Things I’ve learned from my colleagues: cross cultural competencies
I learned most of what I know about interacting across language and culture from the incredibly kind and thoughtful way my host country colleagues have dealt with me. With the exception of the occasional angry or inexperienced person, I’ve been gently managed by people all over the… Read More »
Coordination Meetings
You always think they’re a waste of time, and there’s always that one really important thing you find out at the end…
International Consultants
The key is to figure out which kind they are before you fly them to your office.
Walk On
It’s okay to quit the Peace Corps. I’ve gotten a couple of email lately that made me really nervous. I responded to them personally, but it made me want to say something here, on this blog. I know a lot of Peace Corps volunteers read this, so: It’s okay to quit Peace Corps. It’s… Read More »
Time and Space
The other day, I was talking to a friend about my concept of the hourglass. Basically, when you move to a new place, your hourglass is full on top with tiny grains of optimism and rage. Over time, those grains slowly trickle away until there’s nothing left. Different places make the sand fall at different… Read More »
And so it goes
Yesterday, my office had a retreat. We’re in the middle of a messy, stressful workplanning process, so we took a day to relax in the sun (and finalize some of our logframes). During lunch, after the swimming, my colleague A turned to me. I don’t know if it was the vodka or the… Read More »
The Field
Recently, the IPA blog and the Ghana Diary blog brought up an interesting discussion about the term “in the field.” They questioned its appropriateness. The core of the argument was that the phrase creates a sense of otherness. Specifically, if you’re a local partner in a development project, how do you feel when your own… Read More »