Travel stories

Dream, experience, and learning

A book, like a journey, begins with excitement and ends with nostalgia. — José Vasconcelos

The day came—no time to lose... That’s how I’ll begin this diary. Saturday night was falling. What could’ve been an ordinary Saturday wasn’t. I was surrounded by my family, sharing one more meal together, not realizing it would be the last. The next one would have to wait. A 60-day wait. Around 1,440 hours. But at that moment, I just wanted the next day to come... I was also nervous.

5:30 a.m. I hadn’t slept all night. I’d been awake since 2 a.m. Time to get up, get dressed, do a final suitcase check, and have breakfast. The big day had arrived. We planned to leave at 6, but we left 15 minutes earlier. Once at the airport, we had to wait. I was the first of my group to arrive, 45 minutes early. I sat down. The airport was silent. I looked around.

Time passed, and the moment to check in was near. My companions started arriving—some late. We checked in. Everything was fine, no one was left behind. We headed to the gate... The pilot was in a hurry (cutting the flight time by half an hour). We started to descend. On my right, I saw a big city. On my left, fields. I THINK WE’D ARRIVED! I could already smell Vienna’s frankfurts!

Cultural visits during the first weeks

This week’s cultural visit was the Schönbrunn Palace park. The park is part of the Schönbrunn Palace, known as the Viennese Versailles. It was once home to Maria Theresa, Emperor Franz Joseph, Empress Elisabeth, and other monarchs. Back then, the park was a hunting ground for the palace’s residents. That’s why it’s so huge.

Adapting, seeing, and listening

Where there is a tree to plant, plant it. Where there is a mistake to correct, correct it. Where there is an effort that everyone avoids, do it. Be the one to remove the stone from the path — Gabriela Mistral

Although the company atmosphere was pleasant, I couldn’t contribute or express myself during group conversations. In the few meetings we had, I paid full attention, but if I had questions, I couldn’t ask them. I froze or said nonsense, like Mariano Rajoy’s infamous phrase: "The worse, the better for everyone, and the worse for everyone, the better for me, your political benefit." That’s how I felt—like Rajoy—unable to form a sentence, and when I did, it made no sense.

At lunch or coffee breaks, the same story. I felt left out, unable to join in. Sometimes I didn’t understand what was being said, and other times I just didn’t pay attention.

This went on for three days. Eight hours each day. Luckily, since I don’t like doing nothing, I used the downtime to work on school assignments. That really helped me finish my pending work.

Friday was more productive (not schoolwork-wise, but personally). In the morning, I was supposed to take a test, but I didn’t have admin access. So I helped the teacher: he set up the FMS, and I monitored the traffic. We finished before his meeting.

That afternoon, he let me complete a school assignment where I had to gather info on two servers. I accessed them via terminal (a moment of joy and a perfect grade!). Friday ended better than it started.

Workplace activities

The new week started like the last one ended: watching D3.js tutorials. Eventually, I was told that the project assigned to me would go to others. So I’d spent hours reading documentation I wouldn’t need. The upside? I learned something new.

The new task involved a web app: Twilio.

Twilio is a cloud communications platform. It lets developers make and receive calls and send/receive texts using web APIs. Our goal was to program a conference line: a person would call the server and join a room, and others would join the same room when they called.

We spent two weeks experimenting. We got it to call a specific number, even through a reverse proxy and from a virtual machine. When I say “we got it,” I mean kind of—we still hadn’t met the final goal.

Last 15 days

The time you enjoy is the only time truly lived — Jorge Bucay

Like every movie, this one had to end. But first, we had to “defeat the villain.” In this case, the “villain” was our presentation the next week. We had to explain the two months abroad like adventurers recounting their journeys. But enough with metaphors—let’s get to the point.

The week looked boring. Like every Monday, I tried working on Twilio. Like every week, I couldn’t do it on my own. They always ended up helping. But finally... WE DID IT! After tons of calls, new code, headaches, and errors... GOAL ACHIEVED!

It turned out better than expected. Though we got a lot of help, we were part of the team. We reported bugs and issues. Once Twilio was done, it was time to prepare our presentation. In the end, the week wasn’t so dull after all.

Wednesday after work, we went to Prater to watch the Spain vs Iran match. The place was called Alm Prater, an outdoor restaurant. The match was tense, but the food was great. The painful part? Paying €5 for a Coke.

Friday, there was an unofficial company meeting for language exchange. I was surprised by the diversity: one German, one Slovak, and three Austrians. Some had lived in Costa Rica; others had traveled to Colombia. Then there was Nina—she’d been to Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Brazil... like it was no big deal. They decided to meet monthly. Too bad I wouldn’t be there anymore.

Sunday was the best. At 8:30 a.m., we met Mike (the Austrian teacher) to go to the Alps. The weather wasn’t great. It was 13 °C in Vienna and 3 °C at the top (1,600 m elevation). But as good Spaniards, we went. It was freezing. After taking some foggy photos, we went into a restaurant to warm up. We ate at noon and headed back down. As we descended, the fog cleared. What a view! There was a lake we hadn’t seen going up—absolutely stunning.

Instead of taking a cable car down, we went by kart. No throttle, just brakes. It was awesome. I was the first one down. If the descent normally takes 10 minutes, I did it in 7 or less. I went so fast I’m amazed I didn’t flip in the curves. I used the brake more on straights than in turns. On turns, I wiggled like Jennifer Lopez. Again, incredible.

Last two days

Friday morning, I had to return everything the company gave me—goodbye laptop and iPhone. After lunch, I went around saying goodbye to coworkers. Then off to the hotel. That evening I visited Prater again, then back to rest.

Saturday morning, we left the hotel. Tough day ahead: we reached the airport at 2:30 p.m., flight at 5:30, delayed to 6:10. Landed in Zurich: 31 °C. Next flight to Barcelona at 9:00 p.m., finally took off at 9:45. We arrived an hour late. The plane dropped us in the middle of the tarmac. Luggage took 30 minutes to show up. At 12:15 a.m., we were finally reunited with our families. It was over.

Two months living something different. I learned, saw how foreign companies work, experienced flexible schedules, and explored a new culture. A respectful country where even having public TV means you pay. Where elderly ladies pass people in the checkout line like they’re racing. It was amazing. I’d do it again. But every book has an end—and this one is closed.

Goodbye Erasmus 2018, and thank you for this incredible experience!