rate improved but there are still a lot of unsolved problems. Especially the situation that Ecuador’s
economy is primary based on the petroleum production puts a lot of pressure on the nation since the
economy is very dependent on the global demand and supply. Besides this there are still corruption
and criminality happening on a daily basis. Many people are aware of the difficulties and want some
new impulses in politics. Several times during my stay they showed their displeasure with protests
against the government.
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IAESTE Ecuador
Eruption of Cotopaxi in 08/15
Johannes Bender
28/09/2015
The landscape around Quito is astonishing. It is surrounded by many
volcanos, some of them are still active. Especially one volcano made
the news several times in the last months: Cotopaxi, 5900m, started
erupting again after 75 years of silence. It is a potential threat to a
huge area because the glacier on the summit could melt and result in
a huge flooding. Therefore the officials treated this subject quite
serious. At my company we even had an emergency briefing by the
firemen, to inform about the situation and show us the escape routes
in case of a severe eruption. For me this was all new and exciting, but
most Quitoneans were still pretty relaxed and seemed to be familiar
with this kind of danger couching in their neighborhood. Nevertheless
it was impressive to see the rising ash on the skyline of Quito. I have
to add I climbed this volcano two weeks prior to the first eruption and
it really sharpened my senses on how fragile and vivid our earth
actually is.
Internship
When I arrived at work on my first day I had a warm welcome by my boss and the staff of the Quality,
Health, Security, Environment department (QHSE). In the first five minutes I learned that Spanish,
contrary to the IAESTE-preinformation, definitely would have been required for this internship as only
one person in the company talked English besides my boss! They also expected me to talk Spanish, but
after this short confusion we all adapted to the situation very quickly and continued with a tour around
the company area.
In total the company has over 800 employees and many clients in the oil production and banking
business mostly in the Amazonas region. Every day there are trucks being loaded with fresh food and
beverages for the oil rigs. The food processing is one of the biggest parts of the company and I was
impressed by the precautions and hygienic procedures that were applied.
I shared my office with three colleagues of the buying and accounting department. None of them was
speaking English, but still we had a lot of fun and with the time were able to communicate more and
more.
One of the major benefits of working for a catering company is definitely the good food provided for
the employees. Every day we had a decent three-course-lunch with typical Ecuadorian food. On this
way I discovered a lot about local food and its tradition.
My field of work was very diverse and consisted primarily of the daily revision of the food-processing
area, where I looked after the compliance of health and security standards. Also I continuously took
samples of food, water and work surfaces to ensure the cleanliness and quality of products. Together
with one of my colleagues of the QHSE department I visited customers and reviewed our services for
them.
My further field of work compromised the inspection of the company’s trucks regarding security
concerns and technical roadworthiness. In addition I helped with the development of a booklet with
standardized work-instructions for new employees. In another project I analyzed the development of
heat dispersion in the kitchen to provide some information about the effect of heat on the floor and
environment. There was always something to do and I could develop my projects self-dependent and
always ask for help.
For me it was exciting and at the same time strange, because I had to check and control the work of
people and tell them if something wasn’t right. Quite a challenge with little Spanish skills and
sometimes we had a good laugh because of misunderstandings. In general all people at work, from
manager to dishwasher, were always very patient and cooperative with me and also curious about my
life back in Europe.
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IAESTE Ecuador
Johannes Bender
28/09/2015
I really enjoyed the familiar atmosphere in the company
and especially with my QHSE colleagues who helped me
with everything and made me feel welcomed all the time.
Many times we drank coffee, ate fresh fruits together or
celebrated birthdays.
There was also the possibility to be part of the “equipo de
la empresa”, the football team of the company, which
practiced once a week. It was quite exhausting but also
nice to meet the colleagues outside of their office.
I also recall one night when we went to a salsa bar in Quito
with the company staff and literally everyone was dancing
right away without the need of alcohol. I’ve never seen a
company party like this in Austria.
Everyday Life
It’s interesting how easily you can adapt a different lifestyle and feel home in a foreign environment so
quickly. It took me about two weeks two discover most of the surroundings in my neighborhood, check
out several grocery shops and finally settle in. The daily routine of working was helping a lot to get
structure in the day and the constant overburden due to the lack of Spanish was keeping me busy all
day. There was always something to learn about the language and culture and luckily I was able to fill
every free minute during my internship with it.
My daily working routine more or less looked like this:
Every morning I got up at 6 am to have a cold (or really hot, almost like lottery) shower and catch my
bus to work. Since the company is located in a smaller village outside of Quito and difficult to reach by
public buses, the company provided a shuttle just for the employees. The remaining day I would spent
at the area of the company until we returned to Quito in the evening. Usually I just arrived in time to
enjoy the sunset in our little garden. Because Ecuador is equatorial the sun always sets around 6.30
pm. At this time my flatmates were already home cooking and open for some conversation.
We talked and laughed a lot, shared our experiences of the day and were busy making plans for the
night and upcoming weekends.
We were all very eager to discover new places and usually traveled all over the country during the
weekends. A really nice balance to the work on weekdays.
Additionally I took myself the time to travel one month following my internship. A really good choice
that I would recommend to everyone. I had breakfast with a tarantula in the Amazonas rainforest and
went swimming with sea lions and turtles at the Galapagos Islands. After this I understood the
campaign of the Ecuadorian ministry of tourism: All you need is Ecuador!
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IAESTE Ecuador
Johannes Bender
28/09/2015
In retrospect I have to say that I’m glad I took this opportunity to do an internship in a foreign country
like Ecuador. I enjoyed my time in Quito and the people I met. I learned a lot in these three months.
Not so much from a professional point of view rather than about the people and the different culture.
Also I learned a lot about myself and my abilities to interact with people. It really pushes your selfesteem when you start to understand and speak a language you are not familiar with.
I can solemnly recommend every student to do an internship like this. Especially when it’s not part of
your curriculum like in many technical studies. Maybe it’ll put things in a new perspective for you. You
won’t regret it!
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