Onward Rambler

Photo Album: Malta Part 1

2015-08-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

Historic city of Valletta

Yarg! I wanted to do this post months ago but I get distracted. Some reason I never get around to posting what I intend on sharing, so here is my lazy solution. I'm going to be doing a number of photo dumps which include most of my trips taken throughout 2015.

Without further ado, I present to you my favorite island of all time.

Malta is a small island located off the coast of Sicily. I had the pleasure of visiting there in January 2015. The reason I most enjoyed this island is that it is a melting pot of all sorts of cultures creating a rich history and the views were spectacular. I spent 15 days exploring this island in the low tourist season and I hope to get the chance to return in the summer months when the waters are calm and the weather is a bit warmer.

I plan on writing more about specific adventures I had while there but for now I just wanted to give you a small taste of the island.

I had the pleasure of staying in a town called Sliema. From there I joined up with some students where were learning English and explored the island. They showed me places I would have never have found on my own such as this little cat sanctuary that keeps the kitties warm and has a vet attend every day.

Kitty Haven

Using the public bus system we easily self toured the island. On the southeastern end of Malta near Marsaxlokk you can find a large outdoor market and some very colorful boats filling the bay. As well as a plethora of restaurants.

Marsaxlokk Bay

Local Bakery

If you go exploring on the northern end of the island you might find the familiar site of Popeye's Village. There is a public bus that makes its way down a narrow road that goes to this secluded bay. We made the last bus out there and unfortunately didn't have the opportunity to enter into the park but I was able to grab a quick photo before running back to the bus before it left.

Popeye's Village

If you are a history buff this place is for you. There are plenty of artifacts and temple ruins dating to prehistoric times, medieval villages, and plenty of information about knights. This small little island has been a part of many different countries at one time or another and each one has left something behind creating a magnificent and unique little country. I highly recommend reserving your tickets to visit Hypogeum. As well as check out some of the temple ruins and a museum or two.

Sleeping Lady is thought to be a representation of a Goddess.

Azure Window in Gozo, an even smaller neighboring island, was one of the most awe inspiring places I have ever visited. This and the historical sites were by far my favorite parts of my journey to Malta and Gozo.

This location might look familiar if you watch Game of Thrones. This natural arch was featured in one of the episodes. I visited during a season that the water was very rough and impossible to swim in but that did not take away from the beauty and we stayed there an hour just watching the waves crash into the cliffs. During the summer months the water is super calm and you can find boats that will drive under the arch and people swimming and scuba diving.

Azure Window

A view from the top.

Lastly, I would like to introduce to the guy who has me traveling all over the place to see him. This is Alberto. We met when I was working in Venezuela and have been doing the long distance thing for awhile now. One of the hazards of traveling and living abroad is the possibility of a long distance relationship evolving. Our next stop, Spain.

Selfie is a must.

Venezuela 101: Most Common Questions

2015-03-03T06:38:00.002-08:00

Slowly but surely I am getting this thing rolling again. I'm learning how to fancify my site and trying to keep content relevant. I initially wanted to start writing about my travels as a way to bring people important information about the different places. Looking back at my previous posts I realized that I have yet to bring together basic information about these spectacular locations. Today I will start my random fun facts post with Venezuela and in the future bring you similar lists on other places.

Without further ado, I present the most common questions I received while living in this sexy South American country and basking in the Caribbean sun.

Where is Venezuela?
Assuming you know where South America is, Venezuela is the north eastern most country bordered by Guyana, Brazil, Colombia.... Notable neighbors
include Aruba and Trinidad and Tobago.

"LocationVenezuela" by Mandavi - Original by User:Vardion, Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Why is there a weird shaded part on the Map?
This 159,500 km² of land is called Guayana Esequiba or Zona en Reclamación. It is a territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela that was inherited from the colonial days when the border was not clearly defined between the Spanish, Dutch and British.

By TUBS [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

How is it living below the Equator?

Well, I can't really say. Venezuela is fully above the equator, however it is close enough to enjoy consistently warm temperatures year round.

What language is spoken there?

Spanish is the local language of choice. Learn the word Chamo/a (friend/buddy/pal) and you will get a chuckle from the locals and a warm smile.

Is the food spicy like Mexican food?

No, in fact much of the food in Venezuela has very little spice and nor are burritos and tacos common place. The major food staples of Venezuela include meat, products made from corn flour, and natural fruit juices.

What is the capital?

Caracs.

Are there light skin tones there?

Venezuelans are a diverse people with many heritages. For this reason it is not completely uncommon to find all tone of skin colors.

Chavez is president right?
Chavez died in March of 2013. Nicolas Mudro is the current president.

Who is Simon Bolivar?

He is the figure deeply ingrained into several south american countries history. He was a key figure in the liberation of about half of South America. As for Venezuela, Hugo Chavez made sure that his name became integrated into everything. He even went so far as to rename the country in honor of Simon Bolivar.

"Hw-bolivar" by unknown. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

What is the offical name of Venezuela?
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Isn't that waterfall from the movie UP in that country?

Why, yes it is. It is called Angel Falls or Salto De Angel and it is the tallest free falling waterfall in the world is located there. It is pretty awesome and should be on everyone's bucket list.

By Joseph Ascanio (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Are there any questions you have for a foreigner who lived in Venezuela?

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Conquering Expat Fears

2015-02-17T11:58:00.000-08:00

I read something somewhere on the interwebs that spoke to me. I ran across right after I had repatriated and it embodies some of the most difficult parts of living somewhere unknown.

"Start slow, go to a new place. Alone. Go to a city by yourself. Go on a vacation, alone. Throw yourself out there. Your own sink or swim. When you begin to panic and want to go home that is when your fight or flight will kick in. That true inner strength will shine through. You will fight it out and you will thank yourself later." - Rachel Rae

I threw myself out there not knowing what to expect, and I was gobbled up and spit out as new person. I did not know panicking and wanting to go home was part of the deal, but at some point and time you are bound to feel it as a first time expat. I learned more things about myself than I ever knew and I conquered my fears. Every day will have its battle as an expat in a strange and foreign land. Finding new safety bubbles and new comfort zones where achieving small tasks will be monumental achievements. After awhile the panic and the overwhelming desire to go home will subside and you will begin to feel comfortable in your new home.

Moving to Venezuela with only two bags, no Spanish, and no friends or family was the most terrifying experience of my life. It was also the most rewarding.

Colonia Tovar: Little Germany of the Caribbean

2014-08-05T20:03:00.001-07:00

Entrance of Colonia Tovar from Caracas

Not too long ago I checked off the last must see item on my list of things to do in Venezuela. I traveled to the little town of Colonia Tovar. This is a small quite weekend destination located in the mountains near Caracas. The whole area is ripe with with a German flare that came from the founders and survived the centuries due to the remoteness of the town.

Across the street from our Posada. Clay tile roofs, Alpine facade and banana trees.

I went on this adventure with a local friend of mine and decided to take local transport instead of hiring a taxi. How exciting! We started our trip in the capital of Caracas where caught a subway the edge of town to find the bus that would take us up the mountains through the barrios. After briefly asking for directions we were directed a block down the street where 10 buses were lined up going to a variety of places. We asked around to make sure we hopped on the correct bus because there are no signs telling us where they are going. Once the seats were all taken we began our slow journey up the mountains. We often stopped to pick up new passengers or let others off. As we climbed the mountains we could see between the miss matched houses Caracas spread out below.

This was the closest look I had of the barrios and you could see plenty of places where one roof was used for the balcony of another apartment or a roof being used as a parking spaces. The main road was lined with stores that had living spaces above and below. Many foot paths were seen going down the mountains with buildings crowding above. It was a whole different city into itself.

