From Nervous Sips to Confident Pours: My Summer with Port Wine in Portugal
By: Odundo Omondi (Wharton ’28)
GRIP: Wine, Heritage, and Hospitality in Porto, Portugal
Never in my life did I imagine spending a summer in Portugal learning about wine, the tourism industry, and immersing myself in Portuguese culture. But here I am! All thanks to GRIP.
A few days before my departure, I felt very nervous. While I had some experience in hospitality, I knew this was going to be something completely different. I would be living in a new country, navigating a language I was unfamiliar with (though now I can proudly say I’ve picked up some phrases like “Obrigada” and “Bom Dia!”), and working in a field I did not know much about: port wine. Although the other interns and I received a guide from Churchill’s about port wine a few weeks prior, we still had a lot to learn. But once I landed in Portugal, excitement quickly took over.
I am currently interning at Churchill’s, a port wine company located across the Douro River from Porto in Vila Nova de Gaia. When we first started at Churchill’s, the other three interns and I felt a little bit out of place. The main role of our position was to lead wine tours and tastings to clients, but we spent the early days shadowing the staff and soaking up as much information as possible. Until we were trained in Churchill’s story, company culture, and the specifics of port wine, there was not much hands-on work to do.
This was kind of a bittersweet feeling. I was used to constantly staying busy or being thrown into the deep end in past work positions, so it felt strange to be in a slower paced environment. However, it was nice to relax and get to know the staff and other interns. This is definitely one of the biggest differences between workplace culture in Portugal versus my experiences in the US. It is okay to take a moment to breathe. Here, if there is nothing to do at the moment, there is no expectation to invent work. People can just enjoy the pause. That mindset was refreshingly new to me.
Within a week, once the other interns and I got the hang of things and started to interact with clients, everything changed. We connected more with our coworkers/boss and learned to love the playful, easygoing environment at Churchill’s. Work became genuinely enjoyable because every day felt a little different. I especially love chatting with clients since many of them are curious about how a group of Penn students ended in Portugal talking about wine! In addition to gaining port wine knowledge, this experience has improved my communication skills, social awareness, customer service, teamwork and more.
I am just about halfway through my internship, and I already feel like I’ve grown so much. I am excited to see what the next few weeks have in store!