Coady

So I've been here for three days, and so far, so good. The people are all really neat- the more they talk about their internships the more I keep thinking "Hey, I want to go back to school to study that!" We all get along well, which is great considering the amount of time we spend together. Today we're off to our second day of Intercultural Learning, which I'm not looking forward to at all. Yesterday was lots of repetition and "culture is an iceberg" references. I know it's necessary, but... Well. Today will be a better day. This weekend, we have an HIV/AIDS seminar and the Coady participants in the development leadership diploma program will be arriving. I'm really excited for that, because these are people actually doing the work that all of us want to do.

Being here makes everything seem so much more real. There are still a lot of details left to fill in (like, you know, where I'll be living...), but I did get my flight information the other day. All nine of the interns going to Africa (four to Rwanda, four to Botswana and one to Ethiopia) are on the same first flight together, so that will be nice. So, travel plans are in place and the rest will get sorted out soon. This is teaching me something already; I'm so detail-oriented and a planner, so all of these grey areas make me just a bit nervous.

I had a great (and LONG!) conversation last night with someone amazing about all these reasons I'm doing this. I've been finding it hard to articulate, but I think soon I'll have it, and maybe I'll put a list up to remind myself when I'm gone and maybe start to forget.

Okay. Day Two of Intercultural Learning... Here's hoping.

'Cause there's no road that ain't a hard road to travel on...

One sleep til Coady time... I'm heading out tomorrow morning. I've been good about not doing the "this is the last x before I go" thing, but now I feel like there are all these things I still need to do and people I still need to see. I've said goodbye to almost everyone but the last few are goodbyes I could put off forever.

Anyway, here it starts- 4 weeks in Antigonish and then Rwanda!

Packing, packing, packing

So after a month and a half of frantic planning and list-making, I'm finally down to the last ten days at home (!!!) and so the packing has begun. I'm taking advantage of the number of bags the airline will let me take, mostly because I want room to bring things home. This still feels so unreal.

For those unaware, I threw together an application for an internship with the Coady International Institute around the end of April, not really thinking about it or expecting anything. But a week later, I had an email requesting a phone interview; the interviewed happened the next day, and two days later (May 2), I got offered a position. So now I'm getting ready to go to Rwanda!

I'll be spending four weeks in Antigonish going through orientation and training at the Coady Institute with 15 other interns... and then sometime around the 20th of July, I'll be flying into Kigali. I'm working with an organisation called ARBEF, although my specific position and duties aren't altogether clear just yet. The organisation works wth reproductive health (they're a member association of International Planned Parenthood), and it appears I'll be doing reproductive health training on a project working with returnees from Tanzania. Those who know me and know my undergrad work can likely see that this position seems like it was made for me.

I can't quite express my excitement and anxiety just yet, so I'm disguising all emotions under a lot of busywork- making sure papers are in order, packing and hoping I don't run of the things everyone keeps saying I won't find there, and tying up loose ends with my research work. I've been putting off saying goodbye so far... although clearly I won't be able to keep that up much longer. There are some people I'm just not ready to say goodbye to (and probably won't ever feel ready to say goodbye to) but I've no doubts that this is the best decision I've ever made.