About two months ago, Jessica (the other international intern) and I went from being complete strangers to basically being connected at the hip. If you think about it, it’s kind of insane that two people who have previously never met are suddenly thrown into the same situation, not to mention the same smallish room, and expected to (hopefully) get along and work together. Luckily, things worked out really well for us (I think it also helped that I started off on her good side by bringing her Starburst, Nature Valley granola bars and Pop-tarts from the States). It’s funny looking back on it, because now I feel like I’ve cohabitated with Jessica forever.
Somewhere in these past two months we’ve fallen into a very comfortable, predictable, married-couple routine. In the morning, she showers first, and then I do. When we want to watch a movie, I hook up my computer and set it on the small table in our room, I drag the table over between the chair and the bed, and then I lie on my bed and she sits in the chair (and then we both watch as many episodes of Gilmore Girls as we can until our necks get stiff from being at weird angles). Oftentimes all it takes is a few words and a hand gesture for one of us to know what the other means to say before she says it. Best of all, our candy preferences totally complement one another – my favorite Skittles are purple and red, and hers are green and yellow. My favorite Starburst are pink and red, and hers are yellow and orange. So we swap, and everybody’s happy!
I guess my point is that I’ve gotten really lucky with having her here. She’s leaving at the beginning of December, and I can’t even imagine being here alone, but I’m hoping it won’t be too depressing. It’s just going to be an adjustment, because since the second day I got here, I had a partner in crime who could answer all my stupid questions, e.g.: How do I wash my hair in this basin? What do I wear? Is it going to rain? How do I eat this thing? What is that word they keep saying and how do I respond to it? How does this magic Internet stick work? Do you have strong feelings either way about me playing Taylor Swift? Can I touch this frog with my bare hands?
Did you try licking the frog?
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