After an hour of slow travel up the mountains we left Caracas behind and were surrounded by thick tropical forests with cool weather and winding roads. We got off the bus at a little shop that sold food and found our next ride waiting across the street. An old van with 3 other people in it was to be our last ride into Colonia Tovar. We waited there until the van filled up with other passengers and then we started the last leg of our journey bouncing along the two lane road for another two hours. High up in the mountains over looking a valley was the town Colonia Tovar. We passed building all were built with an alpine flare. We got off the taxi in the middle of town where there were numerous gift shops that sold coats and knickknacks.

A common item at all gift shops.

We began our journey down the mountain side through town to search for our posada. We came upon a small beautiful place of Cabana Silberbunnen. The small little house gave us an excellent view of the valley and strawberry fields across the valley away from the noise of cars along the main road. We spent the weekend exploring the town and just relaxing. There is a church that was built as an exact replica of a church in Germany from where the founders came. We tried the local beer which had a slight Heineken taste. On Friday more stores and restaurants opened up for the weekend visitors. This town is truly a place to sit back and relax. It is a very quaint town with cool weather and a nice view. Do not forget to visit La Magica de los Dulces pastry shop to try the tres leche cake. It was the best I have ever had.

Me stand in front of the best tres leche place ever.

The original Church that is made like the one in Germany.

Addition to the original church with kids on a field trip.

Best cake ever!

When our weekend came to an end we sought out a different route back to Caracas. This time we took a bus to La Victora and then a second bus back into Caracas. This was a beautiful trip filled with palm trees, cool weather, fog and and beautiful vistas. A good portion of the drive is along a narrow road that hugged the side of the mountain. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures that do it justice but it was a beautiful ride.

View from our posada.

It was a nice weekend getaway and something out of the ordinary. Little German houses with Spanish roofing, kielbasa with traditional Venezuelan fruit juices, and a nice getaway from the heat of this Latin american country. The Little Germany of the Caribbean.

The Magic Bolivar

2014-08-01T12:25:00.001-07:00

The currency of Venezuela is called the Bolivar and it is magical. There are four different exchange rates and countries such as the USA will not exchange Bolivar for Dollars. That is correct, Bolivares are just colorful pieces of paper once you cross the border. There are three government regulated exchange rates and a fourth free market exchange rate. This makes for a very interesting situation when trying to exchange money and determine the actual cost of items if you are from out of town.

A brief explanation of the different exchange rate is below.

Official: 6.3 Bolivar equals 1 Dollar

This is a fixed exchange rate. This number is used to import items such as medical supply and basic food items. This is what you get if you use an ATM to withdraw from a foreign account. Assuming your bank card will even work at an ATM here.

SICAD I: 11 Bolivar (more or less) equals 1 Dollar

This rate does fluctuate a little bit but stays right around 11 Bolivar for now. This rate is for the other imported items and citizens wanting to travel abroad. You must apply for this amount with the bank and you may be denied. An individual can only receive a maximum of $3,000 a year at this rate and must provided proof of travel.

SICAD II: 50 Bolivar (More or less) equals 1 Dollar

This is the newest exchange rate implemented by the government. It was supposed to help curb the rapidly increasing black market rate and it has to an extent. While this is supposed to be a floating rate that mimics the actually value of the Bolivar this rate as continually dropped from 55 to 49 while the black market has increased. Again you must apply to exchange you money at this rate and it is possible to be denied, but this rate has no cap on the amount you can exchange if approved.

Free Market: 76 Bolivar (And increasing) equals 1 Dollar

This is based on a long line of complicated calculations which can be found on Dolar Parelelo website. Almost anything in the store that is imported will be set to this price. For example a dvd player that cost $50 will have a price tag of about 3,800 Bs. However some items such as smartphones are significantly higher in price here than back home. Just yesterday a Galaxy S5 was for sell 69,000 Bs. about $900 at this exchange rate. Oh and it is illegal.

Anyone planing on visiting needs to understand how this will effect them. So lets take a look at a typical touristy adventure such as a trip to Angle Falls for my example. In November 2013 a 3 day trip cost about 9,000 Bs. At the official exchange rate this would be $1,428 vacation, however at the black market rate this would be a $118 vacation. While the official price isn't bad if you consider how much most epic tourist adventures cost, it gets a bit more dicey for daily living costs. A weeks worth of food for a family of 4 will cost approximately a month's minimum wage about 4,500 Bs. That is a difference of $741 to $59. And that price has increased in the past few months. Most imported items are becoming more difficult if not impossible. Items such as toilet paper, soap, coffee, milk, butter and pasta are no longer on shelves at the supermarket. I can write a whole other post on things not found at stores any more, but that is for another time.

Last thought of the day: How would you feel living in country where you have to fill out stacks paperwork proving where you are going and talk with a bank representative just to exchange your money so that you can receive your allocated amount of dollars each year to visit your family abroad?

Protests Rocked the Nation

2014-07-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

Over the past year there has been unrest throughout Venezuela and it has hit worldwide headlines. Every time I start trying to write about it I hit a road block. It is difficult to express something that is so foreign and new to me. The one thing nothing could have prepared me for before moving abroad would be the rapid growth of inflation and political unrest. Things are continuing to get worse but for the moment protests have calmed down. Here are some of my experiences with the protest near my home.

During the onset of the protests I moved from a relatively small town to a much larger college town. I went from few dozen people out in the streets with signs, flags, and candles to hundreds of people closing down major roads, armed with molotov cocktails and burning cars staring down police and military in full riot gear. And this was just a fraction of what was happening in much larger cities like Caracas.

My first encounter with the larger protests was in the early evening when a large group of about 1000 people stood in the middle of a busy intersection. These people were something demonstrating similar to occupy wall-street. They were waving flags, dressed in white shirts, chanting, and singing. As the weeks went on the protests moved closer to home. One evening they cut off street access to my neighborhood while I was away from home. Not being able to get a taxi to my home my friend and I began the hour walk back not thinking much of the protest. As we got closer to the crowed gathering we could see that the road was blocked by a burning car and people were standing around banging their pots and pans yelling at the police across the street. Nothing was violent at this point but tension was building. As more people were showing up to protest we decided it was time to leave.

Over the next few weeks my neighborhood became protest central. The police station near my apartment was burnt down and protesters were getting more violent. I kept a close eye on Twitter because this was the only way to tell if the roads were clear of protesters. The national news channels showed nothing of the protests going on around the country. It was my first taste of living in a country where so much of the media is strictly controlled.

When I thought things had calmed down I once again got caught at the very beginning of a protest. The opposition had just closed off the road to traffic as we were heading home from the mall. I figured it was still light outside and they was several people still clearing out the area so I decided to walk through it and that I should be safe. As I walked past the protesters setting up to face off against police I saw oil thrown across the road ready to be set on fire, molotov cocktails being set up ready to be thrown, and small rocks set up to throw. There were people like me who were trying to get out of the area quickly and other people sitting on roof tops ready to watch the spectacle from a safe distance. The most tense moment was when a motorcycle came through and all the protesters were yelling "Activo" ready to attack the guy on the motorcycle if he proved to be threat. When guys caring guns are known for riding on motorcycles you get pretty nervous when they drive up next to you. At this point I was thinking it was a bad idea to walk through but luckily this guy on the motorcycle was just trying to get past the protesters and no one did anything stupid.

Since then things have seemed to calm down but it is still tense. Every day there are new reports on the internet of arrests and deaths or kids or the elderly getting caught in crossfire. Roads are still being blocked, tires being burned and people being shot at. The news channels here show nothing of any unrest happening. Instead it is a constant bombardment piece rallies held by the government showing dancing and music and all the happy people dressed in red shirts and life goes on.

Homesickness Has Landed

2014-07-25T18:42:00.003-07:00

I am trying to beat it away with a stick. I stopped writing a few months ago because it has been difficult for me to try and express my experiences here. With the protests that engulfed the country, lack of work, and lack of feeling safe I feel into a horrible bout of homesickness. It is a fight everyday for overwhelming sadness to not completely take over my life, but the good news is it is getting better and it is not uncommon for this to happen to expats. I have discovered that the immense feeling of homesickness will settle in around 8-10 months of living abroad for many people. While I have not completely recovered from my homesickness I am trying not to let it bring me down.

