Hurry up and wait...

It was a concept that I thought I had left behind me as I drove away from Fort Bragg, NC. Getting up before the sun comes up so that you can spend most of the mourning waiting. Hurry up and wait, they say. It seems to be that I have found another opportunity to live in such a way.

I woke up at around 5:30 am this morning, roosters were calling out, telling me that it was entirely too early to be getting up. A cool rain drizzled down on to the quite streets of Salamanca. I found my place at the corner where the bus stops and boarded it a few minutes later. Then came time for a quick nap. It isn´t good sleep or anything, speed bumps, cramped spaces make it difficult at best to catch some Zzzzs. It was a long weekend so Tuesday was the first day of the work week and many people were still arriving to the mine from all over Chile.

The mine, especially in the valley near the copper plant, has a very particular odor. I sensed itimmediatelyy after getting onto the bus. It reminds me of industrial cleaner and food for the masses. It makes my stomach turn in place.

I arrived at the mine, had to get off the bus run to the gate office to get my ID checked, security guards use hand scanners to check every person who enters or leaves the mine, my ID is suppose to work, but it always has problems. Finally we arrived to the cafeteria, I ate quickly and went to find a ride up to the Hotel Mina, some 1,200 meters higher on the way to the mineitselff, however no one was home in the Human Resources building. That was shortly before 8 am.

It is about 10 now and I wait in a cold room typing on a slow computer, thinking about that warm, comfortable bed that I rushed away from several hours ago...