Lands Far Far Away: In a National Geographic Magazine

I have almost been here a week and Im still figuring out if Angola is right for me. I feel like I am living in a National Geographic magazine. Many of the scenes and activities is as you would imagine. Dirt floor homes (not mine), police/military with young kids carrying AK-47s, and really bad roads. At the office the days are LONG since there is not much to do, but you still must work for 12 hours a day since the bus only comes at 6am and 6pm. My fate here depends on a contract that we are bidding, and if we win I get to stay in Luanda. If we lose I get to leave - so I am sad to say, Im rooting against my company. =) Everyone that I have talked to says that Luanda, Angola is the worst place that they have worked and if I am able, to get out. They say it partly because it takes so long to get anything done and that the government is very corrupt. It actually is in the top 10 most corrupt governments in the world!!!! Combine that with Luanda being the most expensive city in the world, this place is losing its appeal fast.

The other expats are nice here, not very social, but still polite and laid back. We have three staff houses in Luanda and it seems that my staff house has the most all business people and there is not much comradery here. People congregate for dinner, but after your done spooning down your food, everyone goes back to their rooms and either goes to bed or continues to work. All the locals I have met are very very nice and respectful. The language barrier here is substantial, but I carry around a portuguese to english dictionary to help me. One thing that bugs me about most all of the expats here is the way they talk and think about the local workers. Our drivers especially are talked down to often for many things they cannot avoid, like traffic, the route (when the other route is probably just as bad), even for the bumps in the road.

As I mentioned before, there are three staff houses here. One deep in the city (the one I am at), one that is on an Island (connected by roads) called Ilha, and the last about 200 yards from the base where we work. All of the staff houses have their advantages. The one that I am seems to have more "big-wigs" above my pay-grade. The one that is close to the shop would make it possible to walk to/from work without having to wait on the bus and they seem to have more comradery there. The staff house at Ilha have amazing rooms with the beach a few steps away, but at night (Thursday - Sunday) there is loud music coming from the nightclubs across the street. I have heard the music is so loud that it is hard to sleep in the rooms at night. The beach wouldnt really matter either unless I played hooky on the weekends or something.

The local employees dont work the weekends here because they are trying to cut costs. So there is never any operators or engineers in my PSL to help do anything on Saturday or Sunday. Since the only thing I would be able to do is work on my computer, I will probably just work from home on these two days.

It is not as hot as I have heard here. Coming from Bakersfield and it being "winter" where the temperature stoops to 60-65 degrees helps. The mosquitoes are not as bad as people say either. Most rooms have AC units and since mosquitoes hate cold, they typically stay out.

I met a nice guy two days ago who shares my anger at how uninformed expats are when they get here. No one tells you any tricks of the trade or even when meals and buses run! He sent me a trick to get on Skype and told me many secrets he has found the hard way. Hes here for another several months (rotationally) then he is going to be a live-in position. He is the head of the finance department here in Luanda, so I feel like hes a good guy to know.

As I have eluded I hope to get out of this assignment and the options look like Tanzania or Norway. I am hesitent because the grass is always greener, but I wonder if this time the statement doesnt hold up. If we win the contract I am left with only two bad options, I could suck it up and work in Luanda for ~a year, then prove my experience to the Chevron camp and work there with friends and make lots of money, or I could tell my boss our agreement was to work at Cabinda (the other camp) and that Luanda is not for me. Loosing the contract would save me this hard decision.

All I have is my iPhone for taking pictures and many of them are overexposed. The pictures are shown below and it is some highlights of my trip thus far. I also have to watch where and when I take pictures. I have heard that if you are stopped in traffic and someone spots your phone/camera/computer/bag or anything, they will break open the window and rob you at gunpoint.