In my effort to not go crazy while not working I have gone on a few trips, started science experiments in the kitchen and found a love for deep cleaning my dwelling. Look forward to a postapalooza while I try and get this back on track and tackle some more difficult topics about living in a country that is slowly isolating itself from the rest of the world.

Day Adventure to Cueva del Guacharo

2014-04-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

Cueva del Guachero

A little mountain town is a nice destination for the weekend. Lucky me, I have one nearby. I and a friend took a trip up to Caripe, Venezuela for the day to check out the country side and a pretty spectacular cave called Cueva del Guácharo.

We also took a small trek to a waterfall near the cave which wasn't nearly as spectacular.

Our day started by trying to find a taxi from my apartment to the taxi terminal. However in my residential area it can be very difficult finding taxis but we lucked out and an old man who lives near me gave us a ride into town where we could easily find a taxi. Hoping into cars with strangers is something I try to be very careful about and use good judgment and ideally wouldn't do, but sometimes you have to take the kindness of a stranger for what it is, just kindness.

A vendor along our way making sugar water from cane. A tasty treat.

Anyway, we did make it to the terminal and it only took us 20 or so minutes to find a ride to Caripe. So a little low down on how terminals work. They are usually two ways you can get from town to town via taxi. One you can go to a private company and wait at their offices to take a taxi or possibly rent out a whole taxi for yourself or second go to a terminal. At the terminals you can find taxis and buses. Usually you just take whatever has room available. On our way to Caripe we ended up riding in an SUV with three other people and so it wasn't overly crowded and would be much quicker than a bus. The taxi will usually take you to your stop if it is along the way and they are always more expensive than buses. Anyway, our trip up to Caripe was pleasant and uneventful.

These beautiful trees were dotting the mountain sides.

When we first got into the town I immediately noticed that the fences around some of the houses were only waist high. This always immediately gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I really hate having to have tall fences around everything. The streets were clean and the buildings were all painted bright colors. The two was surrounded on both sides by mountains and there were trees blooming orange flowers that from a distance looked like fall leaves. The whole town seemed laid back.

The taxi driver dropped us off at the cave and bid us goodbye. Being Sunday there were many people at the cave enjoying the nice weather. We quickly got tickets and rented galoshes for the trip into the cave. The mouth of the cave was huge and if you listened closely you could hear the screeching birds lived inside. Our tour guide showed up with a lantern in hand gathered our group together and warned the little kids to behave or the birds might eat them. Our guide was one of those funny ones. The cave was cool and the tour was the typical job of pointing out different formations that looked like a face or showing our shadows dancing on the walls. It took maybe 1.5 hours for the total tour and I suggest checking it out for yourself if you enjoy caves with creepy sounding birds. We also walked to a waterfall nearby which was thoroughly underwhelming during dry season, but the walk was pleasant enough.

One look back before venturing into the darkness.

Some of the nifty structures and our guide.

Stopped for a mini photo shoot.

Most of the cave was massive

Lots of graffiti from the people who first explored the cave.

Passing by another tour group.

Can't leave without a selfie.

I dub this baby angle falls.

We finished with our exploring and caught a cab back to the taxi terminal in town. When we got to the terminal it had four people there and the food stand was closed. We waited there for a bit keeping our fingers crossed that a taxi would show up and one eventually did not have room for us. So then we waited by ourselves at the abandon terminal for maybe another hour. During that time a handful of people also showed up looking for a ride into Maturin and lucky for us a bus arrived to do just that. Our bus ride back was filled with many stops along the way in different towns to pick people up and drop people off. Once we got close to Maturin the bus started to get very crowded and I was glad that we had seats. By the time we arrived in Maturin there wasn't even standing room available on the bus even the steps were occupied with an open door allowing people to hang outside a little as we drove down the street. It took us about twice as long on the bus to get home but we did arrive back at my apartment safe and sound with a nice little adventure to write home about.

The places we go.

Down With the Sickness

2014-04-12T18:47:00.002-07:00

Caracas, we met again.

This past Monday marked the expiration of my Venezuelan ID. This means that I got to make my second trip into the sprawling city of Caracas. This had me a bit worried due to the protests that have been sprouting up around the country but I was informed that all would be fine.

So I headed to the airport in Maturin, I moved from Anaco, Monday morning and had some time to kill before I could get to the departure gate. i.e. the only gate in the airport. So I decided to munch on an Arepa con pollo y queso at the small cafe for a late breakfast while I tried to figure out what to do with the rest of my free hour there. I pretty much just ended up people watching at my seat in the cafe until I could go through security.

Amazing view from Eurobuilding Hotel & Suites in Caracas.

Then I experienced a miracle of Venezuelan air traffic. For the first time ever my flight was on time. Lets just take a moment to reflect on this monumental achievement.....The only problem with an on time flight meant that I had a 30 min wait at Caracas airport until my taxi showed up. Go figure. Once my taxi did show up I was feeling good. The sun was out, there wasn't any traffic on my way into the city, and I was going to be staying a pretty snazzy hotel. The taxi driver even spoke a little English. Things were going pretty well and I was ready to do this thing.

Fast forward a few hours:

After I had explored the hotel and hung out by the pool I started to get a bit queasy. Not really taking notice I just went about my day and suddenly BAM! I was sick. It pretty much just slapped me across the face to say hello. Next thing I knew I am getting sick every 30 mins I am trying to just keep water down after awhile. Finally I make my way to the concierge to attempt to tell them in my broken Spanish I need to get some medicine. They tell me they are going to send a driver and pick them up for me and so I go back to my room. However, I decide about 10 mins later that meds aren't going to work if I can't keep them down. I return to the concierge with my best Spanish to date and say " Quiero un doctor," as my eyes are brimming with tears. The poor guys look at me grief stricken and hurry off to get help. At 11 pm I am escorted to a fancy car with two hotel personnel to take me to a medical center right around the corner. I was so happy.

At the medical center there was a dog sleeping in the entry way next to a man bundled up in blankets sleeping on a bench. The walls had paint chipping off and the doors had faded foam lettering indicating the different room. We were greeted by two tired looking nurses. I seemed to be the only patient that night. I sat down with one of the nurses to explain my symptoms in broken Spanish. As she asked me questions I realized that I was having more difficulty understanding her. Turns out my brain just didn't want to translate anymore, but in the end I got through her questions and they were able to understand what was wrong.

Next I am whisked into a small room where a lady shuts a curtain and starts talking at me. I have no idea what she is saying. I just feel like I am going to be sick again and wish she would stop asking questions. Clearly getting the message I do not understand she gives up talking to me and just starts preparing a needle with some medicine. That is when I understood that she wasn't asking me questions she was going to give me a shot, awesome. After the shot I was whisked back into the room with the two nurses so they could poke my belly a bit to see where it hurt. Quickly they handed me one bottle of pills and a packet of some other pills. Told me the instructions and said bye. My whole time there took less than 10 mins.

Only after I get back to the hotel did I remember that I have medicinal allergies. However, I was so tired at this point I just crossed my fingers and hope that I didn't get injected with anything that would have bad side effects. Good news, I didn't.

An example of the crosses set up all over the country for the dead.
Picture from gracicastillo on twitter.

I still didn't feel the best the next day and I ended up extending my trip to the next day. On Wednesday I was able to go get my picture taken for my new ID. On the way to the SAIME office for the picture we past three barricades. There was also a few places where pictures and crosses of all the people who have died in the protests had been set up. Getting my picture didn't take long and by
Wednesday night, after a 7 hour delay at the airport, I was back home.

Selfie all healthy hanging out by the pool.

