First day in Roma

I'm writing this from my new laptop at my new desk at the end of my first day working for the United Nations World Food Programme in Rome.

This absolutely feels as though I'm living someone else's life.

Transport arrangements last night ran like clockwork: amazingly I was hit with NO excess charges, and we were only half an hour late getting out of Heathrow (good by English standards!) which gave me extra nattering time with Julie, a mate from Aus who by crazy coincidence was transitting through Heathrow at the same time. For the first time ever, I was collected at the airport by a driver in a suit carrying one of those placards with my name on it. Our chappie spoke almost no english and drove like a maniac: but it was exciting to be hurtling through the streets of Rome in the dark, passing occasional brilliantly lit monuments - the Colusseum, the Vittorio Emanuelle II monument.... amazing. Despite my fledgling italian he seemed to think that I was worth being nice to (actually, he knew I was moving to Rome for work and probably thought he'd get a tip - which he did, because he was excellent - and return business, which he will). To my amazement, I understood him better than I expected, and remembered more than I thought I could, and we nattered on (actually nattered!) about how lovely Rome is.

Next morning I discovered that breakfast isn't served til 8am, so skipped that but found the train station, negotiated a weekly ticket, and after some faffing about got to work for just after 8.30. We started the day with a team coffee (I had water. Will have to work on that one!), then it was off to HR to meet James the chainsmoking Brit with a fringe long enough to tuck behind his ears, who spent the next two hours showing me the HR ropes. I couldn't believe it. An HR guy who was both helpful and right. So far, the UN is defying all stereotypes.

Spent the rest of the day trying (fruitlessly) to get the computer to talk to the network, as often happens on first days in new jobs, then gave up and asked my boss for some reading to do. But by day's end I had a laptop, a staff pass and a mobile 'on the way'! Eeeep! Oh, and had a meeting with one of our events people, a woman from Japan, about how WFP can 'green' its many, many meetings (the obvious answer - fewer meetings, more emails and phone conferences!).

Off home shortly - will do some food shopping and then just lax out, I think. Wonder if I'll find more of those lush ripe cherries at £1.50 a punnet. Hotel room is tiny (looks like it used to be a store room, but it has a bed, a cupboard and a tv in it, so I can't complain), and the walls are paper thin. Didn't get great sleep last night but think I'll unwind okay tonight. It's not as bad as sharing a room with Sleep Apnoea Guy (see my last trip to Rome for details!) Move into temporary apartment on Saturday morning, for a month.

It's all extremely surreal. I can't believe we're going to be properly living here, in Rome, a city that holds so much for a traveller to see, and paid for the privilege:- by one of the world's leading organisations, no less. I'm a bit scared of failing, but I also feel like I'm standing on the cusp of something amazing. Most of all, I really, really feel like I'm living someone else's life.