Trip prep...

So tomorrow I'm waking up at 215AM to catch a cab to the airport and then to fly to Arequipa.  Once in Arequipa I will be driving about an hr to the mine site of Cerro Verde.  I'll blog about that tomorrow.  Today's blog is about: the trip preparations.  I know it sounds mundane.  Lets go over the particulars:

Who: 4 people (including myself, a PM, a structural engineer, and another manager)
When: 3AM cab, 5AM flight, 8AM on site, 8PM home
Where: Arequipa

The staff has been joking that it is harder to break into Fort Knox than it is to go to a mine site.  I thought they were kidding.  They weren't.  There needs to be insurance for us going on the visit.  We have to have permission to visit.  We have to have passports and god knows what other paper.  We have to make a formal request to visit.  We cannot take any photos (they will take them and give them us).  What you ask might they be hiding at this site that is so protected?  Well it's a copper mine likely not much different than the world's largest hole in the ground.  However, we will not see any of that.  We are there to see the method of disposing of the waste or the unwanted by product.  It's a rather simple system.  You take the waste and separate it into sand and water.  The sand creates a dam, which holds a "pond" (ie the water).  The total area of this site is likely bigger than San Francisco.  The pond itself as I recall during the design a few years ago is bigger than San Francisco.  This is a big venture.  So back to the planning.  One person was charged with making the formal requisition, another for getting plane tickets, another for getting safety equipment, and likely another for filling out paperwork and getting us insured.  Now this is my list of safety equipment (mind you I was expecting a safety vest, glasses, and a hardhat to go along with my steel toed boots): orange vest, gloves, dark AND light safety glasses, and a heavy company logo emblazoned ski jacket.  I'm glad they gave me these things so I don't have to worry about getting my jacket dirty so that's good.  The funnier part was after I was given this gear and asked the guy if I can give it back when I'm done and he said no it's yours.  I laughed at him.  You've got to be kidding me.  I have two bags with me and no room for a hardhat.  I live in a 1 bedroom apartment where we are trying to get rid of things that we don't need I can only imagine the reaction that would result when I walk in with all this gear in case we have an emergency need to work on a local construction site.  I will say this though I'm damn happy I'm taking this trip for two reasons: I lugged these enormous steel toed boots on this trip for this visit (so I'm not leaving until I use them) and I get to see something that I designed in physical existence.  So there you have it.  Tonight when you dreaming sweet dreams of whatever (or whomever) you dream about think about me running around looking like a construction worker:).