Wait…it’s been two months already?!

Well, I am done with my internship (as are most of you others, I know). And that is another thing that I can add to my list of things I will miss from this trip. I must admit, I was a little bit surprised to recognize nostalgia growing within me as the day wore on. My work here has certainly had its ups and downs, and I have on several occasion almost ripped out chunks of my hair out of sheer frustration and/or exhaustion. The first month, especially, was difficult, as I was asked to work loooong long days with, at most, only a half hour break. I was, as my boss said today, “bossed around a lot, and it was not good.” But you know, it builds character. And as much as I had trouble recognizing that in the moment, it actually is a valuable experience to learn how to work with people who are, well, difficult to work with (to say the least). And of course there was the constant problem of time, which does not seem to exist for most people here. My boss has never been on time, as I have mentioned several times. Yesterday, we planned to meet at 10, she told me after 10 that she would arrive at 11:30, and so, of course, she ran in close to 2. Today, we were supposed to meet at 1, and she called me a bit after 1 to tell me that she thought it was noon, and that she would be on her way as soon as possible.

But I have had innumerable valuable experiences at this little gallery, and will dearly miss my crazy but lovable boss, as well as several other members of the gallery, some of whom I did not even know by name, but with whom I exchanged morning hellos and sleepy smiles at the coffee machine. I think it will take me some time to process the experience (and here I am only talking about the internship portion, as the trip as a whole will take much, much longer to process) and understand everything that I have gotten out of this. But I know that, though it was difficult to see in the process, I have come a long way since my start here, and will get back to Smith a little bit more complete, a little bit more expanded (both physically and not), and a little bit more immersed in the running river that is my life. Now, I am getting rather corny and feeling rather embarrassed, so I will conclude this post here. Until next time… (which, if I am to complete my required number of posts, should be later today)

-Carole