Night photos, oil showers, and meetings...

While nothing particularly exciting has happened out here the last couple of days I figured that I would go ahead and write a blog post anyway...just to have something to do, to be honest.  The "weekend" went well and was quite busy with a couple of big production days and then preparing our weekly deliverables.  Now I am simply preparing for our weekly client meeting tomorrow night, though I still haven't decided what I will include in my presentation to them.  We are still waiting to hear about the conflict areas and whether or not we will shoot in them, so I still have no idea how much longer I will be working in Iraq.  The meetings about all of it with the Sheiks are this week, so I guess we will find out soon.  Okay, enough about work...

I stayed up late last night taking some photos of the night out here (I am not sure why I enjoy trying to take night photos so much, but I just really do).  I was seeking to capture some of the rare bits of beauty that can be found out here...the night in this part of Iraq is often lovely.  It is much cooler with a nice breeze, the darkness, the moon and stars, and the lights from the flares throw up the most amazing light on some nights.  The pictures from last night turned out pretty well, I think...I have a better camera with me this time than the last one, so all of my pictures seem to be better than they were.

The view from my room towards the front of camp

The berm and security lights looking towards the back of camp

Shadows are pretty cool...

I think the guy in the watchtower was a bit weirded out that I was taking his picture at night

Yesterday was Father's Day...thanks to all of you who sent me well-wishes, I really do appreciate it.  I got to talk to the kids yesterday, and Shawn posted a picture for me on Facebook.  I really miss my babies.  Father's Day dredges up some worry for me, I suppose...it makes me look at my decisions again and question if I am really doing right by my kids.  I took this job to be able to provide more for them,  but I have given up being a real part of their lives in exchange.  I don't know...it will all work out for the best I am sure.  I just want what's best for my kids as I love them more than anything else in the world.

We have had a couple of oil showers since I have been back...everyone back home seems pretty interested in the phenomenon, so I figured I would post a couple of pictures showing a bit of the aftermath of them.  These last two were quite a bit lighter than the first one I saw, so it isn't quite as impressive though they still made a mess of camp and the smell lingers for days afterwards.  As I think I said in an earlier post I believe that the wind decreases the efficiency of the flares burning around here, so when the wind blows the smoke from them in our direction oil falls from the sky and covers everything.  Really gross, right?! Trust me that the coverage is more impressive than the pictures can demonstrate.

Oil covers everything

This is the effect of a really light shower...not the worst that I have seen out here

We had a big client meeting with Houston tonight...it went well, but they are long, so it is easy sometimes to find ourselves losing focus and cutting up...I wanted to also post a few pictures from the meeting tonight.  It isn't all work out here, after all.

Losing interest...

Oh man...this is hurting my head

I will close tonight with a couple of other pictures taken over the last couple of days...later.

The QC Chiefs - Bogdan and Abdu

I should be working but instead am watching a movie...

The Romanian and American in our shack

Where I visit the field and find an oasis...

I thought that I knew about heat having grown up in the sweltering, wet heat of the deep South, but I was WRONG! Here in Iraq, as summer gets into full-swing I am truly coming to understsand HEAT.  It was well over 40 degrees centigrade in the shade today, with temperatures closer to 52 C in the sun.  It actually burns your skin...when you walk out in the sun it feels like needles.  And dehydration sets in with almost no warning...one minute you are fine and the next you feel faint (they do a good job out here of keeping water always at arms length and shade in abundance to help you escape the furnace easily enough, but still there are casualties).  Today also the wind is just intense...we are on standby due to it , again.  Probably blowing close to forty knots out there...sand and dust get everywhere.  I am currently developing a nice little dune just inside the door of my sleeper...the fine sand comes in through even the smallest chink in the seal.

So, I went out into the field the last couple of days, and my initial impressions about this part of Iraq continue to be reinforced...it is so desolate, post-apocalyptic even (which given the troubled history of this area over the last forty years or so, I suppose it may actually be).  We travelled the whole of the prospect today and took a close look at some of the conflict areas that we are fixing to go into to shoot.  To be honest, it is hard to understand what the problem is...the desert all looks the same.  It is strange that on one side of the levee it is no problem but on the other it is.  They are now talking about adding back other problem spots too...ugh.  I am pretty ready for life on the other side of Iraq, but it is starting to look like I will never leave this country.

