January 24, 2024

Slowing Down

The past three weeks went by quickly and were action packed. Almost every hour was planned and we were constantly on the move. Yesterday (Monday) started out with our usual breakfast and blog readings, but then my project group had a whole three hours before we were expected to be at the Hasiru Dala office. I wanted to be productive during that time, but I ended up just laying in bed for a couple of hours and embraced the down time.

Finding the office was a mini-challenge in itself. There was no sign on the outside of the building, and we entered a seemingly random dim staircase. (Image 1) After standing on the bright street, my eyes took their time to adjust, so I blindly followed the dark silhouettes of my group mates to the second floor. We found the office space, waited for some meetings to wrap up, and then had a brief review of all of the initiatives that the NGO runs. We were also asked to help an employee learn how to use ChatGPT. I’ve never used ChatGPT, so someone else in my group will have to spearhead that. We spent some time looking at the initiatives in greater detail and picked our top three: Zero-waste spaces, recycling, and sustainable housing.

Two and a half hours later we were already done for the day and we Uber-ed back to UTC. During the ride, an empty chip bag got thrown out from a van, and it flew through the open window of the Uber, hitting me in the face. (Image 2) I think I’m leaning towards the zero-waste initiative a bit more now.

Today (Tuesday) we had nothing scheduled with Hasiru Dala, and so myself and a few other GCIL students went to a coffee shop to work on small assignments for the program. (Image 3) This has been the slowest day yet. I’m torn between enjoying the control I have over my day, and also craving more action and activity with Hasiru Dala. After all, we only have about 6 weeks until the end of the program, and I want to make every day count. Perhaps I need to learn to have more patience, because I will probably look back at the end of this trip and wish that all the days had lasted longer.

By Monika

Image 1: Taekyung & Nantahala in the staircase leading to the office

Image 2: Taekyung & Monika in the Uber, featuring the discarded chip bag

Image 3: Monika and Andoni at Third Wave Coffee