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Monday, 10 January 2011

Another suitcase, another hall.

I think Tim Rice must have lived as a management consultant in another life. Arriving in my Marriott hotel room last night was almost disorienting, so much does one of their hotel rooms resemble another.
At this point I have embarked on my journey, whilst feeling at the same time that it hasn't begun in any way. I'm here in Washington for training, but have another four or five plane rides ahead over the next two weeks before I will arrive in Ghana to start work in Accra.

Arrived safely after an array of terrible films Mat would have laughed at me for watching. Easy A and Going the Distance (got this one out of the way before I am so lonely missing Mat I can't watch it any more). Drank two glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon. Successfully filled out my US entry card with 'Carmody' rather than making a total hash of it. Tick!

I've been reading about loneliness in one of the many pre-reading packs I've received about this trip and apparently it's a good idea to have familiar things around you to start with, to make the transition to a completely different way of living.

Successfully filled out my US entry card with 'Carmody' rather than making a total hash of it. Tick!
So, do hotels count? Since I've spent my last two and a half years with only a six-week window between constant hotel staying I wonder if they might.
I now know where the remote control for the TV will always be, and see it nestled reassuringly on the duvet. The carpet will always be brown. Scratch that, the room will be entirely brown, with splashes of cream. The little soaps will be waiting for me. All along a corridor which looks simultaneously terrifying and comforting because it looks exactly like part of the set from the Shining. Luckily the over zealous air conditioning no longer wakes me up with its heavy breathing in the night.
Normal service here anyway. If it's Monday then it must be Washington, but if I didn't have a calendar I would scarcely know.

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