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Housing & internships in Bucaramanga

Hey all,

I go wind of this forum as I was looking for the perfect summer getaway. I am an (Electrical/Computer) Engineering student in the US I will be taking some Spanish lessons over the summer here and will have two months of July and August when I can use University funding to go to a place where I can live and work in something like an unpaid internship related to my field (Elec/Comp Engineering) and practice my Spanish skills more. Of course since I am hooked to paragliding, I would also like to go to a place where I can fly to my hearts content and have a great time.

So here's where Bucaramanga comes in. Its gorgeous, has good universities and companies where I could work for / take Spanish classes, and above all, has absolutely splendid flying. (The problem is I know very little Spanish at the moment although I will be learning it intensively during May and June here before I get there. I also need to confirm this fast because the deadline for submitting the funding application is in two weeks!)

However, I am not sure how I can make this dream summer happen. I do not know anyone there, nor does the career center at Duke have any connections. I did send a couple emails and an application detailing my situation to Universidad Autonoma de Bucaramanga (UNAB) but haven't heard back yet.

I am approaching you hoping that you guys can give me pointers as to what I should go about doing and to knwo people who I might be able to contact. I will need to find a place to live, somewhere to take Spanish courses, and some company / professor to work for in an un-paid (volunteering) internship in my field so that I can get Duke University to partially support me with funding. ( I can only get funding if I am doing an internship related to my field to gain experience).

I would very much appreciate any advice, guidance, or help you could offer me, and would be forever grateful. I look forward to hearing from you and having wonderful flying days in Bucaramanga.

Thank You.
I appreciate your time and interest

mail me at : yakrider [at] gmail [dot] com

By yakrider on Mar 4, 2006, 11:44 in Friendly Talkzone.

jumafra says on Mar 4, 2006, 17:23:

re: Housing & internships in Bucaramanga check this out: http://www.eparaglide.com/colombia/articles.htm
That will confirm you about what a great place Bucaramanga is for paragliding.
About learning spanish, and Elec/Comp inerests, you should try and contact the Foreing students division at the "Universidad Industrial de Santander" at relext [at] uis [dot] edu [dot] co

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silviat says on Mar 5, 2006, 11:18:

there are many "residencias universitarias" (places where students can live and that include the three meals, laundry, etc.) in front of UNAB.

I used to study there and I used to live in Bucaramanga as well.

I know of one residencia that I would personally recommend, but it's closer to UIS than to UNAB (UNAB is not more than 20 minutes from that place). If you are interested please PM me.

Also, I have a good friend who is working on his project right now (electronic engineering) and he speaks good english. I am going to send you both an email so you can have some contact. Maybe he can help you find someone willing to work with you on your project.

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silviat says on Mar 5, 2006, 11:30:

I sent you an email including my friends email. I hope you can contact him and that you guys can work something out.

Silvia

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yakrider says on Mar 6, 2006, 16:25:

thanks for all the comments Thank you everyone, for the input, Silvia and jumafra, I am already glad I am coming to Colombia that I have found such helpful ppl in my first attempt here. I'm sure it'll be great to be there during the summer ... ... and gives me so much more reason to really start learning spanish fast ... ;)

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