Going off the reservation

Got the chance today to see some of Onne Village. It is a much different place than what you see from the road, wish I could just take a walk thru it. Yes, it is still a third world country, but you getthe sense of good people working hard to improve their lives.

Back to Nigeria

Well, now that I have been back here for two weeks I guess I should talk about it. Getting on the plane is hard, very hard. I like my work, have made some good friends, and the living conditions are fine. Thing is my family is the most important thing in my life and being separated from them is unpleasant at best. But enough whining.

The trip back and forth is long. Door to door Onne to Seattle was 27 hours, the trip back was 24. But it is easy travel. The food is decent, the drinks are free, and on the long leg from Seattle to Paris there is a selection of entertainment. One note, if you make a connection thru Paris don't plan on picking up a snack in the airport without spending serious change. A package sandwich and two beers cost me $40. Crazy.

Thanks to the contributions from my wonderful inlaws, Bob and company at Kuker-Ranken, and of course my wonderful wife Carol, I was able to bring back a bunch of survey field tools and supplies for the crews. It was a lot of small things, plumb bobs with gammon reels, Write-in-Rain-Notebooks, and such. Thing is it made a huge improvement in the moral of the crews. Their work here is hard. By American standards they are totally unequipped and receive minimal support. It is a situation I hope to improve. Change will not be easy, equipment is hugely expensive and technical support almost non-existent. But hell, good work is often hard.