Straightened out
Today was already a much less hectic day at work. I actually had the time to read most of the documents I need as background information on where DACAAR is at the moment.
Also, ‘the Dane next door’ straightened me out. Not only is the percentage of expats in DACAAR as low as advertised, it also shouldn’t be that difficult to mingle with the local population. First of all, there’s the cold, second there are the many security restrictions many of the NGOs enforce upon their employees.
Both are fair arguments. I can’t change the security restrictions. As far as the weather is concerned, I will just have to wait.
Not that DACAAR has many security restrictions. In fact, they have none. They do give a number of warnings, mention things to be aware of, and then leave it to the individual employee to decide what’s wise or not.
I think that’s a very good approach.
An immaculate collection
We got home from work today, and I noticed my slippers disappeared. Then, in my room, everything had disappeared.
Turns out we have a cleaner, a very thorough one, who shows up a couple of times per week. Great, except for the fact that he’s VERY thorough. The desk in my room, which was already quite full after two days, was now completely empty. Everything had been stored, in one of the several cupboards in my room.
Unfortunately, I also seem to have lost one of the sim-cards I had on my desk. Annoying.
Room
The evening was spent at the Elbowroom. Apparently, the UN has a very limited list of bars and restaurants UN personnel can go to. The Elbowroom is one of them. ‘Regular’ people, on this night, were only allowed in after 9:30pm. There was some high profile dinner until that time, which tonight had the pleasant consequence that all drinks were free. Whisky is expensive in this country, up to 7 dollars per glass. I drank many glasses.