So Close, & then...
5th November
It seems historical moments ruffle all sorts of disconnected things - I’d just started to tire of the “wow” comments when the marks returned for the students’ previous assignment. Now, a few fails in the group doesn’t usually phase me but my confidence had something of a blowout when it seemed the bulk of those I’d supervised bombed out on this one. This funk was not improved by hearing that two of the Ministry’s most destructively goofy staff will now be coming to the office we had just started to see some improvements in & the rumour that I may have to organise my own plane trips back to male’ (when no flights could be found by others) - the latter got quashed but the former is real... It seems mine wasn’t the only crap day as I spent a fair chunk of time debriefing with Nic & Heidi about things that will go wrong - I decided to make one last run on my bank account before I head back & treated myself to dinner cooked & cleaned up by someone else....
6th November
First thing I did the next day was return those dreaded assignment marks to the students, most of whom took it better than I did &, as for the odd one out, I’m getting very used to tears now. I also heard that my plane was sorted but “you should call them next week anyway to make sure”. Aside from that, Week 12 of Placement closed with more of a sleepy whimper than any kind of bang - doesn’t help that these ladies still have more than a week to catch up on...
7th November
I had hoped to wash one last pile of clothes before heading back to Male’ but, between the washing machine dying & the smell of the undertreated laundry water, I figured I’d lug the load back instead. I did manage to get ten reports & five assignments dealt with before I headed over to the students accommodation for some overtime supervision - it was not the best way to do this & I’m unsure of what use they will make of the feedback but it is done... That night, we all headed over to Aminath’s for dinner with her family - this office manager later admitted that she cooked nothing of the feast (“my sister is THE cook”) & instead had to endure everyone passing around family photo albums showing her from up o twenty years ago (that is, pre-headscarf, Scandal!). It was a slightly odd night given the mix of attendees (family & neighbours chatting in Addu patois’, myself & students bumbling into English interludes) & the main topics of conversation (still politics, from the recent election, the next round for Parliament & the historical crimes of British colonialists). It was one night where I was glad for the Maldivian tradition of heading home very shortly after the last of the food is gone...
8th November
Another day chewing through assignments, spiced occasionally by finding ways to cook the last of my food into re-heat meals for the next few days - little else to recommend it...
9th November
The office continues to bubble away - students are desperately trying to make up the hours they missed due to public holidays of various sorts as no one wants to make up the time in Male’ (can’t blame them but unexpected nonetheless). The day bopped along without hassles & I took myself home at close time so I could concentrate on the packing game - it took about twenty minutes in total so i had plenty of time to catch up with Joel for one final coffee together as we shared minor gripes & humorous anecdotes. As I headed home, I got a call to tell me that my flight was now even earlier in the morning, nothing truly unpleasant but enough to make me glad to be prepared already. I thought about trying one final book from the house shelves but passed - some experiences I have learnt from...
10th November
There wasn’t a huge benefit in going to the Addu office this morning, having just enough time to make polite goodbyes, take some photos & stand around slightly too long before getting my cab to the airport - I avoided the toxic cafe’ this time, instead digging into a report that has & promises to continue bugging me until I get out of the country... Once I’d finally snagged a cab in Male’ proper, I headed into the Ministry - no great changes obvious just yet but a frisson of unsettling change behind every other comment (“Welcome to the last day of the Ministry”). I slogged through as long as I could handle (Heidi waiting until 5pm so her students will be finished by the end of our time here), then got a cab with a passing Nic (fresh from a day at the pool) to take myself back to the flat housing me this time - it had seemed so simple to rely on the mattress at Heidi’s (test-driven & approved) for short while until I get paid & can afford a hotel room, except that the mattress had to be returned to its owner that morning. This left a lounge that the flat holders believe to be one of the world’s most uncomfortable - I don’t entirely agree but it’s far from my first choice of bedding options... Two more reports later, I’d had quite enough for now & took the chance to join Nic & Steve for dinner & drinks at their abode - the order of lures to go there should be reversed as I found myself remarkably garrulous & effusive after several potent potions. I did manage to get myself home in one piece afterward but I certainly felt like one remarkably spongy & unstructured piece...
