Feliz Navidad y Ano Nuevo...(The email I started writing a month and a half ago)

Disclaimer: This email is really long, and will be followed (hopefully in the next couple days) by other emails updating you all on my very busy start to 2009.  Please read at your leisure and don't be annoyed when I email you again soon.

La Navidad y el Año Nuevo

Welcome to the day-by-day journey of my holiday season in Colombia.

Tuesday, December 23

This was a normal workday.  After work, my boss, Darwin, took us all shopping.  We piled into two cars and headed off to the equivalent of a giant Costco to buy toys for less fortunate kids. Every year, Darwin goes driving around the city and passes out gifts to the kids of poor families who wouldn't get presents otherwise.  It was really fun to fill up our massive cart with toys.  We bought a ton of little cars for little boys and dolls for little girls (stereotypical gender roles, I know).  We also bought some basic clothing items and Christmas cookies to give out as presents.  Initially, we were focused on bargain toys- getting the most for our pesos.  When we were checking out, there was a promotion where a "Bonus Value" printed on your receipt.  Three times, we got some really good bonuses!!  It was so funny, three of us stayed at the cash register, and another three guys went running to find more toys to basically buy for free or really cheap.  The bonuses allowed us to splurge and get some really nice toys.  We got a Barbie and some action figures (which are actually pretty pricey down here).  Toy shopping was never so exciting J

Wednesday, December 24

I went to work in the morning; however, none of us actually did much work.  The celebration of the Novena had its conclusion and everyone was participating in the celebration.  My segment, Completions, was assigned a major role in the ceremonies.  There were a lot of Catholic readings, prayers, and Christmas songs.  I was nominated to participate in the reading portion.  I got to read a prayer (in Spanish of course) in front of the whole base.  It was supposed to be followed by an "Our Father" and a "Hail Mary," but someone else had to lead that part, since I'm not Catholic and don't know even known that stuff in English, much less Spanish.  The readings were followed by some traditional Colombian Christmas carols.  By then end, I had mastered the clapping pattern of the chorus.  Woot woot!!  Then there was traditional Christmas food, and drinks, and the live band played music.  There was one guy whom I had never met and who was dancing to every song with various women.  I was minding my own business, when he came over and asked me to dance.  Now, there wasn't anybody else dancing, lots of people watching, and I'm not quite the latin-born dancer that they breed down here.  Nevertheless, I accepted the offer and proceeded to embrace my dance partner and my foreign-ness on the dance floor.  It was fun, slightly embarrassing, filmed, and repeated to two more songs.

In the afternoon, we all left the base and went to go distribute the gifts we had bought the night before.  There are lots of poor families that stay in the medians of the major avenues.  They sell drinks and food to motorists or wash windshields for money.  We drove all around the city, and when we would get stopped at a red light, we would honk and wave the kids over to our cars.  They would go crazy for the presents, and then the lights would turn green again and we would drive away, leaving them with some Christmas cheer.  The coolest experience of the afternoon was the little girl that received the Barbie.  She ran away with her arms high in the air, yelling with excitement.  It was really cool to know that we helped bring some joy to a little girl's life during Christmastime. 

In the evening, I was invited over to Darwin's house for their Christmas Eve celebration.  Here, the 24^th is actually a bigger part of the whole holiday than the 25^th.  The party was Darwin, his wife- Vanessa, her mom, and her coworker, Darwin's sister, my coworker and his wife from Bolivia, and me.  Since Darwin and his family are Venezuelan, that made quite the international group- Venezuelans, Bolivians, Colombians and an American. We ate and drank and played games.  The craziest part of the evening was when we played Tabú, that's the Spanish version of Taboo- the game where you try to get your team to guess a word without using the related words listed on the card.  Everyone else spoke Spanish, so I gave clues buzzed people, and guessed words all in Spanish.  Not to brag or anything, but I'm proud to say that I didn't suck!!  On one turn, I actually got my team to guess four words!!  Now, for a foreign language, that's pretty darn good, if you ask me. 

