I am in AFRICA!!!!!

 Lately my head has been spinning with life decisions. I decided to stay with Schlumberger and work internationally. So last week I got an email and it said can you come to Equatorial Guinea in Africa. Before I could even think about it, I said yes. Next thing you know I have a doctors appointment that day to get vaccinated for Yellow Fever and some other diseases. I had to take two online courses on Ebola and Malaria. The next day I spent packing and mentally preparing for Africa. I was nervous at first, mostly because I would be traveling alone overseas to a place that has a dangerous reputation.

Equatorial Guinea is the is a small volcanic island off  the west central coast of Africa.

 

 

 

My flight from Houston connects in Paris, France to Douala, Cameroon to Molabo, Equatorial Guinea. In Houston we had mechanical issues and I end up getting stuck in Paris. Which is the best place to get stuck in! I spent the day enjoying French culture, wine and the beautiful city. I had wine and a chocolat croissant under the sparkling Eiffel Tower! The next morning I get to the airport and start my travels to Africa. When I arrive in Africa the airport is a little scary. They are moving fast yelling at you for your vaccination records and taking everyone's temperature. They are taking temperatures because the ebola outbreak, and quarantining those who are sick.  You are then fingerprinted and photo is taken before they will let you in the country. It almost felt as if you were getting booked into prison. When I got my bags and exited the airport all I see is a huge beautiful mountain and the color green everywhere. It is so big and beautiful here. The trees are just bigger and the sky is just so blue. I get into my Schlumberger car and my manager meets me at the airport. I have a nice dinner and the hotel is beautiful. There is a huge party going on and everyone is just dancing drinking and having a blast.  The next morning I sleep in get up and go to the beautiful pool. The pool has the nicest bar and lots of tropical birds flying around. You can see the mountain in the background and it was so much fun. I am looking forward to spending some time in E.G. I really want to check out the endangered monkeys and sea turtles. I want to also get some sand from the black sand beaches.

E.G. is home to so many endangered species of monkeys.

Sea Turtles on the black sand beaches

I am going offshore as a data engineer for the first time. I wake up early and head to the airport/heliport. I am actually headed to the Titanium Explorer. The rig I worked on when I was brand new. So its going to be cool to see some of the people that I made friends with almost two years ago. The ship looks different. I see some familiar faces. Its like deja vu and little weird at first. Like how in the hell did I end up back on this rig. The job is hard and stressful at times but I am still on a high of being in Africa and spending the day in Paris that I can't complain. This morning  I received a call from one of the guys on the rig. "Whales!! Starboard Side!!" I have never jumped up so quickly! There was a pod of whales. Little ones too. Seeing humpback whales in real life is pretty spectacular. I love stuff like this! I love being able to see so much of the world. I don't think I could ever stop traveling.

 

I am so happy to get my first African stamp on my passport and it will definitely not be the last. 

When I started this blog I named the address inthemiddleofthegulfofmexico.blogspot.com, well I have now worked in the North Atlantic, Canada and The Gulf of Guinea in Africa. I definitely wasn't thinking ahead when I chose the name.

Love and Miss you all!

New Offshore Adventures Aboard the Discoverer Spirit

I have had a lot of time off and a lot of training in the past four months. Its time to get back to work. I am currently on the Discoverer Spirit in the Gulf of Mexico. I traveled to New Orleans Sunday night and came out to the rig Monday morning. My helicopter ride was amazing. The chopper was  brand new with leather seats and head rests. I had so much leg room I felt like a million bucks traveling to work. We took of when it was still dark and landed as the sun was rising. It feels so good to be out surrounded by the beautiful water. The Gulf is so much different than the North Atlantic. They both have their own beautiful attributes. The weather has been great! Cool nights and sunny days. I really like the crew I am working with they are very experienced so I have the opportunity to learn a lot.

I will be out here for three to four weeks. Most likely four and hopefully three. Today I get to go explore the  ROV unit. The ROV is the robot that is on the sea floor. There are cool cameras and lights so you get to see what is down there at around 4000 ft. We saw an eel that had the face of like a catfish. Below 3000ft the ocean is a mysterious place. The guys said... “once you get below 3000 ft. you see some weird prehistoric looking shit”. They will call me if they see anything cool, I really want to see this five gill shark they say creeps around. I am on my second shift out here and I am already making lots of friends. This industry gives you the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and learn so much. Deep water drilling uses cutting edge technology. It is the best of the best. So I am thankful that I get to be a part of such a cool operation. I also get to learn everything hands on. It also helps being a friendly girl thats eager to learn because everyone wants to teach me stuff. 

I also will be thankful for when I go home! I need to settle in a nice place near the water and buy a paddle board. I love the ocean so much. Even though Galveston isn’t the most pristine of all beaches. It is the closest to my base and my best option for some salt water fun! It is also a cruise port so that means I will be going on lots of last minute cruises. I am really excited about that!

Love and miss you all! 

P.S. 

