This morning I awoke at 5.30 a.m which on UK time was 3.30 a.m. but as the sun was shining it felt time to get up. I got my shorts on and went for a small walk around the hotel grounds and it was really lovely. My UK colleague joined me a little later and we partook in breakfast whilst sat by the pool, I must say it was one of the nicest breakfasts I have had, not the food, but the scrambled egg and slice of ham was nice, but the surroundings and with the warmth of the sun it was very nice. It seems most of the guests are the type that want to sit by the pool all day and that meant that no one was up at this time and we had the whole area to ourselves. However all good things come to an end and it was soon 8.00 a.m. and time to get changed into shirt and trouser and jump into the car and head to the office.
The office was a bit of a shock as you can soon get used to health and safety rules on sites that mean everything is ordered and structured. This seemed a little more eastern block and therefore was, let’s say, “in its own style”. I suppose the first thing I noticed was the amount of dogs around the site, I asked the first local guy who was there to see us and spoke English if they were his dogs but it turns out they are strays that wander around the site. They look very thin and approached me as I got out of the car but as you look at them they instantly run away. I was also told not to speak or encourage them in any way, which I will be honest made me feel sorry for them. I said to my UK colleague that it would be nice to sneak some ham from the hotel breakfast but he, being the voice of reason, thought it was not a good idea.
We got another shock today and that was the working times for the locals, they start around 7.00 a.m. and then finish at 3.00 p.m. so we were effectively booted out at 3.00 p.m. and forced to go back and work at the hotel at the side of the pool.
After some work and our 6.00 p.m. cut off time we ventured in to the town of Deva and found a supermarket which we had a walk around to get a few essentials like water etc. Most prices are very cheap. But what was most impressive was the honesty of what they sold. A picture is below
After that we drove along the main street and found a McDonalds, as my colleague wanted some tea we pulled in and fed and watered him whilst I had a coffee. But it was whilst there that I started to formulate my first opinions of the locals and really the first thing you have to say is that, it is very rare that you see anyone smile. For example, sometimes when you make eye contact with someone you automatically smile and the normal response is they smile back but over here they just stare at you. When you watch the locals interact with each other, nobody smiles at anyone else and now that I have noticed that I keep looking and it remains the same.
The other thing that I noticed today were the stray dogs, there are a lot of them around. We were in an small office and to get from the car to the office we noticed three dogs who watched us as we got out of the car and as we walked to the office they approached but as we looked at them they backed off. This was worrying but as the reception is pretty bad for phones in the building I wanted to make an important call and went outside, there were no sign of any dogs but as I stood there five dogs appeared and as one in front of me walked toward me I watched him and he backed off but another approached from behind. I then decided to sit in the car to make the call and there were quite a few of them sniffing around the building. I did wait for a clear path before getting back into the building. One of the local guys told us a story of a guy who had visited and he had been bitten so it really is a warning to be cautious. I took a picture of a couple of dogs as one peered from around the corner and the other was resting. I will be honest and say that I will be more wary tomorrow as we go back to work.
Around the hotel there seem to be more stray cats then dogs but I have seen what I think is a stray Alsatian cross which was lurking around just outside the hotel grounds. As I write this whilst sat on the patio at the hotel I can hear some dogs barking in the distance but I don’t know if their stray or belong to someone.
The night is drawing in as it is almost 9.00 p.m. and I it is time for my tea of noodles and tuna so i will bid you all
Night All
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