"If you happened to win a scholarship, would you be willing to go to Europe for 7 months?"
That was the line that started it all.
In february 2023 my school called me and asked that question. I didn't even know what it was about, only that it probably involved leather craftsmanship -otherwise my school wouldn't have had any reason to call-. But being the person that I am, of course I didnt think about it and answered "yes", in an "well, of course. Thats the only obvious answer" kind of tone.
A couple minutes later I got the PDFs that told me it was a scholarship for a paid internship, available in certain countries in Europe for craftsmen of all disciplines all over the world. No age limit. It included, for this year, a masterclass on business for artisans in Venice. And I got to choose the mentor or master artisan to work with, and he/she me.
Long story short, the master said yes, Michaelangelo Foundation awarded the scholarship, we signed the papers, I got my visa and here I am. In France.
After 7 months in Europe between France and Italy, this journey is soon coming to an end. The internship is over next week and while I will go to the Milan exhibition a Casa degli Artisti in April, a day after returning, I will go back home to Colombia.
I wanted to, belatedly, share little by little this experience here. First, because I just discovered the platform I use now has a blog option! And second, because I am now feeling up to it. I'm not exactly an open person online. Or I haven't been thus far (seems like that's about to change). I just sometimes genuinely want to simply devote myself to enjoying the experience. And in this case that choice made a huge impact, because six months in Alsace was definitely not enough.
This experiecne was such a ride!
So stay tuned and read with me as little by little, small posts by small posts (like this one), I share with you snippets of my experience.
Read you soon!