Even though I will now be working for Samasource, I still went through with my preliminary phone interview with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, a.k.a MSF) as I really hope to later transition from working within protracted crisis and development situations into more humanitarian relief. MSF is the ideal way to make this transition, and of all organizations, its own ideals and objectives greatly correspond with my own. The interview went well enough, except for a poor cell phone connection that inhibited my ability to understand the questions or for them to understand my response. In some ways, I think this may have been helpful as it might have helped to hide my nervousness, yet I think might have hindered the process as well. Like when the said "Mitchell, we see from you application that you have a basic familiarity with the French language, would you be willing to build on this... " I responded with an assertive yes, I would love to know more of French, but at standing I do at least have a knowledge kiSwahili which is very similar to the local dialects of French speaking African countries such as Rwanda and Congo. When he commented that "French is often central to our operations..." I made the joke that it also happens to be one of the harder languages to learn, unfortunately only to realize that the poor connection transformed my harmless joke into an awkward pause within the conversation. Other than that, the conversation went generally well, and I look forward to hearing from them within a couple months.
On a completely unrelated note, the other day I walked into the nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken for my annual dosage deep fried poultry. When I went to order, it was brought to my attention that this particular KFC however is a business strictly operated by the hearing impaired. To order, one simply pointed at a large picture menu on the counter and made various hand gestures. Fortunately I didn't have to make any special request for extra barbecue sauce. Nonetheless, I was highly impressed by the efficiency of the establishment, as it might be the best fast food restaurant I've visited within Egypt. This says a lot, considering fast food is such a major part of the local landscape. I wish I could say that I won't miss it, but as Nairobi has absolutely NOTHING in terms of fast food, I know that I will. I scanned the image on the right from a napkin then tweaked it in photoshop.
Lastly, the other night, Egypt played against Algeria for the world cup qualifiers. Cairo was in a frenzy. The last time these two countries played against each other was over 20 years ago, and it ended with riots. This game was also the first chance that either nation has had to compete for the World Cup, so the tension was extreme. I didn't go out that night, but I did watch the game on television and some of the afterward, um, festivities from my balcony. Maybe if I had more male Egyptian friends, perhaps I would have gone out to watch the celebration, but I was happy enough at home. The noise didn't quit until nearly 6 am. My friend Ian, a journalist and fellow Fulbrighter, actually went to the game and he shot this brief video for a news agency. He mentioned that they had to censor a lot of footage due to profanity, but I think what is here will give you an idea of how Cairo looked that night. As Egypt only won by 2 points, and not a required 5, Egypt and Algeria must play again on Wed. night, however this time they will be playing in Khartoum Sudan, a neutral playing field. Given the noise from Sunday's partial win, I'm honestly not sure who I want to see advance into the next round.
Even though I will now be working for Samasource, I still went through with my preliminary phone interview with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, a.k.a MSF) as I really hope to later transition from working within protracted crisis and development situations into more humanitarian relief. MSF is the ideal way to make this transition, and of all organizations, its own ideals and objectives greatly correspond with my own. The interview went well enough, except for a poor cell phone connection that inhibited my ability to understand the questions or for them to understand my response. In some ways, I think this may have been helpful as it might have helped to hide my nervousness, yet I think might have hindered the process as well. Like when the said "Mitchell, we see from you application that you have a basic familiarity with the French language, would you be willing to build on this... " I responded with an assertive yes, I would love to know more of French, but at standing I do at least have a knowledge kiSwahili which is very similar to the local dialects of French speaking African countries such as Rwanda and Congo. When he commented that "French is often central to our operations..." I made the joke that it also happens to be one of the harder languages to learn, unfortunately only to realize that the poor connection transformed my harmless joke into an awkward pause within the conversation. Other than that, the conversation went generally well, and I look forward to hearing from them within a couple months. 
Lastly, the other night, Egypt played against Algeria for the world cup qualifiers. Cairo was in a frenzy. The last time these two countries played against each other was over 20 years ago, and it ended with riots. This game was also the first chance that either nation has had to compete for the World Cup, so the tension was extreme. I didn't go out that night, but I did watch the game on television and some of the afterward, um, festivities from my balcony. Maybe if I had more male Egyptian friends, perhaps I would have gone out to watch the celebration, but I was happy enough at home. The noise didn't quit until nearly 6 am. My friend Ian, a journalist and fellow Fulbrighter, actually went to the game and he shot this brief video for a news agency. He mentioned that they had to censor a lot of footage due to profanity, but I think what is here will give you an idea of how Cairo looked that night. As Egypt only won by 2 points, and not a required 5, Egypt and Algeria must play again on Wed. night, however this time they will be playing in Khartoum Sudan, a neutral playing field. Given the noise from Sunday's partial win, I'm honestly not sure who I want to see advance into the next round. 
0 Comments:
Post a Comment