I'm back in Seattle after two weeks working from home. Although three dogs make pleasant office mates and it was lovely to reconnect with San Diego friends and get the house, pool and garden straight, it is good to be back catching chance encounters in the foundation's hallways.
It has been quite a week in which everyone in Global Health was encouraged to show spirit by dressing in various ways - hats on Monday, alma mater colors Tuesday, for the career you aspired to at age 10 on Weds, as a twin on Thursday and in your spirit color (yellow Ibama dress in my case) on Friday.
Monday started with my promotion from limited term to full time, and culminated in a meeting with CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann to update her on the major projects I've been working so hard on. The rest of the week included a pay rise, a blur of back to back meetings and many compliments on two sessions I led.
The evenings have been just as packed, with dinners out with co-workers every evening and two evening concerts at the
Seattle Chamber Music Festival. The programmes were excellent. Weds included songs by Janacek 'The diary of one who disappeared' with fabulous tenor Nicholas Phan and Respighi's Il Tramonto, together with the Schubert Quartettsatz and a Mozart piano trio. Tonight featured two gorgeous Canticles by Britten once again with the wonderful Phan, Joyce Yang on piano and Jeffrey Fair on horn Strauss Metamorphosen for string septet and the Brahms horn trio. Definitely ending the week on a fine note, albeit a bottom C!
