My time in Dublin is coming to a close and I am spending this week doing as much as I can. Last week I did this by spending a day in Belfast and frequenting the beach. While I am sad to leave, I have also sort of enjoyed the pressure these past few things to see everything before I head home. The week started in Belfast, as I went with my supervisors. Along with two interns, we spent the day exploring the city. This was such a great experience, as I was able to see a part of Ireland that I really had no other way of getting too. While the city was nice, it did not compared to Dublin. It had a lot less trees and people wandering around, which helps make Dublin feel so alive. The funniest part of the day was probably the fact that I did not have a voice. I had been battling a cold for a few days, and after the weekend my voice had just completely left. I bounced back and forth between being amused with it and annoyed that I had to type on my phone to be a part of any conversation. I do think it was a well needed break though, especially since I was extremely tired from my trip to London over the weekend and we had to wake up early to get to Belfast at a reasonable time.

The rest of the week was a pretty constant routine. Each day I would head into work and run children camps. We had three new American interns arrive, so I spent a lot of the week helping them get adjusted to our system. The major difference during the week was that we had the same children each day as opposed to new children visiting through their schools. I really enjoyed this shift as I was able to actually get to know the kids. For example, I spent all of Wednesday with a five year old named Oscar. We spent the day walking through the gardens and learning about different flowers and plants. When I go home, I am going to miss him. At the end of the week I went to a camp at a nearby school, which was definitely interesting. Firstly I was surprised that it is normal in Ireland for teachers to still go to school in the summer and watch some kids, but it is called “camp.” I am used to schools locking their doors for summer break, so it was strange to still be in a classroom during outreach. The children there were nice, but it was not as fun as my group in the gardens from the days before.

Leaving my job is definitely bittersweet, as I am really starting to become close with my coworkers. The newer interns and I all went hiking and swimming this week after work, which was so great. Since we are all environmental students, it was so fun to just sit at the top of a mountain and look at the landscape of Ireland together. Swimming was of course great. We went to a secluded rocky beach near the hike, and it was the perfect treat after trekking to the top. I am excited to go home, but I will miss the new friends that I have made abroad.

At my job I have noticed some weird communication preferences, but I would not say that there has been anything consistent enough to confidently say that it is a cultural difference. For example my boss has both given me detailed instruction lists and open ended tasks. I think that my supervisor prefers being clear from the get-go, so we don’t have to discuss things back and forth, which I appreciate. I do see a divide though in where she thinks something has been explained enough and I do not. Again though I do not think this is an Ireland thing, but more of my boss thinking that something is obvious when it is not. One such situation was when she had asked me to prep materials for a certain monthly event through 2027, and I did not get it done as quick as she had said. This is because I had done more detailed prep work than she wanted, but that was simply a miscommunication over what she likes her prepped activities to look like. After having an open discuss this issue has not come up again. Generally the communication is difficult here. My boss will send a bunch of messages that aren’t completely clear, then not respond for hours. I do think it has taught me how to really stand on my own two feet, but it has been stressful. Throughout my time here I have become better and understanding what she really wants from me, and I think that I have also become better in giving that. I hope that in my last week I use this skill that I have developed to do my best work for the organization and my supervisor.