First day in the office

My colleague Letisia greeted me with a smile and a hug and Alex greeted me with a smile and a very firm handshake when they picked me up from my hotel early Monday morning and helped me to drop my luggage off at another guesthouse, called The Guesthouse, on Stein Street which is much nearer UN house.

Then we went to the office. UN house is a striking modern glass building with flags outside. The head of UNFPA gave me a warm welcome and we had a quick meeting before I was ushered into the board room to meet everyone in the UNFPA who were all very friendly and participate in a long but informative programme meeting.

After that I went to the UNDSS office to have my mugshot taken for my UN ID card. I was allowed to smile for it (unlike usual passport sized photos!). I also booked a slot in a security briefing scheduled after lunch (a hastily grabbed tuna sandwich from the supermarket across the road).  The security briefing was very thorough. I met a couple of my humanitarian counterparts in the afternoon, one colleague in the Resident Coordinator's office and another in UNFPA who is the focal point for emergencies and time flew by and before I knew it the sun was going down and I ambled my way up the hill to my temporary 'home'. Not bad for a first day.

The Eagle has landed

Hello! I left Johannesburg on a bright and chilly Saturday morning and landed in a slightly warmer Windhoek at 1pm. Wilberforce, one of the UNFPA drivers met me with a wide, friendly smile and drove me 40km into town. The scenery was amazing, rugged hills rising out of grassland interspersed with acacia trees. Driving along a seemingly endless road flanked by red earth and troops of baboons under a wide, bright blew sky made me feel at home in real Africa.

Soon we entered the city and still I felt a sense of space and calmness. Not much traffic on the roads. I checked into the Hotel Pension Uhland on Uhland Street in Klein Windhoek (small windy corner) for a couple of nights. It's a friendly family run place. After chilling out a bit, I decided to eat in and enjoyed home made pumpkin soup and hot rolls. My heater didn't work in my room so I borrowed a couple of extra blankets as the night temperature plummeted dramatically.

Sunday dawned bright and early and after a huge buffet breakfast I set out to explore the city centre. I wandered along Robert Mugabe Avenue up to the German Christus Church, quite a prominent landmark then turned into Fidel Castro Street and ambled down the hill past a street souvenir market where Himba women were setting out there wares and singing and clapping.

I strolled up and down Independence Avenue a few times orienting myself to where the shops, banks and post office were as well as a few interesting landmarks to remember to explore at a later date. By lunchtime I decided to stop at the Balalaika restaurant, near the Zoopark to enjoy freshly baked hot croissants, apple and celery juice followed by a nice, hot pot of tea underneath the spreading branches of a beautiful tree.

I gradually wended my way back to the guest house and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and evening, reading the last book in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series.  By then, some kind soul had managed to fix the heater in my room so I was toasty!

My last night in Jo'burg

I had a great week in Johannesburg having briefings from the OCHA regional office where my colleagues all gave me a very warm welcome. I stayed at a lovely family run guest house called Sunninghill Guest Lodge which was round the corner from the office. On my last evening two of my colleagues took me out for dinner in Nelson Mandela Square.

Here we are standing in front of a larger than life-size statue of Madiba!

Welcome to Tall Tales from Windy Corner

Hello readers!

I am on my way to Namibia where I will be working with a United Nations agency for six months. I will be based in Windhoek (translated = Windy Corner) and I aim to jot down my thoughts and experiences here in this blog during my stay there.

At the moment I am in Johannesburg for briefings and I am enjoying the S African sunshine and fresh winter air. All being well I will fly to Windhoek on Saturday, after which the Tall Tales shall begin.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Love and shalom,

Sarah xxx