11th November
Much though I’m happy enough to have been anaesthetised before crashing out on the lounge of doom, I was not a happy chappy when enduring my first hangover in quite some time (another person can check the blog to see how long ago it was) & it a very ginger process of getting through the day (rehydrate, few computer games, attempt some writing, rehydrate & repeat)... I did get out to Jade for lunch when I was confident I’d not embarrass myself - while there, I got to catch David from Yeoman’s & raised the idea of taking their flat for a micro-tenancy, an idea he seemed quite supportive of... A gentle afternoon at home & then I went out to meet Catherine & the ex-pat hordes who had descended on James’ flat (the one I have eyes on) for a going away party on some prime real estate - friendly enough crowd & a lovely place to hang out but I begged off early to head home & complete my recovery from the night before...
12th November
Another day back in the Male’ office, this time with my full complement of students in attendance - they took a fair bit of coaxing to start work (rather than catch up with folks after weeks away) & it was good that three of the seriously social butterflies finished up today. Other than that, it was a slow crawl dappled with plenty of new tasks hiding in little shadows - I needed to cut loose after a tedious & lengthy day, so I volunteered to cook a mock-Mexican dinner (after a crazy run-around to shops before the prayer-time break). I’d forgotten how nice it is to have a house full of folks with bellies stretched by your efforts (nothing especially draining) & it was very hard to get back to work after that, even more so when the alternative is the inevitable sleep on the lounge...
13th November
Most of us know not to make more than one stupid move each day - I seemed to forget this today. The first one was related to my boringly regular gripe about UNICEF, that is getting paid - I don’t object to them being a few days late, even a week, but I do get somewhat stressed when it gets past ten days & my ex-landlord is looking for the rent I owe her (probably my own fault for sending too much cash home). It probably wouldn’t have seemed so bad except that the time is (or seems to be) rapidly running out while the pile of things to get finished in that same diminishing time is not shrinking at anywhere near the same rate - a laptop that is deciding to be more finicky than at any other time in the year does not calm matters either. Anyway, one email from my employer asking for another chore to be done & I snapped off a poorly thought out reply - no, it wasn’t all that rude, just stating my reticence to do anything more than is required in my contract when my employer “seems unable or unwilling to meet their own commitments”. Not surprisingly, I haven’t had any further contact from them today (good? bad?) while Heidi (in the same situation pay-wise) got a polite note about having the stoppage explained & another email from a senior UNICEF staffer (who neither of us copied in) asking to be left out of the matter... The second act of stupidity related to the project we had both applied for, then suggested an alternative that would see us working from home (in Oz, not here) - we hadn’t heard anything definitive for weeks & we were considering a formal withdrawal to free us up to look at other things. Several short chats with the project coordinator later (suggested we could work together rather than compete, asked to lower consultancy, explained why our idea didn’t fit, etc) & we found ourselves being asked for our second quote about what we’ expect to be paid - OK, we did lower the quote & both remain interested in the project but there also remain concerns about the feasibility of the project (are we offering to help create a social black hole?), plus it would mean putting off our respective returns for another four weeks (“...but we are sure you could be home for Xmas”). We haven’t signed anything yet & have only agreed to keep our offer open until Sunday but still... We did get the FHS review of students done with a minimum of fuss & got to pick the brain of our Permanent Secretary (now of the Ministry of Health & Family, rebadged today) before heading out for a comforting Thai feed (chilli burn that stress away) & back to Heidi’s flat for more night typing...
14th November
Another day of assignments & other bits to get finalised - even a trip to the pool for lunch was done with a bag full of students journals to wade through... A light dinner, a conciliatory email to my boss about yesterday’s outburst & I’m ready for my last night on this lounge...
