Interesting Lunch

So it's been about a month since I last updated and I am sure you all are dying to know what I have been up to but since I am not the greatest at keeping up this blog thing I suppose I needed to reason to write something.  Today at lunch I found my reason.

There is a eatery right across the street from the hotel we are at which we call the Green Restaurant just because it has a green awning but it's not the true name of the place.  Anyway, last time a huge group of us went we discovered they made this chocolate filled crispy tortilla goodness.  Anytime you say chocolate, I am always down - thanks Dad :-)  Today, being my day off, I decided to get some take out from there which included the chocolaty deliciousness!  After I ordered the waitress pointed to a booth I could wait in but as I was walking towards the booth this Chinese man pulled out a chair at his table and asked me to sit down (in English).  I figured he wanted to practice his English, which he did, so I did not mind.  I was then given chopsticks and rice and served tea.  I tried to communicate that I ordered take out and thank you very much but they did not seem to understand and kept saying 'don't mind, please eat eat' so I ate.  They were very nice men but only one, Sean, spoke English.  He learned English to become a tour guide on the side of his construction business.  He likes America very much but has yet to visit due to money constraints.  Thanks to the hospitality of these nice men I had a lunch for free but now I am sitting staring at the chocolate treat, full from lunch, but still yearning to eat it....did I or didn't I?  You caught me, I did, but only a quarter because I can save the rest for afternoon snack.

Now for some updates over the past month...

Location:  We are located in the city close to the grocery store and clubs and within walking of some really good restaurants!  The city itself is very clean, there are people that ride bikes picking up trash daily.  I look out my window and see green hills slightly beyond the city.

Weather:  Hot and humid ALL the time, even at night which I was not expecting.  Although I enjoy working at night because even though it's still warm and humid there is no sun blaring down on you.

Food:  Some people have asked me to describe the difference between Chinese food here and in the states.  It's hard to describe, I mean it's definitely different, but to put in words is a little difficult for me.  A lot of things are stewed here, but don't ask me in what and I probably don't want to know.  They do like things spicy here which I can handle if I have bread with me or rice, which is a plethora here.  The pictures on the menus look exactly as what you may find in the Chinese places back home but the taste is not.  By trial and error people have found dishes that work and are delicious.  And of course, you always have the staple KFC and McDonald's here.  I do have to admit I have had both a couple of times since being here.  They don't have cheese over here and when I crave cheese I go get a McD's double cheeseburger - yum!  And the take away bags are cute for the drinks and sundaes.  They actually have a handle to carry your drink and if you have ice cream sundae they put ice in the bag to ensure it stays cold for you - thoughtful huh!?

Transportation:  There are the usual transportation methods such as a bus, walking and taxi cabs but then there are two methods, that I do not know what they are called, but I call them motorcycle and motorbuggy (I just made those up now actually).  There are the guys on motorcycles that just wait around until you come up to them and tell them where you want to go.  The motorbuggy's are essentially motorcycles with a domed cavity attached that can hold anywhere from 4-7 people depending on their size.  We take these everywhere and it's a cheap way to transport our large group.  Every weekend we use this to go to the field where we play Ultimate Frisbee and Soccer. 

Work:  Now that this isn't my training assignment, I am going on shift which has it's ups and downs.  For the past week or so we have been doing inspection of the vessels and for being a new unit it sure is dirty.  When I was in Trinidad and we did inspections I came out looking like when I went inside but here, it is dirty as heck for being a new unit.  We look like we just came out of a coal mine our faces are so black with dirt.  I really should try to get a picture of that!  I am excited to get on a normal shift rotation and have long offs to allow for travel to other parts of China.  I have not really seen much since I have been here the past month but looking forward to what lies ahead.  My parents are already planning a visit in September! Also, the Asians truly value sleep and most cubicles have a bed that you can pull out and sleep on.  For an hour after lunch, everyday, everyone sleeps...not UOP though, we don't have beds in our cubicles (although some people do).

I would also like to say Thank You to my mom who drove down to Chicago while I was in town for a week in between Trinidad and China.  She was my personal shopper.  She also brought down my cat, Bode, so I could visit with him since I hadn't seen him in 7 months.  He is the cutest thing!!!

Happy 25th and Arrival in China

I left the afternoon of July 17th for China and arrived the afternoon of the 18th to Beijing...probably my shortest birthday yet :-)  but it was a good one.  Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday!!