I had never been sick like and being sick while in a foreign country all alone is a bit overwhelming. I believe I got sick from the food in the morning at the airport. Out of all the food they tell you to watch out for while traveling airport food isn't usually on the list. I will have to be more selective of my food in the future. Thankfully I am back to my healthy self just waiting to get back to work.

Carnival 2014

2014-04-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

Carnival 2014

Several weeks ago the carnival celebrations were in full swing. So I grabbed a friend and went on an outing to see the festivities. We arrived in the late afternoon just in time to see the parade of colors and wonderful costumes making their way through the crowded street. The people who were dressed in the amazing outfits danced down the street filled with onlookers. The costumed people would be stopped every few feet for by onlookers wanting to take pictures. The crowd was sprinkled with kids and adults who were dressed in their own colorful masks and wigs. You could see kids throwing water on each other and strangers stopping to dance with one another in the middle of the street. Vendors were selling hot dogs, beer, and sangria. Music was blaring from massive towers of speakers set up all long the parade route. It was a massive party.

As the sun started to set people started to get a bit more antsy and the cops were trying to clear people from the parade rout so that it would end soon. The parade lasted a bit longer but my friend and I ducked out of the festivities before we found ourselves in the middle of trouble. I hope that things will eventually calm down here and that people are able to enjoy these types of activities. One day I look forward to experiencing carnival without having my head on a swivel looking for danger.

I posted some pictures below. None of which do justice to the actual costumes.

Oh the Colors!

Some costumes are kids

Add caption

People stopping the parade for pictures.

Megan in Venezuela

Several stilt walkers/dancers.

One of many speaker systems in the crowd.

Carnival onlookers.

This is on a guys head.

Canaima and Salto De Angel

2014-03-08T20:21:00.000-08:00

The first view of the Tepui in Canaima National Park, Venezuela.

Venezuela is rich in natural beauty. This past November I had the opportunity to travel to Canaima, one of Venezuela's largest national parks. This park is home to the famous flat topped mountains known as Tepuis and the world's tallest free falling waterfall, Angel Falls. While my friends and family back home were getting ready for Thanksgiving Feasts, I joined up with a group of friends and headed into the Venezuelan wilderness.

Day One:

We loaded up in two taxis and headed to an quaint little inn located in Ciudad Bolívar. The place was filled with wonderfully carved furniture and was ran out of the first floor of a house. We quickly dropped off our bags and proceeded to hail a taxi to the historical center of the town to take a look before the sunset.

The Inn has reminders of native people who live near Canaima

Historical District of Ciudad Bolivar

A cathedral in Plaza Bolivar

Statue of Simon Bolivar.

In Plaza Bolivar

Day Two:

We loaded up in the shuttle and were off to the airport. The airport in Ciudad Bolivar was one of the smallest airports I had ever seen. It had one gate and a security checkpoint which consisted of a guy opening up your bag and taking away any flammables including bug spray, spray sunscreen, lighters, matches and deodorant. We watched the pile of contraband rapidly grow larger as person after person had their backpacks stripped of these essential items. But not to fret, about 10 minutes later another security guy gave back many of the confiscated items.

Pilots and baggage guy wait as the engines need to be checked. We are on
Venezuelan time here. Just sit back and relax.

After a few delays we are up, up, and away.

The flight to Canaima National Park was a short one and we were provided with an excellent view of the grand savanna as we flew over the country side. As the plane started to land we got our first glimpse of the lagoon and the famous Tepuis. We then landed at the smallest airport yet, supporting no gate or security checkpoint at all. We unloaded the plane and paid the park entrance fee which was about 200 Bs. Then we spent some time looking at souvenirs while we waited on our ride to the camp.

Friends hanging out at the airport in Canaima.

Our first bit of excitement was a friendly guacamaya who had no problem showing off for pictures or stealing people’s food. After we got settled into our room for the night we took a short walk through the village to the local lagoon. There we saw two spiffy waterfalls and tourist splashing about on one end of the beach while locals were washing clothes on the other end.

These birds are native to the area and will talk. This one kept repeating
guacamaya and hello.

Hanging upside down spreading his wings for the cameras.

Waterfalls of the lagoon.

Taking a dip in the cool water.

That afternoon our tour guide took us on a short trek behind the waterfalls. We all stripped down to our swimsuits and socks. We were a sexy group to behold. Both of the falls were an amazing example of the strong force on nature. The loud roaring sound of the falling water and the wind rushing around felt like a hurricane. Our trek also took us to the top of the same waterfall. It was beautiful to see the tepui in the distance while people swam in a natural pool on top of the waterfall.

At the top of the waterfall to the right is where people swam and the
water flowed under this natural rock bridge to the waterfall on the left.

Rockin' the swimsuit and socks. The socks were for traction.

This was the second and most powerful fall we ventured under.

Everyone was smiling and laughing as they took pictures
with hands and heads under a calmer part of the waterfall.

Back in camp later that night we were greeted by a tapir. This large animal was about 2 years old and reminded me of a young dog. It was poking its head into the kitchen as far as possible knowing it was not allowed inside. He was waiting on food to be bought out to him making a high pitch sort of whining noise. After he sloppily gobbled up all the food he received a belly rub from one of the cooks.

Tapirs are nocturnal creatures that are closest related to rhinos.

After we cleaned up from our trip to the falls we ate dinner with the rest of our tour group. We talked with people from all over the world and shared smiles with those we didn't have a common

language with. After dinner a few of us decided to check out the town’s local nightclub. This was an open air bar overlooking the lagoon with patio chairs music and club lights with a total of 15 people present. It was a nice place to have a few beers and exchange stories. We did not stay long because we had to get up for our early departure to Angel Falls the next morning.

Day Three:

The trip up river the next day was test in patience. We spent 4 hours crowded into a boat sitting under the hot sun on a tiny wooden plank. Wildlife along the river and the majestic flat topped mountains with sheer cliffs looming out of the clouds provided a plethora of natural beauty to observe as we slowly made our way along the river. About half way into our boat ride we stopped to stretch and had lunch in a very beautiful setting. It was a blessed break from sitting like sardines in the boat.

The traditional style boats used to go up the river.

A short 30 minute trek at the beginning of our trip.

Flora growing at our lunch site.

Taking a nap

Meeting the boats after lunch.

As we reached our new camp, we saw Angel Falls cascading over the mountain. We tumbled out of the boats with soar bums and gladly headed up a trail to the outlook. We were running short on daylight so the trip up the trail was a quick one as we picked our way over boulders and tree roots. At the end of our climb we were greeted with a great view. You could see the surrounding mountains and have a perfect picture of the whole fall. We took our pictures and basked in the magnificence of Mother Nature for awhile then we headed to closer to the falls to take a dip in the pool at the bottom. As the sun started to set we raced back down the trail to the boats so we would not be left in the dark jungle without flashlights.

Angel Falls from the view point.
My photo stitching skills need work.

Angel Falls.

The English speaking bunch. relaxing in the shadow of Angel Falls.

The swimming hole. Be careful of the large boulders
just under the surface of water.

That night we camped across the river from the falls in hammocks and hand a wonderful meal prepared over an open fire. As we all settled into our hammocks for sleep we were lulled to sleep by the quite whispers of people chatting, rain falling, and candle light twinkling out into the dark. Trying to ignore the loud crack of a tree branch here or there out in the darkness I fell into a pretty good sleep.

Heading to sleep with a bad sunburn from the boat ride. Note: If you
have very fair skin be sure to apply sunscreen more than once.

Our beds for the night lined up under a tin roof.

Day Four:

The next day we awoke to cool temperatures, a high flowing river, and lots of clouds. Our trip back gave us one last view of the water fall partially obscured by clouds. We huddled back into the boats and had a much swifter ride back to town. The journey to one of Venezuela’s most famous natural wonders was worth every sunburn, scrape, sore muscle and bug bite. I highly recommend making the trip at least once in your life. It is truly an amazing place to see.

Our tour wonderful tour guide seeing us off at the airport.

