- I came to Paris the weekend of 24/25 July for dinner with friends with whom I worked at HP in Germany over 20 years ago. It was great to see them again. They are all still doing great. It also turned out to be the weekend of Gay Pride in Paris. That was something to see.
- I got a call on Friday, 30 June, from MSF headquarters offering me a summer job in Paris starting Monday, 3 July. I accepted. I am replacing on a rotating basis the people on vacation in the departure department (it's like a travel bureau for people leaving on missions), and developing some tools for them to facilitate their work. I was lucky to find an apartment to sublet immediately, thanks to the help of my friend Martha Weeks.
- I took a few days off the week of 10 July, primarily to finalize the purchase of my studio condo in Lyon on 12 July. I'm not exactly sure when I will live in it. I have quite a bit of renovation to do, and it won't happen immediately.
- The week of 7 August was spent in Bordeaux in training as an administrator for MSF. My first mission (if you remember, readers) was as a logistician/administrator. This training is heavier on the admin side: accounting, budgets, external financing, customs for freight. It was a good course, and my collegues were great.
- I will continue to replace people in departures until 19 July. Starting 21 July, I can concentrate on the tools necessary to lighten their workload and facilitate the picking up of dossiers when someone is absent.
- Around the middle of September, I will be leaving for Maradi in Niger for 6 months as the l MSF project administrator. This is a huge nutritional program, treating 80000 kids a year for severe malnutrition.
Don't ask me where I live these days; it's pretty vague. Savoie? Lyon? Paris? Niger?
Who cares? It's the good life!
