Let’s be honest, I am pathetically late in starting this
blog. I like to think it’s a good sign that I’m having too much fun enjoying
these MOments to actually sit down and write about them all. While that’s true,
it’s also true that this island makes me incredibly lazy. Ever heard of island
time? Well I think my body runs on that now. Every night, before I crash at 11
PM like the grandma I’ve become, all I want to do is curl up and read one of
the many cheesy teen fiction books I’ve checked out from the base library. I
guess what I’m trying to say is that I apologize (to the many who have
impatiently messaged me asking for updates) that this has taken so long to get
started, but that’s just the way things work here.
What am I doing?
Most American college students are NOT spending their summer
breaks in Cuba, for the obvious reasons, which makes the fact that I am one that draws many questions. So,
how’d I get here? Through a program run by Purdue University, the Military
Extension Internship program, I am
funded to intern with Child and Youth Programs at the naval base in Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba. As an intern, I split my time between the Child Development Center
(CDC), which provides daily care for children aged 4 weeks to 5 years, the
Youth Center, which serves school-aged children, and the Teen Center, a kind of
drop in rec center for 13 to 18 year olds. Within my position, I not only get
to chase kids and go on cool field trips (the Youth Center went to the beach
TWICE this week!), but also begin to understand the managerial/administrative
portion of running youth programs.
How long?
I’ll be in Cuba all summer, from June 6th to
August 15th.
Where?
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is at the very bottom of the island, and the naval base is completely separated from the rest of the island by a gate. No one is able to enter from Cuba proper, and no one is able to leave from GTMO into the rest of Cuba. More to come later on the specifics of the base and what all there is to do here!
P.S. A little note to internship seekers: don’t give up! What turns
out to be the internship, and opportunity, of a lifetime was hidden away in the
fourth, yes fourth, page of google results for “social work military summer
internship”. I didn’t find it by scanning the first page and giving up. If you
want a specific internship that fits your exact interests like mine does,
persevere in your search. Try variations of your keywords. You never know what
you might find!
