I’m Aurora, a 24-year-old girl who has always been passionate about foreign languages, cultures and literatures. My passion for travelling developed when I was in middle school and I went on a trip to Folkestone, UK. For the first time I lived in a house with a foreign family and got to experience another culture and practice the language I was studying at school. From that moment, I became more and more curious and willing to go on other study trips, so I spent my summers going to different countries to study languages and get in touch with people from all around the world. I then went to university to study foreign languages and literatures with a master’s program in publishing and another course in digital marketing and social media.
After finishing university, I was feeling a bit confused as to what I wanted to do. I did not know what my “dream job” was. I only knew that my desire was to be surrounded by books in an environment that would allow me to keep practising foreign languages. My university only offered internships in Milan, but I knew that I needed a more colourful environment and I still had the desire to connect with people from different countries. This Erasmus program, thus, seemed the perfect opportunity to gain hands-on experience and broaden my perspective. What is more, a friend of mine had already participated and talked about it with a lot of enthusiasm.
So here I am, in Barcelona at La Piccola llibreria italiana. I have already been here for two weeks and it is incredible. The moment I landed, a mix of excitement and a bit of nervousness filled me. After months of planning, this was the beginning of my EYE experience. The first few days were all about getting to know Alexandra, the owner of the bookshop, and the surroundings. She warmly welcomed me and made me feel part of the team. I spent the initial days understanding the operations and the relationship with the clients. La Piccola is not only a place where people can go and buy Italian books, but also a meeting spot for the Italian community, as it is located near the Italian schools of Barcelona. A lot of children come to the bookshop after school to meet up with their friends and look at the books together. I love seeing their enthusiasm towards books and their passion in choosing their next one.
By the end of the first week, after meeting other collaborators of the bookshop, I started to feel more comfortable and my host entrepreneur encouraged me to take initiative, which boosted my confidence.
During the second week, I started to plan contents for the Instagram page of the bookshop in order to promote language courses and activities organised by Alexandra herself and her collaborators. Alexandra gave me freedom to experiment, trusting my creativity and she helped me with the language barrier. Even though the bookshop sells Italian books, the language of communication with non-Italian customers is mainly Catalan.
As my second week is coming to an end, I can already see how much I can grow and learn both about the business and myself.
Looking ahead, I am eager to challenge myself with new tasks, keeping a positive mindset in order to gain a clearer vision. The program has already proven to be an invaluable experience, allowing me to meet Italian expats living and working here and people with a deep cultural background and a lot of great ideas for activities to organise together at the bookshop.
