Virtual Internships Abroad Navigating Latin America From My Bedroom

As I near the end of my time with Almado as a Business Analyst, I am cherishing every moment with my wonderful colleagues. After an abroad semester at the University of Barcelona which abruptly cut short in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I am immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to further my vocational trajectory and continue Spanish language immersion through my remote internship.

Almado, a social impact consulting firm that works for large clients in Argentina and other countries, has been the perfect fit for me due to my desire to gain professional experience in Latin America and work at the intersection of the public and private sectors. I have learned so much about the cities and countries in which Almado has executed its people-centric approach in order to sustainably alleviate poverty. In particular, I enjoyed gaining insights into the significance of the informal economy in several regions. While informality is rarely considered in the context of the United States, it constitutes the backbone of the livelihoods of many individuals living in the local communities I examined. Therefore, I had to adapt my financial modeling skills by considering how formalization (or the lack thereof) affects cash flows at the municipal level. The act of researching itself was also a global experience; I examined international precedents for the types of projects undertaken by Almado in South America, and I learned to navigate Chilean archives and databases of statistics.

Further, I have viewed this internship experience as a test of my Spanish fluency. After six years of learning Spanish and taking all my courses in the language while in Barcelona, I was excited to apply my skills to a professional context for the first time. My daily meetings, deliverables, and presentations were all conducted in Spanish; I have bolstered my confidence in communicating formally in the language through every interaction with coworkers, supervisors, and clients. Even team bonding activities were a chance for me to grow, as my wonderful co-intern Aarya Patel (W’23) and I led firm-wide knowledge sharing sessions on entrepreneurship and on Indian culture.

My internship at Almado has been so rewarding because of the company’s mission, flat organizational structure, and abundance of employees who take hours of their time to mentor me. In particular, my supervisors invested in me and were amazing guides on my projects. I felt comfortable and integrated right off the bat, and crossing cultural barriers in the workplace was a seamless process. Even though Buenos Aires is thousands of miles away, I know that I still had a truly global experience because it feels like I was there in person! I cannot wait to visit the Almado team in person as soon as possible.