Djibouti City: Day 1

So far, so good.

My plane touched down in Djibouti a little under two hours ago. The shadow on my face suggests I've been travelling for almost a week but I think it's been about a day and a half (though I have been thrust into the future approximately 8 hours so we'll round it up to two days). Paris was okay, but I didn't have much time to see much as I was on foot; apart from a walk from the Paris Opera to the Eiffel Tower and back - with an interesting stop at a fully-automated public restroom along the way - any sightseeing will need to happen the next time I'm there.

I had very little difficulty with immigration upon arriving in Djibouti, though more than I encountered in France (where no words were exchanged with immigration officials when I collected my stamps). To my surprise, I needed to provide a copy of my 'invitation papers,' and fortunately had them in the voluminous collection of things I probably didn't need to bring (but did just in case). A tip to anyone moving to Africa for six months: give yourself more than a day to figure out what you're bringing (a Swiss Army knife, a lock, and Microsoft Office are three things among many I had intended to bring with me but forgot).

On arriving at my hotel, after being collected by someone from my office at the airport, I met a Frenchman who gave me the skinny on the various amenities proximate to the hotel. There's a 'restaurant' next door; I am told there pubs and clubs close by; but what I'm going to need to find in short order is somewhere I might buy lighter clothing. When I packed for this place I went heavy on long pants and long-sleeved shirts. On seeing people around the city so far, there are a lot of short-sleeved shirts, but sitting next to me are a couple of guys in business suits (I don't know how they do it as I'm told it's going to be 48 degrees centigrade today). Once I've been to the office tomorrow, and have a better idea of what I'll be doing and who I'll be working with, I'll be better positioned to buy my new wardrobe.

Right now I'm just waiting for my room to be cleaned before I can move into it. I've just worked out how much this place costs and it's decidedly more than I was prepared for. I don't see myself staying here for more than a few days provided I can find something more cost effective (but unfortunately have to wait until tomorrow when I know what I'm doing and where I'm going before I can start figuring any of this stuff out).