Since my last post, I've been adjusting to my internship at La Usina. So far, I feel very comfortable in the office. Everyone is very friendly, and they have been willing to help me whenever I have had any doubts about my duties or assignments. The office is very small (there are only nine employees and four students, including me), but I think that it makes for a close-knit work environment.
Since my first day on the job, I have begun to take on several interesting projects. Aside from researching potential funding options like the Soros Foundations, multiple embassies, and the Ford Foundation, I have been editing two applications for grants. The first application is for a grant from the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). My organization is applying for funding from this organization because one of their projects, called "Education as a Path to Freedom", falls in line with the criteria for the IADB's "World of Solutions" grant. The grant is essentially for organizations committed to using technology to benefit people with disabilities in some fashion. Through "Education as a Path to Freedom", La Usina will use distance learning education and other special teaching technologies (like brail software) to help 50 students with disabilities graduate from high school. I have been working on modifying my company's application for the grant by editing an English proposal that they had previously written up.
The second application is for funding from the Finnish Embassy. The Embassy of Finland in Buenos Aires offers funding to various NGOs that foster community development, sustainability, human rights, etc. This project has been a bit more challenging because I have been translating their application from last year into English. Nonetheless, I have enjoyed the work because it has given me a solid opportunity to learn more about my organization and some of the specifics of the Spanish language.
Needless to say, work has kept me pretty busy. I haven't found it especially hard to connect with my coworkers, but I am still slightly timid about asking them to steer me in the right direction. My main supervisor only works in the office two days a week, and I sometimes find myself wondering what to do with my time. I think it's going to take a little bit more getting used to, but I am gaining confidence and becoming more comfortable day by day.
I've had a rough cold since I last posted, so I've really tried to take it easy after work. I am feeling much better today than I have over the past few days, so that's a good sign. I have still found time to explore the huge expanse that is Buenos Aires, often by walking without very specific plans and stumbling upon something very interesting. Among the sites I've discovered over the past week: the botanic gardens, La Feria de los Mataderos (a gaucho fair), Palermo Viejo (a quiet neighborhood with cobblestone streets and dozens of shops and restaurants), and an indie rock venue.
Homesickness is something I haven't really brought up, but I don't even worry about it any more. After the first week or two I really began to miss my Memphis summer, but I've kept in touch with my friends and family via Skype and I haven't been upset about losing 100 degree heat since. I guess it was totally natural to miss home, but I'm glad that I'm growing evermore comfortable with my surroundings here in Buenos Aires. I really hope to travel to Uruguay and other regions of Argentina soon, so hopefully I can take a couple days off to do so.
Chau! Until next week!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Buenos Aires, Week Three: Starting Work
I finally got word on my job status last Monday (the day I was supposed to start working) from my adviser. She sent me a brief e-mail before I was scheduled to attend an orientation meeting with her and several other interns from different programs. In the letter, she informed me that I would be working with an NGO called La Usina. She described La Usina as a nonprofit organization that works to promote social justice for people with disabilities in Argentina by launching awareness campaigns and promoting similar programs. During the meeting, I learned that I would primarily be working to find appropriate funding options for the organization's various programs.
I must admit that I was pretty nervous about my job placement at first. Initially, I didn't think that working for La Usina would necessarily suit my academic and extracurricular interests and experiences. The goals of the organization seemed heavily oriented towards issues in sociology and psychology. As a public policy major interested in politics and diplomacy, I wasn't sure that La Usina would be a good fit for me or that I would be a good fit for La Usina. To make matters worse, it didn't seem like the representative from CDS in New York (who had actually spoken with me about my interests and prior experiences in an interview) had played much of a role, if any, in placing me. I felt like the people at CDS had essentially transferred my files over to COINED (the school where I took classes for the first two weeks) and distanced themselves from the very process which they were supposed to facilitate. To keep myself from rambling on, I'll put it simply: The entire ordeal to this point left me nervous and wondering what to expect next.
A day later, my adviser accompanied me to La Usina for a brief orientation. A fifteen minute walk from my residence (SO convenient), the office is in a fairly nice part of town that is very easy to get to. When I got there, I was greeted with hugs and kisses (a customary greeting that I've grown accustomed to) by the employees and treated very nicely. They explained to me that I would be working in a branch of their development department called international cooperation. They said that my primary objectives would be to search for embassies, social organizations, and other international organisms that offer funding for NGOs like La Usina, contact those organizations, and collaborate with my coworkers to choose the most appropriate grant programs to apply to. OK, I thought. This is more down my alley. After about another half hour of introductions, I was set free. Just before I left, they told me that my first full day would be that Friday.
