Exactly One Week Left!

By: Ioana Pescaru
Ioana has completed three years of her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish, French and Media and Communication at Newcastle University in Newcastle, Great Britain. She is one of three students participating in the 2012 pilot of the InteRDom Correspondent Program, and is participating in the 2012 10-week Caribbean Summer Program, with special dates beginning July 1.

Should I be happy or melancholy? Happy, because I am going to finally live my dream and experience all the feelings I have kept inside since my teenage period, or nostalgic, because on the day of my journey to Santo Domingo my exchange student and intern life in Barcelona would be finished!? I cannot even plan and think about my stay in the Dominican Republic in very detail due to the fact that the fast and chaotic rhythm of Barcelona doesn’t give me the time to realize I am about to achieve my goal.

10 weeks. For a normal everyday life this time means almost nothing, it passes by without even noticing, but for a completely different way of living my existence: working with the Chamber of Commerce of a European country on a Caribbean island where I am going to meet a different nation and get to know a new civilization, 10 weeks seem to be a quite long time far away from home and from the people I love. But, this is what I wanted: a new experience, a non-European exciting life in a place where I suppose that traditions still coexist with urban development and personal ascension.

People have started to ask me what I was going to do for the summer. At the beginning I didn’t know if I should say the truth about my trip, or just reply that I was going to spend it with my family in Romania. I think I was afraid of their reactions, of them being envious on me or just of their possible critics regarding the fact that in these times of economic crisis I can afford such a long working-holiday, far away from Europe. I was surprised to see their reactions, surprised by my decision, but at the same time, full of respect and appreciation. This made me feel confident and not regret I chose to spend my money on this experience, which will definitely help me in the future.