Hello from Angola!Follow

Hey everyone! I made it here after a lengthy flight of 30 hours in a plane due to mechanical issues. The weather is sultry, but comfortable at 78* at night, 83* during the day. Once the dry season gets here in a few months it'll feel a bit cooler from the lack of humidity.

The aircraft are very nice. Brand new, very well taken care of, nice paint schemes. I'm taking lots of pictures, but my internet access is limited, so I won't be able to load them up until I get home. Seriously, the speed is somewhere in the 28kps buad realm. Very ugly load times.

I have a couple of stories about life here that happened to me today. It gives a good nsight into how things are done around here.

One of the Frenchies here lives in Thailand and he is the local "dealer" for what would be prescription, ummm, Viagra-like meds. They have a new one out that is a jell and comes in multiple flavors like grape, pineapple, and orange. He-- and a couple of the other guys --say the stuff is fantastic, so he's gonna bring me some next hitch. I told him it was like Skittles for your Richard and that maybe I could get Mrs. Totem to "taste the rainbow." That got a good laugh from everyone. This place is hilarious. Nothing but men away from their women for a month at a time, so you can imagine what most conversations revolve around. The funny thing is, with all these nationalities here the accents, personalities, and personal insights into stuff is completely fresh, unlike having a bunch of American helicopter pilots who used to all be Army would be.

I did two run-ups today for engine washes. The birds seem to be well maintained and they get a lot of attention from the mechs. Very sano. I get the impresson I'm doing just fine, but you'd have to know how I am-- I am waaay harder on myself than the instructors.

I got a real good first hand chance to see how things are done down here, Africa-style. I was to get a ride from the company driver down to the front gate where my ID card would be issued to me. The guy, who is apparently the bottom man on the totem pole was doing something that was displeasing his boss, the lead dispatcher. So the boss would come over, chew on him for awhile in front of everyone, gestulate a lot, yell some more, gesture more, and finally went back over to his throne, err, desk. The driver keep looking down at his feet while all this was happening. Once Boss Man sat down, he'd wander over to the travel office where this Angolan lady works rather slooooowly. (I asked for the label maker and it was like I had asked her to run a marathon. She pulled it out of her desk and set it about two inchs away from her drawer, making me reach across the table to get the thing-- kind of what I'd interpret in the States as passive/aggressive behavior. But it seems here in Angola they just can't be bothered to put forth any effort.) Anyhow, he'd be chatting her up, the and Boss Man would notice and stalk over and chew him out some more. This happened there or four times, until the driver finally mosied over to the car and waved to me to follow him. Of course all of the conversation was done in Afri-Portagee. I had no idea what was being said.

We set out for the front gate and we made four stops along the way where he'd bring his buddies food from the messhall. He'd hang out for a bit, talk, and finally get back in and work our way to the ID card shop. Once we got there I was told in broken English that my name is too similar to someone else's and they had to clear up the confusion. Please come back tomorrow at 2:00. Thank you very much. Thumbs up.

Heh, so I head back to the car and the driver finds another friend to chat up. We get going to go back to the flight line and he sees a woman standing at the bus stop. He pulls over, chats her up, she gets in and says she is heading to the main office. *Now* he's all efficiency, lol, and gets her right there. He pulls over, lets her out, and heads over to another buddy to chat to. He tells me, "5 minutes. 5 minutes." I tell him, "Nah, I'll walk the rest of the way. No problem." He panics. "No no no no no. You stay. I take you back. I go fast. Stay stay." I tell him, "No thank you. I don't mind the walk." I figured I'd hit my dorm room and get a power bar for a snack. The woman snickers at the quandry I put the driver in a she walked away. She says, "You get exericse, yes?" I say, "Yeah, it's nice outside for walking." The driver then hustles over and gently steers me back to the car. I allow myself to get back into the vehicle because I see now I've put him in a situation that'll get him in more trouble with Boss Man if I show up and he's not with me or vis versa. We pull up to the dispatch building and I thank him for the ride. He says to me, "Thank you thank you thank. Yes, thank you."

Heheh, welcome to Africa.

Anyway, merry Christmas if I don't get a chance to drop by again for a while. I *am* a bit lonely, especially for Mrs. Totem and Baby Schatzi, my favorite poodle. On the positive side, the money is better than I had expected. Waaay better. By a factor of two kind of better. Craziness.

If you are so inclined, check me out on Google Earth in the northern-most portion of Angola in the region of Cabinda. I'm right on the coast there by a town of the same name. I'll try to wave. 24 more days and a wake-up (if I get my passport back in time) and I'll be home annoying you guys with more conservative political viewpoints and insightful obserations of our newest president. well, maybe not. News is scarce and timely current event topics are far and few between.

Now it's time for bed. Bye!

Totem


Edited, Dec 18th 2008 3:26pm by Totem

Who are you again?

Welcome to an civilised time-zone :)

You should have hit him 'topside the head with your beating hand, it's all they understand. That and having American Dollars waved in front of them, but that's tricky too. Do that and you'll have a little troupe of school kids following you around for the rest of the month.

Enjoy your time there Totem! And yes, get used to the slow and meandering way of life there. Stay safe!

Good to hear from you. Do please try to spread your personal brand of conservatism in Africa; I'm curious to hear how that would go.

me too

You know, they say there is nothing like having Christmas in Angola. What a tourist hot spot.

You comments remind me of something.... Oh yeah I remember! It's why Africa is a still a sh*thole even though it's had billions in aid over the last 50 years.

Heh.

Hello, guys. Merry Christmas! I got up this morning and was feeling a little blue, being away from Mrs. Totem and the poodles. Wasn't feeling very festive at all. But after a bit of working, studying, and a couple of orientation flights to a two fields I hadn't been to yet, I pulled myself out of my funk and was fine. Then the company fired up the barby and grilled T-bone steaks-- as many as you could eat, I had two, thankyouverymuch --it turned into a swell Christmas Day, even though I wasn't at home with the Missus.

Anyhoo, I am heading home January 5 and can't wait to get back to my family. So, keep up the good work here and I'll write more when I can.

Have a terrific New Year, and try not to kill to many brain cells. You need every one of them you've got to defend yourself against my superior arguments supporting solid conservative 'Merican views.
:D

Totem

Haha, pretty cool stories!!

Merry Christmas Tots, glad to see you´re enjoying your time in your somwhat distant homeland!