To start off, they take very good care of us here at the Embassy. They have full homes as lodging (see: marble floors, very friendly maid who does my cooking and cleaning!, my own bathroom, etc) and I was somehow able to sleep for regular hours last night and woke up at 730 for work. Walking from my temporary home on the compound to work is a two-minute walk. It may be hot here in India, but I don't have time to shed a bead of sweat in that time before I enter the Embassy and I am welcomed by almost too-cold air conditioning.
This morning I spent most of my time gaining security clearances, they are very strict on what I can do. For this week I have to have an escort every where I go in the Embassy, but that's nice since I always have questions and would get lost anyways. I met a lot of diplomats who I am working personally with, and they are very friendly and helpful. I have been instructed to speak French to the native French speakers, and the public advocacy official and the Economic Officer for DFAIT (they are also husband and wife) both speak French and are very friendly.
The Foreign Service Secretary is a bilingual man, very funny, but unfortunately is a Montreal Canadiens fan. The High Commissioner Joseph Caron's office is on my floor, he should be returning next week and I may meet him then. Julia paid for my lunch at Club Canada (a fairly posh restaurant in the Embassy)a nd the three aforementioned DFAIT employees joined us. I couldn't finish my meal in time because of the constant conversation with all of them as they had many tips and advice for my two month stay. But, it was nice to have at least part of my club sandwich! In the afternoon I was shown my office. It turns out I am not the type of intern who files papers or pours coffee. I had a meeting at 2 with Jean-Emmanuel (pub.advocacy official) to discuss a project he wants me to do on Indo-Canadian Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Science and Tech. sector. We then both had to attend a 6-person meeting at 3pm to discuss some projects Julia would like me to start on. It was here I was given my other assignment for now: a brochure explaining Canada's diplomatic history of Bhutan (small nation next to China/India) and the present.
After the meeting I went to my office and worked on the projects until 5:45. I thought I was handling the jet lag well but I couldn't resist napping from 6-10. Hopefully I can sleep tonight.We have an outdoor pool in the Embassy gates as well as a gym (similar to hotel gyms). Oddly enough, I need level II security clearance for the gym and someone to accompany me, but for the pool I can go after work with no one. Maybe they are developing top secret government treadmills? As of Thursday I am moving in with Andrew (the habs fan) at his home off-Compound. It is a duplex type of accomodation and I will be staying there free of charge until July 10th, which is when he is done his posting in India. I keep asking my hosts if I can cook and they look at me funny and tell me everyone has 1-2 domestics who will do it for me. Oh well. Julia is vegetarian and hasl imited food in her fridge. I have been offered most of it, but I spoke to the cook here about my un-Indian eating habits and she seemed delighted that all ofher cooked food would be finished. It's good to know I can make a difference..lol.
Thursday morning at 430AM (here) I have to sign up for York courses, so hopefully my sleep schedule will still be messed up enough that I will be awake then. Tomorrow is another day at the office, but Wednesday I have been invited to happy hour at the on site pub to get more acquainted with the diplomats and officers here. Basically, I have a chance to ask questions that are inappropriate at the office, ie their academic/career path, their work history etc. It should be fun. However, of everyone I have met, I am the only student/intern in my department. A 19 year old guy works in the HR department and told me to take the tennis lessons they offer here (there are several courts) before work. Well, it looks like I've written close to a novel, today I learned a lot more but I should probably save some to write about in the near future.
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