I’ve had a frustrating couple of days this week because I’ve had trouble understanding my role in the organization I’m working for. I see that things move slower than I expected and I am often sitting there not doing much. This week alone, I have received a text from my boss saying I can take a “dia de folga”, twice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Folga is the Portuguese word for the time allotted for rest (yes, they have a word for that). So a ‘dia de folga’ simply meant a day off work. Of course, I enjoyed these days off at first but it came to a point where I wasn’t working as much as I expected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I keep talking about how impressed I am with the pace of life in Portugal. I think this is a recurring theme because I have had a very difficult time feeling like I’m investing my time in something valuable when I’m moving at such a slow pace. My patience is reduced. It’s hard to convince yourself that what you’re doing is worth it when you spend a lot of your time looking at your phone in the office and asking if there’s anything you can do every 10 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have taken this as an opportunity to try to create my own initiative to present to my boss and after working on it during my ‘free time’ for a week I presented it to her and it doesn’t seem like something that the organization wants to prioritize at this time. This has only brought more frustration to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m not sure if the experience of the very slow-paced life I am living right now is completely cultural or if it is an array of factors that add up. Thinking about Portugal having a slow-paced culture and adding a lack of organization and resources to that equation has led to an uncomfortable situation. I have communicated my needs and I know I’m being heard but I’m not seeing any change and that is hard and, for lack of a better word, extremely frustrating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think I have learned a lot from this experience. I have learned about patience, communication, cultural differences, acculturation, and the challenges these qualities entail. I hope my repeated reflection on this situation can allow me to put things into perspective and take from this experience a lot of valuable skills that can be helpful in future situations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve had a frustrating couple of days this week because I’ve had trouble understanding my role in the organization I’m working for. I see that things move slower than I expected and I am often sitting there not doing much. This week alone, I have received a text from my boss saying I can take … <\/p>\n