While we (Michael, Erica, and myself) were sitting in the hot springs in Arenal this past Saturday, Michael asked us what the most challenging part of the internship has been. The answer was simple and immediate: the language barrier.
I speak rudimentary Spanish. When the talk is slow, simple, and direct I can pick up on most things. I’ve grown better at muddling through technical conversations by focusing on key words, hand motions, and the benefit of visual aids. My speech is a 5 year olds at the best of time with incorrect conjugations, poor pronunciations, and convoluted vocabulary, but I’d like to think I get my point across 70% of the time. For the most part, the big picture on both sides (albeit a little blurry around the edges) does get across. What’s lost is the details.
This has been a point of frustration for me this last week at my internship. Monday I approached my team and supervisor with a prototype idea that was politely, but rapidly, turned down. I had created something that solved a problem with the current system however, what I hadn’t fully comprehended, was that the problem they wanted improved upon was not in fact the problem I had put my energy into. My excitement from last week quickly faded as I realized, I was back to square one. And with only a week left of work before two weeks away (the plant is on shut down for a week and then I have a week long class at a local university) I was woefully behind the schedule I had set out for myself.
My energy this week was therefore thrown into this new problem but, it hasn’t been easy. I shouldn’t have expected it to be but part of me had grand imaginings from the beginning that I would solve all problems forever and be awesome. I made slow steps in the right direction by the end of this week, but my fool-hearty plan has fallen short.
It’s not all tough, though. The weeks can be challenging but three of the team escaped to the volcanic jungle of northern Costa Rica for some much appreciated R&R this weekend. We left after work on Friday and spent the weekend relaxing and adventuring. It was nice to be tourists instead of engineers for once and the weekend left us all feeling…a little rejuvenated and a little more excited for the rest of our internship.
That’s all for now, head over to Michael and Erica’s blog posts for some more info on our weekend.
Later alligators,
Jeannette Nelson