Adventures, Departures, and Everyday Life

This morning I was walking to the bus this morning like I do every weekday morning, and I had this moment of pride that made me smile. Because I'm surrounded by other UN interns who have left their everyday lives to come here and do this, I usually forget that it's unusual and special. But you know what? It's really cool that I have the opportunity to work at a UN agency, that I had the guts to leave my super comfy life in the U.S. for a while, that this isn't the first time I've had the courage to leave home for an extended period of time (this is my third time living overseas for at least three months), and that I'm on track to have a career doing work I'm passionate about. Especially at age 26, I feel really proud of all that (or at least I did in that moment on the sidewalk this morning--I mostly don't think about it).

I've been on a bunch of weekend adventures since I last posted, as you may have seen from Facebook. Some highlights:

• Visiting Gruyères, the village that is famous for a certain type of Swiss cheese (you'll never guess what it's called!)

• Visiting Chamonix, the quaint French village that is famous for housing the tallest mountain in the Alpes [spelled with an "e" here because these are French Alpes, and they're snooty like that], Mont Blanc

It was really really cold at that altitude

We got to watch a guy in a wing suit jump off the highest cliff to glide down (and down and down and down...)

Going hiking in the French Alpes near a town called Passy

It seriously looked like a scene from The Sound of Music

And a fluffy French mountain kitty emerged from the wild dandelions

The views were pretty breathtaking (I'm not just talking about Elye)

• Going white water rafting and single-handedly pulling Corey (who is twice my size) into the raft after he jumped off a cliff into the river (sadly, there are no pictures of this moment)
• Going to "Caves Ouvertes", an event where all the wineries open up their tasting rooms for free (and pour tiny, tiny portions) and then hanging out by the lake in the evening and then going to a street food festival at night

So I guess you could say I've been keeping busy, but I generally feel pretty chill. I am a super huge fan of my intern friends, who are always up for new adventures and usually do all the planning for them for me (haha).

Unfortunately, every two weeks, some interns leave and others come. It's a constant rotation of meetings and departures. Last week, Corey left me (it was on my calendar as "Corey leaves FOREVER", to give a sense of how much of a loss this was for me). He had weeks of "going-away" activities, but then everyone here still seemed surprised when he left. The rafting was part of his going away tour, along with a party, a lunch with our department, some gifts, etc.

Now that he's gone, I've taken over his desk (the one good thing about having the office to myself), which has two monitors rather than my previous setup with only one. Research is now much easier, plus Corey doesn't distract me with his humming, sleeping, or thoughts about evaluation, politics, and life. Or with coffee breaks, or lunches together. :(

Apparently there will be a new intern coming soon, so we'll see how that goes!

In the meantime,

Things that are making me happy:

• Cooking and baking new things
• Having some quiet evenings at home
• Working out regularly
• Taking the stairs at work (which is actually a big deal, since it's 12 flights)