'big' day
Today's really the reason i came out here this week - our procurement manager is leaving the project, and our replacement arrives today, so it's the big hand off. As procurement is the majority of our work on this project, and USAID has very strict, specific regulations as to how procurement is carried out and files are kept, it's important that the transition goes well. I coordinate all the finance details from DC, so it's good that I'll be here. Plus lots of fires to put out with subcontractors in Ethiopia not performing, and other typical 'emergencies' that pop up on this problematic project. I'm never bored!
It's almost the weekend! I need to make plans for exploring. I've gotten some good suggestions from various people who have been to/lived in Nairobi, and plan to spend one day in Nairobi and one a couple hours outside. There's a safari park near the city and some good shopping areas, so I can buy the requisite souvenirs and take lots of pictures. There's a lake a couple hours outside the city where you can supposedly see the 'big five' - elephants, giraffes, white rhino, leopard, and buffalo (i believe those are the five!) - it will be fun to see those animals in the wild instead of the zoo!
Another colleague from DC arrives on Sunday, which is also the day we move to the Windsor Hotel (http://www.windsorgolfresort.com/ - am I really in Africa??!) in preparation for our meetings with the prime contractor on this project all next week. I've been helping prepare a presentation for Wednesday, but luckily my project manager is the one who will deliver it.
I know I've sent some of you the links to the project I work on before, but for those of you who are unfamiliar, here they are:
USAID Indoor Residual Spraying Project
Crown Agents' blurb on the project
I'm definitely not having the 'real' Africa experience yet - hope that will change this weekend. I am on a business trip, I know, but it feels weird being in fancy hotels!
And sometimes I still wonder how I've spent my adult life studying Spanish and Latin America and now I'm in Africa...
It's almost the weekend! I need to make plans for exploring. I've gotten some good suggestions from various people who have been to/lived in Nairobi, and plan to spend one day in Nairobi and one a couple hours outside. There's a safari park near the city and some good shopping areas, so I can buy the requisite souvenirs and take lots of pictures. There's a lake a couple hours outside the city where you can supposedly see the 'big five' - elephants, giraffes, white rhino, leopard, and buffalo (i believe those are the five!) - it will be fun to see those animals in the wild instead of the zoo!
Another colleague from DC arrives on Sunday, which is also the day we move to the Windsor Hotel (http://www.windsorgolfresort.com/ - am I really in Africa??!) in preparation for our meetings with the prime contractor on this project all next week. I've been helping prepare a presentation for Wednesday, but luckily my project manager is the one who will deliver it.
I know I've sent some of you the links to the project I work on before, but for those of you who are unfamiliar, here they are:
USAID Indoor Residual Spraying Project
Crown Agents' blurb on the project
I'm definitely not having the 'real' Africa experience yet - hope that will change this weekend. I am on a business trip, I know, but it feels weird being in fancy hotels!
And sometimes I still wonder how I've spent my adult life studying Spanish and Latin America and now I'm in Africa...
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