Thursday, December 25

I spent my Christmas day alone.  It was kind of depressing, but I felt blessed by the wonderful Christmas Eve that I had.  I slept in, read the Christmas story to myself, and listened to my newest a cappella Christmas album by Straight No Chaser.  By the wonders of the internet, I was able to call my family back in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  My dad had one of the conference call phones they use for business calls, and I was able to be part of some of our family traditions.  Every year, we read a short novel called, "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," out loud as a family.  It's a laugh-out-loud kind of book, and even though I could probably recite at least half of it from memory, I never get tired of reading it each year.  It's rather convenient that there are seven people in my family and seven chapters.  I got to read my chapter of the book, and it was almost like I was in the same room as everybody, even though we were a continent away.  We all got to laugh together, and I got to hear stories of all four of my siblings playing doubles in Wii Tennis.  (Can I just comment here, that my entire life, we were never allowed to have any kind of video game system.  To this day, I am the worst video game player I know because of it.  Well, my parents waited until all of us kids moved out of the house to buy a Wii system and now they're addicted!!  Everyone who comes to our house nowadays must play Wii Bowling.  It's the newest part of the Schulte house experience.)  I digress.  Back to the holiday fun.

Friday, December 26

Not much to tell.  Hung out in the hotel, slept, thought about and planned my upcoming New York City Adventure.

Saturday, December 27

Worked from 8:00am until 2:30am, so that we didn't have to work on Sunday.  It may seem crazy, but being a tourist the next day made it worth it.

Sunday, December 28

I got picked up just before lunch to go visit Monserrate, a church up on one of the mountains overlooking Bogotá.  I went with my friend and coworker, Marcela, her family, and some other friends from work.  We drove to the point where we would catch the train or cable car up to the top of the mountain, then drove away from it to find a parking space.  Apparently Sundays are popular days to be tourists.  (FYI, there are some really nice photos of this excursion posted online on my Picassa site.)  Anyway, I got to sample some traditional foods.  I bought a pincho, that's meat on a stick.  I also had masorca, that's grilled corn on the cob.  It wasn't normal corn on the cob.  It had bigger kernels (like triple size of normal kernels) and tasted like popcorn.  Yum yum. 

Anyway, we bought our tickets and rode the train up the mountain.  The view was beautiful from up top.  We walked around the church and took lots of pictures.  Then we went into a market area where people were selling hand-made stuff of all sorts.  We went to eat lunch at a restaurant, and there were a pair of guys singing with a drum and guitar right out front.  It was quite poetic.  The food we ate was traditional Colombian food- a big plate of fried goodies that everyone shared and ate with toothpicks.  I was a brave soldier and tried everything the platter had to offer.  Yeah, that includes chicken, platano (like a banana), potatoes, tripe (intestines), chicharrones (crispy skin), liver, and morcillo (blood sausage).  I must say that I preferred some of the items more than others…  I washed it all down with a cold glass of refajo, a beverage made by mixing half beer and half a soft-drink called Colombiana.  The soft drink by itself reminds me of a cross between ginger ale and cream soda.  The refajo stuff seemed like pure craziness to me when I heard about it (beer and soda?  ewwww.. nasty), but it's wonderfully delicious.

After lunch, we went shopping.  I loved the stuff they were selling.  I bought a purse made of braided straw-like material.  It's really beautiful.  The fun part was bargaining with the vendors.  I saved lots of money… by spending lots of money… haha.

Finally, we decided to head back down to the city.  Most of the group took the train back down, but three of us decided to wait in the line to take the cable car down.  We waited in line for about 30 minutes.  There was a little boy about 3 years old in front of us in line with adorable big brown eyes.  He was the biggest flirt of a child that I have ever seen.  He kept starting at me and giggling.  Whenever the line would wind around a corner and he couldn't see me anymore, he would be looking and looking until he found me again and flash me a huge grin.  Another group of kids were watching me too (too bad I can't charge for being part of the sightseeing tour).  Right before we made it to the front of the line, they shyly asked if they could ask me a question.  They asked if I was North American.  I guess I don't really fit in around here.  Haha. 

Anyway, we finally made it onto the cable car.  We were packed pretty tightly into the single cabin.  I'd say there were about 30 of us standing in the approximate square footage of one and half minivans.  It's a steeper ride than the cable car for Pao de Azucar in Rio de Janeiro, but still nothing close to a thrill ride (Cedar Point Junkie here).  Nevertheless, a couple minutes before we stopped at the bottom, the movement just became too much for some lady in the corner.  She vomited right there in the closed, small, high population density space.  Thank goodness it happened at the end.  I've never seen people exit a mode of transportation faster than I saw people get off that cable car. 

Despite the lunch of internal organs and the smelling of someone's lunch at the end, I had a fantastic time.  Did I mention the pictures?  Check 'em out.

Monday, December 29

Worked until 9:30pm so that we didn't have to come in on Tuesday… this whole working late and getting the next day free is holiday season pattern around here.

