Usual Suspects

When you are living in a country where your native tongue is not the dominant language, you make fast friends with anyone you can communicate with. Such is the case with many of the people who work with Kyle. We routinely have drinks and dinner with the "rotators," men who work in the Caspian for 28 days and then rotate back to their home countries for 28 days. These guys are usually middle-aged, married with children, and working offshore is a great way to make good money.

So, as we regularly do on a Friday, we begin the evening meeting up with Chris, not a rotator. He's a British citizen, having grown up in Rhodesia (now called Zimbawe) with permanent residence and a fiance in South Africa. Not much older than us, he served in the British army before joining the oil field biz. We then spot Graeme, a 50-something rotator, who is from northern England, but has residence, a wife and several rescued dogs in Orlando, Florida.

Our little group grows larger with Rod, a Canadian who lives with his children in Perth, Australia. And then Scott, appropriately enough from Scotland, where his wife and children still live. He also served in the military before working for the company in Dubai and now rotates. Also with us is Eric, born in Canada, raised in The Netherlands, residence and a wife in South Africa. Quite the eclectic bunch. And as I usually think in these situations, you just never know about people. What has happened in their lives up to this point. What they have experienced to bring them to Azerbaijan.

I love questioning these guys about the nuances of their lives. The Australians do not like Halloween, "It's too American," I was told. Or, "My wife refuses to travel with me. She never wants to leave South Africa." Scott's kids in Scotland have to wear bicycle helmets, it's the law. And Graeme's wife in Orlando thinks that she gets too much sun and it's making her skin age prematurely. Chris spends his vacation back in South Africa, going on unofficial safaris in his Land Rover.

It's such a big world, made a little smaller with each story. I soak up every detail.