Gepubliseer: 04.05.2018
What has happened so far....
This move was planned for 5 months and should have been completed before we arrived!
During our short vacation to Bariloche, it finally happened, Po Paraguay moved out of the beautiful co-working office and now settled in 2 rooms in a clinic called 'Operation Smile'. A step forward for Po; financially and also in terms of size. However, it didn't feel like progress at first...
Despite having a week and a half for a smooth move while we were away, we returned to a nicely Paraguayan, chaotic temporary solution. The workshop was already fully furnished and functional, but the other office (our office) was not completely ready yet.... a window still needed to be installed. And since nobody wants to work in a windowless small room with fluorescent light, and since the clinic was available for us at that time, the office was temporarily moved to the hallway outside the workshop. Conveniently: right in the airflow of the mega AC :D
Temporary office
Finally, the day had come when the new window was supposed to be installed. Right at the beginning, you could hear one of the most typical sentences for Paraguay: 'So, we have everything now, let's have a Tereré first and THEN we start'. After that, the hole in the brick wall was actually knocked with a hammer too small to have a suitable place outside a toy construction set. :D It took 2 days accordingly and then the debris was used to fill holes in the parking lot. :D
You just can't shake your head enough :D
A whole week later, the tables arrived and the move was completed. The office feels much less clinical now with a window, tables, and people (:
A proper office at last.
We still don't feel completely comfortable in the building and there's quite a bit of disgust, especially in front of the kitchen. This may well be due to the incredibly large number of cockroaches there. Also, no window and the AC is set to polar.... That's why we actually go to a nearby store for lunch every day where you can get cheap and delicious but unhealthy food for under €2 (lots of meat, fat, and either noodles or potatoes in large portions)
If you can't take a good siesta afterwards, I don't know....
But we're in good spirits. Now we just need a solution for the stuffy, small kitchen and the mosquito culprits and then we're good to go ;)
And now....
Well, about 4 weeks later, we've settled in quite well. Ari and I sit in separate offices and work on different projects. Hansi helps out in the workshop and works on a setup for a test rig, and Ari works on her own design projects to improve the prosthetics. This means that more Spanish is spoken and we interact more with the others. Both of us benefit greatly from this (:
Po's workshop
Twice a week, it's really bustling here. Then the clinic's consultation hours and the hallways are filled with sweet, screaming children and stressed moms and dads.
The kitchen is cleaner, we've gotten used to the different routes, there are fewer mosquitoes buzzing around, and at lunchtime, we sit outside, eating packed lunches that don't need to come into contact with the kitchen (usually salad ;)) and have a picnic on plastic chairs.
Lunchtime picnic
Admittedly, the occasional cockroach still causes excitement throughout the office, but soon there will be more colors and pictures, maybe even a lunch area, and in the meantime, we have become real buddies with the people from Operación Sonrisa! By the way, they are also an amazing worldwide non-profit organization that provides free treatment for children with cleft lip and palate! In our new office (or rather their clinic), we experience completely different, impressive, and beautiful encounters!