Flooding in the prospect with a derrick in the background

This is the Mosque of a tiny village inside of the prospect

Typical landscape for this part of Iraq

Again, this is typical of the area

On a brighter note, we did get to visit briefly a couple of the little villages up near the Euphrates River today...suddenly it is like being transported back in time.  You can actually see up there why this area was once known as "the Fertile Crescent".  There were palm trees and growing things and wild life in abundance.  The people up there even seem to smile and wave more.  I tried to get a lot of pictures, but I haven't yet really scanned through to see how many turned out okay.  We aren't allowed to stop or get out of the vehicles very often, so you typically have to take your chances from a moving truck on abysmally bad roads.  Not a great platform from which to take wonderful photos, sadly.  I will include a few of the better images so that you all can share in my wonder and excitement at discovering a bit of greenery in this dusty world.

What?! Water and trees!

This was right next to a little village...the canals run from the Euphrates River

Sort of pictureque even...am I still in Iraq?

Wait...razorwire...yes, still in Iraq.

Basically the same picture as above but don't you guys like seeing me?

Kids and water buffalo...there are LOTS of water buffalo around this village

A whole herd of water buffalo and their owner...

So, I am really getting excited to be heading home to vacation...I am a man in need of one!  I have been at work for almost five weeks already, and I still have a couple more to go.  Spirits are quite high, mind you, but I definitely am ready to see my kids and have some real R&R.  There is so much that I want to do in Houston and on vacation, but I have now been informed that I am going to be on short break again...I will be back out at the very beginning of August.  Further, I am informed that I likely will "just stay until the survey is complete", which at this point seems to be anyone's guess...could be four more weeks, six, ten...who knows?  I guess that this is the seismic life...I am not all that upset about it except that I have a training class in mid-September, and I do have a family back home that I want to see and spend time with as well.  With the two-week training class my next break is looking to be short again...accruing all of these "plus" days isn't worthwhile if I never get to spend any of them.

Well, I guess I need to stop bitching about it anyway...I love my job, for all of my complaining.  I am excited to be here in a weird way...the work and life is very challenging but quite interesting as well.  I do sincerely hope that the schedule normalizes a bit so that I can get one more actual vacation in before the end of the year...Napa Valley is looking a bit like the promised land.  I haven't been there in forever, and I wasn't in the financial state to really enjoy it the last time, so I am excited to do it all again as an adult with some means behind me.  Like so many plans hatched in Iraq though it won't happen if I don't make it happen.  As soon as I can find some guaranteed off days in the States, which include enough buffer to really spend some quality time with the kids, I will put it on the books with reservations and financial commitments to ensure that this trip, at least, actually takes place.

That's about all that I have for today...have a great weekend, world!

Fire Alarms and Vacations to Come!

Sometimes karma is a bitch...I made a big laugh out of my students in Abu Dhabi getting woken up by a fire alarm early in the morning during their course, and then today we had a general alarm go off just a few hours after I had fallen asleep.  While not my first general alarm it definitely wrecked my sleep.  I couldn't fall back asleep for hours, so I am now very tired.  I guess that I deserve it...I should have been kinder when the students were relating the weariness that their alarm brought to them.  C'est la vie...perhaps I will learn to feel more compassion and not make a big joke out of people's misfortune.

What else to talk about? We continue to have trouble with the locals and there seems to be no end in sight.  You make a deal with one tribe and then all of the others want a piece too, so it is a game of constantly putting out fires.  It is quite frustrating and sometimes a little scary - there is still a lot of animosity here against Westerners and Western companies, particularly amongst the under-educated locals that we have to deal with out here in the field. I am not sure what the answer or way forward is, but it is something to be aware of at least.  I sat next to a native Basran on the plane who currently lives with his family in Australia, and even he says that he no longer feels welcome here in his home.  He has "over-Westernized" as he put it, but he said that he has high hopes for the future of Iraq.

Last night work was simply brutal...16 and a half hours in the shack.  Problems all around that needed fixing, and then everything seemed to continuously delay the daily production.  I ended up not getting to bed until after 5am, sun rising in the sky, so it was very challenging to fall asleep.  Thank you Qatar Airways for providing me with one of those sleep masks...they look stupid but do help a bit.  As standard, the room cleaners came into the room twenty-eight times this morning in complete disregard for the sign on the door which says "Night Shift - please do not disturb between 5am and 3pm" in both English and Arabic.  Whatever.  The Libyans that are also on night shift believe that they do it on purpose...I don't know about all that, passive-aggressive behavior doesn't seem the style in this part of the world, but what do I know.

This is most of the crew in the QC/IFDP shack as they appeared on the last hitch...great group of guys!

