The Sudan - 19

We hold our planning and review meetings in the hotel lobby. This really is a very cool place. Its a bit tatty and maybe a little stark, certainly everything is "good enough". But its a place for people. During our meetings (and they can drag on a bit) people are coming and going, people are on the hotel computers, people are holding different meetings on the mix of other settees and office chairs. People checking in and people checking out - every one with a mysterious story to tell. People can smoke freely here and the fans and aircon compete for air to blow and Aljazeera plays non-stop on the TV. I could imagine that this is what it might have felt for Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca.

Around our little coffee table with the dusty plastic flowers our meeting consists of 7 people, not one from the same country - hows that for diversity?
George the hotel owner bustles over and offers to get us all some lime water - its very refreshing. Later if we are still there he will bring us a little mars bar each because " you look like you're all working very hard". If you want a 2 litre bottle of cold water (and you drink a lot of it here) George will personally go and get it for you if he can, if not he will get one of his local staff to run off for you.
So far i havent spent a penny - ive eaten, partaken of the offer of several tubs of icecream that george walks around with on a tray at about 9pm most evenings. Ive had my laundry done. I have water and juice as and when i want it. And when George hears the lobby printer churning out my emails and agendas, he pops out of the office to personally load more paper
"How much is it to print here?"
"Oh dont worry about that, its free to guests!"
- and i have spent a penny yet. Mind you George does have 2 grand of mine in his safe - he knows im not going anywhere without it and i guess at some stage there will be a bill to settle

So we did the review of todays workshop and i hear that not only are some of the delegates telling their bosses about the Creative Problem Solving stuff that I presented yesterday, but their kids too. Feedback cant get much better than that.