Today, all and all, went fairly well.  Arrival at the airport - check.  Checking in, getting boarding pass and not being charged for overweight luggage - smooth.  Boarding the flight - fantastic because I started drinking the mimosa's before aircraft doors closed.  Food on the flight was delicious and I ate a lot - had seconds on the ice cream.  While eating I watched the movie Date Night which I thought was funny and cute all at the same time.  For the rest of the flight I slept and listened to music until 'morning' time which was really lunch time because it was the next day...skip head 13 hours already...time really does fly. 

Disembarking from the plane went smooth as well and no problems with customs.  I headed down towards baggage claim for the dreaded hurry up and wait game.  To my surprise the bags had already started around when I arrived.  Since the baggage trolleys were free I snagged one to use and after only 5 minutes my safety bag showed up.  Now I was thinking "sweet, maybe I won't have to wait around until the end" but I thought it too soon.  I waited, and waited and waited and saw everyone slowly leaving the area from my plane but my second bag was no where to be seen.  A nice lady with a scanner scanned by baggage claim tickets and said the bag I was waiting for did not make the flight.  Bummer - I filed a report and hopefully within the next 2 days I will receive my bags at my final destination hotel.  This happened to me as well when I went to Trinidad except it was my safety bag which did not make the flight.  I wonder if this will start to be a tradition/game - let's see which one of my bags did not make the flight at the other end?!

I went to the area of the Beijing airport which has shuttle buses thinking maybe my hotel had a shuttle bus I could take.  Well it did not but the nice lady at the ticket counter said that if I took bus number 6 right outside it would take me to where I needed to be - alright then, I hoped on the bus.  After taking my seat and the bus left the airport I then realized I did not exactly ask which stop to get off at but recalled which area she said.  According to the sign I just barely noticed before I got on the bus my gut told me I stay on until the end of the ride.  The end of the route came and I did not see any buildings with any hotel names on them so I confirmed with the bus driver that I was indeed in the correct area.  The bus driver pointed to the main road and told me to turn left - hotel will be there.  I did just that but only noticed the Marriott.  I did not want to keep walking just in case I was going to wrong direction so I walked into the lobby to confirm.  The bus driver was indeed correct, I just needed to keep walking about 5 minutes further.  Now keep in mind that I am wearing a backpack and pulling my heavy safety bag or other carry on luggage behind me while the temperature was 90F and high humidity.  Doesn't that sound exciting?! 

It was glorious to check in and go up to my air conditioned room.  I tried turning the lights on but noticed nothing happened and I thought maybe something was wrong or fuse blown.  I determined somehow that this small box with a red light next to the light switches fit the room key so I swiped my room key in then back out again and what is that saying...?...'let there be light'  Although after maybe 20-30 seconds the lights would go out and I would keep swiping my key card thinking how am I going to keep these lights on continuously.   Took about the third or fourth time for me to realize I leave my room key in the slot to keep the lights on.  That was my clue that it will be an early bed time for me tonight!

Hopefully Air China will not lose my safety bag tomorrow....night y'all! (or should I say morning to most)

Goodbye Trinidad - Hello China + Happy Birthday

I was warned that road life could become hectic when you think you know what direction you are headed.  My current training assignment here in Trinidad is not quite finished yet but I received notification three days ago that I was assigned a billable assignment in China.  I figured I would finish this assignment first before shipping out to China....WRONG!  I am heading back to Chicago this morning - I leave for the airport in an hour.  I will take care of personal and work related items during the next six days in which I then fly to China on Saturday. 

I had plans to celebrate my birthday which happens to be next Saturday the 17th with everyone here in Trinidad - Trini style.  Another UOP crew member even has the exact same birthday - cool huh?!  So that is now not happening but...I received an email from my future crew members in China saying that on Saturday the 17th they will be getting together to celebrate my future chief's birthday, which happens to fall on the 17th as well.  Seriously now, think about these odds.  My first assignment and someone has the same birthday and now my second assignment all the way in China and someone there also has the same birthday...I still can't get my head wrapped around the idea but it's pretty cool anyhow!!  Sadly though I will be unable to make it to China for the Saturday event.  What will I be doing you ask?  Have you guessed yet?...I will fly out on my birthday.  I will be drink mimosa's as soon as I board!!!  Champagne is my drink of choice.

Since I went from having two possibilities of celebrating my birthday on the actual day either Trini or China style to being on a plane by myself, my Trinidad crew had a surprise.  Being that tonight was my last night I felt it only appropriate to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant, right?!  Upon arrival we sat down at the table and it took us a few minutes but noticed that there was a Happy Birthday sign with balloons above the end of the table.  Now I know what you are thinking, ah that is sweet - but that was just a coincidence and not the surprise.  I am not sure when Vinosh had time to ask the waiter but at the end of the meal the waiter brought over a slice of cheesecake with one candle.  The local saxophone player and singer sang Happy Birthday to me and then I made a wish :-)

L to R: Vinosh (Petrotrin), Ken, Jeremy, Me, Afshin, Kelly, Eric

Thanks for the wonderful birthday wishes and cheesecake!  I will miss you Trinidad...until next time!