On a positive note, I was able to procure a Diet Pepsi in the canteen this afternoon...a diet soda is like gold out here, so I am sitting here looking at it and trying to decide when the right moment to savor the sweet aspartame goodness might be.  Out here the typical beverages are lots of water (which I love) and bad coffee (instant Iraqi mud), so anything different is so very welcome.  Thankfully this is a short hitch, so I will be back in Houston exactly three weeks from today if my current travel plans hold out; I am trying to convince the Party Chief to let me travel a day earlier, it would make it easier for me when I get home as I will be heading off for a vacation on the 5th.

Have I mentioned my vacation?  Every year for the past couple my family has rented a house somewhere and met up for a weekend of companionship and wine...it is a most wonderful tradition that we have started. This year we have rented a beautiful lodge in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia...it looks amazing! The wine list this year is also shaping up to be a landmark; all sorts of bottles that I haven't gotten to try before! I am very excited. Also, my dad had wine glasses etched with our family corporation's logo, and they just came in today.  I must say that they look amazing!

The house is called Legends...sounds a bit like a strip club but looks like a slice of heaven

Interior Living room...quaint but liveable

Back deck...cigars and brandy anyone?

Le Vaughn Temp Glasses...lovely

And with those pictures I will bid you all adieu!!

ON BEING HOT AND BOTHERED...

Good day all, welcome to another thrilling update from the oil patch of Iraq...today we are going to discuss climate and entomology.  I hope that you enjoy it...

Let me tell you about summer in Basra, Iraq...it is hot, very hot!  Today it is 51 degrees C (that's 124 degrees Farenheit for those of us from the US).  It is like walking out into a blast furnace everytime you leave a building to venture outside.  It literally steals your breath away like being puched in the ribs by some hot-handed brute.  It actually makes your insides feel hot, and your exhalation seems cool as it blows back onto your skin.  Let me tell you something else about the summer here...it is windy, very windy!  Everyday for the past ten days (I am told) we have experienced 30 to 40 knot winds ALL day.  These winds, called shamals, carry sand and pebbles, so you feel raw if you spend too much time out in them.  If I were a man more vain perhaps I would appreciate the natural exfoliation as it would save me some time at night using masks and creams to rid myself of my layer of dead skin; sadly as I am not THAT guy I just find it annoying as hell.  Just for fun and to give a bit more information on them, here is what Wikipedia has to say:

"A shamal is a northwesterly wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states (including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), often strong during the day, but decreasing at night. This weather effect occurs anywhere from once to several times a year, mostly in summer but sometimes in winter. The resulting wind typically creates large sandstorms that impact Iraq, most sand having been picked up from Jordan and Syria...

According to folklore, the first major shamal occurring around May 25 is known as the Al-Haffar, or driller, since it drills huge depressions in desert sand dunes. The second, arriving in early June, coincides with the dawn star, Thorayya (Pleiades), and is therefore named Barih Thorayya. During this event, which is more violent than the others, fishermen usually remain in port because ancient folklore tells them that this wind devours ships. Near the end of June, the last shamal arrives, known as the Al-Dabaran, or the follower. It is violent and continues for several days. Local residents keep doors and windows firmly shut as this shamal includes an all-penetrating fine dust which gets into everything."

The interesting thing here for me is that the sand which is rubbing me raw and invading my clothes and sleeper trailer comes from as far away as the ergs of the Kingdom of Jordan and the bloody mess that is Syria.  It is almost like travelling to these places without travelling at all...I will bring home the sands of the entire Middle East from the relative comforts of the base here in Basra.

Heavy winds are anathema to shooting a land seismic survey as the geophones register the winds creating huge amounts of noise in the data; seeing as we are here to shoot seismic and not to enjoy the pleasant atmosphere of this place it is frustrating to go on standby every day due to wind noise.

This is what I landed in yesterday, and they result from the shamal winds.  Seriously, it looked just like this.

