Last semester, I signed up for and completed an internship at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) at the Agricultural Robotics Laboratory (ARL). The choice for this university was based on the fact that it is one of the best universities in Spain, and the first contact with the supervisor in Spain went very smoothly. Moreover, I preferred a medium-sized city on the coast with a solid public transport network.

During my internship, I performed a computer vision-related assignment in which I implemented an algorithm to detect citrus and kaki fruit in orchards. The internship was very interesting and educational because of its theoretical and practical nature, in which the work varied from collecting data in the orchards to writing your own software. More information about the Agricultural Robotics Laboratory can be found here.

At the beginning, little clarity was available about whether my internship could proceed because of the COVID-19 situation. However, when I received green light from both universities, I was able to find a room situated ten minutes from the university. The department was a very open and social group that took a coffee break every working day around 10:30 to catch up. During these breaks, I received many tips from my colleagues to visit certain places in Spain.

Furthermore, I can confirm that València is most certainly an Erasmus city. Indeed, many organizations exist that organize day trips, weekend trips and other events for Erasmus students. These activities create and facilitate the possibility for Erasmus students to familiarize with one another. For example, I went on trips to Alicante, Calpe, Benidorm, Altea, Peñiscola, Toledo and Madrid.

To integrate a bit into Spanish culture, I was training with a local futsal team whose trainer had even played in Spain's national football team. The training sessions took place outside due to mild winters (in December it was still above 20 degrees!) and the low amount of rainfall during the year. In addition, I participated in a 7 vs 7 field football competition organized by the university. Furthermore, the university also had a sports center on the campus with a gym and a swimming pool where you could regularly find me. So there were enough sports facilities to keep yourself fit in València.

Finally, I would definitely recommend this foreign adventure for students who are still living with their parents in their home country because of the enormous personal development you are going to make when you start living on yourself for the first time. For this reason, I am very pleased that I made the choice to do my internship abroad, despite the uncertainty of corona. I never thought València would be such a great city where you can find joy in a multitude of ways. It was an unforgettable experience where I have visited some wonderful places and got to know amazing people.

- All the people I've met were truly a vital light in a time of great uncertainty.

Hasta luego