After work, we had a party at the staff house apartment.  It was a going away party for our coworker, David.  The funny part was that he was only at the party for about forty minutes of the three hours that we were hanging out.  We're a pretty international group, so the party turned into a multi-national dance festival.  Everyone had a turn showing off traditional dance styles of their country.  We saw dances from Colombia (of course), Ecuador, and Bolivia.  I did a little country line dancing to represent the good ol' USA.  I have a bunch of hilarious videos that do the evening much more justice than my basic prose. 

Tuesday, December 30

Tuesday morning, I left with Marcela, her mom, Victor, and his wife, Maria for Neiva.  The five of us and our luggage were packed rather tightly into Marcela's car for the five-hour trip to her hometown.  We stopped along the way for snacks.  We were eating bread made from yucca (a potato-like vegetable) and drinking avena (a creamy beverage that tastes like cold, sweet oatmeal with way too much milk).  This little girl came up to us selling some cheese and said to me (in Spanish), "Your eyes are pretty, can you give them to me?"  She was really cute, and I was flattered.  We shared our snacks with her and bought the cheese she was selling.  Later we bought native fruits from street side vendors.  They were tasty, and I just chose not to think about the cleanliness level as I was consuming the juicy tastiness.

Wednesday, December 31

Wednesday was all about shopping.  New Year's Eve is a family centered holiday here in Colombia.  Everyone felt really bad for me that I wasn't home for New Year's, but I was just disappointed that it wasn't a bigger party holiday for me to experience.  Marcela's family was incredibly hospitable, and it inspired me to make one of my life goals making sure foreigners are included in holiday celebrations.  Anyway, that morning, all of us went shopping for enough food to feed the block, even though it was just going to be family.  The typical main course of the holiday is something called "pollo relleno."  For all y'all non-Spanish speakers, that means, "stuffed chicken."  It's like they take the chicken meat, grind it up with veggies and such, and then mold it back into a chicken shape.  You just slice, heat, and serve.  It comes pre-cooked… like a fancy hotdog J.  Strange but tasty.  In the neighborhood, there were parties everywhere.  Across the street there was a live band playing traditional music.  Everyone stays with their families until midnight, and then around 1am, the young folks go out dancing and such.  At the stroke of midnight, we had to eat twelve grapes.  Each one was supposed to be a wish for the new year.  I accidentally dropped one of my grapes on the ground… do you think that wish will still count?  I applied the five-second rule for the sake of 8.33% of my new year's wishes.  Wouldn't you?

Thursday, January 1

New Year's Day- a day for junk food, football and Lazy Boy chairs?  Well, if you're in Neiva, you go to a water park, Parque Juncal, of course.  I spent the afternoon figuring out which high-speed water slide was my favorite, relaxing on the lazy river, drinking beer, and reapplying sunscreen.  We went with a big group, and there was one family that had a little girl, Emily, of about seven years old.  She decided to adopt me as her favorite playmate for the day.  I don't know how much time we spent playing "tiburones" (sharks) in the kiddie pool.  She was adorable and full of energy.  I definitely got my workout for the day chasing her around.  When I wasn't babysitting, I was impressing the guys with my thrill seeking side.  The other girls were scared to go down the fast slides, but my biggest fear was for my swimsuit when I went to go stand up at the bottom with an audience.

The End!!  Well congrats if you read that all...

Love, 

2500 Meters Closer to the Stars

Hellooooooooo,

 So this email is long overdue and just long.  Consider yourself warned.

 I arrived in Bogotá two weeks ago.  My flight and arrival at my hotel were uneventful.  There are mountains all around the city.  It doesn't really look like the city is really high, but it is.  The city slogan is something like, "2500 meters closer to the stars."  Cute.  I can really notice the altitude when I climb stairs.  Man, I feel like the most out of shape person ever!!  I get to the top of two consecutive flights of stairs, and I'm huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf. 

 My first day at the base, the guys took me to lunch and to go shopping at what was basically a Colombian flea market.  One of the guys wanted to buy a camera, and all the electronics are much cheaper there than the mall.  The market itself is like a labyrinth of booths selling everything from pirated DVDs, to video games consoles (anybody want a Wii Fit?  They're in long supply), to shampoo, to blenders, to baby supplies.  Seriously, you could find anything you ever wanted there for cheap.  DVDs were selling for $2500 pesos (That's like $1.25USD).  Yeah… pretty ridiculous if you ask me.  The funniest part was how the vendors dealt with each other.  My friend was buying some music CDs, and if the particular vendor didn't have the one he wanted, they would run over to one of the other CD vendors and buy the CD from the other vendor to sell to my friend.  I thought it was pretty comical- anything to make a sale.  My first meal outside of the hotel was a typical Colombian specialty- Broasted Chicken.  I'm amazed at how much this country likes their fried chicken.  There's basically a friend chicken restaurant every other street corner.  It was too funny how this chicken was served.  They brought us baskets of the greasy goodness with food service gloves.  The gloves were for us, not the waiters.  You were supposed to eat with the oversized, thin plastic gloves on your hands to keep from getting greasy.  It's not a bad system, except when trying to pick up my plastic cup of Coca Cola Light.  The combination of greasy plastic on plastic resulted in slippery situation.  I resorted to the two-hand, I-feel-like-I'm-three-years-old method. 