That brings me to another fun fact about the deserts of Iraq...nothing grows here; there is no green as far as the eyes can see in any direction, just windswept hardpan, rusting tanks and cars and oil drums, and the occasional oilfield structure.  Despite the absolute and austere desolation of the place insects and creepy-crawling things seem to exist in greater abundance and variety here than in almost anywhere else I have ever been.   Beetles and crickets and spiders and centipedes and scorpions and moths and flies and mosquitoes abound here in the land of nowhere.  There are all varieties...beetles are huge, hulking black tanks as well as little petite dung beetles and medium sized metallic flashy beetles.  It strikes me as amusing that the morning brings a landscape in the yard riddled with the dessicated corpses of all these beatles which mirrors the greater landscape where tanks and cars rust out in the sun slowing decomposing to rust. There seems to be all sorts of crickets of varying size and each seems to have something to say throughout the twilight hours.  There are terrifying looking centipedes here, though the largest specimen I have seen was only about three inches long.  I have only seen a single scorpion, but it was black and armored and roughly the size of my palm...a nasty looking thing.  Last night I saw a moth as large as a bat...I don't know what I would have done if it had landed on me, perhaps the camp would have thought that our first female had come to visit.  And the flies, the air is simply thick with them; it is thoroughly disusting.  And that brings me to the spiders...spiders are everywhere and of all shapes and sizes.  Most appear relatively unworrisome, but you come across the occassional one which definitely looks like it means business.  I saw an enormous wolf spider last night (at least I think it was a wolf spider, all hairy and with fangs that you could clearly see).  Lastly, there is my least favorite denizen of all, the camel spider, or more correctly the solifugid or wind scorpion.  These creatures look like ten-legged mutant ninja spiders...they have huge mandibles which are absolutely razor sharp and are said to have the strongest bite per weight of any animal in the world.  They are aggresive too, like they don't know their own size (they can be quite large...I saw one about the size of my fist yesterday), so they have a tendency to charge at you if you startle them.  One charged me a couple of days ago, and I believe that my jump might have medalled me in both the High- and Long-jumps at the Olympics on a bad year.  God, but I do hate nearly all of these things...too many things to bite you, too many things to discover as unwelcome bedmates.

Camel Spiders...the WORST!

Can you dig why they freak me out so much?

Turns out that we also seem to have developed a bit of a snake infestation in camp as well, so that's really great.  I haven't seen one yet myself, but many have encountered them sitting under stairs or sunning in the yard.  Luckily I have little real fear of snakes, though obviously I respect their ability to hurt you.

Looks cute right, snuggled into this guy's boot...sadly, very venomous.

So, those are my thoughts on Iraq for today...it is still early yet, so perhaps a new adventure or challenge will arise before the day is done to populate a posting for tomorrow.  I sure hope so...life out here can get a bit dull if you don't look for things to keep you occupied and interested.

Back in Iraq

Well, I find myself back in the field camp in Southern Iraq...I have been negligent of late in posting, so I will make a real attempt to be better during this hitch. I guess I should get everyone caught up with what I have been up too the last few months so that we may begin again with a clean slate.

I had a full, very busy hitch in March/April, and then returned home for a short 11 days. It was wonderful to visit with my loved ones there, but there is never any rest for the weary, so I was quickly headed back to the Middle East to attend a training course for an upcoming work posting and then to teach a Start School course for a couple of weeks in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

I don't know if you have ever been to Abu Dhabi, but I find that it is an interesting place.  Much like Dubai it is very international in character with just enough tradition to seem authentic.  It is quite a sight to walk through the malls and see women fully covered and men in their thobes discussing international business over cups of coffee at Starbucks.  The Versace store sitting next to the store selling Yas Arabic perfumes and colognes.  Needless to say, I find that I like the place.  As a Westerner I can enjoy a certain secularity at any of the international hotels...it actually almost enhances the experience of leisure when there are restrictions to it - you find that the more a thing is nearing the point of taboo the more thrilling and powerful the experience becomes.

I did a lot more this time that I was in Abu Dhabi than I did the last time...I took a desert safari and went "dune bashing" which was tremendous fun.  I rode a camel and watched a belly dancer while enjoying meats cooked over open coals in a "traditional" Beduin camp.  We went sand boarding down the dunes surrounding camp (much more difficult than it seems it should be). We smoked shisha by moonlight while drinking 18 year old scotch...not a bad way to pass a night at all.  Finally, after talking and getting to know each other until the wee hours of morning we went to sleep on mattresses under the open sky - it was one of the most refreshing nights of sleep of my life.  I woke up with some of my friends to watch the sun rise over the dunes...the peace in the desert with the cool sand between your toes is magical in the pre-dawn light...you almost feel like the sun is rising just for you.

I spent two weeks acting as a Visiting Instructor at our base for Start School, which I really enjoyed.  The students were keen and capable, and I appreciate seeing the enthusiasm that people bring to the start of their careers.  Teaching is a tough job, but I really like doing it.  It makes you feel very proud when the students do well, but very disappointed when they don't; I definitely felt like I had let them down on those assessments where there seemed to be low scores across the board.  It hurts when you feel like you have failed your students.

Well, other than nearly dying during a rough landing in a sandstorm that is what I have for now from Basra.  I will try to write more over the next three and a half weeks that I will be here on this hitch.  Hopefully something exciting will happen so that I am not just writing a diary of my day.