On Mr Consultant

Mr Consultant has been working with us in Haiti for several months.  He's an American expat raised in many places and has an infuriating way of talking.  He likes to tell me about funky places he's discovered around town but never commits to showing me, despite my requests.  He makes reference almost daily to going out with colleagues for drinks after work, but doesn't invite me.  Instead, I get text messages from him when he's out, telling me how much fun he's having.  When I needed a new computer, he gave me the option of going to the shop to pick one out, which I told him was unnecessary.  He said he wanted me to be able to pick out exactly what I needed.  The next day, he followed that up with something like"from my experience international staff are very picky about these things."  Huh?  I give up.

At one point, Mr Counsultant had to look for housing and it was looking kind of grim in terms of cost and security.  The option of him staying in my spare room was there, but it was one I think we both wanted to avoid.  He would bring up his hunt for housing every day, suggesting this was a worry for him, and each time I would feel obliged to say "feel free to stay with me if you don't find anything."  He would then respond by saying something like "Nah - I don't want to put you out.  I don't mind sleeping on the office floor if I have to," or "Oh, I've slept in dumps in Indonesia - don't worry about me."  And so it would go.  Every day.

He found housing eventually, but his confusing style of talking still baffles me:  I was in the meeting room today with him where there are a couple of nice office chairs.  I asked him what he thought of them.  His response: "Yeah, I've seen these in many places...but you know, I've sat on stumps in Sudan."  I had no choice but to laugh out loud at him.