Ciudad del Carmen

So I have been here in Carmen now for 2 weeks . . . time has already gone so fast. Flying into the city was really interesting because the city is an island so you flew in from the gulf. Then when I stepped out of the plane I knew I was going to like this place because the weather was awesome . . . not too hot but not too cold (around 75 degrees)!! The first 2 days at work I just got all my accounts changed over to Carmen and other little administrative things. The funny thing was that everybody here could not believe how tall I was. There was one supervisor that would ask me everyday if it was cold up there (Es frio arriba?)!! Then he would bring on of the short operators over and ask me to stand up next to them . . . everyone got a big hoot out of it!

By the third day though I was thrown into operations, I was in charge of 3 units. Man I did not know what I was doing and was so stressed out the first day . . . making sure that all the paperwork was up to date and talking to the units to see what they are doing. I had so much trouble talking to the units because usually it is over a radio and since they did not know me they could not understand me at all!!

After those 2 days I had 5 days worth of classes for certifications that I need to go offshore. The first 2 days were an offshore survival course. You learned a variety of different things including how to get on and off the personnel basket from the boat to the rig and all the different safety procedures and warning signs/lights of the platform. You also learned how to survive in the water/raft if something did go wrong. We got to practice some of these techniques in a pool. The picture below shows the group of us after we finished the course. It was really weird having to swim with clothes on and this huge life vest. There is also a picture of one of the life rafts . . . it is so big (could fit 20+ people) and we had to be able to flip it over if it capsized.

Next was the helicopter survival course. The classroom stuff was crazy because they are not afraid to show you all the bad things that could go wrong . . . there was some pretty graphic stuff!! After the classroom work we went back to the pool. It was the same people again but minus the other girl. We were placed in a cage that is supposed to represent the helicopter cabin. You were then flipped over and had to wait 10 seconds to simulate the blades stop rotating and then had to unbuckle our seat belt and open the window to get out. Below is a picture of us about to be flipped . . . this was the first time so you can see that we were a little bit nervous . . . it just isn't normal!! And below that is an actual video of what we did . . . we had to do this 4 times leaving different windows or out the same one as the other person.

The last day dealt with H2S gas safety. We learned basic CPR and first aid and then, of course, how to put on all the breathing gear if H2S is present on the platform. It was a couple of long days crawling around a dark container saving people by dragging them out . . . let's just say that I have not done much physical activity lately so I am soooooo sore!!
With all the training done now, I just have to be placed in the Pemex contract and then I will finally get the experience of going offshore! From the sound of things here I will be going to the platform a lot initially and have to learn about a lot of different specialized tools which I would be in charge of when I go offshore. Interested in how things are going to play out here!!

Thanksgiving in the US

So I have not written in a long time because I final got some well deserved vacation. Praise the Lord that everything worked out so I had to use all my vacation days before I got transferred to Carmen. I ended up having 25 total days off!! I flew out of Mexico City where I renewed my mexican visa. I spent a couple extra days there just to see the city since I have only flown into the city so far and never walked around it. It is a huge city and only got to see a couple of things. I found a market though that sells handicrafts that are made all over Mexico and got some awesome Christmas presents for my family. Below is Otomi fabric that is hand stitched and absolutely gorgeous. I bought a couple different colors.


The best part of having all that time off was that I got to have Thanksgiving this year . . . my favorite holiday. This ended up being my first holiday since 4 of July 2009. It was sooooo nice just getting to hang out with my family and chilling. The first weekend I went to a NC State football game that I miss going to sooo much. Then I went to the mountains in VA for a couple days to see people and just be in the mountains. Then spent a week in Wilmington with my family to hangout, play golf, and of course eat (I probably gained 10 pounds while I was home!). Lastly, I just hung out at home, slept a lot and got to see some of my favorite people in the world.


The pictures below are just of fun times with the family!! You can tell by the pictures that my sister is pregnant which was so fun seeing her with a belly. During that time they also found out what they are having . . . I am so excited that I will have a nephew soon!! I have already started buying little things for the little man!