Wow, what a long week. I spent Monday, my last day without responsibilities, at the mall with some other Pitt students. Being in there reminded me how people really all are the same. Even though we are an ocean away, I felt at home amongst the stores and food spots. This was a great way to relax and destress before my first day of work. Then came Tuesday. Honestly the first day was a little tough, as there was some miscommunication and my supervisor was not on the property. I felt good as the day ended though, as I had survived more than I had anticipated. The entire atmosphere of my position is extremely welcoming, which eased my stress. Wednesday was a completely new experience. Not only was my supervisor there, but so was an entire class of children. A large part of my internship is environmental education, but I was not very prepared to being engaging with children on day two. The entire experience was very surprising though, as it was great. The children were extremely kind and welcoming, they even tried to teach me some Irish! I was not very good though, so they were laughing at me. Thursday I was on my own again, just sorting supplies and preparing for another school on Friday. Today was a bit harder, as the children were in a younger age group. After the first session, I was feeling a bit defeated and lacking confidence in my abilities to interact with the 6 year olds. But then my supervisor walked over, and unprompted said “Wow you are doing so great, you really have a knack for this.” That one sentence powered me through another session of yelling and running.

Another big change this week was the weather. Last week’s 70 degrees day with sun was a complete fluke, and this week I have been trying to get used to the colder and rainier days. Mostly it has been fine, except for when I am caught without my coat or with my umbrella in my bag. I was worried that working outside with such temperamental weather would be a nuisance, but so far it has not been an issue. The only time I have really been mad about the rain was after a long day at work while waiting for the bus. This week I have also been trying to get used to my work commute. The ride itself is fine, but walking 30 minutes and having a 35 minute bus ride is not my favorite thing after work. I am trying to take advantage of being so far away from my accommodations though. For example, one day this week I decided to look around Bray after work. I went to the beach and did some work, then took the train back to campus. This was a great experience and a good reminder that I am not abroad to just work and go to bed, I am here to work and experience a new country and culture.

So far this week I have had to plan out my time and tasks pretty independently from my supervisor. This early stage in my interning is a bit awkward, as my supervisor and I do not quite know what an appropriate amount of work is for each day. Since I am new to environmental education, I really don’t know how much time certain tasks will take me, leading to both over and underestimations. I do feel a bit of stress about trying to do everything assigned to me and beyond. I am not sure if this is just my work ethic or a general American thing, but my supervisor has had to remind me to take breaks and slow down. While it is hard to get used to, I am enjoying the slower and more contemplative environment. As for priorities, I worked closely with my supervisor to plan my workdays next week as per what she most needs me to get done. Since a large portion of my job is program development and planning, I will be prioritizing the earlier events. When doing present work, my main priority is preparing our workspace for the schools and camp visits. When the children are on the property, my attention is fully focused on them. I think that this is appropriate, as all of our planning work is about the children having the best experience possible at Festina Lente. This does create one problem though: falling behind on work. It is important that I utilize every second at work without a class present. It is during that time that I will be planning and preparing for events. A large portion of my role is to help Festina Lente get ahead in their program development, as they have fallen behind due to all of their day to day work. I plan to manage my time and duties by organizing everything I have to do, and trying not to get sidetracked by other duties. While this may be difficult, as there is a lot of different projects going on at the property, I think that it is the only way to really get done what I need to do. Overall I feel confident in my management abilities, and optimistic about what is to come next week at my internship.