Loved Ones Lost

2014-02-19T15:04:00.000-08:00

I have had a busy few months and finally am able to continue with this blog. I have many new exciting things to discuss as well as some more tragic ones. I will rapid fire some new blogs the following weeks to catch up with my experiences here in Venezuela and I would like to start my new year of blogging by giving a short memorial to two people who recently departed this world. They taught me one of the tough things about living abroad. The fact that you can't always return home at the drop of a hat and might miss important things back home.

My past several months here in Venezuela has taught me to live with the fact that some things are difficult to get or find. Things such as butter, toilet paper, sugar flower, milk and water can at times be nearly impossible to find. Last minute international plane flights are another item on that list. However it doesn't really sink in how important it might be until you search for that last minute flight.

I have never before missed the seemingly ridiculous amount of convince that we take for granted back home than the day I got the news that my Aunt Eileen passed away. Had I been in Pennsylvanian I would have had no problem grabbing a bag from home and catching the next flight to Nevada and be there in time for the funeral. However the next flight I could get out of Venezuela would be a month away and more than a two day trip to arrive. I knew moving to a new country would be difficult and I might encounter something like this when I made the decision to move but it sometimes takes the actual event happening before you feel the full effect of your decision to move abroad.

This is on the top of my list of difficult things to deal with. In two months I have had to say bye to an Aunt and Uncle and grieve for them in a foreign country. However, I have been blessed with living in a country with some of the warmest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. This warmness goes beyond the communication barrier and has given me the opportunity to make wonderful friends here. It
is an amazing feeling knowing that even though I can't accurately express my sadness in words to those around me they will not hesitate to give me a comforting embrace or sit and listen while I babble at them in my foreign language.

And so, I would like to devote this post to the DeVitos, two of my family members, who will be missed but not forgotten:

First, my Uncle Johnny, who was a wonder to me as a kid. He was tall man with an excellent mustache who made everyone feel like they were a long lost friend come home. He always wore a smile and had plenty of stories to share. With his strong new jersey accent, a wine glass in one hand, and a cigar in the other he will be hard to forget. He left earth on Thanksgiving 2013 surrounded by loved ones and thought about by loved ones scattered across the globe.

Second, is my mother's sister Aunt Eileen. She was the most glamorous aunt I had as a child. The fashionista who always had some new fashion accessory, the latest health tips, or advice about boys for her nieces. Her relationship with my mother and her other siblings showed me that even though you may not always agree with them, they will always be family and you will always love them. She joined her husband Johnny in eternal sleep on January 10, 2014.

These two people will always be remembered and though I am unable to grieve with my family I am in good hands. I have my friends here in this little town in the middle of Venezuela who remind me to remember the good things and never take for granted the small things and unique people you have in your life.

A Little of Caracas

2013-11-15T16:29:00.000-08:00

Burros covering the hillside on the way into Caracas

Along the long bumpy ride to obtaining my cédula I found myself in Caracas this past week. What is a cédula you ask? Well, it is a picture ID that all adults have and contains a number similar to that of a SS number. This ID number is used for everything from buying groceries at the store to being next to your signature on anything you sign. Anyway, I went to meet a representative from a relocation service company at the SAIME office in the capital city. The SAIME office is not unlike a local DMV. Crowds of people wait to have their picture and finger prints to be taken. The actually process takes a short time to complete. It is the lines that will keep you there for hours. Lucky me I had an appointment and so the whole process was about 30 minutes. I was able to snatch some pictures in a moving taxi while driving through the city. Enjoy.

The amount of houses was amazing and the colors were neat.

Pro-tip: When going to a country that uses a different measuring system than your own figure out your height, weight and shoe size in your host countries system. I know this is a duh item, but I honestly did not think about it before I arrived at the SAIME office and so some creative guesswork was used instead.

Best picture I could find of the Maiquetia airport.

The city of Maiquetia is interesting and by far one of my favorite cities to fly into. The view is amazing as you approach the airport from above. The mountains crowed up against the ocean and in-between these two natural beauties is the city of Miquatia. This town has sprouted up along the coast and the buildings have started to crawl up the mountains.

I stayed at the Eurobuilding hotel which is a 5 minute drive from the airport. It boasts nice accommodations, a tasty restaurant, a staff who speaks English and good company to be found. I ran into some pilots out of Miami and a yacht captain at the restaurant bar. We had a pleasant evening chatting about home, interesting things the world has to offer and our different perspectives of this lovely and unique country.

Found waldo on a moto taxi

My trip into downtown Caracas I was surprised by the difference between Anaco and Caracas. The average car in the city was much newer and not covered in rust. The walls weren’t all topped with broken glass and there were even buildings that had windows without bars and along the highway you can see art sculptures that have the illusion of changing as you drive past.

Downtown Caracas

I hope to visit Caracas again with more time on my hands and with a friend who knows the area that way they can give me the insider’s tour. Until then you will have to be content with my next post about my trip to Angle Falls with some new expat friends I have found hiding here in Venezuela as well.

Most graffiti here are political ads.

Birthday Abroad

2013-10-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

My Internet Birthday Party

I just celebrated my 25^th birthday this week. This is the first time I have spent my birthday abroad away from my familiar surroundings. This time of year is usually filled with cold nights, Halloween decorations and ghoulish parties. The changing color of the trees and the amount of pumpkin items in stores usually let me know that my birthday is approaching. However this year I had none of these reminders and so it did not quite feel like my birthday was near. Luckily I have an amazing family and wonderful friends that made sure I would not feel this way for long.

This past Tuesday I expected to have an ordinary day rigging up equipment in the hot weather at my new rig site. However, when I got around to checking my main means of communication with people back home, Facebook, I was bombarded with several birthday best wishes and pictures of people in all types of birthday hats. There were big ones, small ones, digital ones, and real ones of all colors. There were even cute dogs dressed up and a picture of a cookie cake saying “Happy Birthday Megan.” This surprise internet birthday party made my day. It is the goofiest gift that I have ever received and along with all the birthday wishes it made me feel a little closer to home. How did I get so lucky to know this wacky group of people?

My yummy cake

In the evening I was thrown a little party at work. I had a delicious cake from a local panadería topped with a sparkler the size of a miniature flame thrower. The guys serenaded me with both the Venezuelan Birthday song and the English one. In my opinion the Venezuelan style is much more entertaining especially when the guys sang it loud and rowdy, in the fashion of many drinking songs.

Lighting the flame thrower.

Overall my first birthday abroad was a success. I was lucky to get to spend it with new friends and feel the love from old ones all across the globe

The Venezuela Birthday Song.

Cumpleaños Feliz (estilo Venezolano)

Ay que noche tan preciosa
es la noche de tu día
todos llenos de alegría
en esta fecha natal (natal, natal, natal)
Tus más íntimos amigos
esta noche te acompañan
te saludan y desean,
un mundo de felicidad (felicidad, felicidad)
Yo por mi parte deseo
lleno de luz este día
todos llenos de alegría
en esta fecha natal (natal, natal, natal)
Y que esta luna plateada
brinde su luz para ti (paraaaaa tiiiiiiii)
y ruego a Dios porque
pases un cumpleaños feliz
Cumpleaños feliz,
Te deseamos a ti,
Cumpleaños... [name of the birthday person],
Cumpleaños feliz!

Culture Shock: Availability and Abundance

2013-10-15T11:56:00.001-07:00

Some of the hard to find items I got my hands on at the rig already half used.
The milk I got by pure luck because the taxi driver had connections at the grocery store.

After living here for about 2 months I would like to discuss a very particular aspect of some culture shock I have experienced. It has to do with the lovely sanitary tissue that everyone uses on a daily basis. This nice little role of paper that is present in your bathroom is probably not something you think about often. Well at least, not until you accidentally run out and have to become creative in your sanitary upkeep. It is a dark time when you have to quickly use your improvising skills and use what is on hand such as paper towels, a garden hose, the shower, etc. Luckily the concern doesn’t last for too long, because as soon as you can you will run down to the closest convenient store, pharmacy, or supermarket and pick up some more. However these dark times get even darker when the stores in town are also out of this magical tissue item. This is the time when hoarding and frugality skills become handy.

