Taking an internship in Beijing is almost like getting back home, which makes my adjustment relatively easy compared to other people who are not interning in their home countries. As I have worked in Beijing for 1 year at the same district as where UNESCO is right before I came to Penn, I am more than familiar to the area around my workplace. … Continue reading Old Place, New Start
Despite my effort to keep a journal on daily basis, some parts of my life seem to go undocumented more often than another. It’s usually when I’m moving somewhere new, especially if I’m moving alone, that I forget to record my thoughts and experiences. After all the shopping, minor house maintenance works and room decoration, I usually just drop by the time sun sets (especially … Continue reading Welcome to IEDP! — Orientations and Hustles
This marks the end of my internship. This is it. Going back to Philadelphia to complete my last semester. Today as I reflect back on this internship experience as a whole – I really think I have come out with some great working and personal relationships. Unlike my fellow IEDP classmates, I really did not think too much about having an ideal internship. I had … Continue reading Au Revoir La Suisse
Hello everyone! My name is Hannah, a first-year student of IEDP at Penn GSE. Throughout this year, I will be posting to share different aspects of day in life of the IEDP cohort 2018-2019. Please (virtually) join our adventure in Philadelphia and the world of international education development! Continue reading IEDP Blog is Up!
Someone currently living in a serene island of Koh Rong Samloem in Cambodia told me that when he left his native country, never to go back, and decided to settle in a place very different than the one he came from, learning a new language and relearning new ways to live was like being a newborn again – everything is exciting but you are also quite vulnerable. My move to Cambodia for this internship was not as drastic of a change as his, but I could definitely relate to being wide-eyed excited about learning new things every day and at times feeling completely out of place. Continue reading Learning, leaving and looking back
Hasta la próxima. Until next time. I’ve repeated these words many times over the past several days as I bid farewell to my co-workers and friends in Peru, and each time I’m reminded of how different this departure feels. Every time I’ve left Latin America, I’ve been able to anticipate when I’d be coming back for my next extended stay. This time, as I hugged … Continue reading Hasta la Próxima
Although I have 4 more weeks of my internship to go, this will be my last blog post. My two months in Addis and at IICBA have been fantastic so far and I’m looking forward to what this last month will bring. As I reflect on the time I’ve already spent here, it’s very clear what the best part of my internship has been – … Continue reading I’ll take 3 more months, please.
It feels a bit weird to be submitting this “final” blog post now. While a lot of my IEDP classmates have already finished their internships and returned home or gone back to Penn for another semester, I still have two weeks left to wrap up here in Delhi. Or maybe I should say gear up, because there’s a lot to be done before I leave … Continue reading Sawaal Achchhe Hain
A three-month internship is a rather peculiar affair. It is short enough to ensure that you do not end up with anything concrete. And, just long enough to make you feel that you should have come away with something more solid. Continue reading He came, he saw…
On the 9th of August I attended an International Youth Day event organized by 4 organizations working on youth empowerment in Kenya, and funded by the EU. The theme of the event was “Nafasi Kwa Vijana” or “Safe spaces for youth”. The whole perfectly encapsulated my experience working in Mombasa for the last 13 weeks. It was hot, chaotic, partly inefficient but through it all … Continue reading A bittersweet symphony
The International Educational Development Program 