My final week at JET Education Services (JET) was a sprint to the finish line. I began the week right where I started my internship, at the Johannesburg office. After eight weeks away in the Cape Town office it was nice to see Joburg based co-workers in person, but I didn’t have much time to catch up. Instead I was busy helping to put the … Continue reading The Final Sprint
2 months into my internship, I got to the part I had been waiting for the whole time- field trips. I was tasked with visiting 20 schools in 12 days, across 2 counties and across a 100 km radius. The project I was meant to observe is being implemented in 43 schools across Mombasa and Kwale. Since I was not conducting an evaluation of the … Continue reading Of field trips in far away places
One of the best things about my time in India is staying with a loving host family. Not only do they prepare the most delicious homemade Indian food, they also have me try every kind of local dessert (jelabi, kheer, kulfi, gulab jamun and many more). In the evenings, they spend time taking a walk with my housemates and me and play “very competitive” scrabble … Continue reading When Work Meets Family
It’s been a week since France won the World Cup, but it’s not too late to write about it because as the French say: ‘France has 4 years to celebrate being world champions.’ The weekend of the 14th of July was very eventful. First, Bastille Day and then the World Cup final. Bastille Day is France’s national day. It is celebrated every 14th of July … Continue reading Champions du Monde!
I cannot believe I have been in South Africa for a month. I should mention that I don’t find strange anymore having the second winter in the same year. I have a blanket at the office to stay warm 🙂 I can say that I am handling the culture shock very well thanks to the work and traveling around. Regarding the work, I have done so … Continue reading Being teacher in South Africa
I’m officially half way through my internship! The past few weeks have been filled with some great adventures and learning experiences, and I am definitely grateful for the opportunity to be here in South Africa! Over the last few weeks, Nicole and I have been involved in two projects. AFAL (African Languages as a First Additional Language) Lesson Plans: In South Africa, students learn in … Continue reading Lesson Plans and Lions
It is hard for me to believe that I have been here in Geneva for the past two weeks now. I had almost lost hope of getting an internship during the summer since I wanted to be back for the fall semester and the visa process is generally long and tedious. That meant I might have to do my internship either in the fall semester … Continue reading Salutations de Genève
In my first couple of weeks in Paris, I had a range of experiences; good and bad, and I could not make up my mind about how I felt towards the city. It took me a few days to get my rusty French language skills going again, which has helped make my stay a lot more pleasant. Speaking French, or at least trying to speak … Continue reading Ici c’est Paris
1 year older 2 field visits 3 supervisors 4 rounds of revision 5 concurrent projects 36 pages of report 57 photos 280 kilometers of traveling and countless learning moments ————————————————————————————————————————————- If I were to summarize my first month in India with numbers, these are definitely the highlights that come to mind. The past few weeks have been filled with surprises (good ones), challenges, lots of … Continue reading One Year Older, One Year Wiser
How would you run an education system in a country with 11 official languages? Talking about language policy in South Africa can quickly turn into a spirited discussion, with some arguing that the current system never fully cast-off is racist apartheid policies, others arguing that English should be the only language used and still more arguing that the current system is the best. To understand … Continue reading The Power of Languages
The International Educational Development Program 