Week 3- Overview
 
Monday-Day 1/Week 3
Monday morning began by Ketty and I visiting the Hotel Ullises. We gave them questionnaires about the quality of the tourism in the area so that they could give these to the guests that were staying. An average of 200 questionnaires need to submitted every year, so it is important that these forms are distributed to as many locations as possible so that there is a good chance of people filling them out. We then got a guided tour around the hotel, we saw the different types of rooms that the hotel offers. We also got to see the grounds of the hotel and the large swimming pool and the function room that was being decorated for a function. After break, we delivered more plaques and stickers to the other hotel in Ceuta. 


​Tuesday- Day 2/ Week 3
                   
We visited a local cafe called Café Esquina Iberica and gave them a display holder with leaflets and maps of Ceuta, to be displayed near the front of the café. After break, we went to a beach called El Chorillo, the main objective of this trip was to see if some of the improvements that were commissioned last year were being carried out. We also had to check to see if there were sufficient signs. The last task of the day was inputting some paperwork into the computer back in the office. I had to print off some more questionnaires and put them into separate envelopes for different businesses. I filled out a questionnaire on my observations and marked the quality of the services in Ceuta too, before being shown how to input that data in to a website for future use.


Wednesday- Day 3/ Week 3
 
Most of Wednesday was spent on the road, Ketty and I visited an old military castle that was now being used as a military museum. The castle is known as the carretera del Castillo del Desnarigado .This small fort houses a small military museum. There is a lighthouse above it
and a secluded beach called Playa Torrecilla which is really popular destination during the summer.
After work, I was taken out for traditional tapas with Ketty and her husband. They brought me to Restaurante Bugao, which is a Michelin star restaurant located along the beach front of Ceuta.It was so lovely and a really kind gesture of Ketty and her husband to do.

 Thursday & Friday - Day 4/ Week 3
 
On Thursday, we went around to Hotel Ceuta Puerto de Africa, to meet with the director who would be showing us the rooms. As a lot of the rooms were in use we got didn’t see the suites that they had, instead we were shown all of the conference rooms and some of the smaller twin and family rooms. The hotel is a 5 star and really modern so it was nice to see what it offered and the differences between some of the older hotel rooms and facilities that I have seen compared with the newer hotel. Thursday evening was spent mainly packing as we were leaving Friday evening for Malaga and I wanted to get majority of my packing done before our final night out in Ceuta.
As Friday was my last day, we didn’t do much as I was saying bye to everyone at the tourist office. Our last task was to deliver the remaining plaques and stickers to the businesses that were left. When we finished that I said goodbye to Ketty. I had such a wonderful experience and I think because I really loved my work placement, it made the experience so much better. Friday evening, we got the ferry and then headed to Malaga by Bus.
 

This last week just flew by. We started it going to Morocco. It was an amazing and interesting. Being from Brazil and had grown up among poor people and rich people the poverty in Morocco shouldn't shock me but it is something that should not be normal to any person. Anyhow that people found their way of leaving and make their money in an honest way.  Selling things in the "medina" in arabic means "old city" where people sell all kinds of fruits, veggies, and many other traditional products and food from Morocco. 

This last week just flew by. From all the feeling about going home, enjoying the time there, thinking about the experience, buying presents and enjoying the last moment in CEUTA i have to say that I didn't see the time passing. Overall the experience was amazing, o learned a lot as a person and about accounts, my work placement was very nice and people there took care of me and made me feel very comfortable. I also felt trusted by them as they taught me so many things and let me executing things on the system by myself. Even though I was going to stay just  3 weeks they took the time to assist me and teach me about their job and spanish taxes. I just have to be grateful about this 3 weeks and the opportunity to develop myself and learn about other cultures as I love traveling for me it was not just a work experience but a life experience that I will keep in the memory for ever. 

