The working life

I wanted to write a bit more about our work, now that we've been here for a few weeks.

We haven't had a whole lot to do yet. Still mostly "settling in" type activities like background reading, leaving us substantial time with nothing (productive) to do. The one real job we've had is to take a bunch of notes and emails and compile an itinerary for a Danish development agency who's visiting in a few weeks. On a more interesting note, we are scheduled to visit a couple of Cairo's program sites later this week! And there is talk of going to Minia -- a city a couple hours south where much of CEOSS's outreach is concentrated -- and staying a couple days! So things are looking up.

Milli and I share an office on the second floor of the five-story HQ, located in a middle-class area on the edge of Cairo proper. It's a nice building, with an elevator and good bathrooms. Also, there are kitchens on every floor, staffed with people whose primary job is to cater to everyone's beverage needs: we got all the free drinks we want! They'll even deliver them to your office. Between us, we've already had bottled water, mango juice, Diet Pepsi and two coffees -- and it's not yet lunchtime! This royal treatment came completely unexpected and is the best part about working at CEOSS.

One of the downsides is the climate control. Don't worry, the AC works. Indeed, too well. Milli is cold much of the day and is currently reading on our sunny, though tiny, balcony =)