#ErasmusPro is the new Erasmus designed to promote long-term professional training experience. Thanks to the APRO Formazione’s project "WAVES - Sail towards your future", Francesca, Carmen and Ludovica lived their #ErasmusPro in Valencia for 6 months, from January to July 2019.

Hola amigos, que tal?

On the 12th of July I, Ludovica and Francesca left "our second city" (Valencia) to return home and then slowly we are recovering our lives from where we left them.

I must admit that during the whole experience this day seemed to be far away, so I was not prepared to leave "my children" in the kindergarten, the teachers, the house, the people I had known during these months, the city and in general my "Valencian life". As soon as I got off the plane, I had the feeling that I was about to start again the life I left on January 12, 2019 (the beginning of my Spanish adventure).

In these 6 months I have been able to test myself from various points of view (such as professional, personal, linguistic, etc.), developing new skills, improving existing ones, discovering new sides of my character, my new strengths, but above all I was able to grow and mature a lot! Certainly at a professional level I have grown a lot, as the internship experience has helped me develop new skills, perfect existing ones (acquired during my school-work experience), meet new people, improve my level of Spanish , to understand the differences between teaching in the Italian and Spanish kindergarten, but also to grow mentally. The tasks that I was entrusted with were more and more loaded with responsibilities, as the teachers knew me more and more, they gained confidence and therefore they left me for example alone to watch over a group of children, to take care of children with of problems and other things.

During this experience I have grown a lot also from a personal point of view. It was in fact my first time abroad and the first time I stayed for so long away from my family. Before leaving there were so many fears, from the smallest (fear of not using the washing machine correctly or getting lost) to the bigger ones (like the fear of not being well in Valencia, of not being able to adapt and therefore living a bad experience, fear of distance from home and so on). I have to say that coming to Valencia and experiencing this Erasmus to the full, these fears have diminished, leaving room for curiosity, the desire to discover a new context and the desire to grow, mature and shape some aspects of my character. Thanks to all the times in which we lost ourselves (because this happened even after a few months haha), the fear of not finding the way home, for example, has disappeared, because thanks to a map, google maps or asking passers-by not only we have always managed to find our way home, but rather we discovered new roads, new places and new corners of Valencia. In these months I have learned simple things, for example to do the washing machine, to live without my parents, to know how to manage money until the end of the month, but also the most important ones, such as not being afraid of new things, adapting quickly to changes, to question myself, to get by on any occasion and many other things.Thanks to this Erasmus experience I have grown mentally, because I had the opportunity to open my vision of the world, I considered some choices for my future that I did not consider before (for example the fact of moving and going to live abroad, looking for work in Valencia, etc ...) and I met several people.I conclude this article by thanking some of the people who have been part of this experience: my Italian tutor Giulia for the opportunity offered, to my Spanish tutor Aleksandra for helping us to live in a positive and constructive way this journey, to my adventure mates Francesca and Ludovica for having lived this important experience with me, for having helped me in some way to grow, for our endless laughter, for our long chats and for the countless moments we spent together that I will always hold in the my heart, to the Spanish teacher Eva for having taught us so many things always with sympathy, fun and sunshine, to the colleagues of CEI Virgen de Cortes for having welcomed me among them and made me feel an integral part of the staff, but also for making me learn different things and to all the people I met and they were part of this wonderful experience!I will surely keep in my heart all the moments I lived in Valencia that made this experience very positive, meaningful and useful to improve myself from various points of view and for my future.With this last article, I greet you and thank you for having read our articles during these months and I hope "SUERTE POR TODO Y BUENA VIDA!"

Greetings from Carmen!