Quarter of a Century!!

I can not believe that I am a quarter of a century already!! To be honest I do not feel any different at all . . . it is just another number now! However, I now can rent cars without any issues. I guess I am truly an adult now!

Looking back on the years I have realized that I have had my birthday in some very strange and interesting places. I probably only had my birthday 10 of my 25 years actually at my house. I have been at the beach, at camp (as a camper and staff), the bayou of Mississippi, Spain, Guatemala, a rig in Mexico, and now United Arab Emirates :) So many people asked if I wished I was home for my birthday, and I told them that it was normal not being there. This is not to say that I did not want to be with my family especially since they were all hanging out at the beach without me!!

The day of my birthday I did not really do much since Sunday is a work day here. The weekend is Friday and Saturday so Sunday is actually what our Monday is. Saturday was the day I ended up celebrating it with everyone and had a blast! Another unusually birthday that I will never forget!

I had a test in the morning that I got a 100 on which started the day off great! After that the Latinos from my class and I went to Ferrari World! It is an indoor amusement park with a Ferrari theme. Another example of how the UAE is all about the high class objects. One of the things that the park is known for is having the fastest roller coaster in the world. And in the end it was worth ever penny to ride that ride!!

The ride was crazy . . . you went from 0 to 240 kph (~150 mph)  in 4.9 seconds. You definitely felt all the Gs and your mouth wiggled uncontrollably! The park even made you wear goggles because part of the ride was outside and sand blowing into your eyes would not be a good thing! After the ride I looked a little tattered which you can see below. My hair was crazy, and I thought my clothes were going to ripe off . . . next time I know just to wear a t-shirt when riding this ride!

After spending a few hours at the park, Gustavo and I left to go out to eat at Belgian Cafe at the Intercontinental hotel in Abu Dhabi where we met up with Souhaibe. Though most of my class did not make it out the 3 of us had a great time eating good food and having good conversations. This is the second time that we went here but I love it and would not hesitate to go back again. The environment is my type of place . . . good food in a not so formal setting!

  

I guess when I went to the bathroom, the guys told the waitresses that it was my birthday so when I got back they brought me out this yummy chocolate tiramisu thing and sang to me!!

 

Here is a picture of our waitress friends that we have made over our last 2 visits!!

And right after the dessert, the rest of the gang showed up to hang out! One because it was my birthday and two because the next day was going to be the start of Ramadan, the Islamic fasting month, which I will talk about in a later post!!

Grand Mosque

So the first weekend free a group of people from my class and another class and I went to the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. It is the largest mosque in UAE and was just recently built about 5 years ago. My pictures do not give justice to the size or beauty it has. I have been learning that UAE is not afraid to flaunt their stuff/wealth!! This mosque is made from all Greek marble with murals of semi-precious stone. The towers have 24-karat gold on top. It also has the world's largest handmade rug that is all 1 piece and can be seen below (about the size of a football field). There is also other world records they have for this place!! We ended up having a tour guide to show us around which was really nice. They are really proud of the mosque and want it to be more than just a religious building but also a cultural center to learn about Islam and the heritage of UAE.

I have never really know much about Islam so I was excited to learn more to have a better understanding of what they believe. There are many similarities to Christianity which I was really surprised about. The tour guide helped us understand many of our questions that we had about it which was really nice. She also helped with the mess conceptions we usually have about the dress. I know that I always thought that everything that they wore was due to rules in the Koren but actually some of the dress is actually not part of Islam but actually is a culture thing. Here in UAE the women wear all black while the men wear all white. You still see a lot of head scarves that are red but that is normally people from Saudi. The women have to cover their heads but do not necessarily have to hide their faces. Only coverage of you head is Islamic law. Many women choose to hide their faces, however, because they feel uncomfortable or do not want anyone to know who they are when they go out in public!! To go inside the mosque I got to experience what it felt like in the all black outfit! All the women have to be in full attire. I never really figured out how to wrap my head to keep the scarf on it especially when the wind blew but in all it was a good experience. I actually felt like I fit in rather than stick out like I always do!!

Below is a picture of all the guys that went with us and of the 3 girls (a couple from my class and a few from another class) . . . of course the guys did not have to wear anything different! They would have though if any of them were wearing shorts. Again, I think it is so awesome of all people I get to meet. In this group there was 4, including myself, from the US, a Mexican, a Colombian, a Venezuelan, a Russian, a Frenchmen, and an Italian. I LOVE this about my job!!

