Some things just didn't make sense -- like why we have a mailing list of organizational "partners" but never send anything to them by e-mail...or why we have to order 1,000 hard copies of a newsletter when there are stacks of previous ones just sitting in cupboards...or, why we have to have "Date" and "Venue" on a poster, not just the date and the venue. Don't people know when they read a date they're reading...a date? Frankly, I'm never too sure whether I'm dealing with cultural differences or just the "we've always done it this way" mindset that knows no borders. It can also get pretty funny working in different languages. You keep changing from one to the other, keep misunderstanding each other and finally -- mutual comprehension. And then you forget in which language you arrived there!
In addition to the above today, also did a move-in inspection of my prospective apartment with the real estate agent.
I thought I was going to move tomorrow -- Friday -- just a few days shy of having been here one month (since September 26). But life in the slow lane is v..e..r..y..s...l...o...w. Contractual negotiations went back and forth with the owner of the apartment (who's leasing it to me for a year with a 6-month or 1 year renewal). Here in Ghana you have to pay the full lease UP FRONT -- that means some $35,000 in advance! True also, I'm told, in Nigeria. No monthly rentals for the ex-patriates (i.e., foreigners, or "ex-pats"). So, basically we're talking rich westerners or their companies that can fork it all over. However, while my lease is written in terms of US dollars, the USAID policy is to pay only in local currency, so the landlord is annoyed, because she wanted those very desirable dollars. Back and forth between my real estate agent, the apt. owner and the finance people at work...I didn't even get into it until today.
What I'm most concerned about are the screens (or "mosquito nets" as they call them here, even if they're on the windows, not over the beds).
"Look," the building maintenance man pointed out to me. "The screens pull all the way down."
"Look," I responded, showing him the hole in the screen and the space between the window sill and the screen. "If you were a mosquito, couldn't you fit through there?"
I'd asked for the screens to be fixed or replaced several weeks ago; it's part of the negotiated terms of the lease. But -- and here's the catch -- if I move in, it's assumed that everything is okay. However, there is a way around that, of course. There always is.
"Gabby," I said to my agent on the phone, "I can't stress enough how much I need those screens to be fixed. Since the screens were negotiated while you were representing me, and it's in the contract, please get them taken care of. I know you want to get paid (hah, hah, ha = fake laugh)."
God only knows what else won't have been done when I finally do move in...or if I'll even have the home basics I packed in my small (250 lb.) Air Freight box that's been sitting in some office here in town for more than a week, because someone didn't have the right paper, or was on vacation and couldn't sign it, or the stamp pad ran out of ink, or god knows what. It's supposed to be delivered to the apartment tomorrow (Friday), but now I don't know if the owner will let us in because I don't yet have the key because the cedis (local currency) to dollar addendum hasn't been signed because Barclay's Bank didn't have the right paper to give to the agent so he couldn't deliver it today to have it signed so the owner could sign so I could get my keys....
Fortunately, I seem to have a reserve of patience and humor that I never have in the U.S. And, the up side is that I live in a hotel apartment right now where all I had to do was ask the cook downstairs this evening if he could fix me my chicken breast and some vegetables, and he said, "no problem". We'll see...
oxoxoxx Love, Grammy
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