I worked at a diamond mine in Angola, Africa once. It was scary, but everything went OK and I got home safely. They want me back again, but I’m hesitant because it’s third world and just a job. I’m 24 and engaged.
It was pretty fucking scary. When I landed at the International airport nobody showed up to pick me up for an hour, and then nobody spoke english so I never knew what was going on. When my escort finally did show he didn’t speak english so it was just hours of sit here, wait here. Follow me. I got shuffled to what I later found out was the national airport, wait a few hours, then I had to walk out onto the tarmac, following everyone else’s lead, throw my bags into the belly of an old second-hand jet, and walk past ~12 600 gallon fuel tanks on my way to what seating was left. Then landed on a dirt runway in the middle of the African forest at a diamond mine, where I stayed for 5 days. The accomidations at the mine were actually pretty good and I ended up making some friends. (At one point I got drunk at a BBQ with a bunch of Brazillian workers. If something had gone wrong and I needed medical attention I would have been in rough shape.
They want me back, they need me to help with their oxygen generators at the mine again. Everything went fine the first time, but it was scary. This is just a job for me. I’m 24, engaged, and have a lot to look forward to so there’s no need to take unnecessary risks. Everything would probably go fine and I’m just being a pussy, but still it involves going to a third world country full of corruption for what?
You see, I’m kind of torn. On one hand it’s scary and probably not the greatest idea.
But on the other hand, I was well taken care of the first time and I’m sure I would be again, plus I kind of enjoy the travel and adventure:
So basically I can’t decide if I’m downplaying how bad of an idea it is because I want to go and/or don’t want to be a pussy or if I’m exaggerating how dangerous it is. :gotme:
Here are some pictures I took when I was there. The buildings that look bombed out are the capital city across from the airport. (Angola was in Civil war from 1975 until 2002.)
It was “scary” basically because hardly anybody spoke english, I was alone, I would have had basically no way to fend for myself if, say, my pickup hadn’t shown up, etc. It’s amazing how much we take for granted the reassurance of having good medical facilities a phone call away. Nothing really was dangerous, it’s just that if something had gone wrong like I got sick/hurt or lost I would have been fucked. It’s not like you can trust government officials like police officers like you can here, or call information, or have a cab take you to a hotel. I mean if something like that had happened, I’m sure I would find a way to survive and get home if all else fails but there’s a lot of risk, especially if I were to find myself alone in a busy third world city at night where nobody speaks english. I mean, the chances are slim, but why put myself in a place where that is even a possibility when I am where I am in my life.
Hell, I’ve been thinking about finishing some stuff up at this job to get some good resume fuel and then trying to get my foot in the door at Praxair this fall anyways.
Hmm, I believe I have come to the conclusion that it makes no sense for me to go…
The last time I went, the only engineers here were myself and the president. We had nobody in charge of service. Now, I am developing a system that is totally new to OGSI, I am supervising 2 engineering interns, and overseeing the construction of over a million dollars worth of systems for a single customer. We also have moved our former purchaser to the position of service manager, and she has done some small-scale travel already to service our systems. Also, due to the fact that nobody else with the ability to perform the work has any skin in the game, the president is going to a startup in Nigeria soon.
So both the Service Manager going while I stay here adding value or the president stopping in Angola while he’s already in Africa make more sense than sending me away for 7-10 days when I have so much going on here.