And last but not least we went to a marketplace and shopped a little bit. At one time I heard my friend Paolo talking but could not find him . . . well I couldn't find him because he and Posi were in traditional clothing!! They were absolutely hilarious walking around together!!

Abu Dhabi, UAE!!

So I am finally here!! I can not believe it . . . I knew I always had a possibility of coming here for courses but never thought it would happen! It was a long journey!! It ended taking 2 1/2 days to get here!! I left on Thurs. at around 4 pm to Mexico City and then got on a flight to Frankfurt. I got to Frankfurt around 2 pm on Fri.!! My flight to Abu Dhabi was not till the next day so I got a hotel in downtown Frankfurt and walked around. It was such a beautiful day . . . so refreshing after being in the heat of Carmen for so long!!

I definitely want to go back to Germany sometime soon . . . it is a really interesting place and it is part of my heritage!! Being there now makes me want to learn German, but I doubt that is going to happen!

I ended up getting to Abu Dhabi around 8:30 at night and went straight to the training center. It took about 25 miuntes in the taxis and it was interesting looking out the windows at the landscape even though it was dark. All you could see were these towers with a green light. I would find out later that these were the mosques. Instead of being at home in the Bible-belt, I am now in the Koran-belt!! There are over 2,000 mosques in Abu Dhabi alone!! I will get to more of that in a later post.

The next day I started class and had my big presentation. Things went pretty well, and I was glad to just get it done!! Another thing about that day is I experienced what true heat is . . . I thought I knew what it was like but here it is about 110 degrees everyday and the heat is smothering . . . you step outside and you can't breathe!! Also I learned that it is flat and sandy . . . enough said!! Below are some pictures from outside my base and a picture with Carlos who works with me in Carmen being sad because we were not able to make it to our friend Karina's wedding back in Mexico.


I am excited to share all me experiences here!! Look out for more posts and most likely more frequently since I have a little more time on my hands!! I am excited to see what I learn about this amazing culture and share it with everyone!!

Dream Team

After my course in Tulsa, it has been crazy here at the base. I have been in charge of 4 units, plus have to make time for studying for my 2 entrance exams and finish my paper and presentation for my second school. Thankfully I was guardia for this week so I had to go early and stay late which helped me get more things done and the units have not had as much work either.

In the end I got everything done and passed both exams, so all was good!! It is crazy that I will be going to Abu Dhabi in just a few days now!! It is very surreal, and I am really excited to learn yet another culture!!

Something abnormal of the week was that I got to play basketball a couple times. The first time of the week was just the normal pickup game that a group of people do every week. It happened to start raining in the middle which was fun but I had to be really careful, 1 because I have not played in a long time and 2 the conditions were really slippery!! The 2nd time was that weekend when SLB was asked to make a team for a tournament hosted by our clients. It was serious . . . we had jerseys made and all!! So instead of sitting at my desk all day on Sat. I took a little break and went with 2 other engineers from Coiled Tubing and 4 from Cementing to the Pemex sports complex!! We first played one of the design segments in Pemex who we happen to play a lot with and are good friends. I played really well for being out of shape and not having a good feel!! I ended up having 2 blocks that game and 9 of the first 13 points, which included a 3 pointer!! We won that game and then played in the championship game against another segment of Pemex. They were a lot taller and bigger! If we had not had played just 30 minutes before I think we could have beat them. I had a couple more blocks and scored a couple of points but nothing would fall for me . . . oh well we got a second place trophy!

The absolute crazy thing about the tournament though was that I ended up being the so called MVP of the tournament! I definitely was not the best person but I guess being a girl that blocked quite a few guys and scored helped my case!! Supposedly there was a coach from the women's league there and wanted me to join their team . . . if I only had time I might say yes if they ever asked me to play!!

Tulsa Trip Take 2

One great thing about my location is that there is soooo much opportunity to learn. There are so many more types of operations here and most of the new technology is here as well. Because of this the managers are not afraid of someone leaving for a week and going to a course. Well that's exactly what I got to do last week. I got to go to a CT logging course since all the engineers that do know how to do it don't want to go offshore anymore!! Most likely I will not get to have that many jobs using it, but it is nice to know that I can bring something special to the group when the time is right. Plus it was a really nice break from normal work especially since the week before leaving for Tulsa was absolutely crazy and hard for me!! Also it is just nice to go back to the comfortable, English speaking US once in a while!!

