A lot of my blog has been more about my roaming in Roma than where I actually spend the majority of my time, at the UN. I suppose this is because it is hard to write about work in a blog, especially when it is so much more fun to get my mind off of work and to write about adventures throughout the city. However, work is a different adventure every day. Waking up around 6:45 and then getting home at 6; long and tiring days. Sometimes I go to work knowing exactly what to expect. I have been working on several projects while I am here, and some days I know that I will be working specifically on those. Other days I wait for feedback on my projects, thus I end up doing other work that needs to be taken care of while being slightly nervous to get the response on my work.
The projects deal with the loans, grants, and accounting of all the different projects in my division, Eastern and Southern Africa. I’ve learned so much finance and accounting wise as well as about the workings of the UN. I also have been able to learn more about projects and what is going on in the countries. Finance is the backbone of all the projects and it is beneficial for me to be learning that side of things. Sometimes people want to neglect the details of it, but it’s going to come up in every part of the work for the country projects.
Aside from the actual work I do, I also have access to so much information on the IFAD intranet. It’s a fantastic opportunity to read up on different things when I get the chance. I love reading about the agricultural projects taking place that all the work here goes into. IFAD really is enabling poor rural people to overcome poverty. The president sometimes blogs as well; he just wrote an entry that I think everyone should read too. It’s short, sweet, I love it, and you can find it here.
After being here for more than two months, it is amazing how much I have learned, how much I have become comfortable with the work, and how homey the place has become. I feel like I have been here for ages. I have even gotten comfy in my clothes. A couple of weeks ago I decided to invest in comfortable shoes to walk to work in. I resisted the temptation to buy THEM the whole time, but once I tried them on I knew I had to get them for the benefit of my hurting feet…Birkenstocks. EVERYONE in the city wears them. It is unbelievable. With the arrival of the heat I started to see people not only wearing them to work, but wearing them at work. After my investment into the world of Birkenstock, it started out with me just walking my mile to the metro in them, and then it slowly became me never changing out of them. Black pencil skirt with Birkenstocks? Yes please.
Work as also gotten comfortable with not only how much I have learned with the projects and wearing comfy clothes, but also because of the people I have met. I came into this thinking I might meet some interesting co-workers; never did I think I would be making close friends. It sounds cheesy when I write that, but it is true. They are from so many different places around the world. Recently I realized that I hardly speak with Americans. It was funny to actually get together with Gina (from L.A.) and talk about “our home” even though our homes are so far apart in the states.
Here I spend time with my closest friend who is Italian/ Swiss, and also hang out with a friend from Holland, others from Italy, Africa, England, Jordan, Kuwait, Germany, and a bunch of different places. Lately I have spent time saying goodbye to them. I didn’t know how blue this would make me feel. After becoming close friends in and outside of work and then having to say goodbye is difficult. They have been apart one of my biggest adventures and have been an essential part of my time here.
So lately that is what I have been thinking about. I LOVE it here and have a good amount of time left so I am excited. It’s just weird to say goodbye even before I leave.
Enough sentimentalism; time to think about all the work and fun that is yet to come! More work adventures to take place, more out of work surprises along the way. Ciao ciao!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Fountains, restrictions, and fun times.
With the abundance of fountains in Rome you would think there could possibly be a swimming pool for people to swim in. When I think about it, some of these fountains are like fancy ornate pools. Thus, with the arrival of the intense heat, my Floridian instinct is starting to take over me: when hot, jump into water. The heat in Rome is like Florida, it is hot, but you can live; however, add to that business clothes and getting on a metro cramped with other hot sweaty people and you start to wonder if you are going to make it. When commuting home in the afternoon, I just want to get off of the metro where all of us passengers have created a pool of sweat, and fling myself into the nearest fountain. Too bad I would receive a fine. Restrictions...
