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Thanks to the INTER program, I had the opportunity to travel to Colombia for two months. I spent them at the national Colombian university UNAL in Medellín, where I primarily collaborated with the Department of Materials. I did not attend regular classes but worked in the laboratories where I conducted experiments for my thesis under supervision.

Despite having certain prejudices, and I wasn't alone in this, the university pleasantly surprised me. I visited a total of three campuses that fall under UNAL, all of which were larger than our campus in Borská, very well equipped, and always full of various types of greenery. Not just the university part, but the entire Medellín surprised me. The city has a very well-organized public transport system, which includes rental bikes, buses, trams, metro, and cable cars that you can just ride to see the city from above. Additionally, there are free bus lines for students and staff upon presenting the university card, which is similar to our JIS card. This card is also necessary to show every time you enter the campus.

I encountered complications mainly in communication outside the academic environment. In Colombia, the official language is Spanish, and almost no one speaks English here. Therefore, I had to buy food or tickets for public transport using Spanish. Besides the fact that Colombians mostly speak only Spanish, they also love to chat, and that's why, after the first week, I wasn't surprised when someone just started talking to me, for example, on the metro. This is, in my opinion, different from the Czech Republic. But everyone is very nice and always smiling. They also love music and dance, especially Latin American ones; the influence of American and British culture is not as significant as in Europe. And if you arrange to meet someone at a specific time, it is very likely they will be late, which is one of their traits.

I had the opportunity to meet several students and professors from both the Department of Materials and other departments and laboratories, as well as from another university, Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano (ITM), where they allowed me to conduct some analyses. While traveling in my free time, I also met foreigners from other countries. For instance, I visited the small town of Jardin near Medellín, which is surrounded by several waterfalls and many coffee plantations. I also went to the Caribbean coast, which has many white sandy beaches and tropical forests full of hummingbirds. On the Pacific coast, there is black sand and high humidity, leading to a much greater presence of insects. If you are here at the right time, you can see various types of animals, including whales. Although I didn’t see any whales, I did see a large flock of dolphins and a shark up close.

The internship in Colombia significantly improved my communication skills, independence, and helped me make many new friends. I highly recommend everyone to take advantage of the opportunities that studying offers, and it doesn't have to be an internship on the other side of the world. You won't regret it, just like me!