My First Day at the Office

There’s lots to tell, but I’ll start with today first, and then I’ll fill in the blanks with short entries over the weekend, bahala na (the Filipino version of inshallah – though they don’t say it as often as I have been using it, and I have been thinking it even more often than that).

First day at the office – in about four years. I didn’t really think about the fact that I’d be working in an office. I don’t have to go in every day, and my Peace Corps shirts and skirts are acceptable attire (so for those who got my panicked text asking for button-down shirts, I’m calling off the APB), but I was in an office, in a short-walled cubicle, from about ten in the morning until five in the afternoon. What culture shock! I guess it’s good – I kept saying that I was dreading the thought of going to an office again – so maybe this is a good way to ease back into it. Sir Tony (I think he’s the boss of my supervisor, or maybe my boss’s boss’s boss) told me that I can come and go as I please as long as I get my work done. He said they’re not so concerned with time here as they are with doing the job. I’ve been waiting for all these years to be treated like a professional instead of a kindergartener and finally someone said the words I wanted to hear!

I brought my own computer (reason enough not to go in every day – it’s heavy, and today I didn’t do much walking – if I can get a computer there, as the Peace Corps job description stated, I can walk half an hour to get the bus), got into the wi-fi system, and spent about five hours doing email. That old feeling of guilt while doing email at the office came back to me – though I thought if anyone asked, I could easily say I had to catch up on email without feeling ashamed. At about 11:00, someone brought me a tuna sandwich – crusts cut off and all. It turns out that there was a meeting today and food had been brought in and there was extra, but at around 1:30 I noticed that people were coming back from lunch and I realized I hadn’t gone and didn’t know where to go. Later, I met with Sir Tony (sign of respect – he told me to call him Tony but since everyone else calls him Sir Tony I feel I can do that, at least here!) he told me there’s a canteen on the eighth floor and I can eat lunch around 10:30-11 (I get hungry for elevenses anyway, so that was great news).

Alice gave me a bunch of marketing materials and presentations to look at, and someone else (will I ever learn all of their names and what they do? Okay, don’t panic, it was only the first day) gave me a list of current donors, and then I met with Sir Tony for a couple of hours – my chance to ask questions about what they do, have done, want to have done, want me to do. I still don’t know all of the answers, but I think next week I will work on a proposed timetable and list of ideas. Given what I read in Culture Shock: Philippines, I may have been too direct, and probably should have spent more of the meeting talking about backgrounds and families, but Sir Tony seems eager to get to business (actually, he seems to want me to raise all of the needed money by next week!).

The day went quickly, and then two people were assigned to accompany me home on public transportation so I can learn how to do it for myself (Sir Tony had picked me up in the morning). The office isn’t far from the light rail, but everyone told me to take the bus, which is closer (I may take light rail sometimes anyway – always my preference over the bus). The buses don’t have any stops per se – they come along in designated bus lanes, slow down and honk – or you have to wave them down. A regular bus is eight pesos, an air-conditioned one eleven (and supposedly safer). We took an air-conditioned one, and my companion pointed out landmarks along the way so I can recognize where to disembark. We then switched to the jeepney – which may need its own entry! – for the rest of the trip. Both Sir Tony and my supervisor (who was out today) are going to be out of the office on Monday and Tuesday, so I’m going to work from home – but going to the office was actually quite nice!