After enjoying a two day break in the middle of an otherwise hectic week by going to the famous Recoleta Cemetery (where famous Argentines like Eva Peron and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento are buried), exploring Puerto Madero (a neighborhood close to the banks of the Rio de la Plata), and attending a folk music concert/traditional Argentine dinner at a restaurant in Palermo, I had my first real day of work in Buenos Aires. The atmosphere was very laid back--we spent a good deal of time sipping mate and getting to know each other--and it was easy for me to get into work mode. Virginia, the woman with whom I will be working very closely, really wanted me to get a better feel for the mission of La Usina and the goals of the development department, so I spent the entire day taking in a ton of information. Although it felt like I was being presented with a mountain of facts and data at once, I found it all very interesting and relevant to my field of study. After researching a few institutions (the World Bank, several embassies, the Ford Foundation, etc.) into the late afternoon, I was allowed to leave for the weekend.
My weekend was extended yet again because of a national holiday on Monday (Flag Day). I had originally made plans to travel to Uruguay, but a temporary hike in the ferry price to Montevideo forced me to put the trip off for now. I've been developing a cold since last Thursday or Friday, so I mostly (and I say mostly because I was foolishly out until after 4 am at least twice over the weekend) took it easy on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Work also went very well today. I'm beginning to compile a list of institutions that may be able to provide funding for La Usina and I've learned a lot about the most effective ways to find viable options, as my coworkers have flooded me with all sorts of literature regarding "international cooperation". In all, I think that I will be able to have a very positive, enriching experience during this internship. My uneasiness has faded, and I think that this will be an excellent opportunity to see how an NGO functions and how they collaborate with other organizations interested in promoting favorable policies that pertain to a vast array of issues, from the issue of civil justice for the disabled to the problems regarding climate change and environmental degradation. Hopefully I'll have much more to report after my first full work week comes to an end this Friday!
I must admit that I was pretty nervous about my job placement at first. Initially, I didn't think that working for La Usina would necessarily suit my academic and extracurricular interests and experiences. The goals of the organization seemed heavily oriented towards issues in sociology and psychology. As a public policy major interested in politics and diplomacy, I wasn't sure that La Usina would be a good fit for me or that I would be a good fit for La Usina. To make matters worse, it didn't seem like the representative from CDS in New York (who had actually spoken with me about my interests and prior experiences in an interview) had played much of a role, if any, in placing me. I felt like the people at CDS had essentially transferred my files over to COINED (the school where I took classes for the first two weeks) and distanced themselves from the very process which they were supposed to facilitate. To keep myself from rambling on, I'll put it simply: The entire ordeal to this point left me nervous and wondering what to expect next.
A day later, my adviser accompanied me to La Usina for a brief orientation. A fifteen minute walk from my residence (SO convenient), the office is in a fairly nice part of town that is very easy to get to. When I got there, I was greeted with hugs and kisses (a customary greeting that I've grown accustomed to) by the employees and treated very nicely. They explained to me that I would be working in a branch of their development department called international cooperation. They said that my primary objectives would be to search for embassies, social organizations, and other international organisms that offer funding for NGOs like La Usina, contact those organizations, and collaborate with my coworkers to choose the most appropriate grant programs to apply to. OK, I thought. This is more down my alley. After about another half hour of introductions, I was set free. Just before I left, they told me that my first full day would be that Friday.
After enjoying a two day break in the middle of an otherwise hectic week by going to the famous Recoleta Cemetery (where famous Argentines like Eva Peron and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento are buried), exploring Puerto Madero (a neighborhood close to the banks of the Rio de la Plata), and attending a folk music concert/traditional Argentine dinner at a restaurant in Palermo, I had my first real day of work in Buenos Aires. The atmosphere was very laid back--we spent a good deal of time sipping mate and getting to know each other--and it was easy for me to get into work mode. Virginia, the woman with whom I will be working very closely, really wanted me to get a better feel for the mission of La Usina and the goals of the development department, so I spent the entire day taking in a ton of information. Although it felt like I was being presented with a mountain of facts and data at once, I found it all very interesting and relevant to my field of study. After researching a few institutions (the World Bank, several embassies, the Ford Foundation, etc.) into the late afternoon, I was allowed to leave for the weekend.
