Day 1

Today was my first day at PSI and although I generally try to avoid waking up this early (a 9 AM start time meant a 7AM alarm) I have to say it was worthwhile. Today was all about learning the ropes and getting situated. I am sitting in the corner office, which has huge windows and views of the business district. The extra office is nicer than the cubes the actually important people are crammed into, and I feel kind of guilty about it. The morning started off with my site supervisor, Townley, introducing me around the office as "the new Southern Africa intern." Everyone I met was incredibly welcoming.

I did a lot of reading today. I have a fancy color copy of the "Southern Africa Organizational Chart" which is kind of a pictoral hierarchy of the staff both here at the DC office and in Southern Africa. It looks sort of like a family tree. I also have a list of 255 acronyms that seem to be a standard part of office lingo. These vary from LUB (lubricants) to IS (iodized salt) to MPPT (malaria pre-packaged treatment), and the 252 others that come before, after, and in between. I've also been given a chart that explains which sections of PSI receive LAD (large anonymous donor) money. I don't really understand the whole LAD concept yet, but I do know that it is big and very important money and it means that the computer system is insanely secure. Or something. I also read a bunch of research articles on the benefits of male circumcision and HIV transmission reduction in sub-Saharan Africa.

I also spent some time familiarizing myself with the computer filing system, and learning how to scan documents to create PDFs. The office is really just a big circle, or several floors of big circles, and I inevitably end up doing a lap or two around before I figure out where I need to be. I did manage to put the outgoing mail in the correct box. I think.

I'd originally imagined PSI to be smaller than it is. Townley told me that there are more than 160 people in this office, and I think I remember reading in some document that there are actually 189. Not a small NGO! I was also a little surprised by the vast age range of the staff; I've met a few employees who are only a few years older than me, and one girl who originally started as an intern.

Although today was definitely a "first day" with lots of logistics to sort out and paperwork to do, I still found it really exciting to be here. While I was riding the metro to Farragut North with all of the morning commuters I felt like I was playing a game of dress-up-and-pretend-to-work-in-an-office. After 6 hours of actually being at PSI, it's starting to feel a little more real.