After almost two weeks of gloom and rain, the sun has finally re-emerged from behind its veil of clouds this week. And with it, of course, returned the blazing Miami heat as well. Fortunately, this week hasn’t been as hot or humid as the first week, and the fact that I spend most of the day in an air conditioned office further shields me from what might otherwise be an unpleasant or uncomfortable experience (my commute, on the other hand, is another story). I’ve gotten used to having a daily routine, which starts with me getting ready in the morning and making my lunch, walking to the metro station with the bright morning sun often scorching my back, and finally, scrambling to squeeze myself into a train that is full of people packed in tight like sardines. Once I get off at my stop in downtown and reach my office building, I pick up my daily cup of café con leche and head up to the tenth floor, where I usually work in a computer lab with some of the other interns.
Though the computer lab is technically meant for clients to complete their online immigration and citizenship forms, there are often very few – if any – clients using the computers at any given time. And given the limited office space, it’s one of the few places where the interns can sit down and work. However, because of the somewhat crowded nature of the office, I’ve been able to grow closer with the other interns, learning more about their lives outside of work and talking to them about topics ranging from college and law school to what to do in Miami. At the end of the day, I take the often-packed metro back to the University station, then return to my dorm to watch Netflix, eat dinner, and/or hang out with the rest of the group before I go to sleep.
Despite the repetitiveness of my daily routine, my work in the office has become more varied over the past week, which I’m grateful for since I enjoy being able to take on new tasks and meet new interns and attorneys. Since last week, I’ve started working with Martin, the development director in charge of finding and obtaining sources of grant funding so that CCLS can continue and expand its services. Although I knew little about grants before, in the past week I’ve combed through an online database of grantmakers, looked through their profiles to find ones that have shared interests with CCLS, pored over their tax forms to see what kinds of organizations they’ve given grants to along with the amounts given, and finally put together a list ranking them by the likelihood of CCLS receiving a grant from them. Though the work was a bit tedious at times, it was a welcome change of pace from what I’d been doing before and is something I’ll be continuing to work on during the coming weeks.