 So that first day at the base was a Tuesday.  I found out that day that I would be going on a job on Wednesday.  Welcome to Colombia!  Jobs here are WAY different than in Brazil.  Instead of a quick one-hour helicopter ride to the rig, here we had to drive eight hours in a truck.  We spent all of Wednesday afternoon in the truck: David (the job supervisor), Dagoberto (the driver), and me.  I listened to more hours of Colombian salsa music than I care to count.  Apparently that's all the rural radio likes to play.  It was really beautiful driving along the windy road, through the Andes Mountains.  We had lunch at a little mountain restaurant.  I ate things that I can't name or tell you what they were.  As my friend Bruno says whenever I ask what a particular food in Brazil is, "Just shut-up and eat."  It's a good motto when trying to eat food in a different culture.  After about 3 hours in the mountains, we came out of a tunnel and descended into Los Llanos (that means "the flats/the plains" in Spanish).  The mountains just abruptly stopped and we were suddenly in the South American equivalent of Iowa (minus the corn fields).  Flat, flat, flat.  We drove past a farm growing a plant I didn't recognize.  I asked David what it was, and he told me they were cocaine plants.  I didn't believe him… what a jokester.  He thought he could get me on an American stereotype, but I'm too clever for that. J  Part of the reason we were in the truck for so many hours was because the quality of the roads wasn't exactly ideal (largest exaggeration of 2008).  I would say that about a third of the eight hours were spend on poor dirt roads.  It makes sleeping difficult when the truck is bouncing up and down, and side-to-side.

 We got to the well, and found out that we would be sleeping at a campsite down the road until they needed us at the rig.  Basically, I was sleeping in a trailer that was just big enough for a bunk bed, sometimes didn't have toilet paper, smelled moldy, and had no TV or Internet access.  I guess sometimes we have to sleep in the truck on jobs, or at hotels over an hour away from the well site, so I shouldn't complain.  To get to the campground, we had to drive through a slum, which made my crummy living conditions seem luxurious.  The national police had soldiers there, so there was no real danger; but it was really sad to see the conditions in which these people live.  They were wood structures, wrapped in blue tarps for walls.  They didn't have beds, just hammocks.  They make their living selling food and drinks to the rig staff when they're not working.  It's really hard when you compare the wealth of the oil industry (even with the recession) compared to the bare poverty of these people. 

 At meals, I was stared at ALL the time!!  I thought I drew a lot of attention in Brazil.  Whoops.. I was mistaken.  In Brazil, it was more likely based on my appearance that I was Brazilian.  Here, there's no chance really that I'm Colombian.  At any meal, the whole room full of guys would unashamedly just stare at me.  In my head, there's an acceptable amount of time to look at someone without it being really weird, but these guys weren't familiar with my mental standards for their stares.  Even if I looked back, they wouldn't stop looking.  It almost made me uncomfortable.  There was one guy who was convinced that we would make a great couple.  He barely made it to my shoulder, didn't speak English, and told me that he "liked big girls."  I think that was supposed to make me like him back.  Not even close.  He proposed marriage to me on the drill floor.  I tell people that I have a boyfriend when I'm on jobs to try to diminish the amount of attention I do get.  This persistent guy wasn't swayed in his determination.  He informed me that Brazil (the location of my fake boyfriend) was really far away, and that I was in Colombia now and needed a Colombian husband.

 After the job was over, we drove to the nearest town (1.5 hours away), called Puerto Gaitan (population 1000).  We stayed there for a couple days waiting to see if we needed to go directly to another well before heading back to Bogotá.  The hotel we stayed at was one of the nicest in the town, but had no restaurant or running hot water.  David and I were there with other guys from Schlumberger from another segment.  They started drinking beers at 10am.  Apparently that's the thing to do if you're not working.  I stuck to "La Colombiana," a tasty soft drink (gaseosa, if you will).  We had lunch at a restaurant with a dirt floor and thatch roof.  We ate "carne al llanero," which is meat that is slow-cooked on a stake in a circle around an open fire.  It's only found in that region, I guess.  It was smoky and tasty, and I would eat it again.  After lunch, we headed down to the docks on the river.  There, the guys drank more beers, and took turns asking me to dance.  There was typical Colombian music playing, and they were impressed with my salsa skills. 

