Closing and Stuff

We had such a nice closing ceremony today for the translation principles workshop that's been going on.  For the past three weeks, there have been some new guys around who have been learning about translation principles, so that they can potentially join the translation teams here at the office.  Closing ceremonies are big deals here.  Seriously big deals.  People have all this protocol that has to be observed, and they really have to do things up well.

We have a new guesthouse manager, and she did a fantastic job today!  As the guesthouse manager, she is in charge of the dining room where we all meet for meals during workshops, and she's in charge of the kitchen and the cook.  And she knows how to do up a fancy meal!  This woman brought in her own plates and dishes so that we would have something nice to eat off of.  She brought in her own flower vases so that we could have flowers (picked from around our compound) on each of the tables.  She even went to the market and bought a couple of new table clothes to adorn our horribly broken down tables. 

The closing ceremony, of course, was also very well done.  Normally, I get bored of all the speeches.  But everyone who spoke today had some good things to say.  So I almost enjoyed it - something that certainly can't be said for most closing ceremonies!

The other excitement of the day was that one of our colleagues, who finished an NT translation several years ago, was appointed to be a deputy governor of one of the States in this country today!  Amazing, really, that one of us has been appointed to such a high position. In general in these parts, it's the deputy anything who does all the work and really is who holds all the power.  This guy who was appointed is really a good guy, and I'm sure he will do amazing things as the Deputy Governor of the State.  And I just had dinner with him last week - I'm sure I won't be doing that any time soon again!

The football match has begun - I can hear the vuvuzelas buzzing in the air.  Perhaps I should go check out who's winning on the TV in the guesthouse - it's all on normal "peasant vision" tv here ... or, maybe I'll just stay under my net...