When someone (i.e. the Boss) has a vision, a whirlwind spins into
action, picking up desks and computers and rolling chairs, and
depositing them all in new places. This time it worked out well for
me - E (the other intern) and I are now sequestered in our own room at
the end of the hall, with the best window, and view of the city,
available in this place. I think the idea was that the isolation
would make us more productive on our complementary assignments, but to
be honest, we were less focused than usual yesterday, since we're now
finally free to tell stories, ask questions (sometimes work-related,
other times less so) and share anecdotes with each other, without fear
of eavesdropping by our mostly male counterparts nearby.
Speaking of eavesdropping, today my roommate is out of the office, and
others are using her new desk for private personnel- and
program-related meetings. If they think that Amharic is going to keep
me from understanding...well, they're right. All I'm getting out of
their conversations is a handful of nouns and adjectives I've learned
in the last three weeks, the numbers, and the English phrases tossed
in for good measure, like "cause, you know," "reporting structure," or
"drought cycle management." Ooh, and I'm picking out parts of speech,
like prepositional prefixes, or definite article suffixes...which mean
very little if the noun is unfamiliar...
Last evening I was in the most obnoxiously, absurdly, sickeningly huge
house I've ever seen attached to anyone associated with an NGO which
works to improve the lives of the impoverished. I shouldn't judge,
because I know I'm living an extremely privileged life here as well,
but this was beyond anything I could have imagined. It wasn't even
attractive, just empty and soulless and self-consciously enormous.
Just when I think I'm a step closer to understanding economic
disparity, I'll have my foundations shaken again.
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