Airport Musings

While waiting...

Airports really should offer 30-minute yoga sessions for those of us with nothing to do during layovers. My body would be extremely thankful. 

Come Fly with Me

I’m heading to Togo for the next 3 months! I will be in Lomé, the capital city, working for UONGTO, an NGO that is broadly concerned with supporting various economic and social development initiatives.

While searching for an internship, my sole criterion was to work in a country that I had never visited. I just hoped to find a job that matched my interests of either management or social development. Although I had no idea where Togo was at that time, I was definitely intrigued by its location in West Africa, and that French was a spoken language.

Anyways, I’m currently on a layover in Paris, extremely bored while waiting for the connection to Togo. It’s 9am here, but 3am in Toronto (and Montreal), so I really should be asleep. Oh well, a latte and croissant will do. I am in Paris after all. Hopefully Sonia, who is also going to Lomé, will be here soon! :) At least I’m not also dragging around luggage for once. I’m sooo relieved that my parents somehow talked me into taking just one carry-on purse.

Oh packing... If you know me, you obviously know that I do not understand how NOT to overpack. Going somewhere so different didn’t help either. My brain basically went crazy trying to imagine all the possible scenarios where some random item would surely be a necessity. Like a can opener...What if I’m sick and the only thing I can keep down is that can of chicken soup?! …Or that beautiful purple scarf. It’s…practical…for cooler evenings… Wellll…can my excuse be I like to be thorough? :P I mean, this is why they invented airport luggage carts, no?

On a side note, while desperately trying not to overpack, I realized that I have absolutely no idea how much I consume on a daily basis. For example, how long will a bottle of shampoo last me? 2 months? 4? Maybe more? In thinking about scarce resources (inspired by getting ready to leave the luxury of Canada, I suppose), this is really not a good sign. But anyways, that’s topic for another day.

Honestly, the only emotion I feel at the moment is excitement. I’m really ridiculously excited about the next few months, which has been quite difficult to explain to everyone else. I still can’t formulate a reply to “Why are you so anxious to go?” other than describing this deep belief that I’m about to undergo an amazing experience. Challenging, obviously, but amazing. Hmm…maybe it’s because I can’t even begin to fathom its reality. Even after talking to Erika Welch (AIESEC Canada's Outgoing VP of Corporate Relations), who gave me so much more information than intensive Googling ever did, I still cannot fully grasp the huge culture gap between Canada and Togo. So, culture shock? I’m so looking forward to it! :)

 

xoxo

 

Alice

Welcome

Hello everyone!

As AIESEC McGill's Exchange Participants, we have started this blog to share our work and travels around the world. Each of us has undertaken an internship with an organization abroad, where we hope to broaden our international perspective while developing both personally and professionally. Here, we will be sharing tidbits of our crazy experiences, and give you a glimpse of the amazing and startling things that we have encountered. Enjoy!

McGill EPs