The end of the Internship & last trip to Romania

Well, it’s been an intense week.

I’m not sure where the time has gone really… Even with the one month extension to my internship my time is up here, and it’s all very bitter sweet. I spent last weekend doing a backpackers tour of Ireland, which was something I HAD to do in the UK before my visa will no longer let me travel within the UK. I'll post photos of this weekend through the blog, which may be irrelevant to the subject, but will give you something to look at. Totally worth seeing Ireland by the way, it is such an awesome place. The rest of the week was tying up loose ends from work and having exit interviews.

Thankfully I still have one last trip to Romania with the Organisation, due to some earlier shuffling around. To explain I’ll give you who are reading a quick explanation of what the internship entailed… it was voluntary work and unpaid, which means I paid a lump sum before arriving which would cover my food and rent (in a boarding kind of situation: staying with a family) and two trips with the Organisation. Although this might sound a little unfair to think that someone dedicating their time and working for free needs to pay to do this, you have to be realistic about the “Do-good” sector in the world… people are donating their money to the causes involved, and this money goes to the projects and the running of operations… most of the people working for these kind of organisations are either personally funded by supporters of their cause, or have a separate job/business supporting them.

I think that’s how you can tell a good organisation and a good cause… when people dedicate their lives and finances for nothing in return, you KNOW they believe in the cause.

This probably has a lot to do with why I was so inspired by the people I met and the work environment. I’ve NEVER seen such a friendly, family-like work environment as I saw in the Next Level International Head Office… it’s a relief to see happy, nice people working together and supporting each other, although highlights how most other workplaces fall short in the “normal” gossiping, high-school-like environment you sadly see in most offices.

So, when I had to choose which trips to go on during my internship, I really wanted to go on three, so I ended up paying my way on the last trip to Romania and Moldova. Absolutely no regrets about that decision.

I remember looking in my diary when I was trying to decide what to do, and seeing that two of the events I have on my Bucket List (going to Las Fallas- in Spain and St. Patricks Day in Dublin, Ireland) fell into the same time the Moldova trip was on. When I made my decision I did so on both what I thought would be a once in a lifetime experience, and the direction I wanted my life to go in. Turns out it was a pretty easy decision… there was no way I was going to let myself pass up the Moldova trip, no matter the cost. –Turns out this was a good take on it because the Moldova visa was really expensive and consisted of a lot of flaming hoops to jump through, Snausage-in-mouth.

Still, the things I experienced and saw were life changing, and how can you put a value on something like that.

I chose to opt for the trip which fell outside of my internship, and the Next Level staff were really easy-going… So here I am, yet again, in the small shoebox of a room in the Easy Hotel, by Luton Airport . The T.V has a sign by it informing you that the remote may be purchased from reception for 24hrs, 4 days or 1 week. I find myself wondering who on EARTH would want this room (my previous one without a window) which literally fits one bed hard-up against the wall and a toilet-and-shower room about the size of the “beam me up Scotty” tube. I think I’d prefer to be placed in a mental institution, where at least you’d get a working TV :) OK, so maybe I’m being a little harsh, I have Leanne sharing the room with me too (saving money) which is better for the company. I’m lucky she came back from her weekend away too, because I had to be reminded this morning that we were catching the train to London TODAY, somehow I lost a day and would have completely missed train and flight to Romania if she hadn’t reminded me.Haha. Good times.

What are friends for if not reminding you in a rather shocked tone whether you realise “you are unpacked and [that] we leave on a train in an hour!?!”

I’m sorry, I ramble. This trip is just in Romania, and Leanne and I will be going first of all to Constanta which is in the South of Romania and where I have previously visited. This will mostly be meeting up with Leaders and Churches there to talk about leadership training and a Conference of sorts coming up. This may be slightly interesting because (due to a late and unforeseeable pull-out by a male speaker) Leanne is going to be taking a few sessions for this event, and Romania is still very much in the early stages of transitioning into male/female equality. There were serious concerns when she was first suggested as being the other person Instructing, not because she doesn’t have enough experience in leadership, she was the Missions Pastor in a very large church in Australia and has a lot of experience… merely because she is female and this may not be accepted among many of those attending. So this will be discussed and meetings will be had to see what will happen. It’s only the beginning too, because Leanne is the new Romania Country Leader for Next Level… I feel this only the beginning of the challenges she will encounter in this position.

After this it’s back to Bucharest and meeting up with an American couple who have moved to Romania with a passion for stopping human trafficking, they are awesome people and I can’t wait to catch up with them again (went out for dinner with them last trip). We’ll also talk with the leader of Teen Challenge, which is a program in Romania to get teenagers/children off drugs. Unfortunately drugs are also a really big problem in Romania, particularly among the street kids and homeless, if you search the internet there’s a lot of information about the glue sniffing, inhalants etc. and the charities who are trying to help in this area. We will then spend the rest of our time focusing on Human Trafficking.

So, we leave early tomorrow morning and it will be pretty full on, but I’ll try to post as the days close to keep you in the loop with how things are going. No doubt there will be adventures or something will go wrong, all of the trips to Romania so far have included some element of surprise or unexpected challenges. I’m looking forward to it.

Too bad this may be my last trip for a while… though who knows? ;)