Growing up in the land of supermarkets and brand names you tend to take for granted how many choices there are and the availability of a countless number of items. It becomes a humbling experience when the crowds at a store resemble those found on Black Friday in the USA because the new shipment of toilet paper was received that day. The only time of year I am used to expecting things being out of stock and long lines are during the holidays. So when I moved to a country where this is an everyday occurrence because of toilet paper, chicken, flour, P.A.N. and butter I had my first bout of culture shock.

There are lines everywhere forming everywhere. They begin appearing early in the morning outside of store fronts and end up wrapping around buildings. The people will wait patiently for hours to get into the store while talking with each other and their kids running around playing. The security will be stationed outside of the store managing crowds and controlling the amount of people coming into the store. Once the people in line are let into the store they are only allowed to buy a set amount of the item they are there for which will be handed to them at the cash register. I have not yet had to brave one of these lines, and I have been fortunate enough to get most of my necessary supplies while I have been working on rig sites nearer to other cities.

So, next time you find yourself in the toilet paper aisle in Wal-Mart contemplating if you want the brand with the cute little puppy, the grannies that quilt, or the one with the bears take a moment to appreciate all the choices you have and the abundance of availability. Don’t stop there though also appreciate the vast amount of veggies and fruit that look as if they jumped out of a magazine and landed in your shopping cart. It is simply amazing.

When was the last time you stopped to appreciate how convenient and abundant your options are?

*Black Friday - An infamous day after Thanksgiving that is known for its long lines and cheap deals.

*P.A.N - a premixed corn meal base that is used for foods such as arepas and other local dishes.

Life as a MWD

2013-10-03T08:44:00.003-07:00


Company Man, Directional Driller, and Tool Pusher inspecting the bit before we start drilling.

A New Day a New Rig.

The week after I moved into my new apartment I went back to work. I packed up my work things and a three hour drive later I was at my new rig. This time I ended up working with Chevron on a Nabors rig which was a surprise to me because up until this point I was unaware that there were other oil companies in Venezuela besides PDVSA, the national oil company. The feel of this rig is strikingly more familiar because safety regulations I am used to and the constant feel that we are trying to make hole as quickly and safely as possible. It is not as laid back as some of the other rigs I have worked on. In the end no matter which rig I ended up on I was happy to be working again after such a long time away.

MWD Who?

I want to explain what an MWD is becuase most of you probably only have a basic idea that I look as squiggly lines and live on a rig. While both of those are true it is a bit more in depth than that.

MWD (Measurement While Drilling) is a field position on a rig site that is usually provided by a drilling oil service company. As an MWD my job is to set up equipment and sensors that will read information comming up hole from our tools. You can think of these tools as a sort of navigation system that gives you traffic (formation) and weather (atmosphere) conditions. These tools range from very simple tools that just tell you inclination and azimuth to more advance ones that will tell you specifics about resivor properties along with efficentcy of the drilling. My days are usually filled by monitoring computer screens with this realtime information and working with Directional Drillers, Geologist, and Drilling Engineers so that the well is drilled to the desired location.

Improvising picking up tools

I work in a team of 4 people consisting of two directional drillers and two MWDs. We work 12 hour shifts 7 days a week. We all live in a small cabins with a kitchen and bedrooms with bunk beds. Most of the time we do not have schedules. My longest time working one stretch was 86 days and I was happy for some time off after that.

My Colleagues, My Friends

Living in close quarters with three or more people day in and day out can be good at times and not so good at others. This is one of the few places I know of where you are thrust into a situation where you have to live and work with complete strangers. Needless to say they don't usually stay strangers for long. I have met many wonderful people over the past few years that have become good friends after only working together for a short period of time.

My new friends radiating awesome.

Here in Venezuela everything has been an extreme experience of MWD life due to my lack of communication skills and twice the amount of people on rig locations. I am still learning Spanish and my best teachers have been the guys I work with. I get free lessons and get to listen conversations all day without feeling like a creeper. I am learning a little more each day and I cannot even begin to express my gratitude to my new friends here for their patience and willingness to help me.

Quarks of the Wildlife

Every rig location I have been on tends to be in the country somewhere which means we have wildlife around the site and sometimes they get curious and wander onto the rig site. While in Pennsylvania I saw wild turkeys, deer and the occasional bear running around. In Venezuela we have roaming cows and stray dogs.

Bear family in central Pennsylvania.

Cows tend think the grass tastes better on the other side of the fence or maybe they just want a better view of cars passing by on the road. Either way I have seen a few herds of cows just chilling in the middle of the road. On other occasions they come check out the rig site and one particular one decided to take a mud bath. This poor creature found its way into the water based mud pit. Once we detirmined it wasn't injured we hosed it off and lifted it out with a crane and released it back into the wild.

The cow stuck in the mud pit

Another facet of life is the numerous stray dogs everywhere. They are both in towns and on remote rig sites. The ones on the rig sites tend to be very nice and just want the food people leave out for them. They hang out under the cabins during the heat of the day and chase the cows.

Puppies!

Finally an Apartment

2013-09-24T10:24:00.002-07:00

After three weeks of living in a hotel here and a month of living in a hotel in Houston during August I am happy to say that I moved into a new apartment this past week. Living in a hotel gets tiresome after a few months. Below are some pictures of my new home.

I have the safety:

10ft wall surrounding my apartment with recycled glass embedded on it and an electric fence on top.

I have the amenities:

Living Room/ Kitchen equipped with my stylish rocking couch.

Gas stove Woot!

I have the company:

Mr. Gecko lives in my bathroom. He was here when I moved in.

Abuelo keeps watch over the place when I am not around.

I also have the location: The large local open market is one block away. There I can find anything I need such as butchers, vendors, restaurants, veggie stands , barbershops and pretty much anything else I want. It is all packed into a maze of vendor stands that stretches about 2 blocks. I have not been able to take any pictures of it yet, maybe soon when I get back from work.

The Art of Living in Hotels

2013-09-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

I have worked in the oilfield for 2.5 years now. During this time I have found myself traveling from one town to the next and seeing the inside of more hotel rooms than I can count. Every time I get to a new town I do a little exploring to chase away the boredom of being cooped up in one small room with a tv, bed and little else. After spending the last two months in hotel rooms I would like to share with you three lessons that I have learned.

1. Explore local attractions. Every town has them even the small ones. As luck would have it my specialty is living in small towns. The first thing to do is figure out what there is in the area. This means picking up that little brochure in the lobby of the hotel, tracking down the town's website, or asking a friendly looking local. Small towns always have something nearby. It might be World's Largest Totem Pole (Foyil, OK), a covered bridge tour (Washington and Greene County, PA), cave boat ride (Centre Hall, PA), wildlife reserve, or a national park. Be sure to make stop at that little mom and pop shop down the road that sell homemade fried pies before you take off on your adventure. The next day be sure to feed the ducks at the local park or check out the train they have on display. Become a history buff of the local region by finding out where that little museum of natural history is hidden in town. Get artsy and attend any local festival or event that may be happening such as Music in the Park, a festival downtown, or a fair. After a busy day it would be time to find some good local food, because a savvy traveler like yourself would not want to eat at that large fast food chain (if the town is big enough to have one). This the hotel staff could help you locate the little place down the road that has rib-eye Tuesdays, 25 cent wings Wednesdays, or 1 dollar beers Fridays. Get out of that hotel room and experience the town you are in there is a lot to discovered.

A boat tour of Penn's Cave in Pennsylvania

Out for a quick hike at a local trail.

Local street market that was set up every day.

