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.