Transcription of Document FFDoc-1245.pdf

Waha, Libya 3/7/30 Saturday.

Dear everybody,

It's Saturday night, and quite unlike most of those I spend in the States. I'm about 200 miles into the Libyan desert, and all that's happened since I left Tripoli on Thursday is much too lengthy to put into words. But I can summarize, anyway.

I got up early on Thursday in Tripoli,  and had breakfast with Willy Grimmke, who was flying out to Frankfurt, Germany that morning. I checked out of my hotel and went to the oil company's office where I boarded a bus for Tripoli's airport around 7:45AM. By 8:45 we were aboard a Fokker F27 twin engine jet prop plane and on our way. We flew southeast, and the coastal green soon gave way to a desert brown. The terrain was monotonously flat, in general, except for an occasional sharp rise (escarpment) to a plateau, or for an occasional range of small hills which provided terrain relief. On close survey, it was evident that considerable rain occasionally falls on this parched land, since you could see the natural flow of the water outlined by the dry Wadi or river beds. After about an hour and a half of such observations, we landed at Waha, the central power station on the pipeline. There we deplaned 2 large baskets of lettuce being shipped into the mess hall, lots of luggage, and about 20-30 Americans, Libyans and Englishmen who work in the oil camp here. Our destination was Gialo, the farthest pump station on the pipeline, so we stayed on the F27 for another ½ hour flight to our terminus. Waha is surrounded by Sahara-style sand dunes, but Gialo is absolutely flat. There is an oasis called Giolo some distance away from the old field camp, and the population there, I understand, is some 3-4000 people. But I was somewhat surprised to see how many trees were growing at the oil camp. Also at the profusion of birds (relatively speaking, that is), since I had not expected to see any such creatures in the desert. It was about 11 AM when we arrived, so we checked in with the camp supervisor and secured a rather nice air-conditioned room - a separate one for each of us, although we were sharing the room with one of the oil field personnel. In my case the "other fellow" never showed up, since he was on "field break" as it is called here. Out in the oil camps everyone works 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, for four weeks an then gets a week off. This "off" time is called the field break and must be spent outside the oil fields - in Tripoli or nearby Malta, or wherever you choose.

By the time we settled our baggage in the room it was lunch time, so we reported to the mess hall. In my estimation the food in the camps is uniformly good, with quite a variety. Everything is "your choice", and if you want just steak, when that's on the menu, you simply ask for that in the cafeteria-style line, and go back as much as you wish if you don't get enough the first time. Things like desserts (many kinds)  rolls, tea, coffee, soft drinks, salads, ice cream, etc. are available at side tables or refrigerator cases in the dining hall, and you just help yourself. Libyans & expatriates (foreigners) all eat together, with some concession to the Libyans in a few dishes such as soups, etc, which are made Libyan-stlye and quite hearty. Lunch lasts from Noon till 2 o'clock (the lunch-time break, that is), and many of the personnel use the extra time to catch forty winks. At this time of the year the nap is not really necessary. But in the summertime, I'm told, the severe heat requires this mid-day rest so everyone can go out and face the torrid sun again for the remaining labors of the day.

After lunch, each day, we have been quite busy, checking the substation and pumphouse equipment, talking to the system operators, discussing system shutdowns with the production supervisors, and so on. I make this comment to remind you that this is not a vacation jaunt, but a job. If I don't dwell on the day's work it's because I want to report the other things I feel you have more interest in.

Monday - We are now out of the desert, and back in Tripoli. I shall be busy these next few days at Oasis's offices, so I don't know when I may be able to finish this letter. Therefore I'll mail this one now and write again about the other days since last Thursday, if I get the chance.

Just now it looks like it will be at least a week from Today (on March 16) before I report back to the office in Schenectady.

Hope all my youngsters are being good.

keep well, all. Regards, & love, Frank (Dad)