Dzizasz, dzizasz, ale jestem podjarany...

Witojcie wiaruchna. Oh, it was supposed to be in english. So it is going to be.
First of all thanks for the comments. I am alive and quite well.
But first things first.
The trip:

So I took a 2 am train to Katowice. Received my own private helmet, overall, trousers and boots :) I even have the name of the company on the back. A hell of a miner I am...
Then I was driven in a new Honda Accord to the airport (after all I am the man!!!). There was some sort of a party because they were opening a new connection to Turin. So I had a free glass of champagne, though i don't think I was really entitled to have it. The flight to Frankfurt, then a few hours at the airport. In Frankfurt I must admit I went to McDonalds to have the sandwich with bacon in it. Last one for 3 months at least...
The flight to Teheran was nothing out of the ordinary as well, apart maybe for a gorgeous flight attendant (a she, mind you :p)...Of course there I had my last alcohol for months.
I arrived in Teheran at 1 in the morning. Then we waited for an hour to be let into Iran. Finally made it...I changed one hundrer Euros and got 1,265,000 rials!That is quite a big pile of money. At the exit I was greeted by a man holding a piece of paper saying "Mr. Kukasz Wkodarczyk", a common mistake. Though nothing will beat the time when I was in Turkey and my name "LUKASZ WLODARCZYK" was spelled "TUKAJ UZODARCZYJ" on a I.D. I got. Anyway...
-Salam.
-Salem aleykum.
-I'm mr wlodarczyk
-salam.how your family.
-thank you.good.and yours?
-yes.we go hotel.
-that's good.i need a bath and desperately need a sleep.
-yes.we go hotel.
:)
but trust me.He made Teheran, a big building site, look like the eigth wonder of the world.He was really excited telling me: This,ministry defence,this, ministry economy....
A really nice first impression.A second one to be honest.On the airport I helped an older lady placing her two big bags on a trolley. Then her son (I expect so) came, she told him that, and he almost had hugged me :) Thanking me in all possible ways.Very nice people I thought.
Anyway.Teheran is really big (like Stambul). But a big building site. Maybe it makes a better impression during the day and in the old part of the city.but i did not have the chance to see that.
So I was taken to a guest house. I was told I would pay the next day. The guesthouse occured to belong to the company our company is working for. So the standard was very good. Fresh fruit in the fridge. But all I wanted was a bath and a good sleep. So I woke up at 10. Had some more fruit and a taxi took me to the airport. They still said I would pay later. But eventually I did not pay at all...Two taxis through the city, one night in a hotel-priceless :)...quite a good deal...
Oh.On the way to the hotel the driver would stop playing his favorite music and put on...guess what???"Nothing Else Matters" by METALLICA!!! :) he was really happy with the fact that he could play 'my music'.
The domestic airport.
I was picked up by some from the company. A very nice man (Mr. Lukas, here, newspaper for you, orange juice for you...).
We went through three x-ray check, and two metal detecting gates and there I was, sitting in an old russian Ilusin on my way to Tabas. I even got a free cookie on a two hour flight!!And a soda.Woohoo!!
Then I saw it. The desert. Well not actually a desert with dunes and stuff. Just flat land, with occasional salt lakes. We landed in the middle of it :)
Went out of the plane.boom.a wave of hot air. (Mr.Lukas, nice weather,eyy?it's spring,not hot!!)...
Ok.Another taxi took me to my place of residence for the next 7 months.
It's a gated compound. With small houses (4 or 1 bedroom). But full of flowers and it even has fountains but they are not working ('cause when they were all kinds of lizard and snakes would come near it). But the whole place makes a nice impression.
I was given a single room with a bathroom and a kitchen!!But I was told that later this week I would be moved to a 4 bedroom house.
Anyway, I thought I had been taken to a wrong camp. I did not see any Polish people. But then finally they came.
"Z kaj jestes?" :) i wszystko bylo jasne.
All in all there's 27 of us here. But more are coming. Nice chaps they seem to be. Most of them really experienced miners. MAking a really nice impression.
There are also 3 englishmen,1 scotsman, an austrian and some italians. But the Russians are coming. It's going to be fun :)
Tabas is...well, it just is :) an oasis in the desert. Really I expected more of a shithole. And it really is nice. The mosque, the public park (though I only had the chance to see them from the bus). Quite nice.Tomorrow's a free day, I'll take a tour and maybe post some pictures (though I have to borrow a camera :/).
Work.
Well. I have to get up at 5.jesus,jesus...5.30 - breakfast. and guess what.a big selection of...a pita bread (with stones,yes,stones!! in it :) though occasional and I guess not on put there on purpose), carrott jam and yoghurt. I think this is their national dish :) Yoghurt or rather some kind of kefir, served cold. really cooling but having it three times a day may not be the best idea.
and then at 6 we take a minibus to work. 85km. Pierunsko daleko. but at least one can sleep on the bus. Yesterday we had to wait for 10 minutes for a flock (or however you call a group) of camels did not really want to get off the road :) The mining site is quite big. First, there's an entrance gate. Then the office when we sign our timesheets and then finally the workshop and our offices.
We start work at 7.30. at 13.30 there's an hour long lunch break (guess what makes the starter?yes,yoghurt!!) and we finish at 16.30. we're home around 6pm it can be quite a long day.but no, i am not moaning :)
Work.Well, we lack everything. The translators (there's 5 of us) have a lot of manuals to translate and we only have 3 computers. Bt we are supposed to get 3 laptops (though 'inshallah', so i dont expect them soon).At 7:45 there's a daily meeting summing up the previous day. The parties meet and talk the problems over. and believe me,there are problems. and jesus,jesus, I was an interpreter on the second day of my work. but i guess it was ok. though having to know what a canopy sprag plate, pulley block, chock (mechanized powered roof support) or scraper conveyor is, may be quite hard and it still is. I've got to learn a lot of such expressions.
No, I still haven't been underground. Though I have to wear my beautiful orange helmet at times when I am in the workshop. The reason for not going underground is that I still haven't undergone safety training. I was to have one on Monday but the safety man said "Oh,Mr.Lukas,you are only one. No problem training for three, but only one is too few. Come back when there are more of you") and I will have the training in two weeks time. And then I'll probably enter one of the shaft and become a miner :)
Work is ok. people are quite cool. helpful, the Iranians nice .Anyway. I am really looking forward to the stay in Iran. Tomorrow I hope to see a bit more of Tabas. Nothing more really 'cause the closest city is 400km away :) I am hoping to learn new things and gain new experience and most of all experience a bit of Iran. Really. Can't say anything more about the people and the country. but i guess more reflections will come.
Be in touch soon...Take care...Inshallah...