Ciao, bella! This week I am reporting from Rome, Italy! This 90-degree weather may be the death of me, but before then, you bet I’ll make it to the Colosseum. I think I’ve visited over 20 churches, and each one keeps getting more beautiful than the last. On my first day in Rome, I wandered my way to the Colosseum before checking out a few palazzos. I probably saw more Michelangelos this weekend than I’ll ever see for the rest of my life. It’s hard for my American brain to even imagine the civilization after civilization that has captured and cultured this land. On Sunday I got to see the Pope in real life. I honestly only did this because he’s basically a worldwide superstar—right? He seemed like a very down-to-earth guy, and I liked what he said in English, so I’d say it was worth it. Then I checked out the basilica, which was AMAZING!
I’ve been staying at a youthful hostel with great amenities (namely a shower for this heat!). I have met lots of neat people here and even went out and about with a few of them, which was lovely. 2 bowls of cacio e pepe were consumed along with plenty of pizza slices. My favorite meal was surprisingly a calzone with potatoes, sausage, cheese, and lemon inside. I would never put starch in a carb on my own, but maybe I need to start changing my ways… The people of Rome were harder to find between the thousands of tourists at every corner of the city. However, those I did meet had such cool manners and outfits I honestly was taking notes. My number one favorite part of this experience was getting to visit the stunning and ancient architecture across the city. Gratzie, Rome!
This week at work has slowed down a bit. When I first got here, everyone had work coming out of their ears to do! This busy spirit has passed, and the office has relaxed a little. While this is nice, I’ve noticed there’s a bit less for me to do as well. My boss has asked me to work on the Revit model for a single-family home remodel. The house is large, older in style, and pretty oddly configured. You can tell from a quick look at it that it was built in stages. There’s no front door that makes sense, and lots of extra fun spaces, while the house lacks in bedroom and bathroom space. My boss is having me work on an idea to demolish a corner of the building and rebuild it as a modern heart of the home. It was interesting hearing how he discussed the home and sketched over the current design with trace paper. I haven’t been able to sit down with him before, so hearing his design language and communication has been helpful in my journey of articulating my design ideas.
The communication I have encountered in my workplace is a mix between high-context and low-context communication. On one hand, I find that a lot of communication is implied. When working with coworkers, I find that they talk with a level of ambiguity that avoids confrontation. Almost nobody has brought up the political situation in America to me directly, although a good few have implied it. I think this communication style is used in order to keep the peace and not offend anyone. I would say that this ambiguity mostly ends when it comes to work. Everyone I work with is straightforward with how they delegate tasks and ask things of me. When I have run into problems with my work, everyone has been more than willing to provide more context and direct help whenever they can. If anyone has flaws in their work, others will politely and plainly ask them to fix these issues. So in this way my workplace is very high context.
The only miscommunication issues I have had have been about the Irish cadence and not the actual words they’ve said. I have a hard time understanding my coworkers when they speak in more hushed tones or when their voice becomes faded at the end of a sentence. Irish folk tend to speak quickly, and my workplace is one big room, so everyone tries to be quiet in order to be polite. I’ve mostly overcome this obstacle by asking people to repeat themselves until I understand or it would be rude to ask again. At that point I will just smile and pretend that I understand. This tactic places politeness over understanding, which aligns with Irish values. Overall I’ve enjoyed communicating in the workplace, as I’m a straightforwardbut polite person myself.