My way to Tulsa ended up being a little adventure (another for my long list of airport adventures)! My plane out of Cd. del Carmen was 20 minutes late which caused us to be 1 hour late getting to Houston. Normally that would have been fine but when you have only a 2 hour layover and have to get through immigration, baggage claim, customs, and security its not so good. When I got off the plane I had already told myself that I was going to miss my flight and started to figure out how I was going to get to Tulsa. Well after getting through immigrations in only 5 minutes I thought maybe I did have a chance of making it if everything aligned! Well everything aligned all right! I went through immigration, baggage claim and customs in less than 10 minutes. Then I thought for sure security would hold me up for at least 20 minutes but when I got there I was the next in line to go (I think this mainly had to do with taking the normal stairs when there was a large church group going up the escalator)! I then got on the tram to another concourse and speed walked to my gate where I made it in time by 10 minutes! Thank you Jesus ;) I do not think that will every happen again, especially in a huge airport like Houston.

When I finally got to Houston I took the apartment shuttle with a group of truck drivers from SLB that just arrived as well to go to a driving school. These guys were good ole boys from all over the US!! Once we arrived to the apartments I went into shock. Compared to the apartments I stayed in the last time this apartment was a palace. There is plush carpets, granite counter-tops, flat screen TVs, a swimming pool, workout center, sand volleyball court, etc (2 pics below). Just after those 15 minutes I realized I wanted to stay longer then a week! After I snapped out of being in shock, I went to dinner with 3 of the guys from the shuttle!! It was the most random group of people. There was of course me the tall, white woman half the age of most of them, the Mexican that has lived in the US pretty much his whole life, and 2 black guys from the swamps of Mississippi!! We ended up eating at a "Mexican" restaurant (I ended up eating there 3 times . . . so much for getting away from Mexican food for a bit)! I had a lot of fun discussing with the Mexican man, Reyes, about how this was not normal food for Mexico and what our favorite food was. Then our very American waiter completely butchered the punctuation of pollo (po-yo not polo) and said it was pork (actually its chicken)! It was only day 1, and I was already having a fun time!


Then the next day class started. It was really interesting, I learned a lot, and meet some really nice people. In all there was 5 people in the class including me. There were 2 Mexicans supervisors that work in Colombia, 1 supervisor from Algeria, and 1 supervisor from Canada . . . I was the only engineer and had 10 years less experience with Coiled Tubing then the other guys! It was great though because they taught me a lot of the practical things, and I helped them with the software and design considerations. Thankfully most of the course though was hands on, which I definitely loved! We learned how to disassemble and make-up a new tool that maybe with some luck I might be able to get here. It is hard to get into to much detail because I do not know where to start!! Pretty much CT logging is when you have a big cable (7 wires with metal sheaths) inside the Coiled tubing. Wireline, another segment, can then place their tools on our string to be able to get the tools in locations of the well where wireline can't run to. I learned all the tools that are involved and how to set up all the surface equipment, how to make wire connections, etc. Below are some pictures to just give you a little taste of what I did.


Unfortunately, I did not get to meet up with the Dyson's who took me under their wing the last time I was town, but I was able to talk with them a short time. I also got to call a lot of other people that I had not talked to in a verrryyy long time. I apology to all my friends and family for being such a horrible communicator and not keeping in touch better. I also got to see my instructors from my last course which was really nice since one is being transferred to Malaysia this week! All in all it was a great trip though waaaayyy to short, but I know in a veerrry short time I will be starting another adventure!

PS . . most likely the next post will be when I am in Abu Dhabi!! What a life I have!!

First Class

So for my last days off I kind of spoiled myself and did more than I usually do. Again I almost talked myself out of going/doing anything because I am a pretty boring person at heart and enjoy just chilling out reading and watching TV/movies plus it is no fun doing things by yourself all the time. Instead I bought my bus ticket to Merida and booked my hotel before I could change my mind. I decided I needed to get out of Carmen and see something different for a couple of days. I have heard many good things about Merida and how pretty and interesting it is.

