I’m beginning to understand, in retrospect of course, the importance and significance of the sit-down; the negotiation.
In the States, the price is the price, except where there is a sit-down involved. We should be wary of the sit-down, as new and used car buyers can attest, it means that someone will walk away with more of the other person’s money than is fair or right. In a sit-down there is always information that one party will not disclose to the other because to do so would weaken their claim to the price they have set. It’s always helpful to have a person on the inside.
In Ethiopia, we have inside people, but they are of the Nuar tribe, and therefor understand Ethiopian negotiations as beginners, observers maybe, but not as participants. What is something worth in Gambella? Like art, it’s worth whatever you paid for it. We had two days in Gambella before visiting Mattar. Getting a price and course of action put together with Abram, our contractor, took longer than David, Deng or I had anticipated, but each meeting wss like the adding of an ingredient to a cake mix; before you throw it in the oven, you need to be sure it’s all stirred in there thoroughly, and thoroughly checked for lumps.
By the end of day two we were convinced we had found a competent builder; one who could answer all of my engineering concerns and questions with intelligent answers coupled with persuasive confidence. Before we headed south, the only thing for us to do was mark where the first building would be located, once we had a suitable size in mind.
albaniacalling 