Iris Chávez, a graduate of the CETPRO of the Pachacutec Foundation of the specialty of Restaurant and Bar Service, completed her internship in 2016 at the Casa Solla Restaurant in Galicia, Spain, thanks to the Backus Foundation support.

“I learned that I won the scholarship on graduation day, I was not aware of anything, at the time they mentioned the winners I was talking to my dad when in I heard that name, I was in total shock, my dad started crying with emotion, it was a very special moment for me and my family ”

Iris tells us that the first days were not simple. “The first weeks were a bit strong, since it was a place and new people for me and it was difficult for me to adapt to my new environment, to the idea that I was alone, and especially to the rhythm of work, but I decided that everything depended on me and little by little I could do it. ”

One of the things that surprised her about the kitchen was that “the restaurant was a fairly quiet place, and the organization was very good, everyone has their homework and time for each of them; In addition there was everyone’s initiative, if something is missing they do not expect it to end, but they report it immediately so that it does not affect the performance of the kitchen ”.

“Seeing that other people did a perfect and efficient job motivated me to try harder and achieve their rhythm: I wanted to do things right, if something didn’t work out I tried a and again until I get perfect ”

At the beginning of the internship he had little confusion with the names of the inputs: “they say sweet potato to sweet potato, they say potato to potato, cilantro is called coriander, and although I was wrong sometimes, little by little I got used to the new names so as not to confuse customers. ”

In his spare time he took advantage of it to get to know the area, spend time with his companions, go for a walk and walk around the place, eat and drink with his colleagues; However, Iris tells us that one of her favorite places was the beach: “I was not wearing bikinis until we got there, the beaches there are too safe and comfortable, you can leave your things in the sand and not worry about it, Rest on the beach was the best. ”

In addition to the places, Iris told us that the culture of the place loved it, and especially that of the transit. “The traffic culture is great, when I crossed the streets I felt like the queen because the vehicles always gave way to us.” She was also amazed by the kindness of the people. “On the third day I was looking for a store, and I got lost, but there was no problem because a lady helped me to return, she spent her time accompanying me until I arrived at the place where I was going, I was amazed at the kindness of the people.”

This experience for her represented a great professional opportunity. “The fact that they see that you have experience outside of Peru helps you a lot, in this internship I was able to gain a lot of knowledge, technique and above all I learned to develop better, I used to be super shy and I had a little fear of clients, but thanks I have managed to overcome this experience ”.

“Enjoying, learning and taking advantage of all the experience and knowledge of the people I could interact with on my trip was a unique experience” < / p>