Annual hot air balloon festival in Colorado Springs

Kayak rental at a Susquehanna State Park

2. Talk to strangers. That is right, you heard me. Ignore what your parents taught you as a kid and say "Hello and how are you today?" to the person sitting next to you at the bar or the person riding the elevator with you. Not everyone is creepy and a lot of people out there have interesting stories they are willing to share. You just might make a friend or at least have a pleasant conversation in this home away from home you are staying in. The people I have met traveling have always been kind and some of them are just looking for a friendly conversation too.

An old gentleman at the train station that would talk your ear off.

Probably shouldn't hug the stranger.

3. Learn to trust people. Now this one is difficult. Coming from a country were strangers are kept at arm's length and almost never trusted upon first meeting them I have had a difficult time getting over my initial distrust of everyone I don't know. Having very little command of the Spanish language has made this statement a necessity. For example when I first arrived in Venezuela I was told a taxi driver would take me to my hotel which was about an hour away from the airport. The guy had a hand written sign with my name on it and his name was similar to what I was told so I hopped in his car and we were off. Turns out it was the correct guy. I got to my hotel safe and sound. If someone invites you next door to the restaurant that has karaoke that night or offers to help you with a menu at the restaurant because they know you don't speak the language it is ok to say yes. These people are genuinely interested in letting you know where the happening place is in town or just want to lend a helping hand.

My dad and the woman who trusted him to take off with
her motorcycle on a joyride.

While my time here in Venezuela has just begun I have taken living in a hotel to the next level of living in a hotel in a foreign country where you don't know the language. Learning Spanish has also proven to be easier since I have taken the time to talk to people and attempt small talk. I am more confident with trying to speak it because I have made some acquaintances with the hotel staff and a few of the other people staying here. These three things have made my stay in hotels much more interesting.

Wrapping up Training

2013-08-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last four weeks at the Houston training facility getting caught up on classes that I have to take as part of my program at work. Even though my company is a large international company with several training facilities world wide the chances of you running into someone you know while taking classes is high. In addition to meeting old friends you always make new ones too. Training also gives me a break from the long schedules of rig life and I even get weekends off. This always makes training feel more like vacation that actually going to work.

My first week here I ended up in a class with two guys from Trinidad who I met the previous year in Oklahoma City at a different class. We were able to catch up and I had the opportunity to indrocuce them to the world of bowling. Which as it turns out, we all pretty much sucked at.

The second week here I had no class to attend so I made my way up to Oklahoma to see family. I was very happy to see them even though it had been a only a few weeks since we left. It is nice being able to have a good chunk of my family all living or working in the same town.

My third and fourth week here I have taken two classes. These classes bought me back together with a friend from PA and another guy I met two years ago when I first started working. I also ran into an old manager and several other familiar faces. Several people are at the training facility from my original location up in PA and so we were all able to go out and have a nice dinner where we could all just reconnect. The good things about working in a smaller office creates a closer relationship amongst all the people working in that office. It makes me feel that I have a small little family hanging out in PA.

I have one more day left here in the US before I fly south again. I am filled again with apprehension about going through the whole process of finding myself in unfamiliar surrounds, but I am prepared and know better what to expect this time so I am ready. I will be sure to update this blog regularly once I am back down there and am not as distracted by family and friends.

Training in the USA

2013-08-14T16:27:00.002-07:00

After just three weeks abroad I find myself back in the US for 4 weeks of training. This really put a damper on my ability to practice Spanish, but luckily south Texas has many radio stations, tv stations, and people I can practice with.

So with my company I regularly find myself going to classes for training and I always seem to run into people at the training center that I know. Which if you think about how large the company is and the fact that it is world wide it is very interesting that I am able to always run into people time and time again when I end up at the training center. It is also feels like a vacation with 8 hour work days and weekends off. I am always looking forward to training classes.

So that is pretty much it for now. Next week I will try to give you something more substantial.

La Comida

2013-07-31T00:55:00.000-07:00

This picture has nothing to do with food but it is proof of my rig habitation.

So ends week two of my Venezuelan adventure. I have spent my time here living on rigs and sharing meals with guys who come from all over the country. There is a system set up where the night hands make breakfast, the day hands make lunch and for dinner it is fend for yourselves. Most meals are family style meals where we sit around a plastic table in our small cabin. I much prefer this aspect of our small cabins compared to the US where most of the time you don’t even have a table to sit at. Getting cooked meals 2 or 3 times a day is new for me and quite lovely even if odd at times. For example I was offered a sandwich which contained mayo, ketchup, mustard, cheese wiz, ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, peppers and hotdogs. Fairly sure this isn't a nationwide thing and it was just a creation of one of the guys I work with, but hey why not? I have also had the pleasure of trying and making some authentic Venezuelan food such as arepas and cachapas. Both of which are yummy in my tummy.

This is our living quarters with our dinning room table/ lounge area/ kitchen/laundry room.

Arepas are made from a special precooked corn flour and water. They are eaten the same way a slice of bread might be eaten. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner with anything your heart desires. Use it to mop up spaghetti sauce, as an outer bread of a sandwich, as a jelly holder, or whatever you can come up with. They even have arepa makers, which are similar to waffle makers, on every rig kitchen.

Basket full of nice looking areapas.

The cachapa confused me when I first saw it. It looked like a huge pancake with something on white on the center that I thought was possibly sweet. It turns out it was Queso de Meno which wasn’t sweet, but was a very delicious cheese. The cachapa itself was a more of a thin bread made of corn dough that was a little sweet. I believe the sweetness depends on where you get it from, but the slightly sweet flavor of the bread mixed with the mozzarella like cheese was a very delicious treat.

Cachapa con Queso de Meno.

While I have not tempted my fate with street side food, both of these treats are commonly found being sold by street vendors. And let me be clear here street vendors are literally in the street. Set up in their little carts or stands in between two opposing lanes of traffic. Usually set up near speed bumps or stop lights. With how crazy the driving seems to be here those are brave souls who do this.

Speaking of food, I not much of a cook but I need to come up with American foods to share with my new Venezuelan friends. If you have any ideas I would love to hear them!

Week One

2013-07-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a mix of the familiar and new. I was sent out to a rig on my third day here and the rig sites across the world are pretty similar to each other. There is a large derrick, small living quarters, lumpy bunk beds and slow internet. All the comforts of home. Some of the new things include language, crazy taxis, local food and daily lack of water.

My trip out east to the rig site allowed me to see some of the country side and new towns which was nice. Some of the sites included cows and goats roaming freely on the highway, large mountains overlooking a valley with thunderstorms dotting the skies and clusters of rigs with massive flares. Once we found the correct cluster of rigs my taxi driver drove around to 5 different rigs trying to find the one I was supposed to be on. This did not take much time as the rigs are not more than a few hundred yards from each other. One of the new things I have to get used to out to the rig is the daily lack of water. Every day we run out of water to bathe with and do laundry or wash dishes. This is something I have never really experienced. This will make you appreciate running water very quickly, because a bar of soap and a pot of water doesn’t make you feel as fresh and clean as soaking in a hot shower.

The most unique conversation I had quickly followed my arrival at the rig site. The other MWD knew absolutely no English and my Spanish is only slightly better. We headed out to the cabin to check out the operations and get me situated. So here we were two people who have never met trying to communicate in two languages about a job we both do on a daily basis. The majority of this first conversation was done by pointing and repeating words very slowly. After 30 minutes of this we were satisfied that this new girl understood what was going on. Then started the attempted small talk. While we successfully got past the basic questions of how long have you been here, where are you from, and how old are you we ran out of vocabulary. Much of this time there was many “No entiendo,” spoken and followed by rapid talking probably along the lines of “This is ridiculous and slightly awkward. You seem like a nice person, but I have no idea what you are saying.” Followed by a bit of silence. Finally we broke out google translate and typed our way through a conversation which worked surprisingly well given the fact the keyboard wasn’t working properly. The most important thing I learned from that experience is you can make friends with people even though you can’t converse well. I look forward to the day I have enough Spanish skills to talk without help from the internet and laugh with my new amigo about the time we met.