 It turned out that we didn't need to go to another well, so we headed back towards Bogotá.  At the point when we were heading up the hill to enter the tunnel that entered the Andes Mountains, the clutch on the truck stopped working.  It was literally 100 yards before we entered a three-mile long tunnel.  Thank goodness that it happened before we entered the tunnel.  We pulled over to the side of the road, and the national police guys told us to head back down to the town at the bottom of the hill and get the problem fixed.  We had to push the car to turn it around, and then coast for 2 miles down the hill until we reached the conveniently located car dealership.  Really, we lucked out.  It took a couple hours to get the part we needed and to get it fixed, but we were back on the road soon enough.  On the way home, we stopped at the geographical center of Colombia.  It was nifty.  There was an obelisk and a small pyramid of sorts.  I don't know why they had Egyptian landmarks, but it made a nice photo opportunity. 

 Since I got back from the job, I've been impressed with the spirit of the Colombian people.  They are really into Christmas.  There are Christmas lights on almost every building from banks to apartment high-rises, to even the houses in the slums.  I think it speaks a lot to their hope and love when people with barely anything spend time and money on Christmas lights to decorate their homes.  The lights are the biggest thing that makes me feel like Christmas is actually here, so I really appreciate them.  They celebrate the Novena here.  It's the nine days before Christmas.  Everyday at work, in the morning, they sing Christmas songs (that I don't know), and there is free traditional Colombian food.  It's like a Christmas party every day, and I love it. 

 I'm also impressed by how many malls they have here.  So far, I've seen five.  These Bogotá residents like their shopping! 

 I'm coming back to the USA in January.  I'll be back Jan 6-18.  I'm coming back for a review with Schlumberger in Houston at the end of that time, and I'll be in Grand Rapids, MI and NYC.  When I finalize my plans, I'll let you know more.  If anyone wants to hang out in NYC with me on the weekend of Jan 9-11, you're invited!!

 Well… congrats if you made it to the end.  You're a trooper!!

 Love,

Happy Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving,

 

I'm still on the rig as of this morning.  I may get a flight back to shore today, depending on the weather.  It really doesn't feel like a holiday- there's no unwanted snow falling, no real football on TV, no pumpkin pie.  And everyone knows that those are the things that make Thanksgiving the great American holiday that it is.  Haha.  Well, we'll see what they serve for lunch and dinner today.  Maybe we four Americans on the rig will get lucky, and the cafeteria will serve up some turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy.  I'm crossing my fingers. 

 

Anyway, I wanted to include ya'll in my reflections on some of the things that I'm thankful for. 

• My relationship with God who loves me and pursues me and never lets go of me
• My family who has been through lots of stuff and still loves God and loves each other in authentic relationships
• My friends that are like family to me- loving me, praying for me, asking the hard questions and not letting me take the easy way out
• The ridiculous amounts of grace that I've been shown by God, family, and friends
• My job that has been a blessing in getting to travel, experience different cultures and people, and being stretched in my limits of what I thought I could do
• My safety working in a foreign country, and in a working environment filled with high-risk activities
• The opportunity to go to Colombia and experience a new culture, meet more of God's loved creations, and trust him that I have a purpose there
• My health and ability to run, exercise, and do active things I enjoy
• Financial security and the ability to bless others with what I've been blessed with
• New Life Church in Ann Arbor, MI and community there that changed my life and continues to change it, a continent away
• Being able to see the sunrise and sunset in the same day from a rig, and experience the power and beauty of creation
• The moments each day that are completely priceless
• Belly laughs with friends
• An email list of friends and family who actually care how I'm doing and look forward to my emails :)

Well, thanks for reading this.  I hope you all have an opportunity to reflect on some of the things you're thankful for today.  I hope that most of you are with family, and appreciate what a true blessing that is. 

 

Missing home today,

Everything is more complicated offshore

Hey everyone,

 

I'm still offshore.  At the moment, we're waiting for the sea conditions to improve to continue with the operation.  The forecast is for things to get better by Tuesday.  Today is Sunday.  Ho hum... that means lots of time to hang around the rig.  I slept all day yesterday, thinking that we were going to be working this morning at 4am.  When the sea conditions worsened, it meant that we weren't going to be working this morning and that I could sleep all night.  Oh darn!!  It's rather difficult to sleep when you're completely well rested.

