Dinner Chez Moi

Dinner Chez Moi
Originally uploaded by paulbrockmann.

Following this note will appear several shots of my expatriate

colleagues at a dinner party on the terrace at the house I live in the

— the house where we do all of our team parties, since it’s the only

house with good space to entertain. Parties like this are not uncommon

— potluck, everyone brings something, and we all sit around and talk

about the week, and what the coming week will bring, what’s

happening in other missions, and life in general. I’ve felt very

fortunate to have a really good group of people to work with

here. You may remember an earlier picture of the baby girl — Marta,

whose parents Stefano and Katja also show up in some of these

pictures, though she’s also shown sitting on Laura’s lap sometimes.

Stefano’s fieldco of the AIDS project, and Laura’s a nurse there;

since we (plus Katja) are the strongest English-speakers in the group

here in Nanning, we often end up talking together or going out to

dinner together. They’re all great people, and I’m going to miss Laura

a lot when she leaves — in less than a week! 😦 This party sort of

honored the arrival of a new medical coordinator, who is replacing the

young woman with the big smile that you’ll see in the solo shot. We’re

all missing Selina, who left this past week after more than two years

working here in various capacities and being one of the driving

spirits behind our projects here. I sure hope no one minds my posting

these…. 🙂