The key to travel, especially when it’s for work, or for a
longer period of time, is to establish routine.
Routine is actually supposed to play a large role in happiness in
general, but is not something I pay much attention to during my day to day in Pittsburgh.
Anyways, these first couple days at Cange have been largely
about finding a working groove; in a hectic, unpredictable, environment that
operates on a different schedule, and language, and culture than anything I’ve
had much experience working in before. I
have been overwhelmed, and discouraged, and have experienced both emotions
while running on low blood sugar, making me question what about working in
garbage was appealing to me. Only to be reminded a couple hours later, after a
full meal, when talking with the hospital staff about what we’re trying to
accomplish and I see other people get excited about trash too. Then I remember
how cool this work can actually be.
Working in Haiti is all about living in the woosh.
Constantly.
But, back to routine. So the thing that is fun about routine
while traveling is that you do something relatively normal, but in a completely
foreign context, which makes it fascinating.
Par example:
- Ian
and I went for a run the first night we came to Cange. Cange is on the side of a mountain. There was
recently an awesome water project put in place providing the village with clean
drinking water, pumped up from a lake at the bottom of the mountain. In order
to complete the construction for this project, roughly 700+ steep steps were
built along the side of the mountain. We
decided to run these steps. Then, not
only are we running up and down steps, amidst breathtaking views, but you find yourself saying things that
never get said on a Pittsburgh run, like:
“"Watch out for the goat straight
ahead.” Or,
o
“Oh, there’s a snake.”
o
“And that would be a poisonous snake.”
o
“Well, then, I won’t step on it.”
Exercise is taken to a whole new
level here.
- Meals.
We eat twice a day. Early morning, and late afternoon, and you would think
you’d be starving for dinner, but you’re so hungry for lunch that you eat a
ton, and you’re actually fine. You also
sit down at a table to eat. With lots of other interesting people. Who you like have a conversation
with and stuff. Too many of my lunches
consist of snacks eaten at my desk.
- And
of course, even though we’re working “in the field” so to speak, there’s still
computer time. Data that needs to be
entered, emails that need to get written, notes that need to be organized.
However, when your office comes with this view…
It’s not that bad.
In the thick of things, and still loving my job. That’s a good feeling to have.
