Hadeed Life (rewind)

From the Site Office to the Head Office

5:30 am. We are in the bus driving from Mussafah back to the city. I love the dusty earthen smell around us and the soft beating sound of the rain outside, I can feel the cool raindrops against my face and arms. They used to say it never rains in Abu Dhabi, FALSE. It’s now raining 3 days in a row. Yesterday our office caravan was flooded. The GI roof is leaking, there is still a stream flowing from the middle of the ceiling, and there is a small river flowing under my desk.

All my 10 colleagues in the bus are fast asleep, enjoying the steady rocking of the bus-ride courtesy of our superb driver-Akbar.

This might be my last working day in the site, tomorrow I will be shifted back to the Head office.  a very sad day. I will miss many things.

rommel, genalyn. karen and yours truly

• …will miss most of all, our project, watching it finish and go up like a big Lego puzzle, its pieces slowly falling in place.
• …going to miss the dusty wind that sticks in my hair making it resemble binding wires jumbled together.
• …will miss the sound of the excavators, shovels, and dumpers steadily running around the caravans, the trembling of the ground when a bulldozer passes by.
• …will miss the shouts and yells of our foremen and engineers out of exhaustion and our loud laughter sometimes mixed with madness due to daily troubles at site.
• …will miss lunchtimes with our colleagues coupled with stories of all sorts while sharing each other’s packed lunch.
• …will miss the morning and evening one-hour drive in our bus to and from work like a tour trip of Abu Dhabi.
• …will miss the freedom of expression available only at site, when upset, I can just shout my head out to release the tension and nobody will mind.
• …will miss especially Samsam (Rommel’s adapted orphan dog), as he eagerly runs and jumps to greet you (hoping to receive a piece of food).

Samsam (his name taken from our favorite manager's name hehe)

But actually there are also advantages of working at the headoffice:-

• You can sleep late and wake up late till 8am, no wake up alarms
• You can reach your room clean and free from sandy hair and dusty clothes and shoes.
• There will be no deduction of transportation allowance.
• The AC and electricity don’t have breakdowns.
• The head office is very silent- no shouts from foremen and site engineers early in the morning.
• All food types are available for selection at lunch time outside in the city

Conclusion:

Despite all the above, I will still absolutely and definitely choose the site office than the head office.

Au Revoir!