Moved to a Different Crew

A couple days ago I moved to a different crew in the south of Oman. It's the French side of our recently merged company. I'm here temporarily to learn how to use their software, because eventually our entire company will be using this software.

I'm now in a much prettier part of Oman than I was on the other crew. I'm near the town of Thumrait, close to the city of Salalah, and just north of Yemen. In this part of the country there is actually enough vegetation to raise cows!

I'm the first woman that has been on this crew. I got met at the Salalah airport with a bouquet of flowers! Not what you expect upon arrival to a petroleum exploration crew in the middle of nowhere. I was actually a little scared after that... what were they expecting me to be like? I don't want to be treated too different, I just want to fit in as much as possible. As it turns out, I've had no problems at all. The flowers are just a very nice, and very French, gesture :)

I enjoy the lifestyle here. The work days are less intense. People spend more time eating and chatting. People sit outside! There are also a few more "young and new out of college" type people... like me and that can be nice. I sit outside at night playing with the camp kitten or smoking apple sheesha and practicing Arabic with a group of Arabic guys. Its great!

I imagine the budget compares less favorably to the other crew, but never mind that.

The first night I was here sat outside with my new friend, the scrawny camp kitten. About 50m away a group of Pakistani guys crowded around a little television perched on a lawn chair outside of their tent. Behind them a group of Omani guys were playing soccer. They stay up all night when it's Ramadan.

Dang it I'm too lazy to upload pictures from my camera... I will eventually.