Happy 4th of July from Trinidad

Yes, Yes, Yes I am still here in Trinidad but to relax on this 4th of July weekend I decided to take an overnight trip to Tobago.  Eric, a fellow crew member, and his wife Kelly were already there and they were kind enough to let me stay with them in their hotel room because they had two beds and we were all leaving the next morning.  Sounds all well and good....it should have been but.....  I arrived to the airport a little more than 45 minutes before my flight.  Waited in line to check in and when I reached the counter the clerk said my flight has 'closed' 3 minutes ago.  I kept asking what that meant and her response "It closed!".  Finally I was able to get her to tell me what my next steps should be which was to check in as a standby passenger.  No problem I thought because I have flown standby my entire life - no biggie.  I turn to my left and saw a large large gathering of people in line trying to fly standby to Tobago.  When I reached the counter here is how the conversation went:
Me:  How long is the wait?
Clerk:  Can't say
Me:  Okay, can you tell me how many people are infront of me?
Clerk:  Can't tell you
Me:  Alright, how come you can not tell me?
Clerk:  Because it causes conflict with others who I flying standby
Now, as soon as I heard that last statement I knew I was going to be in for a treat (and not one you look forward to either).  I suspected that their system of standby was not based off when you checked in with the clerk but random order upon when the agents felt like for a variety of reasons.  I was indeed correct because the man who checked in before me left 2 hours before I did.  What? you ask yourself, 2 hours?  Yes, I know, I waited around the airport for 4 hours until I was able to get on a flight which takes 20 minutes to reach Tobago. 

By the time I landed there really wasn't much sun left so I walked the 5 minutes to the hotel and the three of us relaxed by the poolside until we got ready for dinner.  The hotel was extremely relaxing; I am definitely going back there another weekend! Here are some pictures so you can live vicariously through me.  We ate dinner at a local place that was owned by a German.  The food was yum - and since he was German, part of the veggies that came with my ribs included red cabbage german style - delicious!

Kelly and Eric had the flight back to Trinidad which left 30 minutes before mine.  Their flight was on time however mine was delayed and I arrived back an hour after originally scheduled.  This weekend was not my luck at the airports!

Tonight the entire crew contributed to making a Fourth of July grill out to bring a little home to Trinidad.  We found a disposable grill and made brats and hamburgers.  Kelly and I cooked the sides - pasta salad, baked beans and deviled eggs.  Everything was delicious and fun had by all.  The one thing we forgot to pick up - fireworks!

A Crab, Some Caterpillars & A Queen

I came back to my room at the hotel for lunch one day and noticed something on the hallway carpet.  At first I just thought it was a small pile of dirt which I thought was in an odd location of the hallway.  As I continued moving forward the dirt piled moved incredibly quick behind a newspaper...the dirt pile turned out to be a tiny crab. My stupid point and shoot camera would not let me focus on the crab by I tried my best to capture him or her - now image if that was in my room...actually let's not.

Kelly and I were heading out to see the new Shrek movie, the hotel staff stopped us to see if we have seen the caterpillars.  The only caterpillars I had ever seen were small and not too jaw dropping to stare at so I was wondering what was so special about these...?  To my fullest surprise these caterpillars are the largest and prettiest I have ever seen.  Can you spot them in the trees?  I saw hello to my new friends every morning.

Now you are probably expecting to see more pictures of animals for the Queen bit of my title.  Will it be a queen ant or bee or boat?  Boat...what...boat?  Yes, indeed the queen in which I refer to is a party boat called the Treasure Queen.  The bartender at the hotel, Ria, asked me if I would like to come along.  A few of my co-workers went on the same boat experience a month prior and very much enjoyed themselves.  The Queen sailed at midnight and docked back at 3AM.  There was drinking and dancing all night - just like a fete during Carnival season but on the water.  It was a lot of fun however I wore the wrong skirt for the boat so I could not go too close to the edge or else I would pull a Marilyn Monroe.

Columbus Bay Lime

A couple weekends ago, Vinosh, a local manager-type who works at the refinery, took Kelly, the wife of a fellow UOP advisor, and I to Columbus Bay, a beach on the most Southern tip of the island. Columbus Bay is said to be the point at which Christopher Columbus first landed in Trinidad. The beach is surrounded by miles of coconut plantations and the "Three Sisters" (3 tiny islands) protrude just off the shoreline.

Vinosh ended up running into two of his friends while at the beach and they invited us to have dinner with them.  It turned in to quite the adventure as later that evening we ended up at Vinosh's friends home for a Fish Broth dinner (shown below) and drinks.  I always enjoy trying local food, especially if homemade, and it doesn't hurt enjoying the food with some locals as well.

54 Days Have Passed - Want Highlights?

I know I know it's been it has been 54 days since I last updated my blog; this was something I was afraid of when I first started. People even reminded me (thanks Liz) and I put the task on my to do list but somehow it kept getting pushed to the next day and the next and the 54th.....so here is a brief overview, well actually somewhat lengthy, of what has been happening.

As most of you know I am still in Trinidad. The assignment here seems to be taking one step forward and then two steps back which makes for great training!!

One day when the Instrument Advisor Ken, his wife Sylvia, and I were driving around because traffic was way too hectic to go to the beach they decided to show me a place that they found that made steel pans. The pans are all made by hand normally in someone’s back yard and for the final finish or color it is sent to a chrome shop. I ended up buying a steel pan (drum) as a practical souvenir! It makes great wall decoration and then I can take it down and play music when I am bored. The pan however did not stay with me in Trinidad too long after because my parents came down to visit again!

The purpose of my parents 2nd visit was two fold – to see their daughter (of course) but to also ship my pan back to their house so I would not have to fool with extra luggage at the airport whenever this assignment ends. Don’t I have the greatest parents in the world – thanks Mom and Dad! We ended up packing a ton of activities into a short period of time again. My parents actually went to see Pitch Lake before I have and I have been here for six months now. Pitch Lake is a lake made out of asphalt. It was raining when they arrived so they did not go on the tour but they took pictures.

                                          Pitch Lake                             Local Showing the Asphalt
That night I took them to see the turtles nesting on the beach because that was something my mom wanted to do the first visit but it was too early in the season. Again we walked out to the beach and met up with two leatherback turtles laying their eggs right next to each other (wonder if they are related?!?! Hahaha, just kidding) The group was not as large as when I went the last time so we could take up close and personal pictures!

Look at the length of that turtle!!

  

We were actually able to see two more turtles in the distance coming out of the ocean and slowly making their way onto the beach. Luckily we had already taken all of the pictures we needed and then it started to downpour. Since we were already wet and saw what we came to see we headed back to the hotel.

The next day we headed off to the Asa Wright Nature Center but of course since roads are not labeled here we went the scenic scenic route before we found the actual road we wanted; and without asking for directions! We arrived to the center an hour and a half before the scheduled tour was going to begin. Although the house did have a lovely old English charm I was not looking forward to spending that amount of time in a confined area on uncomfortable chairs. I asked the receptionist if there was anything to do and she explained that just shortly, about 10 minutes walk, up the road there was a clear water pool. This sounded great to me; my parents and I changed into our bathing suits and headed down to the pool. It was breathtaking creation. They directed the stream through the forest to collect in an area which was about 4 feet deep surrounded by stones. The pool flowed over a rock bed on the over side of the waterfall to continue down through the forest. I know my words are painting a wonderful picture but go ahead and see for yourself!

The tour of the center did not last more than an hour or so but we saw a few neat birds. My favorite was called the Bearded Bellbird and it sounds like they are hammering on an anvil when making their bird calls. It was the largest collection of leak cutting ants I have personally ever seen. Be careful not to step in the middle of their path or else you will be bitten – just ask my Mom! I did not have any ant bites but came out eaten alive from mosquitoes – I very much dislike those bugs. It made for wearing my Nomex and safety shoes on Monday quite enjoyable….not!

 

                                                                                                  Can you find the bird?

The next day we decided to take the sightseeing and adventure seeking easy and drove around the capital Port-of-Spain then upwards along the northwest coastline until it ends at Chaguarmas. My sister even joined us in spirit…

All and all the trip was awesome as expected and I enjoyed my parents visiting. Hopefully next time I see my parents it will be back in the states !

Idoko, one of our crew members, went back home for paternity leave because his wife Ruth was expecting to deliver their twin boys any day now. Idoko was replaced by another crew member, Eric, who travels with his wife, Kelly, who also happens to be approx. 3 months pregnant. Kind of ironic – is this a sign that the assignment will last another 6 months so we might need another replacement…oh goodness I hope not. It’s nice to have another gal here to hang out with although the boys are fun too :-)

No promises but I hope to not take this long to write another entry. I was recently introduced to Picasa and will try to implement that into my blog so y’all can see more pictures (and don’t have to read the boring words).  Enjoy the weekend!!