Slow start
on Thea's Blog (Uganda), 29/Jan/2010 14:51, 34 days ago
Well not an immense amount happened in my first week. I have been presented with a desk - somewhat small and sandwiched between the PR Officer and a mysterious entity called Albert (who has not yet made an appearance but is apparently head of my department) in what can only be described as a corridor. I don’t yet have a computer and, if initial indicators are anything to go by, I may have a small battle on my hands to obtain one. I’ve met with a few people, or rather I’ve barged in to a few offices to introduce myself, since nobody seems to be especially interested in showing me around. The departing VC has given me 2 bulging paper files and about 30 electronic ones to read, so I have no shortage of information to digest. It’s going to be a slow start, but I’m already getting a sense of where I can help and what I need to do. And despite the slow momentum, I am feeling reasonably enthused.This afternoon, as I bumped home from town on the back of a boda boda with my newly filled gas canister squashed uncomfortably between my thighs and the driver’s back, I realised that, although it’s taken a while, I feel pretty at home. The things that startled or surprised me when I first arrived, I hardly notice any more. What seemed like insurmountable challenges (How do I shop in a market full of dead animals and flies? How do I dispose of my ownrubbish? How do I ride on a boda without falling off?) I don’t even think about now. The thrilling realisation that, not only can I ride a boda, but can do so with a full gas canister balanced on my lap, surely must mean I have passed some kind of milestone. I may not be an old-hander yet, but I feel I have certainly graduated from green newcomer status.