Another fantastic “Welcome Back” to Juba.

I returned to Juba yesterday after a well-needed holiday in Amsterdam. I was only able to stay in amsterdam for just under a week, but I could really tell that I needed to access to things that just worked and other modern conveniences.

Anyway, as I mentioned, I returned yesterday, filled with renewed energy and the certainly that I could do better than ever before and that I would be ready to fill the shoes (temporarily) of my boss.  The understanding when I left for Amsterdam was that I would be the ‘acting’ boss when I returned so that she could go on a holiday as well.

Now, I am not usually one that complains as those who know me well knows, however there are a few things that really irritated me.  Please, let me list them:

1) No one arrived at the airport to pick me up despite alerting the staff to my flight plans a day in advance.

2) The keys I had left behind to my room (in case access was needed) are now safely locked into my bosses office.  And, guess what? She didn’t leave any keys behind. So I was locked out of my room and needed to sleep on the floor last night.

3) There is very little project money that was left behind for use over the next 10 days.  It seems that while a budget was created, a few unexpected expenditures have come up and needed to be paid. Now there is almost no money left and there is nothing like trying to get by in a country with no banking.

4) I was expecting some type of ‘hand off’ with my boss so that I would understand the current status of various aspects of our project stood, that our staff would be alerted to the fact that I am the “acting” boss, and that I would understand what would be expected of me during this time.  However, I have returned to find out that all but two of our project staff has left on holiday.  Some hand off.

5) And, to top it all off, someone has drunk all my Sprites that I left behind.  I should have locked them up, as was recommended to me.  But, honestly, I really didn’t think that my own office mates would steal from me.  But, I guess you can’t trust anyone in this world.

I guess I shouldn’t really complain like this — it doesn’t help or make things better, but really, I think it does serve to solidify the fact that I want out of this project.  There is no way that anyone should have to endure this type of chaos.  It just isn’t fair.  There hasn’t been a day that has gone by yet, without some sort of compromise or sacrifice.  I’m all for “sucking it up” and not complaining, but I think I am reaching my limit.