This is my 4th full day in Turin, but just my second at TAMPEP. After being awake for over 24 hours en route via London and Milan, I spent most of Tuesday attempting to catch up on lost sleep and conquer jet-lag in one fell swoop. Wednesday was a holiday – the “Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic” – and everything was closed, save a few eateries and, thankfully, a phone center that re-opened after 5pm.

The city is absolutely beautiful and my apartment is in a central location with a small open air market right outside the door and direct access to the tram that takes me to TAMPEP. The market is a great convenience for shopping, but because it is broken down each afternoon and set up at 4 AM every morning, I have to acclimate myself to the different sounds and learn to sleep through them. In the market I bought some huge apples that happen to be called “Golden Melinda.” Today, I met someone and when I introduced myself they said, “Ah, like the apple.” In Ghana I was an orange soda.

Yesterday, I met Rosanna at the office and went with her to the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) where I sat in on a brainstorming meeting. The purpose of the session was to discuss potential projects to prevent and combat violence against children, young people and women. Rosanna told me that TAMPEP was involved because of their successful participation with UNICRI in the past.

Afterwards, we returned to TAMPEP where there was another meeting with the staff to determine to which projects and collaborations the NGO wanted to focus their attention. We also discussed the website and the newsletter that I will be working on launching this summer. There was great enthusiasm for the newsletter in particular and its potential for strengthening relationships between TAMPEP and other international NGOs engaged in the same work.

At the moment, I am getting acquainted with the office computers and trying to absorb as much information as I can about day-to-day life both at TAMPEP and in the city. Italian is a beautiful language, and while I am getting along with a few choice phrases and a lot of Spanish, I wish I knew more so I would feel as though I were missing less.