shimweasel

I’m living in something called the Al-Waab compound. A compound. With a 24 hour security guard. I’m feeling quite unwarrantedly important: I’m hoping that the next step is a large man with an unobtrusive suit and a discreet earpiece.

It’s actually a very pleasant place to live. Most of the people living here are DAE personnel, so there’s always someone around to hang out with, but there are a few locals around, so we can’t get too disgustingly rowdy. (Tales of the other compounds keep leaking out: paintball fights seem about the tamest rumour so far.)

We also have a gym and a pool. The pool seems to be a constant blood temperature, which is a little disconcerting: apparently the trick is to hide under the diving board to escape direct sunlight. We can’t be more than a few kilometres from the work site, but the roads are under constant construction, and we seem to wind around the backstreets for an extremely long time before we arrive.

Oh, and just for a bit of local colour: I went to the local souk and bought a big fuck-off wok, so I can start cooking again, as well as a wallet that doesn’t tag me as extremely cheap.