Africa: Day 11 (Early AM)

This journal entry will take a brief hiatus from the virtual tour aspect of my recent blogs, to update you all on what's going on now. I write to you right now from Benghazi, Libya; very near the easternmost border of the country.

Benghazi at 1 AM, Looking out from my hotel balcony.

The picture above was taken about 15 minutes ago from my balcony, overlooking a man-made lake that's fed from the Med to the north.

The decision to come to Benghazi was probably a good one with respect to customer relations, but the effectiveness of coming early remains to be seen at this point. Considering the client had already purchased the tickets and made the reservations, I felt obliged to at least attempt to get the job done in this rush-state, whlie still preserving my time line to get tasks accomplished. To assist matter, my equal for the client company is also here with me. Having him here will make my trip vastly more successful than the trip that my last team took to a remote location. I mean no slight to my men at all, for they did great work in a bad situation, but having the client's head Project Manager arrive with you ensures that all the small details that plagued the last trip most likely won't cause us problems. (Of course, the threatening I did earlier in the day probably helped matters along a little.)

As of this date, I can't tell you when I'll be returning to Tripoli. I'm sure it will be less than a week, but I'm expecting that I'll be here until at least Monday unless I get really surprised and the client has the site prepared for my arrival.

The 5 Star Hotel Across The Bay

oming in to Benghazi for the first time was an experience. The airport was unremarkable for the most part; which goes to say that I've become quite accustomed to the proper habits of international travelers and don't have to rely on the signs that I can't read, or the customer service people whom I can't speak to. Having no language capacity means that you start to pay attention to the general details and helps you quickly conform to the proper habits that will generate you the least amount of attention. That being said, I was searched by a security guard tonight, patted down by another, asked by the Pilot and another guard where my guns were, and asked by a stewardess where I was going on Safari. Apparently, the distinction that westert american culture makes between a Fedora and a Stetson Cowboy hat are lost on these people. The safari reference was quit proper I suppose, given that I was wearing cargo pants, a fedora, and my travel vest filled with pockets of various shapes and sizes which I never leave home without.

My first analysis is to say that it's built much like the surrounding areas of Raleigh, North Carolina; at least this is the only comparison I can make that you could use for reference. The streets are lighted with poles between the lanes and businesses are set off the road in a systemic pattern, spaced fairly far apart, and complete with parking lots in most cases. In Tripoli, a parking lot is non-existent and the businesses are usually scattered in front of, behind, and on top of each other in a completely hodge podge fashion. You can see from the photo above that this has much more "flash" to offer than Tripoli.

Room 503 in Hotel Uzu

When I first arrived, the first sense that was assaulted was my sense of smell. The salt content is sufficiently higher here that I can almost feel a sense of nostalgia for home. The naturally occurring salt in the water and air here is different that in the US, but the general sensation is the same to one who was born on the water. I can smell ocean breezes within one hundred miles of the coast and that sense was strong here. What also was inebriating, however, was the general scent of... not decay... but maybe a pungence of general unwashed metropolitan society. As with most places, the public works department is not a high priority and the scent of refuse and dying things are always slightly prevalent in the air. After being here for one or two days, I'm sure I'll cease to notice, but for now it's ... umm... an awakening experience.

Left to Right: Nizar, Tim, Murad

Tim and I had steak for dinner tonight here in the room and spent some time with Murad and Nizar before splitting up for our independent projects. My personal project is going to be unpacking my suitcase, setting up my iPod alarm clock, and writing to all of you.. not necessarily in that order.

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In the interest of being able to work tomorrow without falling asleep inside the rack, I'm going to cut this short (really? short? Wow.) and call it a night. I'd like to take a moment to thank all of you who read this; it means a lot to me that folks back home care enough about my life and what's going on in it to take time to see what I post and to leave comments. Please feel free to write, ANY of you... I'd love to hear from you all.

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Bannag: I know you're lurking out there in cyberspace somewhere... it's been awhile since I heard from you and I miss our talks.. email me.. you know where I am. I know you're busy with school and work, so I won't push you, but any time you get to drop me a line would be cool.

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Fridget and Culligan: (The Ultimate Icewater Team!): Wasn't one of you supposed to be sending pictures? You both have accounts, and you both should know how to upload pictures by now... you're sitting in my house surrounded by thousands of dollars of the most high tech gear known to man... push some buttons until it does what you want. You know what, forget I said that. I'll come home to find my computer smoking and my screens as fish tanks. Just send us some pics and tell us what's been going on. I was getting used to those emails that kept me abreast of daily life... now you've slacked off. PS: Are the cats ok? And did you water the plants?

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April: All my expenses are paid for here, including phone calls from the hotel, so I'll try to call you tomorrow. I didn't want to try too late tonight, considering that I didn't get in the room until after midnight. Also, please email our boss and ask about permission to acquire that microwave and dryer we've been promised. I'd like to get the apartment finalized this week if possible. Tell Tom to stay out of trouble and don't burn the place down. See you when I get back.

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All the rest: Well, I'l try to post as often as I can. As it is now, I have about 10 entries that I'm waiting to upload when I get to internet, so I'm sure that will keep you guys busy for at least 30 seconds or so. I should have email during the days while I'm here, but I'll be working most of the time with the gear instead of sitting behind my computer where I can chat, so email me instead of sending instant messages.

Talk to you all soon... Ma Salem!