I’m writing this from the flight to Lilongwe, where there are a surprising number of Americans on board. A group of like 15 young women (probably about 23 or so) from the south somewhere; some dude who just graduated from college in front of me. In some ways it’s oddly comforting to know that I’m not alone; in others, I came in part to be away from America for a while and would just as soon it stayed behind.
I’m on this flight with the director of my project (hereafter “C”); it was definitely good to see her. From London until now, I’ve been running for flights (and unnecessarily, it seems), so it was a bit of a chance to exhale to get on this last flight and finally go where I’m going to be. And I’m ready to tag along for a while and just show up where I’m told to go, not really making a lot of decisions. I really want a shower, clean clothes, and, after two night flights, a bed to sleep in.
We’ll get into Lilongwe, pick up the car, and then she has to have a meeting at the funder’s office. Apparently The Big Meeting is Tuesday where we’re presenting the baseline findings to the funder, the government, and a host of other “stakeholders”. Note to self: good idea to bring a suit. Because as a friend reminded me, people dress for stuff here. In London as well, most men were in suits. Obviously not everyone is done to the nines, but it does sort of remind me how casual our culture can be, Granted, I may be the casual one, thinking it is okay to wear flip-flops … well, anywhere, really. I’m also much more conscious of being a guest in someone’s country, which keeps me on my best behavior. In any event, the suit was a smart move.
I’ll pick up a phone at some point while they’re meeting. Vanessa told me about Seat Guru and I used it to find what should have been a seat with an outlet from NY to London, but no dice. I must have read the plane map wrong or chosen the wrong plane/airline or something. Oh well. I’ll charge it back up at the hotel, although it’s $3.49/min to call from Malawi from Cingular, so I don’t anticipate using it at all. I also turned off my data plan so that I wasn’t getting charged for each email (it would have been abour $0.15-20/email, which adds up quickly. I should still be able to text from it, though.
It was *a lot* cooler here in Jo’burg I thought. I would have wanted a jacket had I been outside for too long. But it is pretty funny seeing people in full on winter gear when it’s like 55 degrees.
I’m on this flight with the director of my project (hereafter “C”); it was definitely good to see her. From London until now, I’ve been running for flights (and unnecessarily, it seems), so it was a bit of a chance to exhale to get on this last flight and finally go where I’m going to be. And I’m ready to tag along for a while and just show up where I’m told to go, not really making a lot of decisions. I really want a shower, clean clothes, and, after two night flights, a bed to sleep in.
We’ll get into Lilongwe, pick up the car, and then she has to have a meeting at the funder’s office. Apparently The Big Meeting is Tuesday where we’re presenting the baseline findings to the funder, the government, and a host of other “stakeholders”. Note to self: good idea to bring a suit. Because as a friend reminded me, people dress for stuff here. In London as well, most men were in suits. Obviously not everyone is done to the nines, but it does sort of remind me how casual our culture can be, Granted, I may be the casual one, thinking it is okay to wear flip-flops … well, anywhere, really. I’m also much more conscious of being a guest in someone’s country, which keeps me on my best behavior. In any event, the suit was a smart move.
I’ll pick up a phone at some point while they’re meeting. Vanessa told me about Seat Guru and I used it to find what should have been a seat with an outlet from NY to London, but no dice. I must have read the plane map wrong or chosen the wrong plane/airline or something. Oh well. I’ll charge it back up at the hotel, although it’s $3.49/min to call from Malawi from Cingular, so I don’t anticipate using it at all. I also turned off my data plan so that I wasn’t getting charged for each email (it would have been abour $0.15-20/email, which adds up quickly. I should still be able to text from it, though.
It was *a lot* cooler here in Jo’burg I thought. I would have wanted a jacket had I been outside for too long. But it is pretty funny seeing people in full on winter gear when it’s like 55 degrees.
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