The first thing that made my adventure first class was buying my bus ticket for the primer bus line of ADO since I would be in the bus for around 5 hours. The seats were like big lazy-boy recliners and had tons of leg room which was soooo nice having long legs and all!

The second very first class thing is since Merida is a colonial city and the downtown has a lot of old buildings and houses, I ended up picking a hotel that used to be an old colonial house. It is called Casa Mexilio. It was the best decision I made because I absolutely loved it! I ended up spending a lot more time there reading and just having some me time especially at night on my rooftop terrace. You will see why from the pictures below though it does not give it justice! To me it was first class but without the cost! So if I were you and you are traveling around Mexico I would try to find a place like this that is interesting and has history because most likely it will cost less or about the same as a hotel chain and you will have better memories. Plus you are helping support a local business! This hotel was owned by an American that happens to be from NC . . . small world right!!

Since the hotel was near the center of town I just walked a couple of blocks and I was at the pretty colonial style churches and buildings. I just walked around and sat at the square and also did a little shopping. I bought a cute little shirt for my nephew made from a plant fiber which this region is known for. Again something very beautiful and relaxing!!

While searching for things to do in and around Merida I ended up emailing a golf course that is just outside of Merida to see if walk-ons could play since it was a private course. The guy I talked to said it would not be a problem at all so I decided to go ahead and go play no matter the price! Well, when I got there I realized that this was the Yucatan Country Club!! It was sooo beautiful and luxurious I did not know what to do with myself. I definitely did not feel like I fit in at all . . . not to say I did not like it!! It was pretty expensive but I do not get to do this stuff much and decided to give myself a little present. Also now i can say that I have golfed in another country! My green fee included golf clubs, cart and caddie . . . having a caddie was another first for me!! He was a really nice guy and I had to practice my Spanish since he did not speak English. It was so nice being outside though it was really hot, and I actually did not play that bad for a person that does not get to play that often!! The first 4 holes I was 2 over par!! Of course the inconsistency came back really quick! I do not know if I would do it again but I now have another adventure I will not forget about!!

As you can see there was lots of water and lots of sand which is not really shown in the picture. I bought a bag of a dozen used balls and had only 3 remaining at the end of the day!! Guess that happens when you are not using your clubs!!

Puedo hablar espanol?!

So after my much needed break at home, I went back to the normal daily grind. I have been in the office most of the time because there are a lot of specialty jobs going on that the more experienced engineers have to go to meaning I was needed in the office! I have been in charge of 3 units which has kept me busy but not overwhelmed for once. One day I was thinking why are things going better/easier than before and I finally realized why . . . maybe my spanish is getting better!!

It is hard to believe that I have been here in Carmen for a little over 6 months already! It just feels like yesterday that I first arrived here in Mexico let alone Carmen. My spanish has come such a looooong way since the first month in Gdl. I still remember struggling in my intensive spanish course and just shaking my head when someone talked to me! I still do that some because there are still people I have a reaaallly hard time understanding and unfortunately one of those people is my boss . . . oh well! But it is nice that I finally can converse for the most part with everyone, and I am not as afraid to talk on the phone and radio, though this still something I dislike to do in spanish or in english!

Besides feeling better about my spanish, I just have been working, doing my big project for school and watching movies with my friends! Sounds pretty normal right?! Also I had dinner with Estef's and Karina's mom/parents when they came into town! Below is a picture of our dinner date and one with me and the roommates. A couple times during that dinner I said I wished my parents could have been there too :(

Also during this last month I was "guardia" for the first time, which means going into work at 6:00 am and leaving at 9:30 pm. It is really tiring because you pretty much wake up, go to work, get home from work, eat a little something, go to bed, and then do the whole process over again. The one good thing about guardia is that you have lunch from 1 to 5 everyday, however, when you do not have a car it is not as simple as it could be!! It is just one more thing pushing me to just go ahead and get something!! After my week of being guardia, John went offshore and let me use his big beautiful black truck for a couple of days! It was sooooo nice leaving the base and home when I wanted and not have to wait for a taxis!! But of course that just added to my hunger for a car when I had to return it back to him just a couple days later!! Also I realized that I did not want a big car b/c 1. it is hard to park in Mexico, 2. eats gas, and 3. just to nice for where I am!! Hopefully, one of my next posts will be about my new car!!