Hi everyone, welcome to Week 7!

This week was both exciting and busy. It’s the week before my final week here in Dublin, so I’ve been working on my last two assignments. It feels very bittersweet knowing that it is almost time to leave. Working for the Global Undergraduate Awards has been an amazing experience, I’ve learned so much and met wonderful people, I can’t believe there’s only one week left!

Throughout this week, in addition to continuing the projects I started last week, I had the chance to explore more of the software I’ve been using, Monday.com ,and take part in some of the training programs available to us interns on the Monday platform. Many companies use software similar to Monday, so it was a great opportunity to get a better understanding of how to organize data on it and become more familiar with it so that I can use it for this internship and others in the future. It took a little getting used to at first, I was so scared I’d end up deleting important data, but it all worked out fine in the end! In addition to improving my technical skills, I’ve also gotten the chance to improve my communication skills. My internship environment is more of a high-context environment compared to those I’ve experienced in the U.S. That means communication relies more on nonverbal cues, implicit meanings, and shared context. Thankfully, this high-context style is similar to the communication style used in Brazil, where I grew up, so it wasn’t a huge adjustment. Still, after spending the last couple years in the U.S., where a low-context style is more common, especially in professional and academic environments, it took me a little while to readjust. My supervisor gives general instructions and always lets us know she’s available for questions, but it’s more up to us interns to reach out for help rather than receiving detailed feedback automatically. She’s more than happy to provide detailed guidance when asked though, so it’s been a learning experience figuring out when to trust myself and when to ask for further clarification. But I’m glad to say I’ve become much more confident in myself than when I first started out.

Outside of work, this week I took the time to visit some spots in Dublin and other Irish cities that I hadn’t visited before. On Thursday, after work, I visited the National Gallery of Ireland. One of the main reasons I wanted to go there was to make sure I took in as much as I could from this wonderful city before the program ended. In a busy city like Dublin, it’s easy to get caught up in work and forget to appreciate your surroundings. I hadn’t been to the gallery before, and it’s only a 10-minute walk from my workplace! The gallery was beautiful and free to attend. If anyone is planning to visit Dublin, I’d definitely recommend going to the National Gallery, especially on a sunny day like the one I went on, where, after seeing the gallery, you can enjoy sitting outside by the garden watching while other people make art and even partaking in the artistic activities if you choose to do so. Over the weekend, I went on a camping trip with a friend I made during my internship. I took the train to Longford, where she lives, and from there we went to Sligo. When I got to the Longford station, my friend was waiting for me, and we stopped at a supermarket to get some things we might need for our camping trip. Afterward, we went to her house, where I met her roommates while she finished up some work. Once she was done, we started our drive to Sligo. We set up camp by the beach and had a wonderful time. My friend had lived in Sligo before, so the next day she took me to visit some amazing spots, including two beautiful beaches. The beaches were very crowded because that weekend ended up being the hottest weekend in Ireland so far, but it was still really nice. I thought the water was so cold and my Irish friend disagreed, but it was still a great time.

I got back to Dublin on Saturday night, and on Sunday, I spent most of the day resting from the trip. Later that day, I went to a Brazilian place with one of my roommates. One thing I really love about Dublin is how many Brazilians are here. It makes me feel connected to my Brazilian culture, even while living abroad. Overall it was an amazing week. Can’t believe it’s already been seven weeks. Can’t wait to see what Week 8 brings!