Well, this month has certainly turned out to be… challenging. With the election results occupying everyone’s minds, rightfully causing us to question our safety, worry about family and friends’ safety, and even making us wonder what the future of our work will look like. I don’t think there is anyone in the program who is satisfied with the outcome, and it has all but magnified the importance of our discussions about race, power relations, and privilege.

But let’s make this post more optimistic, and talk about Friendsgiving. With the first break coming up for IEDP and GSE at large, as well as some major assignments already turned in, everyone is so ready to just relax. We started the process yesterday when fantastic IEDPer Ania invited our program over to her house for some good ol’ turkey and all the fixings.

Even though we didn’t have full attendance, we still had a great time. Ania took the time to create a wall of individual pictures of all the cohort for us to write kind descriptions of each other. I wish I had taken a picture! It was so sweet; tomorrow she’s going to pass them out during Proseminar, and I can’t wait to see everyone’s reaction. (*Update: I got a picture! It’s below.) We also played IEDP-themed trivia… It involved some serious excavation on Facebook for fun facts on Ania’s part, but it was so much fun to hear how amazing our cohort is and what we’ve done. I mean, we’ve got Fulbright scholars, international travelers, and company owners. We’re an impressive bunch.

The pictures might be crappy, but I hope the sense of togetherness shows. It hasn’t been the easiest for our cohort to build an overall strong, cohesive bond, and we still have work to do on that end, but it’s these little gestures that move us along in achieving that.

Also, how are we almost done with the semester???