bare minimum

is a good place. That’s what’s been happening the last few days. I have been meeting more and more people, getting a rhythm and just enjoying being here since its still a while before I go and things aren’t only just new anymore. For one, I don’t get lost anymore while walking around. For two, I have met some really fun people that I like a lot and for three, there is nothing else to do but hang out since work has been really slow and no exciting trips are planned. How I managed to come here during two of the slowest months of this otherwise packed project is beyond me. Things are so slow at work that people actually take naps during the middle of the day. I have given up on scolding them because they always find a way around it by inventing new ways of not working. I guess I am getting used to the pace of life here so I don’t mind it as much and just decided to ask about things actually getting done instead of demanding that 8 hours be spent sitting behind the desk. That does not seem to hold any weight here.

When I first arrived, things seemed to be in order but I guess this pretense of an orderly office couldn’t be kept up for 2 entire months. At first, there were the long lunches – time spent cooking together and then eating and cleaning up together. Something like 2 hours during the peak working hours spent in the kitchen. It was difficult to say something because I was being invited to eat along with everyone and didn’t want to be unappreciative but I did finally say that it had to stop. So this was ok for a short while and people ate snacks instead of complete meals in the middle of the day. Then all of a sudden, almost the entire office started leaving at 4. After a few days, I asked why this was the case and was told its because they did not take their lunch hour anymore so they could leave early! I kid you not. I actually would walk in on people in the kitchen trying to stuff food into their face while standing up so that it wouldn’t count as their “lunch break”. Ridiculous. So I put a stop to this as well and suggested that the best thing to do was bring food from home and heat it up in the new microwave we bought for everyone. This is working out ok. There are still lingering conversations at lunch, and no one does their dishes anymore since it seems to take up work time so the kitchen is a mess. People just don’t bother to clean up after themselves in general. I am constantly surprised by the amount of effort that is exerted into not doing something.

It seems to be no one’s job to clean the office except for a lady that comes way too little. Yet when I say we will pay for someone to clean and cook lunch perhaps on a regular basis, I am met with blank stares. One woman leaves her retainer lying around her desk, the printer, the fax machine, the kitchen counter and the microwave. Another guy brings food that his fiance prepares for him but instead of putting it in the fridge, he keeps it in his desk drawer. Other times, unidentifiable beverages in plastic baggies sit around for days and I think there was a bowl of refried beans that sat in the kitchen for at least a week. I have never been to a country office that was this lax and frankly this nasty. Its hard telling people your own age to clean up especially when you happen to be the visitor!

vocabulary: patient = patiente; dirty = sicio/sucia; to lunch = almuerzar; to waste time = perder