So I took a job overseas working for Simmons Drilling as a derrick hand in Albania. I came over on super short notice. The flights over were extremely long and the lay overs were even more boring. I cant wait for a few more trips when I will have enough airoplan miles to go into the sweet Air Canada lounges!
I arrived in Albania around midnight local time. No surprise but Air Canada lost one of my bags in London. So the trip was starting out wicked. After sorting out my baggage issue I was greeted at the airport by my driver Gezim, who could be described as a Joseph Stalin look alike, from what I remember anyways lol.
We started the 2 hour drive from Tirana to Feir, where the villa is located and the field is only a short drive away. The roads here are the shits. Sask. has better roads than Albania. Im not saying its cool in Sask buy any means though lol.
I was on night shift so I went to the rig to see it for the first time and meet the people I would be working with. There are 6 Canadians on the rig. A consultant, directional driller, mwd hand, night or day push, driller and a derrick hand. There are also at least 6-10 Albanians on the rig, some are new guys that are being trained to work on the new rig. Which I will be going to once it gets shipped over from China.
Things Ive noticed about Albania so far.
-Nobody knows how to drive
-There are hardly any street signs
-You can tell that Communism once ruled here...
-There are gypsy's everywhere!!
-Pedestrians dont have the right of way... EVER..
-The language is a mash up of Turkish, Italian and Greek, maybe even some Russian in there who knows.
-Farming is still done the super old school way, with a sythe thing.
-In some aspects of towns and such they are very far behind North America and most of Europe.
-The environment isnt cared about here, there are leaky old wells everywhere.
-There are still hundreds of old steel derricks standing, (some with pump jacks still producing oil) everywhere in the field, left over from when the Soviet Union was in power.
One day just before my shift was over I went to check out the old derricks that are right beside our location, they are something else. The pump jacks go super slow. Some pipelines are just laying on the ground beside the road...
There is a old, and I mean OLD "service rig" on the old well beside ours. Its an old cat with a big winch mounted on the back and they carry the drill line up the derrick and string the blocks that way... Everything is covered in oil and looks to be about 60 years old.
That is all I can think of for now. I will try and update every week about my Experiences in Albania and the traveling I do on my month off!!
Justin