Week 2- Thursday

Thursday was a really enjoyable day for me as it was short day. As thursday was forecasted to be a really hot day me and the others had planned to go to the Parque Maritimo del Mediterraneo. When Ketty and I were discussing our tasks, it ended up that we were going to be going to the Parque to deliver more stickers to them. Ketty said that if we got all of the other businesses visited for the day, I could bring my stuff with me and stay at  the parque and meet the rest of the gang there when they were finished work.  It was one of the hottest days  so it was a perfect day to go as there was clear skies and no wind whatsoever. It was such a lovely day as everyone had a nice time and it was really nice to be able to enjoy the warm weather. I loved how there are so many really cool facilities. Because its only may, not all of them are open yet but I can only imagine how nice all of the bars overlooking the three swimming pools are during the summer. 

Week 2- Friday

Friday was another really enjoyable day.  I was out of the office all day and sightseeing so it was a really good day. Firstly, I was invited on a guided tour with other spanish tourists the one of my work colleauges was presenting. Ketty and I got on a massive tour bus that drove all throught the city of Ceuta, pointing out some of the histoical monuments and important facts about Ceuta. The tour bus drove up to the mountains, which overlooks the entire city of Ceuta and the country of Morocco. The bus stopped along the way, so everyone could get out and take pictures of the views and the scenery. It was a much nicer day than when Ketty and I visited the mountains by car, the skies were so much clearer and it was a lot better for taking pictures of the scenery. After we went up to the mountains, we drove down again and i was told that I was going on a boat trip aound Ceuta. The boat was departing from the port and it went all around the coast of ceuta and through the portugese walls (royal walls). I loved this experience, as it was something completey different and I was learning more about the city of Ceuta and its history. The tour guide explained that The Royal Walls played a significant role in the Sieges of Ceuta. Parts of the walls, especially the outworks, were demolished to make way for urban development. However, the Royal Walls, their ditch, and the first line of outworks remain intact, and have been restored in recent years.
Friday overall, was really enjoyable, I love working at the tourist office because I get to do and see so much. It is never monotonous because each day is varied and fun!

Week 2- Weekend Overview
Friday night we all went for some typical spanish tapas. It was really nice because we the five of us went out together.  We had initially decided to go to Morocco on the Saturday, on a day trip but decided that leaving Morocco to Sunday would be we could relax on the Saturday and do our own things and then do something interesting on the Sunday, as Ceuta is very quite on Sunday.

Sunday-
We all headed off together early saturday morning. We met close to McDonald´s for around 10 am and we met the Flandria minibus that would be taking us there. As part of or package, we got a guided tour around the cities of Tetouan and Tangir, travel to and from and a meal included. The first city that we visited was Tetouan which was under an hours drive too.  Tetouan Morocco offers you the best of both worlds: a largely untouched medina with an authentic taste not easily found elsewhere in Morocco and a strategic location from which to explore the surrounding area. We explored mainly the Medina. The inhabitants of the medina officially speak Arabic, but use a number of languages in their everyday lives.The Tetouan medina also manufactures soap, flour products, tobacco products, building materials and textiles. There are a number of other industries in the city, including cabinet making, fish canning and printing. Tutouan is where we had our meal. We had typical Tetuan/Moroccan Cuisuine, which included Cous Cous, Chicken, rice and vegetables.

1st week

My first week at work was all about doing "las rentas" which means declare all goods, incomes, outcomes and taxes paid by a person or company in a period of a year. My boss and my workmates were very patient and kind when explaining me about spanish taxes. This week I also had the opportunity to see the whole process of declaring them to the state using an accounting program called SAGE and uploading the information on the state online platform. The whole process is not complicated if you have a good base of information, however is very important to be attent to details and a critic way of thinking in order to identify any irregularity or wrong information on them before transferring the declaration regards each client to the governmental organization such as the spanish revenue. Alberto Nunes Asesoria is not a big company but due to its reputation and solid name they have a loyal clientele making the atmosphere at work very light and the proximity with people a key point learn a lot as well. The fact that I have the spanish language helped me get more responsibilities from them and actually learn something that i have seen before at university and GTI but never had experience working with.

