Deciding on skills

The last day has been uplifting. Two new ex-pats came in and they are fun and charismatic. One is a big white guy from Duncan, the other is a women from Duncan. The women is about moms age, and has two grandchildren around 3 years old. She has a mom mentality and a positive personality. The guy is witty and interesting. Both of them have worked for us for more than 20 years. The women 31 years!!!!!! Holy crap!!!! Anyway, they are staying at my staff house and I'm hearing more and more that my staff house is the best one in the bunch. To make things better, I just got a new room that is much bigger. It has a desk, a full blown cupboard, and a couch. Pictures below:

I went to a new office today - there are two. One that is very close to the Port de Luanda. Another that is in the middle of town. This building is where all the HR, BD (sales), Finance, and Management work. The whole  day as I worked, I felt like someone was looking over my shoulder watching if I was actually being productive. I hate being around the bosses while I'm working. Fortunately, my boss is in Dubai visiting his family working from our office there. I met the person who is trying to get me my 1-year work visa. We got all my paperwork in order and submitted my secondary short-term passport. Come to find out from everyone else, since my passport doesn't have a entry stamp they might have a problem with processing the visa. I informed her of this, and she said it would be OK. So if I am waiting at home for a long time, its not my fault.

I cant remember if I already talked about how ridiculous the visa system is, but in summary. The ministry of petroleum has to extend and offer to each person (4-6 weeks) then you have to personally submit your passport to immigration for the 1-year work visa which can take anywhere from 1 month to 5 months!!!!! I met someone today, who has a second passport, but his has taken 14 months. The poor people from Trinidad, or Asia-Pacific aren't able to get second passports, so they are stuck here for the whole time!!!! Fortunately  they get equal time off. Whats better? During the 5 months, my company can request me to do training. But the majority of people just sit at home, collecting paychecks while they wait for the visa!!!!

Ive decided that I am going to make the best of my extra time in Angola. Even though I'm bored to tears now, I am going to schedule out my time and pick a skill to study every night like I am in school or college. I have narrowed it down to a few, but I would love you recommendations! I made a cool Google form that allows you to submit your answers for me to view. I think that it is anonymous. Anyway, Id love it if you would take the time and let me know what you think. PS - I found this link that has some cool stuff in it, but mostly just basic stuff. http://www.marcandangel.com/2008/06/02/50-things-everyone-should-know-how-to-do/

One thing to keep in mind is that I run every morning for 30 minutes. By physical fitness I mean an additional hour.