 

I decided to go use the gym to use up some energy and be able to sleep through the night.  I started running on the treadmill, and it was, by far, the most interesting treadmill experience I have ever had.  Running on a treadmill is normally a simple thing- you just run forward.  There's no incline unless you program it; there are no bumps or cracks in the sidewalk, no puddles to jump over or avoid.  Very basic.  Anyway, this is the mentality of someone who's never run on a treadmill on a floating rig with poor sea conditions.  I started running at my normal pace, but despite the fact that the velocity of the treadmill never changed, I was running all over the place.  Because of the action of the waves and the rocking of the rig, I was running in circles and running forward at the same time.  Sometimes I would be almost falling off the back of the treadmill, encroaching on the front, or side-stepping to keep from catching my foot on the edge of tread and stationary frame.  If you tracked my actual position on the treadmill, I'm pretty sure it would look like something a drunk person created with a Spirograph (toy from my childhood... look it up on Wikipedia if you've never played with one).  I thought the whole experience was really funny, and I was really glad I was in there by myself for the majority of my run.

 

Well, that's all for now.  I'm heading off to the Sunday churrasco lunch, complete with non-alcoholic beer.  Later it's the big game (soccer of course) on TV and watching movies on my computer.  Maybe I'll head up to the gym again this afternoon :)

 

Love,

Random topics from a girl who should be sleeping

Hey Fine People,

 

I´m offshore again.  I have more responsibilities this time, and I´m enjoying it.  It´s been ridiculously hot the past couple days.  It´s actually the humidity that´s killing me.  I stepped outside this morning at 6am and I was instantly sweating the kind of sweat that doesn´t dry... ever.  Our operation started this morning, and I´m going to supervise the middle part.  That means that I´m supposed to be resting right now while the other guys are up there working.  The problem is that I´ve already slept all that I can sleep.  It´s rather sad- I know that I´ll have to be awake and alert for hours upon hours later (all night), but there are only so many hours you can sleep when you´re already well-rested.  It´s like I have a sleep cup that I can fill up, but then any extra just overflows and doesn´t get saved.  I wish I had a sleep bank, where I could just keep making deposits and watch the savings grow... with interest.  :) 

 

There are a couple American and Canadian guys that work here on the rig.  It´s pretty cool to speak some of my native tongue with other natives.  Oh, funny story: On this rig, we have little, cloth booties (in Portuguese they´re pantufas=slippers) that we put on over our dirty boots when we come into the living quarters of the rig from outside in the working area.  They help the inside stay nice and clean and hospitable.  You have to take them off and keep them in your pocket when you go back outside.  One of the guys that I´m offshore with, Edivaldo (ed-jee-VAL-do), forgot to take his booties off and walked all over the rig yesterday before someone told him about it.  Okay... maybe it´s more of a "you had to be there" kind of story, but now we´re calling him Ed "Pantufas" (EDGE-pan-TOO-fuss).  And I think it´s really funny (I´m laughing out loud to myself again, alone in the Technicians Office).  I´m glad my nickname isn´t Jessica "Slippers."

 

So I wanted to elaborate on the PS of my last email (for those of you who made it all the way to the bottom- like I made it to the bottom of The Peak).  I´m not sure if I have mentioned it before, but my Brazilian visa expires in December.  At that point, I won´t legally be able to work in Brazil anymore.  I have to leave the country for three months, and then I can apply for a new work visa.  The visa renewal process will take six to eight weeks after I apply for it.  I was waiting for a while to figure out where my bosses were going to send me for the four to five months that I can´t work in Brazil.  The final decision is Bogotá, Colombia.  I´ll probably be leaving for Colombia in mid-December.  If anyone wants to come down to South America for Christmas, I´d be happy to have guests!

 

At first I was pretty nervous about the decision.  All you ever hear in the US about Colombia is related to drug trafficking and kidnappings.  I´ve spoken with various friends who have been there, and they have decent things to say about it.  Apparently it´s become a lot better than it used to be in the 90´s.  Hopefully it will be as good as they say it is.  It will be a much cooler climate, because the city is in the mountains.  I´m sad to think about leaving all my friends here in Brazil.  I think I´ll be coming back for a couple months in Brazil, but to be honest, I´m not totally sure.  It will depend on how soon the guys want me back in Houston, TX. 

