Força aí

In the office today the director got it into his head that visitors to Mozambique such as me can only participate in official meetings, workshops, field trips and the like, rather than using the days in between to sit in the office and work.

This is not a true interpretation as business visas cover all short-term work purposes, and it was exasperating as I am very familiar with how to operate within Mozambique visa regulations given all my previous struggles (as documented exhaustively on blip). The office is apparently concerned about rogue elements in the Ministry of Labour inspectorate, who do exist and can make life difficult for NGOs and foreigners. I managed to placate the situation somewhat, but I was left feeling uneasy and not very welcome despite needing to work closely with the Mozambique team.

Força aí (hang in there) said my colleague Lucia as she left the office and could see me feeling stressed. I’m resolving quite clearly these days that I must have a shelf life to this line of work because of the curveballs and unpredictability. So nowadays I choose to use these obstacles as a positive nail in the coffin (oxymoron) that will eventually springboard me to the next chapter.

The afternoon passed very slowly and by the end of it I started feeling decidedly ropey. I swear it was a physical manifestation of the visa stresses, plunging me back into the previous period where I felt very low.

As I walked back from the office I saw a peahen jumping onto the roof of a car. And later Duolingo presented me with this delightful phrase.