My last week in the Netherlands felt bittersweet since I’ll miss being here so much, but I’m also looking forward to being with friends and family in the States. Reflecting back, I’ve had such a wonderful time this summer learning about the Netherlands and the world. I’m glad that I took advantage of so many opportunities to travel and ask questions to those around me.
For work, I did more transitional provisions research, looking into countries like Colombia, Fiji, Cyprus, Chile, Albania, and Brazil. Early in the week felt busier since my friend Allison flew home and I also had a Zoom job interview to focus on. I finished up the transitional provisions research with the constitutions of Greece, Iceland, Libya, and the Maldives, and celebrated with a nice Indonesian lunch with Anna and her boyfriend who was visiting from Spain. During the week, I also fit in a trip to Leiden where I had a nice bike ride by the canal. This was one of my favorite places to visit, so I’m happy I made time to go back.
The rest of the week I spent helping my coworker do research and made charts to organize information for the Women as Constitution Makers conference. First, I looked into the environmental provisions of the Kenyan constitution which were thorough. Then, I looked into Luxembourg’s pending provision on promoting animal welfare. Anna and I spent our last dinner together getting food from the local Indian restaurant in Voorburg that we loved, called Five Flavors.
Over the weekend, I came down with a bad cold, so I, unfortunately, couldn’t do as many tourist things as I had wanted to. I still made a day trip to Clingendael park near me, though, which was lovely. Other than that, I mostly rested and packed up for my flight home. Anna and I said thank you and goodbye to our coworkers and turned in our final projects.
The summer has been a whirlwind, and I’m so grateful that I got to experience so many new things and meet so many people. My coworkers were so welcoming and interesting to talk to since their life experiences are so different from mine. Working abroad has made me more adventurous and opportunistic since so many things each day felt a little disorienting and the best experiences came after stepping out of my comfort zone. I’ll always remember my summer in The Hague with International IDEA and hope to return to the Netherlands and Europe in general again soon.
