Belated post about my time in Baltimore

While I was in Baltimore, I enjoyed the illusion of actually having a normal North American Life.

I was blessed with a pleasant, well located apartment which I shared with Naya, my colleague and friend. The place was clean and well equipped as we had all the appliances in the apartment and many nearby amenities.

Every morning, we walked to work where we were supplied with breakfast, training, lunch and more training.

The training consisted of a deeper introduction to US federal regulations on awards, collaborative agreements and how they impact the management of an NGO’s projects, and what, as a compliance officer, I should be looking for.

The exercise proved to be both interesting and challenging. Interesting because this allowed me to meet a lot of people and to really further my understanding of the universe of American development organizations. It was also proving rather stimulating since it was a study of law, an exercise I had not conducted since I became a licensed attorney in may 2005.

On the other hand, I realized that my ability to listen to a speaker for 8 hrs a day every day did get hampered over the years. It's obviously not something I am used to doing anymore, and so I found myself often getting distracted or otherwise sleeping with my eyes open while in class.

Nevertheless, my life was not getting any boring. I spent a weekend in Washington DC with my good friend 007 whom I had not seen since March 2005, when she left Senegal for her assignment in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I arrived in

DC’s Union station

on the Saturday Morning. My Lady 007 was there, and she was as lively and green-eyed as she was when she left for the DRC. We walked together in DC and I must admit, I fell under the charm of the Capital.


For the first time of my life, I saw

the monolithic Washington Monument

and the imposing Capitol.

I also had the pleasure of having dinner at a sushi restaurant in the very pleasant company of Ammo, a good friend of 007 whom I’d met in Senegal.

I am now back in Canada for 3 weeks and will not see my beloved Naya for 7 months, until our next assigment together. I will miss her dearly as we have been joined at the earplug (sharing the same iPod) for several months now.

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !