Hey Everybody,
Sorry about how much time has passed since my last update. I've been staying busy- busy with work and collecting interesting stories. I've been safe from spider attacks (thankfully), but subject to amorous advances from numerous guys (I'm becoming a pro at turning them down).
If you have seen recent reports about the outbreak of Dengue in Brazil, don't worry because I haven't been infected. We had a presentation all about Dengue this week in our Safety and Quality meeting. It was all in Portuguese, but I think I got the most important points. I'm on the lookout for the black mosquito with white spots that transmits the virus. It doesn't spread person to person, only person to mosquito to person- or adult mosquito to baby mosquito to person. So far, Macaé hasn't had any cases (as far as we know), but Rio de Janeiro is very close and people travel back and forth a lot. If an infected person comes from Rio to Macaé, the mosquitoes here could bite them and start the spead of the disease here. But don't worry, I've got bug spray and Raid (they pronounce it like HIGH-gee). :)
Speaking of pronounciation, not only am I learning to speak Portuguese, I'm learning to speak English in Portuguese. This story would be much more effective and funny if you could actually here me telling it, but this will have to suffice. Brazilians use a lot of English words- they've incorporated them into their vocabulary. The trouble is that they pronounce them as Portuguese-ly as possible. We were putting equipment on racks- it took me all morning to realize that the word is the same in both languages. In Portuguese, they pronounce it like HA-key. I had figured out what a HA-key was, but I felt so silly when I realized that it wasn't some special Portuguese word, just a normal English one. My friend said something about Vick's Vapor Rub the other day, and I just about died laughing. He said it like: VIK-keys-VA-po-HOO-bee. Say it out loud.. you will laugh too. Just like Vickie's Vapo Hoobee. Some of my other favorites are: laptop = lappy toppy, and hip hop = hippy hoppy. The pronunciation of consonants at the end of words as the name of the consonant is great. It has not ceased to entertain this foreigner.
Entertainment... I went to a motorcycle convention a couple weekends ago in the next town. It was definitely an memorable experience! It wasn't my idea, I was just trying to have a weekend social life. It just so happens that all of my male, field engineer friends are into motorcycles. It was kind of like a carnival experience in the States. There were lots of booths selling fried food or cheap clothing/accessories. I was just disappointed that I left my leather chaps back at home. :-P Kidding. Kidding about the fact that I own chaps.. not that I left them at home.
I love peanut butter. It's pretty much my favorite condiment. I especially love Jif on Oreo cookies. Brazilians don't love peanut butter as a general rule. This disparity means that it's not a regular find in the grocery store. When I do find it, they only have Peter Pan brand.. really not the highest quality. Anyway.. I bought two jars this last time I found it sitting on the shelf, waiting for me. I don't like to run out- it makes my bread and jelly (and sandwich cookies) feel lonely. The sad thing about having an addiction is that regardless of how expensive it gets, you will still pay for it. Each of my peanut butters costs R$23 (reais).. that's like $14. Ridiculous.. I know. The price you pay for deliciousness...
I found out today that I should be going offshore on Friday. I've been waiting for my job to be ready for about a month now, so I'm pretty excited to go. I'll be going with two guys named Thiago and Vagner (chee-A-go and VAG-near). I should be gone for 10 days. It will be my first time in a helicopter and my first time on a drill ship (instead of normal rig that you would imagine). I'm sure I'll have lots to tell when I get back. (hopefully not about how I puked my guts out from seasickness)
I'm moving this week.. hopefully before I go offshore. (Otherwise I have to leave my bags all packed for Gabi to move them.) A ton of the engineers in Schlumberger are moving to a place called Macaé Palace. The Schlumberger royalty.. moving into our palace. I haven't been inside, but it's a big, new, nice-looking apartment building right on the beach. I'll be living with Gabi- just the two of us. We think our apartment has a round balcony facing the ocean. I'll confirm this fantastic news later, after we move in. We'll have a pool, a gym, and jacuzzi, and tons of friends on site. Hopefully, my air conditioning unit won't leak in case of a thunderstorm in this new place. :-) We will probably even get internet in our house! That's oh so very exciting for me and my communication with all ya'll back home. :)
Well.. I'm sorry this has taken so long to come. I apologize to everyone who has been waiting to hear about my life. I've been really busy with work and studying and life. I'll write again after I get back from offshore!
Beijos e abraços,
Sorry about how much time has passed since my last update. I've been staying busy- busy with work and collecting interesting stories. I've been safe from spider attacks (thankfully), but subject to amorous advances from numerous guys (I'm becoming a pro at turning them down).
If you have seen recent reports about the outbreak of Dengue in Brazil, don't worry because I haven't been infected. We had a presentation all about Dengue this week in our Safety and Quality meeting. It was all in Portuguese, but I think I got the most important points. I'm on the lookout for the black mosquito with white spots that transmits the virus. It doesn't spread person to person, only person to mosquito to person- or adult mosquito to baby mosquito to person. So far, Macaé hasn't had any cases (as far as we know), but Rio de Janeiro is very close and people travel back and forth a lot. If an infected person comes from Rio to Macaé, the mosquitoes here could bite them and start the spead of the disease here. But don't worry, I've got bug spray and Raid (they pronounce it like HIGH-gee). :)
Speaking of pronounciation, not only am I learning to speak Portuguese, I'm learning to speak English in Portuguese. This story would be much more effective and funny if you could actually here me telling it, but this will have to suffice. Brazilians use a lot of English words- they've incorporated them into their vocabulary. The trouble is that they pronounce them as Portuguese-ly as possible. We were putting equipment on racks- it took me all morning to realize that the word is the same in both languages. In Portuguese, they pronounce it like HA-key. I had figured out what a HA-key was, but I felt so silly when I realized that it wasn't some special Portuguese word, just a normal English one. My friend said something about Vick's Vapor Rub the other day, and I just about died laughing. He said it like: VIK-keys-VA-po-HOO-bee. Say it out loud.. you will laugh too. Just like Vickie's Vapo Hoobee. Some of my other favorites are: laptop = lappy toppy, and hip hop = hippy hoppy. The pronunciation of consonants at the end of words as the name of the consonant is great. It has not ceased to entertain this foreigner.
Entertainment... I went to a motorcycle convention a couple weekends ago in the next town. It was definitely an memorable experience! It wasn't my idea, I was just trying to have a weekend social life. It just so happens that all of my male, field engineer friends are into motorcycles. It was kind of like a carnival experience in the States. There were lots of booths selling fried food or cheap clothing/accessories. I was just disappointed that I left my leather chaps back at home. :-P Kidding. Kidding about the fact that I own chaps.. not that I left them at home.
I love peanut butter. It's pretty much my favorite condiment. I especially love Jif on Oreo cookies. Brazilians don't love peanut butter as a general rule. This disparity means that it's not a regular find in the grocery store. When I do find it, they only have Peter Pan brand.. really not the highest quality. Anyway.. I bought two jars this last time I found it sitting on the shelf, waiting for me. I don't like to run out- it makes my bread and jelly (and sandwich cookies) feel lonely. The sad thing about having an addiction is that regardless of how expensive it gets, you will still pay for it. Each of my peanut butters costs R$23 (reais).. that's like $14. Ridiculous.. I know. The price you pay for deliciousness...
I found out today that I should be going offshore on Friday. I've been waiting for my job to be ready for about a month now, so I'm pretty excited to go. I'll be going with two guys named Thiago and Vagner (chee-A-go and VAG-near). I should be gone for 10 days. It will be my first time in a helicopter and my first time on a drill ship (instead of normal rig that you would imagine). I'm sure I'll have lots to tell when I get back. (hopefully not about how I puked my guts out from seasickness)
I'm moving this week.. hopefully before I go offshore. (Otherwise I have to leave my bags all packed for Gabi to move them.) A ton of the engineers in Schlumberger are moving to a place called Macaé Palace. The Schlumberger royalty.. moving into our palace. I haven't been inside, but it's a big, new, nice-looking apartment building right on the beach. I'll be living with Gabi- just the two of us. We think our apartment has a round balcony facing the ocean. I'll confirm this fantastic news later, after we move in. We'll have a pool, a gym, and jacuzzi, and tons of friends on site. Hopefully, my air conditioning unit won't leak in case of a thunderstorm in this new place. :-) We will probably even get internet in our house! That's oh so very exciting for me and my communication with all ya'll back home. :)
Well.. I'm sorry this has taken so long to come. I apologize to everyone who has been waiting to hear about my life. I've been really busy with work and studying and life. I'll write again after I get back from offshore!
Beijos e abraços,
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