2nd week

Second week however they decided to give me a little bit of responsibility, instead of assisting the tax declaration process I was bookkeeping companies' financial operations. It reminded me a lot about previous idea of the concept of credit and debt. This process will be in use as the base of the Balance Sheet and the Profit & Loss reports to later on being analised to get the conclusions about the company's financial situation all in the SAGE program. I have to say it is rewarding to look back and see how much I have learned in just few weeks and I have to say that the fact that I speak spanish make of this opportunity much more interesting in terms of being able to learn not only about the language and the work atmosphere but also about the work itself which I am sure will be useful soon. Besides using another accounting program gave me another vision about the process I am even able to have a critical thinking about user experience.
I'm glad I was put in this place because I can look back and I can see how I have learned and developed in a short period of time and it is something that is a real experience its is the actual practice of what we have learned and more in the past year of course. 

​The first week at Benyben was pretty busy for our online sales department. There was not as many shoes to pack and dispatch so I had time to learn a bit more about the way things work in the company. My workmates introduced me to the system they use to control all departments of the enterprise: purchases, online and physical store sales, warehousing, stocking, etc. 

There is a whole process behind the actual online sale and that starts with the company’s supply chain management. This week I had a chance to file their purchase invoices and therefore realise this is their secret for having such a successful company. They order goods in bulks from massive suppliers in Vietnam, China, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. The brands include Nike, New Balance, Reebok, Melissa, Muroexe and the most popular at the moment, Adidas. Every morning my office checks out and print the orders from the previous day as well as any pending orders existing in the system. They pass this list onto the team at the warehouse, who brings up the products to our office. The goods will now be labelled and invoiced to be finally packed up for delivery. 

​The entire process of managing a company like this is directly influenced by their ability to pursue an effective supply chain. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to sell goods for such a low price for the final consumer. Definitely a busy week full of learning. 

Week 2 Overview - Sarah Fahy
Weekend

The weekend was relaxing. We didn't get up to much as the weather on the Friday and Saturday was cloudy and a little overcast. We opted for a movie night on both Friday and Saturday as we were cooking at home and didn't fancy going out. We went to the beach on Saturday but it wasnt that hot so we decided to leave a little early, and all head back to the house together.
Sunday was a lovely day, we went to the beach as the sky was a lot clearer and the temperature was higher. We rented kyacks which was really nice. They were inexpenive too, at only 10 euro an hour. It was really nice  that we all did it together and it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. 

Day 1- Week 2
Monday

I had a really good day. I delivered more plaques and diplomas to Businesses here in Ceuta. I was out on foot all day. We went to a total of 5 businesses. The day was really sunny so it really nice to be be outside. One of the businesses that we visited was called La Parque Maritimo del Mediterraneo. This is a massive Marina Parque with huge swimmiming pools and loads of really cool facilities. I loved visiting this place as I got to see all of the salt water pools and endless food and bar places to eat and drink. It is a place that I wil defintelly go back to with the group, as there is so much fun to have. The workers were lovely there and told me that I could go free the next time I went, which was a really nice gesture. It is defintely a really lovely facility that Ceuta have to offer.
Other Businesses that Ketty and I presented the Tourism Quality award to were McDonald´s and mmMovimil, which is a phone and electronic accesory shop.

Day 2- Week 2
Tuesday

In the morning, when I arrived, we immediately set off to deliver a plaque to a travel agent called Viajes Truijjo. The guys were really nice and wanted to get a photo with Ketty and I. We got in a photo which they posted to their facebook page ( see below ). In the afternoon, I went with Ketty up to the mountains do deliver more tourism plaques to two businesses that were located up in the mountains. We went by car as it was too far on foot. I had a lovely day as Ketty showed me all around Ceuta, she brought me to the border where I was able to see the divide between the Moroccan and the Spanish side. We also drove up to the highest point of the mountains, and got to overlook the whole city of Ceuta. I was able to see loads of nice views and scenery, which were great picture opportunities.The last part of the day was spent driving through neighbour hoods that are now mainly inhabited by Moroccans, one place in particular that we drove through was Benzu, as Ketty explained now only inhabits Moroccans as few Spanish live there. I also gained more insight into the increasing number of problems at the border entry points now as more and more illegal immigrants are trying to enter. I really enjoyed Tuesday as I got to see so much more of Ceuta, the nice parts and the not so nice parts. It was interesting and I got to see a lot of the scenery that Ceuta has to offer.


