With the problems we have at work there isn't much for me to do at the rig.The alternative is to go to Hassi Messaoud (an hour flight away in a Twin Otter) and stay at the base where the oil company has its offices and its accomodation. It is an OK place, it even has a swimming pool but it is the office and you cannot leave the compound unless you have a driver etc etc...in other words it has potential for becoming very boring something like 10 mintes after the first shower...And even then the shower is not that great...in fact I noticed yesterday that the water coming out of the shower was salty. The well water we have here at the rig, which I grant you does have some bacteria, is fresh water.
After a all rigamarole yesterday afternoon the in-country-manager decided that I should go to town, officially because I have been here for 9 weeks and I need a break, in reality because he was having a BBQ and needed more women!! and that is the plain truth!! And you know it is sad when I am invited as a female figure as opposed to as one of the guys!!! sad, sad, sad!
Anyway, I wanted to buy some lemonade crystals...I have had this huge craving for lemonade made out of those gross crystals...don't ask. I also wanted some soap that smells better than what they give us at the rig and a few stupid things like this, so I went.
The BBQ could have done with some atmosphere..any atmosphere...
I have no bathing suit here with me so the pool was out....I honestly came to Algeria having done the worst packing job ever!!
The evening was a bit of a fiasco...well, maybe not fiasco but a "flop" for sure.
The thing I always have to think about when I have a chance to go to Hassi Messaoud is the plane ride...I get sick in that plane ride....so the trip has to be fun to be worth it.
I did sleep very well on a big comfortable bed with a soft pillow and I woke up only once wondering why it was so quiet and where I was....Of course I always wake up many times, but only once did I wonder...I slept like a queen...so just that made it worth the trip....the soft mattress, the soft pillow and the cosy light duvet were heaven! Luxury, luxury, Luxury!
