Twofer Tuesday

Today you get a twofer since I am able to take a minute and post what I wrote yesterday and didn't get to post, and a little snippet about today.

June 28

Started the day by finishing packing and heading out to the airport. I was told that the helicopter crew would only permit 15 kilos per person. I had wno idea how much or how little that was, but Google converted it for me and said 33 pounds. Since I was bringing computer equipment with me as well, I had to pack pretty light. At the airport the scale read 13 kilos, so I did pretty well!

We took a puddle jumper to Takoradi and when we landed no one was there to meet me. Fortunately I have a Ghana phone and had the contact number programmed. A phone call and ten minutes later I was on my way to the West African Rescue Association for a physical. They drew blood, did an EKG, tested my vision and hearing, and had me blow in a tube. I did pretty well on everything but the breathing tube. You inhale really deeply and blow as hard and as long as you can. But it's been a good 20 years since I played an insteument and I don't have the lungs I used to. Guess I need to stat jogging or something. Anyway I passed and we went to lunch at a place called Captain Hook's. It's a cute restaurant with a patio. We ate outside on the patio but I liked the inside better. It felt like you were inside Captain Hook's ship! Pictures will follow once I have some bandwith to work with!

After lunch we went back to the airport to take a helicopter to the Kobayashi Maru. In the waiting area we watched the Netherlands play Slovakia. Even though we were not leaving Ghana waters and therefore this was a domestic flight, they still insisted on checking our passports. Twice. They were taking forever to leave so I stretched across 3 seats and napped until they were ready for us to go.

Putting on the life vest and watching the helicopter safety video was pretty sobering, but the flight was smooth. The helicopter started by raising straight up a few feet, then went up and forward like an airplane. We flew up above the cloud layer most of the way, and they were using a GPS to direct them to the target. Once we descended I could see the outline of the Kobiash Maru, my new home for the next several days. For all its remoteness, it's a huge place.

Upon arrival we went through another orientation, then we were given room assignments. I do have a roommate, but only one, and I am told room assignments are changing daily since there are so many people on board. This is truly an international operation, with people from all over. Primarily, though, representation seems to be the US, Australia, the Philippines, and India. Based on the location and the crew I no longer feel like I'm in Africa at all.

June 29

Today I got a network orientation from the main guy and worked on a virus they are dealing with. I'll spare you the details since this isn't a technology blog. My classmate from law school is here as well to work on some things. It's so weird seeing him here. I found out today most people on board work 28 days on and 28 days off. The IT guy I'm working with has been here over 50 days! Still don't know for sure how long I'll be here, but I'm not minding it so far. They have a gym (sort of) and an entertainment room with plasma tvs. My only complaint is the food isn't great. I know I'm a picky eater but allow me to rant for a moment: They are serving rice with every meal--including breakfast! Someone said it's because the chef is Filipino. I don't know anything about that. Speaing of breakfast, they had something this morning that looked like barbacoa but smelled like fish... I didn't eat that. All coffee in the galley is instant. They didn't have orange juice; they had only warm mango juice. There is one fridge for over 100 guys and the drinks are never stocked long enough to get cold. Oh well. Between that and the stairs I am walking up and down I may get in decent shape before I leave!