On a recent trip outside of Rome to Orvieto with Gina, a fabulous friend from L.A., we ended up on a bus packed with people in the intense heat. I was excited to get a move on it considering the stagnate air and the unusual proximity to the people around us; however, the bus had other plans...it was not starting back up. Thus, Gina and I stared at each other with tired delirious faces while getting entertainment from the French couple sitting next to us. The couple, who even though they knew we were American, continued to engage us in their conversation in French. At one point, I was leaning over laughing and all the sudden got a spray of something in my face. First my reaction was of fear of what was being sprayed at me by this little French lady, then I realized it was something I had never seen before, a can similar to spray on sunscreen, that sprays cooling water. Gina and I started laughing even more as the lady continued to spray us down. Funny memories on a nice trip outside of Rome.
Delirious laughing from heat and tiredness is a common occurrence now. The day after the Orvieto trip, I went on a trip out to Tivoli with two friends from IFAD. There we visited Villa Adriana (Hadrian's villa) and Villa d'Este. Thankfully we had been told to go to Adriana first and then Este. Adriana is an amazing estate that was created by the Emperor Hadrian. Full of ruins and little ponds we spent our time roaming around, taking pictures, and staying out of the sun. It is a huge piece of land that made it so we didn't see anyone else while touring. When we did come upon other tourists we would quickly ask if they could take our picture, because who knew when we would see someone else again.
After Villa Adriana we made our way to Villa d'Este. It is an fabulous villa right in Tivoli with 500 fountains. It was gorgeous! I was in heaven with the cool breeze coming off all the water and the huge trees providing shade. There we had a picnic lunch and took in the fountains and the sound which reminded me of waterfalls in North Carolina. We wandered around the much smaller villa, took pictures, and then decided to do what we saw so many others doing, find a spot in the shade on the lawn and take a nap. Two days of touring had worn out my body. It was time to recharge a bit and then head home to Rome.
After heading home we had to recharge some more because that same night after the day of our self-guided tour in Tivoli, was the World Cup final. Up to this point we had been watching the matches at the FIFA Fan Fest in Villa Borghese, at my friend's apartment with her family, or at restaurants in the center. This time my friend from Jordan (who lives close to my place) and I opted for watching it at a small restaurant close by. She had been on the Tivoli day trip with me, so we wanted to get maximum rest time in between then and the game.
The game proved to be fun despite the lack of scoring. The restaurant was cute, and the people around us were fun. However, soon sleep overtook us and we had to leave at the end of the 90 minutes, thus missing the final goal, but excited to hear from my apartment cheers and excitement that Spain won. After all the other teams we had decided to cheer for during the WC had all lost in their matches, it was nice to finally choose to cheer for what turned out to be the winning team. I guess we should have listened to Paul the Octopus the whole time, ha.
The weekend heat is counteracted by the cool indoors of the IFAD building. Of course I would rather be outside, but from 8:30 till 5 Monday through Friday my time is spent indoors...living out my dream internship. It's still going well, learning is my favorite part. So many of the country programme managers go on missions to Africa, thus every week different people are always missing and different people are coming back. I feel at home in the UN though and I know most people in my division. It makes the work day fun to say hi to everyone and get to talk with different people. Everyone is fabulous.
This past work week flew by. Due to the fact that my friend from Jordan is leaving next week we decided to pack everyday after work with fun. Some of the fun activities that took place: going to Gianicolo hill to picnic and see the sunset over Rome, Musei Capitolini and dinner at my favorite restaurant, and the Colosseo. This is all filled in with errand running, market hopping, random cooking, and visits with other friends. All a lot of fun. I don't know what I am going to do when she leaves.
Now it is time for the weekend. Time to clean the apartment before my roommate returns from Ireland, time to visit the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill before my ticket expires, and time to just get some rest. It has been a fun and tiring week! Oh, and it is also time to go to the beach where I can jump in the water and not be fined :) Ciao ciao e baciooooooooooooo.
On a recent trip outside of Rome to Orvieto with Gina, a fabulous friend from L.A., we ended up on a bus packed with people in the intense heat. I was excited to get a move on it considering the stagnate air and the unusual proximity to the people around us; however, the bus had other plans...it was not starting back up. Thus, Gina and I stared at each other with tired delirious faces while getting entertainment from the French couple sitting next to us. The couple, who even though they knew we were American, continued to engage us in their conversation in French. At one point, I was leaning over laughing and all the sudden got a spray of something in my face. First my reaction was of fear of what was being sprayed at me by this little French lady, then I realized it was something I had never seen before, a can similar to spray on sunscreen, that sprays cooling water. Gina and I started laughing even more as the lady continued to spray us down. Funny memories on a nice trip outside of Rome.
