Big News!!

So I found out the night before going back to Reynosa that I am being moved to another location. The location, drum roll please is . . . Poza Rica, Mexico. It is a city on the gulf side in southern Mexico. It is part of the state of Veracruz. I am working my way down to Cancun!!

From my take on Poza Rica, it is an older city compared to Reynosa and has a little more culture and history, which I am excited about. It is a pretty big city (not quite as many people as Reynosa but still bigger than High Point). Below are the El Tajín Mayan temples outside the city. Now I have something to explore during my few days off!!

This will not be a permanent move but just until I "breakout". "Breakout" is a training step in SLB where you have to show that you are capable of designing and supervising a job. It is going to be pretty rough for me because I need to know perfect, or close to it, Spanish!! Once I breakout I will be sent back to Reynosa to be an Engineer in Charge . . . that is when I will go from being a trainee to a real field engineer!! So most likely I will be in Poza Rica till the end of the year.

I had 2 days in Reynosa before I was supposed to go to Poza Rica but I persuaded my manager to send me home to NC for 2 weeks!! I am soooooooooo excited . . . its been a little over 6 months since I left High Point!! I am glad I got to go to Reynosa first because I got to see some of my friends and talk with my manager about school and stuff. Plus I could bring all my stuff home to repack because I have realized I brought a lot of stuff that I did not need at all and wished I had other things!

Man, does my manager have some big expectations for me!! He said that I am a brilliant engineer and expects that I breakout soon and learn more than just what is expected of you to pass. He wants me to be a big boss (what he is) in less than 4 years! No pressure right!!

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

I made it!!

So I made it finally to the last week of training. The main part is over and now just a week of well control certification left. I ended up "graduating" top 3 in my class so I hope my manager will approve!! Now that it is over my body has told me to just chill out for a little while . . . it has been a long and tiring, mentally and physically, time but I did it!! We had our graduation dinner Thursday night were we got our "diplomas". It was just a fun time together with a lot of laughing.

Below is a picture of me, Carolina, my instructor, and Ryan, the one who ended up top of the class. We definitely pushed and helped each other throughout this training!

Rafa and Henrik messing around with Ryan's top of class statue!

The 2 other CT girls Daiana and Susanne.

The crazy Canadians Hassan and the other Ryan.

And finally John, Paolo and Cesar, another instructor that helped us.

You can just see the relief and happiness of in everyone's faces!! We all wanted to finish together and we did it!!

Because I needed some me time and sleep, I decided not to go to Las Vegas with most of the rest of the class for the weekend. And now I am sooooo thankful I did not go. I had so much fun hanging out with the 2 Canadians and 1 other classmate this weekend. This Friday we went go-karting which was a lot of fun. These were not the slow little go-karts, they are the ones that can go 50 mph!! At first I was so timid to go fast. One because I have not driven in 6 months, and two I felt like I was going to roll the karts even though I knew that was not going to happen! By the last 10 minute run however I was getting really good! I was one of the fastest people on the track! Below are just some photos of the day!! The last one is of the gang that did not go to Vegas and Raul, a supervisor that helped us out. Afterwards we went to Iron Man 2 with Carolina and had fun joking around with her. It was a great day!

This final picture shows just how much fun I had with these people. They made this process soooo much better. I thank God for one allowing me to make it to this specific school and two meeting these people. It is going to be hard going back to the real world because it was so nice having other people in the exact some boat. It is looking like they are sending me to Villahermosa in southern Mexico for a little bit which will be good. An added bonus is that Rafa works there so I know at least one person! I will let everyone know when I find out exactly what is going on!! Please keep praying that wherever I go I will find community!

Where the Wild Things Are

I cannot believe that I only have 3 more weeks here in Tulsa. Time has flown by!! The next 2 weeks are going to be pretty tough but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! Its taken a long time but I see it now! I have one final job to run and exam this week, and then the final exam and project the next. It is doable but I know it is going to take a long time and a couple sleepless nights!

I have learned so much so far. The ins and outs of pumping, running the CT unit, downhole tools, downhole hydraulics, mechanical hydraulic systems, electric systems, just to name a few! I never ever would have thought I would be learning and doing the things I have been doing. It is so hard to explain what I am really doing. Sometimes I would like to just have everyone in my brain when I do things so you would understand. When people ask what do I do, I do not know where to start so I end up just saying that I work for an oil services company that goes to wells and performs services to make the well more efficient but that does not give it any justice!

Below is just some pictures of the group learning how to operate the liquid nitrogen pumping unit. Pretty much we just sat around waiting for ice to form on the pipes!! The guys had a lot of fun wearing the aprons too!! Just another piece of protective clothing you need on the job!

This weekend we final got off a Saturday which was soooooooo nice!! To celebrate we went out to dinner Friday night to a restaurant near our apartments that was supposedly famous. It was good but it was one of the most bizarre experiences I have ever had. You walk in and it looked pretty fancy but then you get at the tables and the menus were just fliers and we had some random person seat us (he was the only one not in a shirt and tie). Then they just started putting random food on the table. Come to find out it was a steakhouse with middle eastern influence. So we had a cabbage roll and taboli, and then pork ribs and a big juicy steak. Its another experience that I cannot give it justice when trying to explain it! A little look into the craziness is the picture below of Ryan and Daiana . . . they ordered a porron of wine and the waiter brought out this plastic measuring pitcher of wine. All I got to say is bizarre!

The next day a group of us decided to go to the Tulsa Zoo. Supposedly, this zoo was named the best zoo of the US at one point from customer reviews but not sure if that really is the case!! It was a lot of fun and such a beautiful day. It was nice just to be outside and doing something different for once!! We saw lions and tigers and bears, oh my!! I have to say that the chimps, penguins, and giraffes were my favorite. I could have sat for hours watching the 2 baby chimps swinging all over the place and the old woman playing with her food and grossing out the crowd! I definitely saw God's beauty all day long!

Below is me, Suzanne, Paolo, and Daiana!! Of course they made me be the giraffe!! It was a lot of fun with these guys. At one point Paolo told everyone that we were only allowed to speak in our native language. It was complete craziness!! Paolo was speaking Italian while Suz spoke Norwegian and Daiana spoke Portuguese!! I was the boring one who spoke English. I told them it was not fair because they understood what I was saying while I couldn't understand them!! The other picture is just of the CT girls with the elephants!

Hopefully by the next post I will know if I am still going to be in Reynosa or if they are going to transfer me to another city or country!!