Resting in Africa

Resting is one of my daily activities. Not because I am necessarily tired a lot of the time but rather because there is that much else to do… So you rest.

After yesterday’s trip to the hospital and a (too) long intimate moment with a needle, I am now resting. Trying to drink a lot of water (may vary it a little with Diet Coke, a glass of wine, sucking on ice cubes…) and take it easy watching French middle-of-the-day TV, reading, resting my eyes or counting my heart beats… Needless to say resting is a rather boring activity when you spend your day resting in more active ways. I am also helping Nico at work every now and then, turning myself into a scanning queen. I now know all there is to know about the African customs and cargo boats. I know where they come from. I know where they head to. When they charge. When they discharge. How long it may take bla bla bla… One thing is sure, and that is that they love paper down here. When you think of a European office desk, an agency office to be more precise, you have the usual laptop. Some web-company branded pen. Some Post-It. A ‘Google’ or another branded goodie block-note. A cactus or a friendlier plant. A big cup of coffee, a few papers lying here and there waiting to be signed, the teddy bear sitting on a pile of files or books (because it goes without saying that you have time to read, right ?), photos of friends and random jokes you received by mail… And that’s basically it. Here on the other hand, you have the feeling of entering a paper factory. There is not one spot left for anything else than an A4 piece of paper… Basically, down here you REALLY have to work… It’s no Google or Facebook office fun…