This morning started with the Security Briefing at the US Embassy in Clayton. What great people! Apparently the main briefing was cancelled so Sarah Ferguson read me the security policy so I could sign it. We did a bit of tag-teaming where she read and then I filled in the next bit. We both found words that we didn't know - whoever wrote the policy was clearly a frustrated fiction writer who embellished the document with a number of archaic words. But it was great fun also to talk about the security issues and how to avoid problems. Yes, fun - because Sarah is such a lovely person!
I also had brief meetings with Public Affairs Officer Kristin Stewart de Rodriguez and Andrea Corey, the Cultural Affairs Officer. Lovely people (women!) for sure!
After the briefing, I had the opportunity and privilege to have lunch with the Dean, Prof. Nicholas Samaniego, as well as Euclides Saminiego, Aris Castillo, and Elba (there was one other woman - help me remember!) Quite a lovely meal with terrific food and even better conversation. We discussed at a very high level the kinds of things that would be useful for me to do. I'm getting a clearer picture with each meeting.
Aris then took me on a tour of the Computer Engineering offices, introducing me to a number of professors. I must admit that, between my natural issues with names and my "brain-is-full" fatigue, I doubt I'll be remembering them for a while, but I'm hopeful. There seems to be a lot of interest in (1) practicing English comprehension and speech and (2) a variety of projects. However, after putting it all together, Aris and I plotted a bit and struck on the idea of doing a usability evaluation of the UTP website. Should be very interesting. We'll definitely have to nail tasks and recruiting.
But the title says that Tigger should be in this post and so he should be because I felt very very much like him all day today. I keep getting more and more excited as plans firm up and I get to meet these most amazing people in a terrific department. I'm very honored to get to work with them, but honestly, I feel rather like my feet are 3 feet off the ground and that I'm bouncing - bouncy, bouncy, bouncy - rather like the aforementioned Pooh friend. I suppose that I will calm down a bit once things start in earnest - or not. It's hard to tell with Tiggers after all.
Tomorrow, I will meet the faculty at a meeting. Elba is picking me up earlier so we can accomplish great things together. Stay tuned!
And thank you again for being on this journey with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment