Patience and an S.O.H.

Courtesy of "Flatmate X" (2005)

There are two very important virtues here. Patience and a sense of humor. Without either one of them, you would seriously contemplate committing GBH.

I have spent the last 2 days checking in! So the above two virtues are very IMPORTANT! I have checked in with literally with every department possible, including building management services (to learn about how this building operates), transport (even though I never will borrow a car!) and staff unions (despite the fact I am not eligible to join a union.) But all almost done. The medical was survived - nice doctor actually and now I only need to learn how to fill in the forms so I can get some stationery. It might help if I could find them, but I am sure that will soon become abundantly clear. I arrived on Saturday evening having had a consultant for a foundation HIV hospital as my "plane buddy." Needless to say that we discussed everything under the sun for a considerable period. I was met by a taxi driver who had my name in orange fluorescent letters. Bless!

Susan's house is ERNOMOUS, beautiful and I discovered that European chic in an African home can actually be tasteful! My bedroom houses a double Zanzibarian bed, complete with net canopy and possibly straight out of "Out of Africa" - colonial implications I know, but please rest at the imagery.... Woke up 12 hours later! Lunched in gorgeous hotel, which unfortunately seems to be an ex-pat drinking hole so will have to be avoided. Missed a seminar that started at 9am that morning but hey as the travel department will confirm - I was not technically here ;-)

I miss New Orleans so much though. Anyway, I digress. .... Sunday was a lazy day. Read a lot - need to catch up FAST! Monday I arrived in work at 8am. Met the President of the Tribunal, Judge Mose, who is lovely. So lovely. Apparently I do not actually possess a portfolio - will soon find out why I am here which should be interesting. I am however officially a "misc!" His words not mine! He is a slight gentleman with a very easy manner. Very accessible, generous with his time, good sense of humor (this comes in very handy as I mentioned before!) and incredibly intelligent. Pictures to come.

The rest of the day was spent tracking down relative "chiefs" of different departments in their relative chiefdoms as they threw about their little "bits of power" in several directions. By 4pm I was screaming - seriously! I wanted to kill. I had just been informed that due to the fact that past staff members had been given an advance on their salary and buggered off without doing a days' work, I could not get an advance unless my section Chief personally guaranteed that he would pay the Tribunal back if I went AWOL! I felt so insulted. So I got my section chief's authorization, at which point I was informed that further enquiries needed to be made re. the bleeding U.N. rules. Yes, an S.O.H. is important. Highly recommended you come with your own and in huge supply!

Then there was Archie! There is always one who will bring sunshine into your life! Now, how bizarre is this:

Week one in New Orleans: a Liberian family takes me under their wing;

Day one in Arusha: a Liberian man takes me under his wing!

Weird, huh?

Archie is approximately 47 years (I would hate to over estimate his age), who is lovely. He gave me a tour of his "fiefdom," offered me a cup of tea and a comfy chair to take the weight off the strappy high heeled sandals I stupidly wore on my first day of work! My feet looked good though. Archie will surely be a blessing. Yes he flirts incessantly and is a charmer but totally harmless and in any case may prove to be good practice for me. I need retraining!

By Monday evening, I was ready for bed at 8pm, stress headache and all, to prepare for another day that would require well honed tracking skills. Climbed into my delicious 4 poster Zanzibarian heaven and was out!