Delirious laughing from heat and tiredness is a common occurrence now. The day after the Orvieto trip, I went on a trip out to Tivoli with two friends from IFAD. There we visited Villa Adriana (Hadrian's villa) and Villa d'Este. Thankfully we had been told to go to Adriana first and then Este. Adriana is an amazing estate that was created by the Emperor Hadrian. Full of ruins and little ponds we spent our time roaming around, taking pictures, and staying out of the sun. It is a huge piece of land that made it so we didn't see anyone else while touring. When we did come upon other tourists we would quickly ask if they could take our picture, because who knew when we would see someone else again.
After Villa Adriana we made our way to Villa d'Este. It is an fabulous villa right in Tivoli with 500 fountains. It was gorgeous! I was in heaven with the cool breeze coming off all the water and the huge trees providing shade. There we had a picnic lunch and took in the fountains and the sound which reminded me of waterfalls in North Carolina. We wandered around the much smaller villa, took pictures, and then decided to do what we saw so many others doing, find a spot in the shade on the lawn and take a nap. Two days of touring had worn out my body. It was time to recharge a bit and then head home to Rome.
After heading home we had to recharge some more because that same night after the day of our self-guided tour in Tivoli, was the World Cup final. Up to this point we had been watching the matches at the FIFA Fan Fest in Villa Borghese, at my friend's apartment with her family, or at restaurants in the center. This time my friend from Jordan (who lives close to my place) and I opted for watching it at a small restaurant close by. She had been on the Tivoli day trip with me, so we wanted to get maximum rest time in between then and the game.
The game proved to be fun despite the lack of scoring. The restaurant was cute, and the people around us were fun. However, soon sleep overtook us and we had to leave at the end of the 90 minutes, thus missing the final goal, but excited to hear from my apartment cheers and excitement that Spain won. After all the other teams we had decided to cheer for during the WC had all lost in their matches, it was nice to finally choose to cheer for what turned out to be the winning team. I guess we should have listened to Paul the Octopus the whole time, ha.
The weekend heat is counteracted by the cool indoors of the IFAD building. Of course I would rather be outside, but from 8:30 till 5 Monday through Friday my time is spent indoors...living out my dream internship. It's still going well, learning is my favorite part. So many of the country programme managers go on missions to Africa, thus every week different people are always missing and different people are coming back. I feel at home in the UN though and I know most people in my division. It makes the work day fun to say hi to everyone and get to talk with different people. Everyone is fabulous.
This past work week flew by. Due to the fact that my friend from Jordan is leaving next week we decided to pack everyday after work with fun. Some of the fun activities that took place: going to Gianicolo hill to picnic and see the sunset over Rome, Musei Capitolini and dinner at my favorite restaurant, and the Colosseo. This is all filled in with errand running, market hopping, random cooking, and visits with other friends. All a lot of fun. I don't know what I am going to do when she leaves.
Now it is time for the weekend. Time to clean the apartment before my roommate returns from Ireland, time to visit the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill before my ticket expires, and time to just get some rest. It has been a fun and tiring week! Oh, and it is also time to go to the beach where I can jump in the water and not be fined :) Ciao ciao e baciooooooooooooo.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
A Taste of my Favorite Place
My favorite street performer in Piazza Navona is the finger puppet guy. I heard about him from friends and they said that for sure I would see him. I had no clue as to what they were talking about and how a person who has finger puppets could be so entertaining. Well...I have seen him there three times now and he is hilarious every time. He loves seeing us laugh, and always draws a crowd. He even likes it when we take pictures and video. He is more out there to share his unique talent than to get money from tourists. Everyone loves him. Here is a special bit that he was especially excited for.
Piazza Navona makes me happy.
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