kangeiko

I don't check my work email for two days (I was out on field visits) and have come back to 214 emails, all marked 'urgent' and all demanding that I help them immediately. My line manager is insisting that I take two days off next week to avoid death through overwork, but my matrix manager is delegating everything possible to me while he is off on his own month-long trip. Meanwhile, I am supposed to spend this week doing office-related things, but two days were religious holidays observing the Prophet's birthday, I spent yesterday on a field visit to an area known for abducting people and selling their organs on the black market, and the entire office staff is in a day-long meeting today. Which just leaves tomorrow to get through an entire week's work, including following up on an internal audit report that will take at least two weeks, but has somehow managed to only have half a day allotted to it.

Yes, I am tearing my hair out.

I am also slathering on extra sunblock, as even though I was coated in factor 50 yesterday, I still managed to burn (and be bitten by a variety of flies, mosquitos and other flying things). Given that it was 43C in the shade yesterday, that is not too surprising. Meanwhile I nearly got run over by an elephant on Sunday, my colleague lost all her wits and tried to sit on a crocodile on Tuesday, and we both took a coach - unaccompanied - at night, for several hours, down a road that we later discovered was being plagued by armed bandits. Which explains why we suddenly took a detour off the road and down a dirt track, around what appeared to be a roadblock.

To top it all off, I think I'm getting a cold.

Had a fabulous time (bandits notwithstanding) and have now seen a great deal of the country, but I'm ready to come home now!!!! If nothing else, I would like to eat veg again. I have been living on fruit and croissants, and would cheerfully murder any number of people for a nice salad.