This week a member of staff in the office was absent therefore more work was delegated to me which kept me busy. The fact that the manager can assign me a task and let me work on my own is a great as I can be even more useful and productive to the company.
Unfortunately, my time here in Ceuta is coming to an end therefore I want to make the most of each and every day so in my free time I decided to spend it as productively as I could by exploring Ceuta by visiting the local markets and town artifacts. Gordana also informed us about the European Youth Card this week and where to apply for it so we applied and received our cards. The European Youth Card is packed with tens of thousands of discounts on travel, culture, accommodation, education, services and products in 36 countries across Europe and it’s something I never heard of in Ireland and I think it should advertised more therefore I decided to make the most of this opportunity and get one and I know I will benefit from this in the future and I recommend everyone who lives in Europe to apply for it on the link attached - https://www.eyca.org/ My Eramsus+ program has really opened my mind to traveling, working abroad and seeing what’s out in the world and I’m ever grateful I got this opportunity and would like to thank my teachers and everyone on the Eramsus+ team for making this happen! I can’t highly recommend enough that everyone in GTI applies for Erasmus+ because it’s such an incredible experience and it really has made a huge impact on my life and I guarantee it will do the same to yours! Adiós por ahora, Dayle Gleeson
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The last few days of working in the tourist information office has proved to be slightly more challenging as I take on more responsibilities. I was tasked with some computer work which I found okay due to my experience in Excel and Word from GTI and previous employment.
My supervisor Ketti places great emphasis on person to person encounters and communication. She has excellent verbal skills and I’ve taken great example from this for myself going forward in employment. I also found it fulfilling that I am valued as a team member with duties to carry out which has given me huge self confidence and a sense of meaning. - -Nessan Leahy This week the office was practically busy. I’m going to guess it’s fishing season as many clients called into the office with fishing rods before going out to sea and one client called back in the evening time and showed us this enormous fish he caught. I spent a lot of time at Playa de la Ribera Beach this week as temperatures rose as high as 28 degrees and I had to make the most of the sun before returning to rainy Ireland. The restaurant that is situated on the beach is called Chiringuito and it is famously known in Ceuta for serving fresh fish and sea food. I’m not a huge fan of fish and sea food but I decided to give it a try as it looked delicious. The portion of food I received was outstanding and I would defiantly recommend it to everyone. Hasta la próxima, Dayle For the past few days, I studied the required documentation for opening a shipping agency in Ceuta, as well as the documents which are necessary to begin the loading and unloading operations. I went to the Ceuta Port to observe the mooring process of Turkish cargo ship "Sabahat Sonay", which is currently sailing under the flag of Panama. I look forward to learning more about the logistics and invoices in a software that was specially developed for the organisation needs. I would like to thank to the entire Erasmus team of GTI, especially to my marketing teacher Grainne Quinn, who convinced me to apply for this Erasmus placement. -Gordana Malic This week I got a true feel for the environment inside of the Spanish workplace after a few days of firsthand experience in the Ceuta Tourism and Information office. The workplace is relatively laid back and everyone loves to chat giving me a great opportunity to practise my Spanish. My supervisor is the head of tourism quality which involves visiting and meeting the business owners all around the city of Ceuta. This is great because it allows me to see the area and meet the people that make Ceuta's economy tick. -Nessan Leahy Phrases acquired in Spanish Classes facilitated by GTI now practised in real life context!20/12/2019 In my placement this week I was working with data entries and general office work. Clients must call into the office before they go out to sea as they need to fill out the required paperwork and it was my job to assist with this and I found this to be very beneficial because it really challenged me to improve my Spanish and put what I already learned in Spanish classes in GTI into real life practice! I was also in charge of inputting client data into the computer system when a computer was available in the office. I proved to the staff of Marina Hercules that I was able to work alone and efficiently while they attended to other tasks. In my free time after I work my goal was to learn some Spanish phrases and put them into practice when out and about in Ceuta. I learned how to order different types of local Spanish Cuisine. I’m beginning to adjust to the culture here in Ceuta and I’m picking