Ideas

I cannot believe that I only have one week of "training" left. I am currently feeling torn between a desire to get this show on the road, and an overwhelming fear of leaving mixed with feelings of inadequacy. My orientation time here in Antigonish has been like floating through limbo - not home, but not yet gone.

Through our orientation program we have been met the diploma participants and taken a course called "Fundamentals of Leadership" with them. Hearing their stories is a humbling experience, and I enjoy getting to know them all. I went for coffee with one woman who is struggling with her frustration due to an inability to express herself in English. We went to the used bookstore after and I bought her "Little House in the Big Woods" so she could practice reading English. These sorts of things are really interesting, but the course material itself is pretty redundant. For instance, we spent a whole morning defining Leadership. I'm so trained to learn effeciently and rapidly that this is too slow for me to handle.

I have learned a lot more from the discussions I've had with fellow interns and participants, especially about the moral and ethical implications of "Development", and ideas around the notions of power and privledge. It's helping me form my own opinions about these important issues, in which dialogue is so important. I hope that the experience I'm about to have will be the ultimate lesson in such pressing global issues.