My weekend was extended yet again because of a national holiday on Monday (Flag Day). I had originally made plans to travel to Uruguay, but a temporary hike in the ferry price to Montevideo forced me to put the trip off for now. I've been developing a cold since last Thursday or Friday, so I mostly (and I say mostly because I was foolishly out until after 4 am at least twice over the weekend) took it easy on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Work also went very well today. I'm beginning to compile a list of institutions that may be able to provide funding for La Usina and I've learned a lot about the most effective ways to find viable options, as my coworkers have flooded me with all sorts of literature regarding "international cooperation". In all, I think that I will be able to have a very positive, enriching experience during this internship. My uneasiness has faded, and I think that this will be an excellent opportunity to see how an NGO functions and how they collaborate with other organizations interested in promoting favorable policies that pertain to a vast array of issues, from the issue of civil justice for the disabled to the problems regarding climate change and environmental degradation. Hopefully I'll have much more to report after my first full work week comes to an end this Friday!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Buenos Aires, Week Two: Having Fun, but Still Awaiting Word on a Job
My second week in Buenos Aires was just as busy as the first. On the weekdays, I had my last few Spanish classes, and they went fairly well. While I think they served mainly to refresh my memory, I feel like the classes created a favorable environment for testing my Spanish speaking skills. To be honest, it has been rather difficult to practice speaking Spanish around the city. For the most part, the people I have interacted with--waiters, store owners, tour guides, etc.--have reverted to speaking English after hearing my accent. I do hope to be able to speak a lot of Spanish once I start working, however. In any case, I'm going to have to work on sounding more like an Argentine (their dialect is really unique: sometimes they speak so fast that it's hard to follow what they're saying, and at others it almost sounds like they're speaking Italian).
Outside of the classroom, I have tried to find a variety of cultural activities to participate in. This week, I've done everything from jumping around with soccer hooligans at an Argentine World Cup Qualifier to taking tango lessons at a local milonga. I've also attended a wide variety of musical shows, including an all drum concert called "La Bomba de Tiempo" and a tango orchestra concert. Among other things, I've seen more art museums, attended an artisan fair, spent an afternoon at an ecological reserve on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, and explored the city (getting lost most of the time) alone on foot. In these first couple of weeks, I have really seen the cultural richness of Buenos Aires and Argentina as a whole. Not only have I found it extremely interesting to explore everything that this city has to offer (there's a reason it's called the Paris of Latin America), but I have also found it easy to adjust to the lifestyle here given the cultural norms of the Argentine people. I am certainly happy to be able to say that; I'm not sure how I would be handling life in a huge foreign city if I hadn't been able to adjust accordingly.
I wish I could be writing more about my expectations for an exciting summer of work, but I am currently in limbo in that department. While my ten week internship is scheduled to start tomorrow, CDS still has not notified me of where I will be working. After badgering my contact person in the States, I was only told to rest assured that they were doing all they could to find me an internship with an NGO or a similar organization that has some focus on public policy. Naturally, I am getting pretty anxious about this situation. I haven't been able to get a hold of the representative for the program who is here in Buenos Aires, but I am scheduled to have a meeting with her tomorrow morning. Hopefully we can get the entire situation sorted out and I will be writing all about my job placement in my next entry. It's been my only worry the entire trip, but I'd say there's cause for concern at this point. Until I find out though, I'll continue to enjoy my stay here.
Outside of the classroom, I have tried to find a variety of cultural activities to participate in. This week, I've done everything from jumping around with soccer hooligans at an Argentine World Cup Qualifier to taking tango lessons at a local milonga. I've also attended a wide variety of musical shows, including an all drum concert called "La Bomba de Tiempo" and a tango orchestra concert. Among other things, I've seen more art museums, attended an artisan fair, spent an afternoon at an ecological reserve on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, and explored the city (getting lost most of the time) alone on foot. In these first couple of weeks, I have really seen the cultural richness of Buenos Aires and Argentina as a whole. Not only have I found it extremely interesting to explore everything that this city has to offer (there's a reason it's called the Paris of Latin America), but I have also found it easy to adjust to the lifestyle here given the cultural norms of the Argentine people. I am certainly happy to be able to say that; I'm not sure how I would be handling life in a huge foreign city if I hadn't been able to adjust accordingly.
I wish I could be writing more about my expectations for an exciting summer of work, but I am currently in limbo in that department. While my ten week internship is scheduled to start tomorrow, CDS still has not notified me of where I will be working. After badgering my contact person in the States, I was only told to rest assured that they were doing all they could to find me an internship with an NGO or a similar organization that has some focus on public policy. Naturally, I am getting pretty anxious about this situation. I haven't been able to get a hold of the representative for the program who is here in Buenos Aires, but I am scheduled to have a meeting with her tomorrow morning. Hopefully we can get the entire situation sorted out and I will be writing all about my job placement in my next entry. It's been my only worry the entire trip, but I'd say there's cause for concern at this point. Until I find out though, I'll continue to enjoy my stay here.
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