I am extremely grateful to all the men I have been working with all are very nice and helpful. I am learning a little bit of Spanish every day and hopefully in a few months I will understand 70% of what is being said vs only the 5% now.

Hola Anaco!

2013-07-16T16:31:00.002-07:00

After a week long farewell trip from Pennsylvania to Oklahoma I hopped on a plane with two suitcases and a backpack and moved to Venezuela. Getting here was a bit stressful but I learned a few things about traveling internationally.

DFW airport has mice and large muscular grown men can squeal and hop out of their seats like a small girl when one of those mice runs under their chair.

Flying two different airlines with no baggage agreement is a pain. I highly suggest avoiding this if possible.

Planes that aren't loaded like a can of sardines seem to have a more lively atmosphere.

People are willing to help others who don't know much of the local language.

Venezuelan taxi drivers are normal people who slapped a taxi sticker on their car.

No speed limits. Anything posted as such are just suggestions that everyone ignores. No pedestrian right of way. Lots of light flashing and honking.Rush hour looks like the India driving videos you see only with larger cars.

Bicycle helmets can double as motorcycle helmets.

Those were a few things I could think of that I have learned in the last 24 hours. Overall my trip to Anaco was good. Once I got into the taxi I was on my own with speaking the language. My skills at Spanish are rudimentary so it was a unique experience testing them out because no one knew any English. It is a slightly frightening experience to live somewhere that you can't understand 95% of what is being said. I expect it will get better quickly and I am working hard to improve it as fast as I can.

Today I met with a relocation manager who showed me around town gave me some ins and outs of how things work around here. I even got help from our taxi driver when he found out I was looking for an apartment. The driver's sister was a relater so he gave her a call. Keep your fingers crossed that I get to move out of the hotel at the end of the month.

Upstairs Lobby of my hotel. Open at both ends and no air conditioner. Very nice.

Belize Vacation

2013-07-11T15:36:00.001-07:00

Some Belize Islands

I just got back from a wonderful week long family vacation in Belize. It was our first ever family vacation that involved going somewhere other than another family member's house. We took a mid day flight to Belize City and then hopped on a little commuter plane out to San Pedro. It was my first time being on a tropical island or south of the USA and I was amazed at the clear blue sea.

Once we landed in San Pedro our first objective was to get our golf carts. There are 4 main types of vehicles on this island; van taxis, golf carts, bicycles, and motorcycles. There is really no strict sense of pedestrian right of way and anything really goes to get around someone going slower than you. Granted with mostly golf carts driving around at a set speed limit the risk of having a wreck is low.

My sister and I on the puddle jumper headed to San Pedro

Once we got our carts we set off to find our house we were staying at. We only knew a direction and had a picture of the house. We set out South with our eyes open for a yellow villa. As we headed south we say many people walking, small little grocery stores, restaurants, and outdoor fruit and vegetable stands. We got about 1.5 miles from the airport and found out that the paved road ended and were met with a pothole ridden dirt road and misquotes. Keeping our fingers crossed that the house we sought was worth it, we trudged on. After about 20mins of driving we traveled 3.5 miles and found our lovely Villa Incommunicada. Good thing it was like the pictures. :)

After dropping off our luggage we set out to explore the island. We found several restaurants and shopping areas north of the airport on the beach. We spent many days checking out this area sampling the different food. One day we ran across a man on the beach who had a pet coatimundi. They are cute furry little animal that is a cousin to a raccoon.

My sister posing with the coatimundi

During our stay there we set out on three adventures. Our first was a beach BBQ where went out in the morning to spear fish, pick up conch shells, and do some good ol' pole fishing. Turns out we all suck at spear fishing and so we picked up some shells and lobster then headed to our next location to use our fishing poles. Once we had our catch we went back to the house to grill it up and eat the tasty fish.

Fishing for dinner

The next day we set out in torrential rain to the main land where we got a refreshing pelting of rain and cold winds. Luckily it cleared up by the time we reached the main land and we were able to dry off. Our day started with zip-lining and then next door we strapped on some life vests and hard hats with a lamp and took off into a cave for some cave tubing. The end of the day was the Maya Ruins where we saw some pretty neat pyramids and got a nice historical tour of the area.

First time to do some zip lining

My excellent cave tubing adventure

The family

Some Maya ruins which featured a few pyramids

Our last day we all were a bit tired from the excitement of the last two days but we strapped on some flippers and went on our first ever snorkeling trip. Where we got to see beautiful coral, sharks and all sorts of fish. This is something I will def have to do again. I was super excited to be able to use my underwater camera to snag some pretty cool pictures.

Action shot of Dad

Our guide hopped in and caught a nurse shark.

Me swimming with the fishes

After a week of fun in the sun we were all burnt and ready to head back home to the states. Where roads aren't made of potholes, misquotes aren't quite that bad and our own beds were waiting for us.

Peace, Man

Rig Life

2013-06-23T10:04:00.002-07:00

Rig Pad from the plane.

I have been working and living on rig sites for two years. Traveling from one location to the next in the northeastern part of the US has lent me many new opportunities to meet and see a wide variety of people and things. So I am going to try and give you a little glimpse of being a female in this male dominated environment and what life is like on a land rig in general.

Ninety percent of the time I am the only female on location. That is about a 30:1 ratio. However, on one rare occasion I ended up on a rig with four women out there. This was pretty cool and the women who work out here tend to be a special kind of awesome. This particular rig had a roughneck/motorman who was a teenager. She chose to work on a rig before attending college because she hadn't made up her mind on what to study. A middle aged woman who ran the excavator at night and was new to the industry. An older woman who was the mud logger and seemed super badass while baking superb brownies. Each of us working different jobs has a slightly different insight to the industry and this sight is just my particular experience.

The most often asked question I get is about harassment. How much are you harassed or have you ever had any problems. I have read articles about how filthy and vulgar oil workers can be and just dragged a whole group of hard working men's names through the mud. I am under no deliusion that guys are sweet little angels 100% of the time and that there is always a bad apple somewhere, but the vast majority of these men take pride in acting like gentleman when a woman is around and are just counting down they days until they get to go back to their families.

The most annoying thing I have to deal with is assuring people on every new rig I go to that it is not necessary to walk on glass around me. I have guys left and right apologize for saying a four letter word that reached my ears or just don't talk in front of me at all for fear of offending me. My usual response is to assure them that saying shit isn't going to affect my delicate sensibilities and to not worry. Usually they relax a bit and become more at ease but I got a surprising reply one time. This roughneck looked me in the eye and said "I'm not gonna do it again because my mamma taught me how to act around ladies and I take pride in that."

So that is the majority of my experiences going to a new rig. I have to assure the men that I cool and I don't bite.

As a MWD I work with 3 other people from my company and we live in a small mobile home of sorts that usually contains an office, small kitchen/living room and two bedrooms with bunk beds. The rooms are shared with your relief. With 12 hour shifts each the rooms are single occupants. This however can very from region to region. Sometimes you get lucky and work with some cool guys who get along and cook meals together and other times it is each his own and little talk outside of work. The latter usually makes for miserable living conditions so I try avoid those rigs as much as possible.

Working 12 hour shifts can be tedious at times and with no guaranteed time off outside of vacation it can get wearisome living and working in the same place for weeks on end. The longest time I have worked straight was about 12 weeks. I have worked with others who have gone longer than that without getting to go home. Every now and then however you get lucky and get some time off between wells. This is when I take the time to explore the area and do new things. Usually I will find someone else on the rig who is also off and so we can go exploring together. Most recently, one of the directional drillers I work with is also a pilot so we took a plane up and took some pictures of the rig from up above. We also found a small attraction that boasted a boat ride through a cave and wild life reserve.

Well I come to realize I haven't really said a whole lot about life on a rig but I guess it is a start. I will think of more things later hopefully.