Since Monday, February 7th, I've been doing my work-study internship at the American Palace Eur Hotel. It's right in front of the Laurentina metro station. It takes me ten minutes to get there from home. The hotel is beautiful—four stars. I wear the uniform from my school, the Gioberti Hotel Institute. Instead of sitting in class at the main campus in Trastevere, I go to the hotel in the morning. This is much better. I like it. I put on my uniform and I do my hair in a braid. I take it out as soon as I leave the hotel. At school the teachers always tell me I have to wear my hair up when I'm working. I don't like the braid, but I do it anyway. On the pocket of my jacket there's a white name tag with my name: Benedetta M. Just the initial—no last name written out. And below it says Gioberti Hotel Institute. The name tag is so everyone knows who I am and what I do.
The first day my feet hurt so much because I was standing the whole time and by the end I couldn't take it anymore and wanted to kick my shoes off. So the second day I wore a different pair—more comfortable ones. In this job you're always on your feet. And I get tired. When I can, I sit down for a bit, but I can't stay long. I do the booking, the guest taxes, check-in and check-out. There are other people working at reception near me. We answer phones and use the computer. My supervisor is Arianna and I'm happy with that. I'll be at this hotel for about a month. Then I go back to school in the classroom, and I'm happy about that too because I can see my classmates again—they're all doing internships at other places right now. I really like being at the hotel because I see new things and do things that are fun. And I meet a lot of people and everyone is very kind to me, especially Stefania. They teach me how to do things right. I pay attention so I learn, and then I can do it well by myself.