I did a 3-month internship at Sunce in their Department of environmental law and it was a wonderful experience!
I would say that my passions are quite common. What I enjoy the most is just spending time with friends, but I also like to read, listen to music and draw, even though it’s been months since the last time I drew or painted something.
I am fond of cats, which is not really understood in Split as everybody seems to love dogs. 😊
I also like to learn new things about any topic and I am always eager to discuss or debate with people. I am quite an optimistic and idealistic man, maybe somehow naive. I think this is a good overview of me.
I come from France, more precisely from Bretagne (close to the Atlantic Ocean) and I am 20 years old. I am finishing my Bachelor of Law and Modern Applied languages with this internship and next year I hope to study environmental law for my master’s degree!
What motivated you to apply for the internship in Sunce?
As part of my 3 years’ bachelor, I had to spend my last semester abroad through an internship. The reason why I study law is to work in the environmental law field, so I knew since the beginning of my bachelor that I wanted to spend this internship working on this matter.
However, ending up in Sunce was really the choice of fate. I never heard of this NGO before and to be honest I did not know anything about Croatia.
Nevertheless, during my research I went on the EEB website (European Environmental Bureau), applied to many associations and NGO Zelena Istra said yes to me. But they didn’t have legal team and they gave me the contact of Ivana, lawyer in Sunce, who answered quickly that she would be happy to welcome me. After the interview with her I knew immediately that I wanted to come. Sunce was everything I was looking for. That is how fate pushed me toward Sunce, and I am very thankful.
What were your impressions of working in Sunce and what topics and activities did you work on?
Working in Sunce was a very good experience for me. It was my first real long internship and also the first time I was abroad on my own for such a period. Everybody in the office has been really nice to me. When I arrived, I didn’t think the association was this big and I had trouble remembering all the names as I was introduced to almost everyone (23 employees) in one meeting. There are all women and almost all of them have a name that ends with an -a so it was a bit of a nightmare.
Not to bore you with details, I can tell you that I worked on EU legal texts and on comparisons between French and Croatian applications of these texts. I especially focused on how the public participates to environmental decisions and how to improve it. But what I really appreciated in Sunce is that beside my legal tasks, there were some activities and projects that I could join, which were great occasions for me to discover the team but also the different fields of work of an environmental NGO. For example, I participated on clean-up actions and activities with children at the school. However, since I can only say like 3 words in Croatian, my scope of work and activities were limited.
What are your first impressions of Split?
The very first impression I had from Split was not a good one. I arrived with a car and the first part of Split that you see is the industrial part. But when I went to the city center and the Riva, I understood the beauty of Split. Now I can say that I really appreciate living here: the city is beautiful as is the weather and there is always an atmosphere of holidays. Also, Croatian people are really warm and open. You feel immediately welcomed.
How would you describe your stay in Sunce/Split in 3 words/sentences/ memories?
Choosing only three memories is very difficult as so many cross my mind. The first one that I want to mention is the Cleaning Sailing Race regatta which Sunce organized. We went for a day on catamarans to a beautiful Šolta island and the motivation of all the group to clean the beaches was really empowering.
Also, I really enjoyed a wine tasting event under the Diocletian palace with my boss Ivana. This was a unique opportunity to taste famous Croatian wines as well as to visit the palace underground that is usually closed.
I had such a good time with Angela and Olena the international ESC volunteers in Sunce. I could mention any memory I have with them, when we go to the beach, to the Marjan hill or just when we teach each other our mother language and share laughter.