Donny in Argentina

My story

I had the best time of my life in Argentina. I did a 6-week internship. The Power of Sports arranges everything brilliantly for you. If you need things for yourself or have questions about nice places to eat, or whether you can do something for them, you can always go to them. The hostel where you stay is in a clean, safe and wealthy neighbourhood. . It’s also great that you’re right in the centre, where you’ll find all sorts of things such as: supermarkets, little restaurants, takeaways. You can also easily hail a cheap taxi in the street. From here you can easily get anywhere in and outside Buenos Aires. The sports lessons you give are in different places and in different neighbourhoods. The target group also varies from day to day. The variety makes it fun, so every week feels new again. The support from The Power of Sports is also well organised. You get an internship supervisor and a project supervisor. You see them almost every weekday at your hostel or at the placement in question.

Your project supervisor almost always comes with you to the projects. This is for your safety as an intern, and it’s easier to have them as an interpreter if you don’t speak Spanish. When I went to Argentina, I already knew quite a few words and a few sentences here and there, so I could make myself understood. Even so, together with my travel companion I decided to take extra Spanish lessons at the hostel itself, 2 hours every day for 2 weeks, to learn some basic words/phrases that can come in handy when teaching and in daily life there.

At the weekends you’re free to do whatever you like. For example, I took the boat to Uruguay for a weekend with my fellow student and another Dutch person I met there. I stayed in a hostel in the capital, Montevideo. I also spent a weekend at the Iguaçu waterfalls in Brazil. It felt as if they were one of the 7 wonders of the world too. I’d really recommend going to discover them. Together with my fellow student, I took a helicopter flight over the waterfalls and the Iguaçu National Park. We also did the boat tour that sails through the waterfalls. This is a truly fantastic experience. You’ll never forget it. #YOLO

Buenos Aires is also a great place to go out. There are lots of different nightclubs you can easily get to by taxi. You pay next to nothing for a taxi ride. As a football fan you really have to go to a match in the Argentinian league at least once. I went to 4 different matches myself. Of those, I liked Boca Juniors best, because of the atmosphere around the stadium and everything, really.

I went to Boca Juniors, Racing Club and River Plate. The stadiums here are all incredibly big and the fans are on a different level from Europe. The fans in South America are a lot more exuberant than European fans. The atmosphere is electric. It is hard to get tickets, but with the right connections you can get hold of them safely.

I learnt so much during this internship and made lots of friends. I’m definitely planning to go back within the next 2 years, to see what it’s like then. If you have any questions, you can email or call me. You can ask Ruben from The Power of Sports for my contact details. Don’t be afraid to get in touch; it’s actually fun to share experiences.

How long was your internship?
6 weeks

What advice would you like to give future interns and volunteers?

Enjoy the little things in life. Take the time to let everything sink in. Talk about your experiences with your fellow hostel residents and/or people you meet there.
Keeping a diary can also be quite nice, even if it’s different from when you’re experiencing it yourself at the time. It’s nice to read back what you got up to in the weeks/months you were there. Go on trips within and/or outside Argentina. For example, go to Uruguay or to the Iguaçu waterfalls in Brasil.