Day 3- Week 3
Wednesday
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The first part of my day was spent in the office. I received tourism quality stickers so I had to put them into each of the remaining businesses bags that contained the Plaques and relevant documentation. I listed the businesses who had already received the tourism plaques and made notes of the the ones that had to also receive a tourism sticker. I them had to count them out and make sure that the correct number of stickers had been sent. The second half of the day, was spent on foot as we went out to give more businesses the tourism quality plaques and stickers. I really enjoy this aspect of the job as I get to meet so many people and I am also practising my spoken Spanish, which is beneficial. It is also enjoyable because my day is varied and never the same, which is another bonus about working in the Tourist Office.

​On Monday morning we met Javier again, who would bring us to our placements one by one to get to know the company and the person responsible for welcoming us in the workplace. We were free for the day as Tuesday is the actual first full day at work. It is quite hard to know what to expect as a first day in a job in a different country... how to behave and react towards their way of living. My place was next to the Moroccan border and for me it was a surprise to see such a different side of the city. It took me 45 minutes to walk there; the main road follows the entire coast and there are lovely beaches on the way and a fantastic view to the Mediterranean Sea. However, the temperature was pretty high around 23 celsius so I preferred to take a bus rather than arriving in the office sweaty and tired. The bus only costs 80 cents and the journey takes about 15 minutes as Ceuta is very small ‘còmo una chiquitita’.

My work place is called Benyben Outlet Sports and consists in a big company with both physical and online shops selling goods for the entire country of Spain. In the first day I met my workmates, Andreas and Zacarias, who work in the online shopping department. There is also a girl called Samira who is working as an intern for 3 months.
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Every morning in the office we print a list of all online orders from the previous day and give to the person responsible to manage the warehouse. They soon bring us all goods required and then we label, invoice and pack them to be delivered to customers.

This weekend we decided to expend time on the beach as the sun was out, the sky was blue and the temperature agradable. We went to La Ribera beach which is the closest from our apartment, around  10 minutes walking.
La Ribera is located in Independencias street, in the heart of Ceuta. It has a length of 700 meters and an average width of 70 meters. It is an artificial sand beach and it was regenerated in 2006 with 175,000 cubic meters of white and fine sand, in order to increase its surface and enhance its playful use. 
La Ribera count with many facilities such as showers, rubbish bins, lifeguard and disabled access. It is possible to rent SUP (stand up paddle) and Kayak. We decided to rent a Kayak. it is 10 euros an hour and you can have so much fun as we did. The guys from the rental shop are super nice and one of them even came along with us and took pictures.

Day 1 Overview
Monday was my first day, we all met Javier at an agreed a location in the square at 10am and then each of us were brought around to our different work places. I was given the tourist office in Ceuta which I was initially nervous about as I have very little Spanish. When I got to the office ( Officina de Turista) I was greeted with Katie, the woman who I would be working alongside with. She was so lovely right from the get go. We signed some forms and I took a picture in front of the sign. I was told to meet her again at 9am on the Tuesday as that was to be my first proper day

Day 2- Overview and Function of the Tourist Office
Tuesday was my first actual day of work and it was also where I got to learn what the Tourist Office actually does. The Tourism Office of Ceuta works under the Compromiso de Calidad Turistica whose main aim is to improve the quality of tourist destinations promoted by the Secretary of State for Tourism, with the support of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), which works with companies / tourist services of up to 32 different offices, with the ultimate objective of improving the experience and satisfaction of the tourist. SICTED is a methodology that provides an integral and permanent system of quality management in a tourist destination with a new conception of the expected results, a focus towards continuous improvement and an attitude of recovery and valorisation of the resources and space.

My duties for the day were interesting and I definitely learned a lot from my first proper day. I was given my own computer and desk which was nice and my first job given to me was to make a list of the local businesses in Ceuta that were to be given a Tourism Excellence Award and Plaque. I typed up the documents and printed off the sheets that I would be using for the following day. Katy and I then hand delivered a certificate to a local café. They already had one but that had expired in 2016 so with the new one it was valid until December 2018.
 