It seems historical moments ruffle all sorts of disconnected things - I’d just started to tire of the “wow” comments when the marks returned for the students’ previous assignment. Now, a few fails in the group doesn’t usually phase me but my confidence had something of a blowout when it seemed the bulk of those I’d supervised bombed out on this one. This funk was not improved by hearing that two of the Ministry’s most destructively goofy staff will now be coming to the office we had just started to see some improvements in & the rumour that I may have to organise my own plane trips back to male’ (when no flights could be found by others) - the latter got quashed but the former is real... It seems mine wasn’t the only crap day as I spent a fair chunk of time debriefing with Nic & Heidi about things that will go wrong - I decided to make one last run on my bank account before I head back & treated myself to dinner cooked & cleaned up by someone else....
6th November
First thing I did the next day was return those dreaded assignment marks to the students, most of whom took it better than I did &, as for the odd one out, I’m getting very used to tears now. I also heard that my plane was sorted but “you should call them next week anyway to make sure”. Aside from that, Week 12 of Placement closed with more of a sleepy whimper than any kind of bang - doesn’t help that these ladies still have more than a week to catch up on...
7th November
I had hoped to wash one last pile of clothes before heading back to Male’ but, between the washing machine dying & the smell of the undertreated laundry water, I figured I’d lug the load back instead. I did manage to get ten reports & five assignments dealt with before I headed over to the students accommodation for some overtime supervision - it was not the best way to do this & I’m unsure of what use they will make of the feedback but it is done... That night, we all headed over to Aminath’s for dinner with her family - this office manager later admitted that she cooked nothing of the feast (“my sister is THE cook”) & instead had to endure everyone passing around family photo albums showing her from up o twenty years ago (that is, pre-headscarf, Scandal!). It was a slightly odd night given the mix of attendees (family & neighbours chatting in Addu patois’, myself & students bumbling into English interludes) & the main topics of conversation (still politics, from the recent election, the next round for Parliament & the historical crimes of British colonialists). It was one night where I was glad for the Maldivian tradition of heading home very shortly after the last of the food is gone...
8th November
Another day chewing through assignments, spiced occasionally by finding ways to cook the last of my food into re-heat meals for the next few days - little else to recommend it...
9th November
The office continues to bubble away - students are desperately trying to make up the hours they missed due to public holidays of various sorts as no one wants to make up the time in Male’ (can’t blame them but unexpected nonetheless). The day bopped along without hassles & I took myself home at close time so I could concentrate on the packing game - it took about twenty minutes in total so i had plenty of time to catch up with Joel for one final coffee together as we shared minor gripes & humorous anecdotes. As I headed home, I got a call to tell me that my flight was now even earlier in the morning, nothing truly unpleasant but enough to make me glad to be prepared already. I thought about trying one final book from the house shelves but passed - some experiences I have learnt from...
10th November
There wasn’t a huge benefit in going to the Addu office this morning, having just enough time to make polite goodbyes, take some photos & stand around slightly too long before getting my cab to the airport - I avoided the toxic cafe’ this time, instead digging into a report that has & promises to continue bugging me until I get out of the country... Once I’d finally snagged a cab in Male’ proper, I headed into the Ministry - no great changes obvious just yet but a frisson of unsettling change behind every other comment (“Welcome to the last day of the Ministry”). I slogged through as long as I could handle (Heidi waiting until 5pm so her students will be finished by the end of our time here), then got a cab with a passing Nic (fresh from a day at the pool) to take myself back to the flat housing me this time - it had seemed so simple to rely on the mattress at Heidi’s (test-driven & approved) for short while until I get paid & can afford a hotel room, except that the mattress had to be returned to its owner that morning. This left a lounge that the flat holders believe to be one of the world’s most uncomfortable - I don’t entirely agree but it’s far from my first choice of bedding options... Two more reports later, I’d had quite enough for now & took the chance to join Nic & Steve for dinner & drinks at their abode - the order of lures to go there should be reversed as I found myself remarkably garrulous & effusive after several potent potions. I did manage to get myself home in one piece afterward but I certainly felt like one remarkably spongy & unstructured piece...
