Mateso

Agony.

I left the office at the same time as Mariam so we shared a tuk-tuk. The driver’s name was Mateso, the Swahili word for agony. Mariam reckoned the name was decided due to the mother’s experiences during pregnancy or childbirth. I’m grateful that in the UK we don’t christen children Forceps or Epidural as reminders of the trauma of childbirth. Mateso is in the same league as Dolores, which means pains in Spanish. Catholics do encourage a lifetime of penance. Let one’s name forever act as a reminder of service through suffering.

Thankfully Mariam confirmed that more common names in Tanzania are James, Robert, Stewart and Gilliad.

People being deliberately obstructive in the workplace is one of my biggest peeves of all time. I sense it may be a running theme through the year with certain characters.