It is just after 4 AM on a Saturday night and I've been inspired to resurrect my Blog, a thing which I have sworn to get around to do for a few *months* now. Sigh. I feel like I've gotten lost in the process somehow.
Perhaps in a way I no longer felt like a "trailing spouse", given that I have been working since we got back to Beirut in January. But I am still struggling from one four-month term to the next, guessing whether I will have work or not. Unfortunately, I find the new job more mentally exhausting than anything I have ever done, and even more thankless, if you can believe it, than being a tax lawyer.
Don't get me wrong... I think that the experience has been invaluable and I have done so many interesting things along the way! I have toured a Palestinian camp, visited with the Muslim religious leaders of Lebanon, organized Francophonie events (yeah, how ironic!), and met many interesting people working on human rights in the region. All very, very interesting stuff!
Alas, my temporary duty ran out at the end of last week with no prospects of those terms of reference being renewed. Instead, I am in the midst of applying for a new temporary duty in the hopes that I will have any work at all while I am here. I know the file really well, since I was already doing some of the same kind of work... and it doesn't really float my boat at all, but I am hard pressed to say no to this type of experience and, most of all, it is hard to say no to the income (when the other alternative is having no money and nothing else to do)!
I guess the most difficult part of what is to come if I get this new temporary position is the person with whom I will have to work. Fortunately, this person won't be in my face every day (they don't work in Lebanon), but the relationship will have to be managed at a distance. I won't get into the particulars here, but let's just say that I will be working with someone who is known for incompetence, arrogance and an attitude that borders on sexist and racist. How these people get hired into the government is beyond my understanding!
All I am really left with is trying to look at the positive side and look forward to things I can do with the hard-earned money:
(1) Go on vacation. Glenn and I went out to Jordan during the Easter long weekend (will post web album soon), and we are hoping to do more exploration of the region (maybe Turkey?). If we get the time off, we also want to check out China, Japan and Thailand.
(2) Go back to school. I am still waiting for answers from scholarship foundations about funding to go to Cambridge. Hopefully I can find out soon so I can know what I am going to be doing as of September.
(3) Get home to Canada for a while. Attendance at Vince's wedding is non-negotiable in my book, so I will have to scrounge together some bucks for that.
Sigh. I suppose this has not been the most positive way to re-start the blog, but I hope it will only get better from here.
A big HELLO to all of you in Canada who are reading this... we are trying to hang in there, despite my current difficulties! :-)
Saturday, May 5, 2007
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