11th November
Much though I’m happy enough to have been anaesthetised before crashing out on the lounge of doom, I was not a happy chappy when enduring my first hangover in quite some time (another person can check the blog to see how long ago it was) & it a very ginger process of getting through the day (rehydrate, few computer games, attempt some writing, rehydrate & repeat)... I did get out to Jade for lunch when I was confident I’d not embarrass myself - while there, I got to catch David from Yeoman’s & raised the idea of taking their flat for a micro-tenancy, an idea he seemed quite supportive of... A gentle afternoon at home & then I went out to meet Catherine & the ex-pat hordes who had descended on James’ flat (the one I have eyes on) for a going away party on some prime real estate - friendly enough crowd & a lovely place to hang out but I begged off early to head home & complete my recovery from the night before...
12th November
Another day back in the Male’ office, this time with my full complement of students in attendance - they took a fair bit of coaxing to start work (rather than catch up with folks after weeks away) & it was good that three of the seriously social butterflies finished up today. Other than that, it was a slow crawl dappled with plenty of new tasks hiding in little shadows - I needed to cut loose after a tedious & lengthy day, so I volunteered to cook a mock-Mexican dinner (after a crazy run-around to shops before the prayer-time break). I’d forgotten how nice it is to have a house full of folks with bellies stretched by your efforts (nothing especially draining) & it was very hard to get back to work after that, even more so when the alternative is the inevitable sleep on the lounge...
13th November
Most of us know not to make more than one stupid move each day - I seemed to forget this today. The first one was related to my boringly regular gripe about UNICEF, that is getting paid - I don’t object to them being a few days late, even a week, but I do get somewhat stressed when it gets past ten days & my ex-landlord is looking for the rent I owe her (probably my own fault for sending too much cash home). It probably wouldn’t have seemed so bad except that the time is (or seems to be) rapidly running out while the pile of things to get finished in that same diminishing time is not shrinking at anywhere near the same rate - a laptop that is deciding to be more finicky than at any other time in the year does not calm matters either. Anyway, one email from my employer asking for another chore to be done & I snapped off a poorly thought out reply - no, it wasn’t all that rude, just stating my reticence to do anything more than is required in my contract when my employer “seems unable or unwilling to meet their own commitments”. Not surprisingly, I haven’t had any further contact from them today (good? bad?) while Heidi (in the same situation pay-wise) got a polite note about having the stoppage explained & another email from a senior UNICEF staffer (who neither of us copied in) asking to be left out of the matter... The second act of stupidity related to the project we had both applied for, then suggested an alternative that would see us working from home (in Oz, not here) - we hadn’t heard anything definitive for weeks & we were considering a formal withdrawal to free us up to look at other things. Several short chats with the project coordinator later (suggested we could work together rather than compete, asked to lower consultancy, explained why our idea didn’t fit, etc) & we found ourselves being asked for our second quote about what we’ expect to be paid - OK, we did lower the quote & both remain interested in the project but there also remain concerns about the feasibility of the project (are we offering to help create a social black hole?), plus it would mean putting off our respective returns for another four weeks (“...but we are sure you could be home for Xmas”). We haven’t signed anything yet & have only agreed to keep our offer open until Sunday but still... We did get the FHS review of students done with a minimum of fuss & got to pick the brain of our Permanent Secretary (now of the Ministry of Health & Family, rebadged today) before heading out for a comforting Thai feed (chilli burn that stress away) & back to Heidi’s flat for more night typing...
14th November
Another day of assignments & other bits to get finalised - even a trip to the pool for lunch was done with a bag full of students journals to wade through... A light dinner, a conciliatory email to my boss about yesterday’s outburst & I’m ready for my last night on this lounge...