The Fabulous Four
I walked into the USAID main office today and took a good look at the receptionist's area for the first time. I was surprised to find four framed portraits of none other than GW, Cheney, Condi, and Rummy smiling back at me from the royal purple wall. I imagine it's company policy, sort of like Mao's personality cult.I shouldn't say I "walked" in because that makes it sound like it's easy. No, I disembarked two blocks away from the car, as we are not allowed to drive in, walked past about 5 armed guards, walked into the guardhouse and surrendered my ID and had to pass through a metal detector and light frisk, then had to had in the guardhouse until someone came out from the main building and unlocked three really heavy doors in order to let me in. "USAID: From the American People, If You Can Get Past Security." I can't imagine what it must be like in countries where the US is really disliked.
When I was up north I watched an endless train of camels (yes, they have camels here) plod home at the end of a market day, each carrying nothing but 6 100-pound bags of wheat and cannisters of oil stamped with the US flag and "From the American People..." in English, of course (brilliant.) It's hard to miss, as is the fact that USAID directly responds to every chronic and acute food shortage here with generous rations every year--this year they are supporting upwards of 14 million people. One hopes this increasing US support to Ethiopia stems from altruistic motives but one suspects it's largely a matter of foreign policy, particularly in a country neighboring Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, and Somalia, a country with a large, as yet not-radicalized, Muslim population.
In other news, I turned 25 today and wisely informed no one at work about it, so I can go about my business (of writing blog posts) undisturbed. It's a Monday birthday, I'm far from my friends and family, and it's one that marks nothing special except the fact that I can now rent cars in the States without paying usurious insurance rates, so I'm happy to pretend it's not happening.
posted by Margot @ 7:57 AM
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