 

So, I´m going to go eat dinner now and then try to sleep again.  Maybe I´ll just lay in the dark with my eyes closed for hours.  Sounds like fun!!!  See you there!  Hahaha... anyway, I apologize for the rambling nature of this email. 

 

Love ya´ll,

The Peak

Hey Everyone,

I realize that it has been forever and half since I wrote last. A lot has been happening, and I will try to fill you in on the important stuff.

I was back in the US for a week in October, because my paternal grandmother passed away. She had been sick with liver cancer for a couple months, so we all knew it was going to happen, but that didn't make it any less sad when it actually did come to pass. I found out on a Saturday morning that she was gone after I had slept for just two hours in the past twenty-four. I called my parents and my boss, bought a plane ticket, packed in hurry, and flew back to the US that same evening. When I arrived in the airport in Grand Rapids twenty-two hours after I left Macaé, my luggage didn't. I was jet-lagged, sleep deprived, and grieving, and I almost lost it in the airport. I ended up getting my bag back that evening, so it was okay. My family went over to Milwaukee, WI for the funeral. The circumstances were really sad, but it was really good to be with my family (immediate and extended).

Three weekends ago, I went to Niterói, the city across the Guandabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro and hometown to my good friend, Bruno. After months of invitations, I finally went to visit him and his girlfriend, Louise. I stayed at her house, and they took me on a "passeo turístico" or tourist circuit. It was really fun. We went to to Pão de Azucar (Sugarloaf Mountain) on Saturday morning. It was pretty hazy up around the top of the mountain as we drove over the bridge over the Bay, connecting Niterói to Rio. I rolled the windows of the car down and did my best to blow the clouds away. We arrived at Sugerloaf and decided to pay the fare to go up to the top in spite of the haze. I'm not sure if it was my amazing lung power or some good luck, but as we got to the top of the cable car ride, the clouds had cleared enough to enjoy the beautiful views of the city- from sandy-white beaches, to green mountains, to the pockets of towering, white buildings, with the Christ statue looking down over everything. It was amazing that right when we decided to head back down, the clouds swooped down and completed covered the mountaintop in fog again. It was all in all, perfect timing.

We drove along the famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema,had a late lunch at a great restaurant in Ipanema called Gula Gula (pronounced GOO-la GOO-la- which is fun to say, I don't care who you are), and headed back across the bridge to Niterói for naps, showers, and went out for frozen margaritas in the evening. It was fun to hang out with their friends, and I had the best nachos I've had yet in Brazil. They were regular tortilla chips instead of nacho flavored Doritos!! I don't know how some many people can mess up something as basic as nachos, but they manage to do a great job of it.

Sunday, after lunch, we went to a beach in Niterói to hike the mountain/hill (henceforth referred to as The Peak because if it's precipitous nature) that rises above the beach. I somehow missed the memo to bring along appropriate gear for a HIKE. I was dressed in a jeans skirt, white halter top, and cute little tennis shoes that weren't made for anything more athletic than normal walking. I decided that I was up for a challenge, and that we should do the hike anyway. The first part was fine. It was through the woods, along a trail that was pretty well defined. The problem came when we hit the tree line. I came face to face with the face of The Peak. I started climbing up. I leaned forward slightly climb with my feet and hands (it was a pretty steep angle). As I started my ascent, all I could seem to think (or talk) about was, "How the heck am I going to climb down this thing?!?" Climbing up was somewhat of a perilous task, but at least on the way up, gravity was working to keep my velocity steady. I kept picturing myself slipping on the way down and rolling, out of control, down The Peak, occasionally hitting a cactus and changing direction.

At one particularly difficult patch of rock, I really freaked out. I "sat down" on the slope and debated continuing up or turning around. The view was already pretty cool, and I really value my life. Haha. Bruno was telling me that the worst was already over, and that I was going to have to go down the hard part anyway, so I might as well keep going to the top. During my period of mental turmoil, I saw a group of people walking down. They were not freaking out at all. It was rather embarrassing. They were dressing in swimsuits and flip-flops. At that point, Bruno promised that if I didn't make it to the top, he would make fun of me for the rest of my life. Louise told him to be nicer and agreed to let me use her tennis shoes. The combination of the new-shoes-instilled confidence and desire to maintain my dignity encouraged me to keep climbing. Five minutes after I decided to keep climbing, we saw a guy with his little dog climbing down. I got made fun of again because the little dog had no problem on the hike.

