After a lovely weekend in Paris, I am back to work in Sousse. I had a meeting with my boss the day before I left which was actually very helpful, and provided a lot of direction for what I need to be doing this week. I was relieved because I have, at various points, felt very much without direction. I was able to cobble together what I was supposed to be doing, but I felt a bit lost as this is my first real internship abroad. While I have not had a lot of homesickness or overwhelming culture shock, there are many little things that slowly pile up and end up creating a cluster of thoughts that I could broadly label as culture shock. I try to read a lot and stay active in work, but as I said sometimes it feels a bit directionless, and so it is tricky. I found this list of tips for working abroad that are generally helpful. They are largely more geared to people who have never worked abroad, which I have, but they are good nonetheless.
This week is doubly busy as I am doing a bit of catching up for missing Friday and Monday for my trip to Paris. So I have lots to do, and a real to do list, and if nothing else I feel like I make forward progress when I cross things off a list. But I do wonder, is that what I came here to do? Cross things off a list? I had definitely romanticized what I would be doing as visions of community meetings and village mapping on dusty village meeting hall floors danced through my head, but I didn't expect to be so connected to the internet, doing so much grant-related writing and research and generally staying in so much. I guess it is normal for an organization that is trying to get off the ground. They need help both with their projects and with their development of the organization. So I am here doing a bit of both.
Needless to say, as much I as am able to get good experience just from being in an internship, it is also highly dependent on how much I put in. My boss encouraged me to ask more questions to make sure I am targeting the right information when I putting together grant proposals and projects. She is right. It is time to step it up, ask more questions, be more forthright and be more of a go-getter. Just being in Tunisia will not provide experience through osmosis. I need to be an active learner and employee. It makes no sense to try and make excuses for what I didn't learn if I know I didn't push to always learn more. So that is what I am working on starting this week.
Paris was a great little refresher. It was nice to see a good friend, nice to escape the heat for a weekend and so much fun to go back to a city I love. We strolled the streets, ate too many delicious pastries, ate baguettes and cheese, walked the city in the evening with daylight until 10:15 pm, ate foie gras and drank white wine. It was so lovely. We spent one afternoon in Versailles in the park and gardens and sat outside and had a crepe and shared a pitcher of cider. It was lush and green in Paris and the city was alive and sparkling. I was happy be back. It was nice to have a little adventure, to take the train in Tunisia for the first time and see a bit more of the capital city in my travelling, too. So I am back this week refreshed and ready to try and bite of a bit more and throw my weight into this internship.
A + (a plus)
AJ
This week is doubly busy as I am doing a bit of catching up for missing Friday and Monday for my trip to Paris. So I have lots to do, and a real to do list, and if nothing else I feel like I make forward progress when I cross things off a list. But I do wonder, is that what I came here to do? Cross things off a list? I had definitely romanticized what I would be doing as visions of community meetings and village mapping on dusty village meeting hall floors danced through my head, but I didn't expect to be so connected to the internet, doing so much grant-related writing and research and generally staying in so much. I guess it is normal for an organization that is trying to get off the ground. They need help both with their projects and with their development of the organization. So I am here doing a bit of both.
Needless to say, as much I as am able to get good experience just from being in an internship, it is also highly dependent on how much I put in. My boss encouraged me to ask more questions to make sure I am targeting the right information when I putting together grant proposals and projects. She is right. It is time to step it up, ask more questions, be more forthright and be more of a go-getter. Just being in Tunisia will not provide experience through osmosis. I need to be an active learner and employee. It makes no sense to try and make excuses for what I didn't learn if I know I didn't push to always learn more. So that is what I am working on starting this week.
Paris was a great little refresher. It was nice to see a good friend, nice to escape the heat for a weekend and so much fun to go back to a city I love. We strolled the streets, ate too many delicious pastries, ate baguettes and cheese, walked the city in the evening with daylight until 10:15 pm, ate foie gras and drank white wine. It was so lovely. We spent one afternoon in Versailles in the park and gardens and sat outside and had a crepe and shared a pitcher of cider. It was lush and green in Paris and the city was alive and sparkling. I was happy be back. It was nice to have a little adventure, to take the train in Tunisia for the first time and see a bit more of the capital city in my travelling, too. So I am back this week refreshed and ready to try and bite of a bit more and throw my weight into this internship.
A + (a plus)
AJ
