club estudiantes

For the first few days when I was really struggling, I was most stressed and overwhelmed by my internship.  I came to Spain for the internship, but I had not expected it to be as initially challenging as it was.  I definitely did not think it would be easy but had different expectations and presumptions in my mind.  After the first day- even before the first day- Mom and Pilar both were asking me to remember why I wanted to do the internship in the first place, and I could not even come up with a reason.  Working in Spanish is probably the hardest thing I have even done.  Although I do not feel like I have pressure on me and am in a healthy atmosphere, there is still a lot of cultural and lingual ambiguity.

So far, I have taken inventory of items in the Club's store and made a spreadsheet for that, transferred RSVPs from emails to a spreadsheet where confirmations are being stored, and translated a 72-page document from Spanish to English!  Each day, I have been given a bit more responsibility.  While the first two tasks would not have been challenging in English, they got a lot more complicated in Spanish, especially when the computer is in Spanish, you are getting directions and asking questions in Spanish, and there is potential for any other cultural misunderstanding to go down.  Ironically, the translation was one of the easier assignments I've completed.  While translating, I also learned a lot of new vocabulary.  It was also a great experience to read and think more about Spanish sentence structure, which is something that I still struggle with.  I can say nearly anything in Spanish, but I am thinking and forming my sentences as I would in English, which is not always the correct case.

The view from my desk area. The team plays in a larger facility, but this is where all other events are hosted.

There are two biggest differences (not including Spanish-speaking!) that I have noticed in my work so far with Estudiantes.  The first is the work schedule.  Originally, I was told that my hours would be 9:30-3; I was pleased, naturally, with the light schedule!  On the first day, my supervisor told me that their summer schedule is very flexible.  People arrive to the office anywhere from just before it "opens" officially at 9:30 to 10:30 or even 11:00.  My supervisor also said it was fine if I wanted to come and then leave for breakfast for an hour or so!  Then, instead of finishing at 3, I leave around 2:15 or 2:30.  In the summer, Madrid does observe more of a siesta, so the office closes for a few hours during the hottest part of the day so that people can go home to eat lunch and relax.  Some people come back to work from around 4:30-6:30.  I imagine that their schedule is a lot more demanding in the winter when it is basketball season.  However, this is also how the Spanish are; they are very family-oriented and want to live their lives without being too stressed and burdened, and their work environments allow for that to be priority.

"my" desk area

The other significant difference is the structure of the basketball organisation.  In the US, for the most part, our professional teams are professional teams and nothing else.  We might have community or public relations, marketing, sales, and other departments.  In Spain, however, since basketball is not a very popular sport, basketball teams have to take on many roles if they are going to stay afloat financially.  Basketball teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona function under the soccer clubs, which is why they can be larger capacity and higher status.  Club Estudiantes is exclusively basketball, but within its franchise, there are four components: the SAD (the acronym is escaping me right now), the club, the foundation, an the SMS (Sport Media and Sponsoring).  Then within the club, there is the professional team, the cantera (Brits call this the "academy," but we don't really have anything similar), and a school!  The foundation is made up of the social and community programming efforts, like the Special Olympics teams that Estudiantes hosts.  SMS is a group for professional development (they sponsor a sport management masters program, for example, and take in interns).  There are also five departments: finance, communication, commercialism, marketing, and customer service.  Those five departments are responsible for their roles, but in all four components of the club.  It's a lot to get a grasp of because it's so different than our sport systems!

The experience has been improving a little each day, and I'm becoming more comfortable and at-ease in the setting. I hope that with each day to come I get to take on more responsibility and form better relationships with the other employees.