Not a Vacation (Week 2)

I'm still trying to figure out the best schedule for putting up new entries. I'm gonna try doing just one post for all of last week. Let's see how this goes!

Last week was my second week at the Northside Community Law Centre. It was a great week because I was able to really start sinking my teeth into some cool projects, and I'm getting prepared for a couple really big projects that will probably last me the whole summer. While I was going to work, I had a really interesting (if not somewhat obvious) revelation: this trip is not a vacation. There are vacation-like aspects to it, but it requires a much different mentality than a typical vacation.

People go on vacations for lots of reasons. But typically on vacations, you're not there to learn (except for cool factoids in museums) and you're not there to change. You're there to experience a different culture, to see some sites, and to get away from your regular life. But vacations are inherently short-term - if someone told you they went on "vacation" for 3 months, that would sound weird. And when you're on vacation, you don't really accommodate to the culture, or at least I never have. You're just there to skim the surface, have some fun, and get back home.

This international internship that I'm doing is not a vacation. I'm here to work, and any enjoyment is incidental. And so I have to prioritize. On weekday evenings I usually just go straight home after work and get some food and do my daily Facebook stalking. I can't go out and explore this country every night of the week, and I don't really want to. So what I'm doing is more like work with brief periods of vacationing on the weekends.

The other big difference is the money. When you're on vacation you take taxis, you eat out a lot, you pay for admission to attractions, and you just write it off saying "I'm here to enjoy myself!" But if I did that, I would be in more debt than I could imagine. I have to pay for the bus. I have to save money for laundry. I have to think about the last time I ate vegetables. I usually eat at Subway for lunch during the week because it's by far the cheapest option, even if it isn't "local." I bought a pay-as-you-go phone and I will have to refill it a couple times while I'm here. These are just things you don't really think about when you're on vacation. You bring one pair of shoes, you pack exactly as many pairs of underwear as days you'll be gone, and one little travel-sized bottle of shampoo is more than enough.

For people who have done a lot of traveling, this will be pretty self-evident. But I've rarely been on a vacation for more than a week, and any time I've gone somewhere for longer I've stayed with family or friends. This transition been one of the hardest parts of this trip. But now that I'm mostly on the other side of it, I'm starting to feel a lot better about my stay here.

Sorry this entry wasn't as entertaining as other ones! I figure I gotta save up my good stuff. But hopefully this has got you thinking about all the things you take for granted at home. Not that that's a bad thing - it's just something I never thought about until I got here!