Day 3 & 4
Over these two days, my jobs were mainly focused on making sure that all of the businesses that were going to receive the Tourism Quality award were listed and filed according to what sort of enterprise they were. For example, some of the businesses that I had to sort through included all of the fashion and retail businesses, the bar and restaurant businesses, the tourism information business and the taxi companies. When I had all of the businesses highlighted I then prepared all of the plaques and the documents and put them into bags and put the names of the businesses on each bag.
 
Day 5- Friday
Today, I visited the local museum here is Ceuta. It was really informative and I learned a lot of information about the art works that the museum showcased. The main artist that the museum was dedicated to was M. Benuchi, me and my two work colleagues were given a guided tour around the museum. Our main purpose of the trip was to see the standard of the Museum and the quality and overall layout and format of it which was really good. The tour guide was really informative and was able to explain to me in English anything that I couldn’t understand. After my visit to the museum my last duty of the day was to deliver 3 more awards to the local enterprises
 
 
 
 
 

​WEEK 1
Five of us from the Business Management and Information Systems Level six class were chosen to travel to Ceuta as part of the Erasmus Programme. We met with Patsy (who is an absolute gentleman I might add), who is joining us for the first week in Shannon Airport and boarded the plane to Malaga. We stayed in Malaga for the first night. The following morning we got a taxi to the ferry port in Gibraltar.

We took the Gibraltar to Ceuta Ferry which took an hour. We met with Javier who we met in GTI before the trip. He took us to the apartment we are staying in for the duration which is very nice. On Monday morning we met with Javier who brought us to our workplaces. We met with our employers and filled in some paperwork. He also brought us around the city and showed us different places to go so we knew where to go if we needed anything.

There is a Gym near the apartment. The price is cheap and the employees are very friendly and helpful. (Gimnasio USHIRO - For anyone wanting to keep fit while they are here). Cost of living is generally low compared to Ireland so it’s a nice city for shopping and dining. Bring plenty of sunscreen and after sun because you will need it and it’s cheaper to buy in Ireland. My work placement is in Marina Hercules, which is a company based on the ferry port. They provide facilities and services to local businesses, boat/yacht owners and businesses/people traveling to Ceuta through the port.

My first day in work was great. The two girls I’m working with Patricia and Lucia are very friendly and made me feel comfortable from the get-go. There is a language barrier but if you’re any bit intuitive you’ll realise it’s the same as any other Administrative work, the methods/systems are the same. I found it quite easy to understand the work simply by paying attention when asked.

Basically my first day consisted of organising paperwork numerically from reference numbers on documents. Some documents didn’t have reference numbers so I had to give them to Patricia who put reference numbers on them. Once they were all dated I had to find the right folders for the documents according to the reference numbers. The folders were all filed numerically in filing cabinets. Any ones that didn’t have a folder were given to Patricia and she took care of it.

Next I had to date various multiple page documents according to the date on the cover pages. All pages must have a date on them. The documents were then reorganised according to the content on the pages. They were then put into a large ring binder folder and stored away. My last job for the day was to receive pages of vouchers/special offer coupons, cut the coupons into singles and place them in a box on the main office table. The girls cooked a lovely meal for all of us this evening. Fruit and Veg stalls are a dime a dozen and are amazing. I would definitely recommend a trip around the stalls while you’re here.

The second day was the similar to the first work wise. I reorganised folders and filled the filing cabinets. Some cabinets had too much documents so I distributed between the different cabinets so they could be found easier and made the cabinets less clustered. It is a great location as its right next to the sea and the views are amazing.

Today in Work was quiet. I made boxes for files. All the folders reference numbers had to be written on the box, the folders were put into the boxes descending numerically and put into the file storage room at the back of the office. An Englishman and an Irishman from Dublin came into the office, they were travelling from Gibraltar where they were living and it was there first time in Ceuta. I gave them some advice on a nice place to eat. At the end of the shift Patricia and Lucia wrote loads of Spanish on a page for me and explained a few things about the Spanish language. We went to dinner that evening as it was Patsy’s last night here. Everyone is sad to see him go, he has been great company for all of us.