Source: thepurplebow.blogspot.com via Karlita on Pinterest
As I've mentioned before, my boss is very busy at work. His constituency is 3 hours away, and he has a parliamentary assistant, so it doesn't make sense for me to be doing constituency work from Dublin, even though it constitutes most of the work a TD has in Ireland.
That means that sometimes I am left in the dust. With so much on his mind, I think he tends to forget that I'm there, ready and willing to work. He doesn't necessarily have time to show me the ropes if he were to give me more work, so at times I felt stuck in quite an odd predicament.
One day I showed up to work with him nowhere to be found. I knew he was here, because his coat was here, but I didn't see him the whole day, and I had no work to do. I tried calling his constituency office to see where he was/what they wanted me to do, but no answer.
So I sat. and waited. read the news. read some blogs. just killing time.
I was thoroughly frustrated. I didn't come all this way and spend all this money to be sitting at a desk all by myself with nothing to do, I thought to myself. I was jealous of other interns' stories I would hear when I came back home. How they had made friends with their co-workers, went out to lunch with them, and were learning so much in their jobs and getting lots of experience.
In my frustration, I tried to calm myself and said a prayer. Lord, I don't know what You have in store for me with this trip, but I'm just gonna trust that You have it in control.
Not 20 minutes later did my boss come in a flurry of words, telling me that he had been away at a training course for new TDs all day, but he had done a lot of thinking about what he wanted me to do. He said he wanted me to get a valuable experience out of this trip, to be able to go back to America with something to say.
I just sat there stunned as the words spilled out of his mouth. It was like he was saying every. single. thought I had had all day.
During my time there up to that point, I had been doing a little research for him, and he told me that he decided he wanted to turn that into a big research project for me, which I would then present to other TDs in a 15-2o minute presentation.
My first research project is on childhood obesity, finding out what other countries are doing to tackle the issue, and trying to prove to the other TDs that Ireland needs to take action as well.
My second research project is hospital uniforms. There has been research that cuffs from white coats and long sleeve shirts, as well as jewelry and watches actually carry bacteria and pathogens, meaning doctors are giving patients hospital acquired diseases. The UK has implemented a "bare below the elbows" initiative, requiring all clinical staff to only wear short sleeve shirts and no jewelry or watches. My boss believes a similar policy should be implemented in Ireland, and it is my job to help him convince others the same.
Talk about God answering prayer!
Now I am buried under report after report as I sit at my computer day after day, researching these two topics. I'm finding it hard to sit at my desk all day focusing on one task, but it is much better than having nothing to do!
It's just like they say...be careful what you wish for! ;)
The session for the Dail ends next week, and my boss will go home, as will every other TD in Dublin, once again leaving their interns in the dust. I admit I'm concerned that I won't have any work to do and won't find my time at work rewarding in those last 2 weeks. Especially since my boss admitted to me yesterday, "To be truthfully honest, Alicia, I have absolutely no idea what I'll have you do when I'm gone. That's something I need to think about."
Gulp.
But as with all of my other experiences here in Ireland, I'm learning to trust God in these circumstances.
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