lauantai 4. helmikuuta 2012

How to be an office worker in Zanzibar?

I've been writing a blog before, but never in English. So please excuse all the spelling mistakes and possible lack of artistic use of language.

The aim of this blog is to tell about the culture here in Zanzibar and also about our company. And my life, at least as much as it has anything to do with the culture or the company.

I'm writing this now in our office. It's sometimes quite difficult to take a moment to do something alone, since the work culture here seems to be more of a social kind. To compare to my work in Finland it's a bit of a cultural shock!

Our office deals with tourism, basically we are tour operators. My boyfriend is the heart of the company if you ask me, but if you ask him, he'll tell you nothing would happen without me. So we do this thing together.

And right at the moment I mention him, he storms into the office. Sweaty and busy as ever. Even though this is his home country, it seems to be a bit difficult for him to adjust to a) the weather and b) the culture. He's the kind of a person who wants to do everything effectively and in the best possible way. And trust me, in Tanzania that can give you a nervous break down!


In one years time we (him) have opened an office, made contracts with other travel companies, created all the material and activities, dealt with all the official stuff both in here and in Finland. So it's been a busy year!

But as I sit here in the office with all these workers and hang-arounds, I don't need to deal with the hurry. It seems like things get done even if I feel like I've been just gossiping and eating in the office the whole day. And of course talked with the occasional tourists who drop in.

Our office is in the tower of Old Fort in the middle of Stone Town. It's quite peaceful here, usually. Now the Sauti za Busara Festival is starting in the court yard, so the festival people are building their stages. It's all good, but it makes our office look like a part of the construction area, which doesn't really encourage people to climb up here.



The office is not completely finished yet anyway. We need some more furniture, some more paintings, and new stairs. But the tower is already looking so beautiful. And even though it always feels like nothing ever happens, it's all coming together, slowly but steadily.

Next time I'll share some cat stories.

Colors of Zanzibar

Ei kommentteja:

Lähetä kommentti