Life as normal in Spain and in the office

Back in Kenya life continues pretty much as normal, back in the office and back at school, wearing masks (though that might change soon) and enjoying the hot weather at weekends. 

We returned to the office initially in October (though then went back home again until February) and honestly it did feel strange after 18 months working from home. Funnily enough I had seen various government people more in person than my colleagues whilst going out to meet them. But it's nice to see people in person, and to be able to have an informal rapport during work by talking about non-work things which didn't happen much during phone or video calls. There's more spontaneity, more social discussions and communications is much better. There's also more chances to see colleagues in other departments around the building and it's nice to wonder around the office sometimes just talking to different people.

There are several events coming up before Easter that we are planning towards, and in February we did something for Safer Internet Day. The kids are in a routine and there is not much to report apart from the week in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress.

Back to normal after COVID-19, the number of attendees was lower than usual, so queues for passing security, for toilets, or for food were not as bad as previous years, but the numbers were still high enough to make the event successful (a lot was done online too – with some speakers speaking online and many events broadcast online). The exhibits seemed close to the numbers of previous years and 5G was plastered all over the place. Amongst the exhibits a lot of crowds enjoyed the robot bartender, despite it being very slow, the robot dogs, some VR/4D/Metaverse type theme park rides and the like.

I wasn't able to explore all the exhibits but was successful with work activities and managed to bump into or have a coffee or drink with some colleagues from around the World at various times. Colleagues who at the best of times I rarely saw face-to-face, and certainly recently have not seen much at all. In the venue everyone had to wear masks (and on transport), but that didn't stop Barcelona being as busy as ever with big crowds on the main streets, in bars and restaurants and in shops. As ever the touristy restaurants by the marina always found one dish to overcharge customers on with a surprise in the bill. Amongst all the meetings, exhibitions and events, there was time for some runs along the marina and the beach (which really is delightful with playgrounds, showers and impeccable sand as far as can be seen) in the morning and regular use of the bikes on the street to zip around.

Back in Kenya, the main news is always about the elections coming up in August, as finally the various parties in Kenya come together to form coalitions and nominate their candidates, whilst various national government leaders have stepped down to run for elected office in their local areas. Kenyan media is obsessed with politics even years before an election and now with just a few months to go, they are really enjoying the regular rallies and coalition discussions. It is shaping up to be a fiercely contested two-way battle.