Cakes

I have arrived for a few days in our landscape office in the town of Masasi, after a brief visit last week. ‘Can I switch on the AC?’ asked Angel (love it), the heavily pregnant office assistant who was trying to make me comfortable. Negative, Ange, let me bask gloriously in the tropical heat whilst I work. This was a very strange response to her, and because she hadn’t been able to do the air conditioning for me, she decided to compensate with a steady stream of sugary mugs of coffee all day.

I am getting to know the style of another colleague who I have to work closely with, and supervise. He can be an evasive sort when we have issues to discuss, and is definitely not active in sharing and helping me understand the work in the landscape. Knowledge is power to some people, and discussions are interpreted as scrutiny. I’ve had to work with similar characters before so I shall bide my time and build up the trust required. This usually works eventually, although it might always feel a little too distant to be a great relationship.

I shared my predicament with a friend who advised me to take the time to read the situation. ‘Inject the dose with the heart beat rate while listening to pulse rate’, she said. Which I interpreted as keeping my energy high in my developing relationship with him, whilst observing his reactions and adapting.

Meanwhile, why is the place I’m staying placing urinal cakes around the bathroom, as if they are decorative items?