I did indeed make it to the top. The view was great, and I felt quite proud of myself. We started to head back down with enough time to be down before the sun set completely. I took my time climbing down. I pretended I was skiing and cut back and forth along the diagonal whenever possible and scooted down on my bottom when necessary. The satisfaction resulting from making it to the top was eclipsed by my joy resulting from reaching the bottom. I conquered The Peak!! Maybe that's a little messed up, but that's okay with me. I never claimed to be normal. Haha.

Anyway, this has become a really long email. Bruno is still telling the story to everyone who will listen and laugh at me. I'm heading offshore this afternoon. I'll give you more info soon.

Love,

Jessica

PS. I'm moving to Bogota, Colombia in December because of my expiring Brazilian visa.

Back onshore and using my new oven

Hey everyone,

 

First of all, I meant to tell you all that I eventually did get off the rig on September 19th.  My flight was delayed by three days, but eventually the weather cooperated and the helicopters met the maintenance checks at the same time- allowing us to leave.  There was a mini going away party for us in the briefing room where we waited for the helicopter.  It was sad to leave, but 24 days was enough time.  I was glad to get back to land, the ability to walk for more than 3 minutes in one direction before changing direction to avoid falling in the ocean, socks with no numbers on them, a selection of clothes larger than three t-shirts, make-up, and jewelry.  Since then, I've been keeping in touch with a bunch of guys from the rig- from the roustabouts (low man on the totem pole) to the tool pusher (big boss).  So far, I've turned down all the proposals to date them or any of their family members.  (You can laugh, but I've had at least five offers, and it's rather ridiculous.) 

 

When I got back, my boss gave me four days off.  Woot woot!  As an international employee, I'm not supposed to get days off.  I think my boss had pity on me, and decided to bend the rules a little to help maintain my sanity.  I spent 3 of the four days at the base anyway, doing stuff on my computer that I don't have time to do when I'm in the workshop all day long.  All the guys gave me a hard time for being at the base, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  It wasn't enough time to come home for two days, and I don't have people to travel with when all my friends are working.  I could sit at home by myself, but being the extreme extrovert that I am, I preferred to be where I could interact with other humans.

 

I like making guacamole.  Random, I know.  I wouldn't say that I'm the most domestic person I know (massive understatement), but there are certain food items that I really enjoy making (and eating).  Guacamole is one of them.  Anyway, I was at the grocery store with Gabi and Bruno and I was perusing the produce section.  I was thinking about making guac this week, so I wanted to make sure all the ingredients were available for purchase at our semi-sub-par grocery store.  I didn't see any avocados, so I asked Bruno if he saw any.  He pointed me to a vegetable that was at least twice the size of any avocado I had ever seen.  When I expressed that I thought it was really big, he looked surprised and said that he thought they were rather small.  Snap!!  Brazilian avocados are gargantuan!

 

I went downtown with Gabi last weekend.  The shops there are only open during the weekdays and on Saturday morning.  Of course we work on the weekdays, and if we don't work on Saturday, it's rather depressing to wake up early to catch a bus downtown to run errands.  Anyway, Saturday, Gabi and I gathered our motivation to wake up and tackle some things we needed to get done.  We made purchases for our apartment, but they almost didnt happen on account of our multiple stops in clothing and shoe stores.  Gabi loves shopping, so do I occasionally, and the dollar is doing really well compared to the Real at the moment... all in all, a dangerous combination.  The most notable purchase was a mini oven.  Yes... an oven!!!  It's extremely exciting.  We christened the appliance with a frozen pizza, and it was delicious and convenient. 

 

The only other thing to note was the party I went to two weekends ago.  It was a country party, meaning everyone went dressed up like a country person.  Country people are different in Brazil than in the US.  Apparently, all the girls wear frilly mini-skirts in awful, ugly prints and bright colors and matching shirts with puffed, short sleeves.  I didn't have a ridiculous costume, and for this, I felt slightly ridiculous and conspicuous at the party.  It was like halloween, only everyone decided to go as the same thing.  It was pretty funny.

 

Well.. that's all for now.  I'll continue the stories of my life later.

--
Jessica Schulte


jessica.j.schulte@gmail.com

jessica-jordan.blogspot.com
picasaweb.google.com/Jessica.J.Schulte

+55 22 2763 5301 (office)
+55 22 9217 6526 (prepaid cell)
+55 22 2106 6800, (Reception at home, ask for apartment 601A)

Rua Paulo Sérgio C Vasconcelos, 424,
Granja dos Cavaleiros CEP:27930-310,
Macaé - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

"Oh Lord, You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea.  But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature.  You who are the God of all of these, be my God.  I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot discover, dreams I cannot realize.  My God, search me."  -Psalm 139 paraphrased by Oswald Chambers