up new words of Spanish daily. Hasta pronto, Dayle Gleeson No day at Mateos&Sons is the same and every day I learn something new. For example, today I learned how to make invoices in SIGMA software. SIGMA is an abbreviation for Sistema Integrado de Gestion Maritima y Aduanera ( Integrated System of Maritime and Custom Management). This software is, as I already said, specially created for the members of the Mertramar brand ( A.Mateos&Sons, Spain, A.Mateos&Sons Ltd, A.Mateos&Sons Canaries...) The invoicing process consists of three steps. First, we enter the vessel data into the software if the vessel hasn’t been registered before. After that, we introduce the call information and the quote that is given to the customer. Finally, we print the invoices into pdf form and send them to the customer via email. SIGMA software is user friendly, but it is entirely in Spanish, so I would need more time to master the software. One of the most important benefits of the Erasmus placement, besides the work skills, is learning a new language. Upon our arrival to Ceuta, I realized that I understand the Spanish language better than I thought thanks to watching television, but I don’t speak the language very well, so one of my goals for the future is to devote my time to study Spanish, through self-learning and an elective module at GMIT. I look forward to the journey ahead of me! - Gordan Malic This week in Ben y Ben I was given much more responsibility. They are trusting me with creating the invoices on the Sage software, which is a world-recognized provider of accounting software. My experience with Sage from my Business Studies course in GTI is helping me greatly with completing my tasks efficiently. I’m then printing the invoices off and sealing them inside the package which is then sent off to the customer. The staff in Ben y Ben have been ever so welcoming again this week. One of the employees even collects and drops me to work every day ! We were invited to Les Puertas Del Campo, which is the school who are hosting us, for the anniversary of their school. They served us the traditional Spanish cuisine “Paella” which was delicious and we are very grateful for the school inviting us. We also visited the highest point of Monte Hacho where we overlooked the beautiful landscape and city of Ceuta. -Tommy Downes I’m really enjoying the experiencing living and working in Spain. I will admit that I was nervous about the transition but once I got settled in and found my place, I haven’t looked back!
I’m delighted to be working with Marina Hercules in Ceuta a boat company. I’m assisting in the office by helping where I can with tasks such as file management, data entry and making sure the Marina car park duties are filled. Each new workday I can see that the staff in Marina a Hercules are giving me more responsibilities and tasks to complete as I’m proving that I’m hard working and reliable which I think is great to see as it motivates me to work even more. What I love about my work placement is that it’s matched to the skills on my CV and what I have learned in my Business Management Level 6 course, which really gives me more confidence in the workplace. On the weekends and after work finishes daily, we are planning activities such as going to the beach, eating out & checking out the local shops and cuisine etc. Weekend Trip – Chefchaouen, Morocco On Saturday 18th May 2019 we planned and organised a trip to Chefchaouen, Morocco commonly known as “the blue city” because many houses and buildings are painted in various shades of blue due to theories such as the blue keeps mosquitos away and another is that Jews introduced the blue when they took refuge from Hitler in the 1930s. The blue is also said to symbolize the sky and heaven. This location is known all around the world for its beauty as you will see why in the photos attached. The tour guide informed us that tourists will visit Chefchaouen and bring different changes of clothes and they will literally have a full-on photoshoot here as they are fascinated by the beautiful landscapes and scenery and I can totally see why! I would defiantly recommend that you book a tour guide if you plan on visiting as I think we defiantly benefited from this overall and learned more about the Moroccan culture and lifestyle which helped us to understand their way of living. We even got to try some freshly squeezed orange juice from one of the locals and it was delicious. We are already planning out next weekend trip and have a few places in mind so I’m super excited about that. We had an amazing trip overall to Chefchaouen and I have learned many new things about life here in Morocco. Hasta luego, Dayle Gleeson This first week of work placement in Ben y Ben has been filled with new experiences. The employees have been welcoming towards me and have made my time in work a treat. My work consists of mainly website development and office administration. The work has certainly been beneficial, and I feel I am really learning from this experience. On Wednesday we also tried the Spanish cuisine Tapas which is an appetiser or snack and translates in English to a small portion of any kind of Spanish cuisine.
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