Montanha-russa

Rollercoaster (literally, Russian mountain).

A day of energising moments, irritations, ins, outs, ups and downs.

Five hours of Zoom calls greeted me to start with, including an all-staff global call, the first since I’ve been with the organisation. One update was from the leader of the Ukraine office, for whom there is a lot of solidarity in the network. As he spoke about recent events he came across as tired and numb. It was moving to hear him speak.

I wound up the Zoom calls, not without a messy coffee accident caused by a glass plunger with a hole in it. In the bakery I bumped into a collaborator linked to my former role, and it was fun seeing her again. I left said bakery with a savoury snack to take the office. I’m not complaining as I’ve long regarded pastry as the most important food group, but it was notable that the savoury snack was essentially dry pastry with filling in very short supply.

In the evening I had an enjoyable, long and tranquil walk around the city, revisiting some old spots and sights. I greeted Victoria the taxi driver, parked in her usual spot with a repainted vehicle and a new weave.

I realised when heading back that I had lost my bank card when fumbling in my pocket, so I had to get on the phone to a helpful woman called Sonya at Barclays. After that annoyance, a Hawaiian pizza was the only suitable offsetting tool.