Well the first week of my 10 weeks internship is kind of done, and I have to say that there are ups and downs to my expectations. Indeed, one should just live life without any expectations simply knowing that God is good and He shall provide. But before all as it is my birthday now (still, in Colombian time 2204h) I shall share my best memories that my sweet babyyy has given me.

it comes but once a year

should we jiu na me suan le

maomao and a little tiger

coming 25 months together

but no!

25 months of the 25th year

thats the point of this poem here

not so literary but it's ok right dear~

a farmer and his field 

that's how right our love feels

make me happy make me smile

and all that trouble becomes worthwhile

a year older and hopefully wiser

probably upgraded yet still a woodblock here

out to the working world you venture

God and I have got your back here

Hahaha it is true when she said its not so literary because if you do it that way it kind of sound awkward. But hey! I love this poem, because my dearie wrote it for me. By His grace yes, everyday has been a blessing and it's great to see love every morning I wake up. :)

Internship so far was alright I suppose. There was also this need to pen down some of my thoughts since at the end I would need to submit two reports, one to IE Singapore and one to IRO. Initially I thought that once I had better command of Spanish, I could proceed to do something more important at Personeria de Medellin. It's an organization that deals with cases of violation with human rights and proceeds to investigate, listen and draft reports for solutions and recommendations. As much as it sounds like research, it is actually pretty operational. The importance of this organization could not be emphasized more than the fact that everyday hundreds of people come by the Personeria to address their concerns. While I do not seem to be able to achieve much because of the specificity, the expertise and the sensitivity of the job, being attached to the officers on the ground was really helpful.

In the one week, I was able to get a glimpse into the lives of many living in Medellin; not those living in the well-to-do communes like El Poblado or Belen, but perhaps those at San Cristobal, San Javier etc. Under the supervision of the officers, we were able to catch a glimpse in the field work.

One of the phrases that I witnessed during the declarations was "deplazamiento forzado y amenaza a manos grupo armado", which means "displacement by force and threat at the hands of armed group". Most Colombians, while living a pretty happy life, live on tenterhooks in truth each day. It made me observe first hand, the importance of this organization. As in Political Science, the oppressed and the destitute need an outlet to quell dissent. In this regard, the Personeria acts as one in my opinion. But more than that, they attempt to truly address the concerns, improve the lives of those living in the poorer regions. I pray to God that I would get to experience more in the coming weeks despite my unimportance and my lack of Spanish proficiency.

With a few other interns, we also did a walking tour on Friday and was introduced to the history of the city. Something that really reached out to me was the fact that the people in Medellin was super proud of their metro line. Well, it's kind of something that even the capital, Bogota does not have. The metro line in Medellin was actually part of the transportation system of the city that was awarded the Most Innovative Transportation or something like that. I have to agree when the few of us decided to venture out today to take the Metrocable. It assisted greatly, the people living on the outskirts of the city to bring them to work. What's most important is that rides are charged on a flat rate to encourage people living in the slums to go into downtown to work. :) For me, the ride itself was just work the trip.

Unusual for me to have a long post so I will break some stuff to the next one. Basically I'm glad that I have kind of worked out the trip schedule for my post-internship trip in South America and the Andes! But I'm sure there are still some details to be ironed out and refined. I shall post it up in the next entry!

For now, thank God and my Lord Jesus Christ for all that have worked out. :)