IEW and Photos

Now for some updates! IEW went very well, and I am quite pleased with the outcome and the spirit of teamwork and support as the deadlines approached and the mild chaos of event planning took over. The events that were hosted at Amideast this year brought in record attendance at the American Corner, the international lounge/library, and we are now very busy with advising and directing students on their options for using the services at our organization. I say it was a success!

Last week the new director of my IE3 internship program came to Tunisia to make a site visit, so the timing was perfect for him to see what I was able to accomplish during my short time with the organization. My supervisors were very pleased, and are making plans for my work to carry over to the next intern who will arrive the in the spring, in-sha'allah (God willing)!

I have finally figured out how to get the photos off of my Blackberry phone, which has served as my camera for the duration of my trip thus far. Here are some photos from the week:

The image at the beginning of this entry was the banner that was hung outside the Amideast Annix building that housed the American Corner. The text translates to "Open House Days", and was a great addition to the advertisement that we placed in the local newspapers and on Facebook.

Here are a few from Thursday, one of my favorite days during the week, when we presented on the story of Thanksgiving and had the students do puzzles and quizzes for candy prizes. The quiz was really hard . . . I didn't even know the answers to a lot of the more difficult questions. Maybe I need to brush up on my American history while I am here in Tunisia . . .

Friday's panel presentation, the event that I was looking the most forward to during the entire week, experienced a small hiccup prior to the start of the event when two of the panelists were not able to come at the last minute. As I frantically attempted to call my backup panelists, the facilitator of the event, Lee Jennings (also the director of Amideast), suggested that I fill in for the missing people because I fit the criteria and had the experience to present on the topic of international experience. I was very flattered and honored that my director would ask me to be part of the panel, so I happily obliged. The evening turned out to be very smooth, insightful, and allowed students to really see the impact of a study abroad experience in the short-term and long-term possibilities.

Here's to more successful events in the future!