A Photo-tour

Well, I’ve been neglecting this blog long enough.  Sorry about the delay in services!

I’m going to try a new strategy - shorter posts.  Maybe that way I can post more regular-like.

I am fortunate that I get to walk to and from work every day.  I have two options to choose from.  One is longer, but prettier than the other.  I figure you might be interested in seeing what I look at on a daily basis.  Many of these photos I had to take on the sly.  They don’t like people taking pictures of things inside the fence.

This is one of the 36 or so security gates (I’m not kidding) located around campus.  This shot was taken not long after a pretty good rainstorm.  But look at the sky - no clouds.  Yes, we get rain sometimes.  But it clears up pretty fast.

This is the building where I work.  It’s one of the newest buildings on the campus.  It’s a pretty nice facility that was sort of shoddily constructed.  Just sayin’…

They have done a nice job of making things look nice - at least, nicer than the desert.  They truck people in here from other, poorer, countries, such as the Philippines.   Unfortunately, the locals have a definite pecking order in the respect they show to foreigners.  Being an American, I’m sort of at the top of the food chain.  But I’m told that it is a completely different world for the poor workers who come here and make the grounds look like this.

There are at least two, maybe three, mosques on or next to camp.  This one happens to be the closest to my building.

The building in the back is the commissary.  It’s like a small grocery store.  

This fountain sits across the street from where I live.  At night they illuminate the hole in the middle with various colors of neon light.  Go figure!

I walk down this road whenever I want to go anywhere that isn’t work.  

The theatre here shows two movies a day, 5 days a week, and they are usually about 4 months behind when those movies would be playing in the states.  For instance, they are currently showing the recent iteration of The Great Gatsby.

  

This is my home…  Not the whole thing, silly!  It’s the building I live in.  It’s named after the guy who first discovered oil here - Max Steineke.  It’s a lot like a very modest hotel.

And this is a picture of me, taking a picture of my room to which I retreat when I’m done slaying dragons for the day.

Well, I’m not sure it was shorter, but at least you can envision a bit of the environment I’m in.  It’s actually pretty nice - much nicer than the harsh desert on the outside of camp.  I am truly blessed to live in, and feel pretty safe in, one of the nicest communities around.

Peace…