No loitering!

Finally I am in a hotel room that does not necessitate me loitering around in the passageway to get an Internet connection! If I were to rely on the wireless system I would still be out there but fortunately this room has a cable connection. Now I can sit comfortably at the desk provided and write away. Of course I might not meet anyone interesting on this trip but that is a price I am willing to pay.

After the best sleep I have had in a very long time, I wondered down to see what was on the breakfast menu. I don't know why I bother looking since I will always have cereal and fruit when I can. Today was no exception - good old cornflakes! There were a number of typically French items available though such as croissants and baguettes but they are too much for me so early in the morning. There is also a hot selection but I didn't even look under the covers - hot breakfasts are not really my thing. Maybe on Saturday morning though I will try it out when I can spend the day digesting it.

The last communication I received from my contact here last week was that I would be picked up at 8am to go to the Fisheries Ministry to meet the Secretary General. So at 8am there I was diligently waiting in the hotel reception. I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. At 9:10 I decided that maybe there had been a change in plans of which I was not informed about and I headed up to my room to go and do some other work. I had just settled in when the phone went. Tantely was downstairs. I packed up my things and went to meet him. There was no apology for the late arrival just a statement that "as discussed" we would go to the ministry.

We drove across Tana to the ministry offices in heavy traffic. It took about half an hour to get there. I met the funding project's new national focal point (about 5 minutes with her) and the Secretary General (another 10 minutes). After explaining all about WIOFish and how it started and what it was I was asked one question: "Are you from Cape Town?" Anyway with that out of the way I was put back into the car to be returned to my hotel as they had a staff meeting to attend.

The traffic on the way back to the hotel was very heavy and, while Durban drivers are really bad at letting other cars in, the Tana drivers are much worse! We were at a standstill for the longest time and when we did move it was at a snail's pace. And then we had a little accident. Just a minor fender bender really but it left a huge scratch down the side of our vehicle. Basically what happened is that my driver did not want to let a minibus taxi in (sound familiar anyone?) and the taxi driver wasn't going to give way either so the two vehicles met. Our vehicle came off worse than the taxi (once again does this sound familiar). The two drivers shouted at each other for about 2 minutes and then laughed as they tried to figure out a way to get the two vehicles apart without any further damage occurring. They managed this and we drove off without any exchange of details, I guess they would be useless anyway. So in the end I spent over an hour in the vehicle to and from the ministry for a total of 15 minutes of meeting people. Seems such a waste. The Secretary General was coming to officially open the workshop so he could have just come 10 minutes early and met me at the workshop venue. It is all about a display of authority if you ask me - pity that it is wasted on me.

I spent some time working and then instead of going for lunch I went to the gym for a small workout. I have started following a training schedule to build up to a 10km run. I was surprised that I was not more unfit since I have not run in quite a few months but it is only the start so I'm sure it will get tough soon.

Just before 13:30 I went down to our meeting venue and discovered the Secretary General there and three other participants. The others all arrived late and we started at around 14:00 with a small speech by the SG and an introduction to the project from me. We got busy with reviewing the first fishery profile and once again I had the first day blues. It was so slow but I'm sure tomorrow will go better. They only have 19 fisheries to work through so there is plenty of time.

Since I didn't have lunch (usually my main meal on these trips) I ordered a 313 pizza for dinner. This pizza has tomatoes, cheese, oregano, mushrooms, corn and zebu on it. Zebu is the Malagasy name for beef but it is not just any beef, it is the meat from steers only. Heifers are considered too valuable and it is against local law to slaughter them. Male or female beef, the pizza was good!

Only a few photos tonight.
 Just a clock but I like it
 A taxi convention
The avenue outside my widow
My room

And that is it from me today. I am really hoping tonight for a sleep just like last night. Take care everyone!
Location: Antananarivo, Madagascar

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