I can iMessage from 12pm-Midnight after that I am sleeping so don’t call me I will call you :) 

Love, 

Hillary 

The Voice

I arrived on the Stena Carron drill ship yesterday. I really was excited to come back. I actually like this ship and like making $$$$. I am working days now. Which is good for my sleeping schedule but kinda bad for my social life. I made friends with the night crew and day crew is like a totally different world. All new people.

It is COOOOOLLLLLLDDDDDD. Like literally freezing. Like guys who work out side have frost on their face. It was snowing today, It was so beautiful. It is dark and scary though even in the day. The North Atlantic is just a scary ocean.

Anyways I am working with a nice guy he is from Serbia and lives in Vancouver. I love meeting new people from everywhere. Well he went to lunch and the drill floor calls me. Hey geo we need one of you to come to the toolbox talk so I tell him, “Oh I’m sorry, Alek just left the unit for lunch and we need one person in the unit at all times to monitor”. He tells me to page him. I don’t even no how to use the ships intercom, because I normally use the radio that responds to the drill floor. The most I say is copy that, or please repeat. Anyways, I dial the paging number and say my page, “Alek please call the mudlogging unit, at 4028, Alek please call mudlogging unit 4028”. I take a breath then hear my announcement It sounds good I didn’t mess it up. Then I hear the page go off again of whistling, hooting and hollering. These guys did that right after I spoke. It was so embarrassing.

I go to dinner tonight and this guy sits next to me, he says, “Hi I’m Roger”. I smile and respond, “Hi I’m Hillary”. He looks at me and says, “ohhhhhhh you are the VOICE”.

Anyways, that was my day.

Also on a side note,
Dear Scottish men,
I can’ tell if you are about to punch each other out, break out in to laughter or what. YOU guys are always yelling at each other. I also can’t understand a damn word you are saying and it doesn’t help that you all talk at the same time.
Sincerely,
Your Dallas Doll (what one of the Scottish guys calls me)

Life in the North Atlantic

I arrived aboard the Stena Carron Drill Ship Wednesday October 2nd. Upon arrival I received an in depth briefing of the ship. It is huge. The ship has like 11 levels and is just MASSIVE. The galley looks more like a restaurant than a cafeteria. The lounges and gyms are AWESOME. The amenities are great on the ship but its hard when you don't know ANYONE. I was very tired and went straight to bed my first night.

This is what it looks like outside IM SOOOO SERIOUS! The sea here just looks mean and unforgiving. 

The first two days I didn't really talk to anyone. It kind of seemed like when I walked into a room the party was over and everyone went back to work. Like I think being a girl is just so much harder out here. I am such a people person I need to be talking to people and making friends or I will go crazy. Every time I go into the break room people just leave. I was thinking the scottish guys hated me or something. I told my self maybe I should go in and tell a sexist, racist inappropriate joke to break the ice.

The Canadian wellsite geologist is really nice to me and has a really laid back personality. He sits with me at lunch and tells me all his travel story's so its nice to know someone and have conversation.

Today we had to move 46, 30 lb buckets of samples up HUGE flights of stairs across the rig. Thank god the other guys I work with stayed after their 12 hour shift to help. Great teamwork out here. I really like them. I was literally dying. I seriously didn't think I was going to make it. The boats rocking back and forth its raining and cold. IM EXHAUSTED!!!!!! Then out of nowhere this Scottish guy comes and he starts carrying like 2 buckets of samples at a time! He's like so strong and helping me. I WAS LIKE YESSSSSS MY HERO! Then his scottish friends start helping because he is. Then they all are being nice to me! So the Scottish guys don't hate me! Well now I have to take all the buckets and wrap them and ship them. I have a long night ahead of me. Love and miss you all.

Hillary

Commuting to St. Johns, The Worst Traveling Experience of My LIFE!!!!!

Thursday morning I wake up double check that I have packed everything and wait for my driver to take me to the airport. I arrive at the airport and wait in line to check my baggage. I finally go to check in and the computer kiosk check in system says "reservation not found". So I have to go wait in a completely different line. Tick Tock Tick Tock. I finally get to the ticket agent 30 minutes later an hour and 10 min before my flight. She is typing making zero eye contact then finally looks at me and smiles. Oh Miss Fort, your reservation is cancelled. My company booked my flight from Dallas to Houston to Newark to St. Johns. I was in Houston so they told me Its fine just skip the Dallas leg so we don't have to rebook. Well that cancelled my reservation. I call the guy who books the travel he texts me back "out of office sorry call BCD travel". I wait on hold trying to call my agency. The agent says well there's a problem. Its now less than an hour before your flight departs and Canada is considered international ( I was thinking well its a different country so yeah I would think so). Then I was like ok whens the next flight?
Agent: "well... we are completely booked"
.....FML
Agent:" I can put you on standby". As an ex flight attendant. Flying standby is one of the worst experiences when all the flights are booked. Its basically running around the airport like a chicken with its head cut off. Looking completely insane.  So I get on the standby list. I wait an hour or so for the next flight. I get the LAST SEAT. I'm like this is not so bad. I'm one lucky gal!

I land in Newark at 5:50pm we were delayed in sky for landing space. My flight leaves to St. Johns at 6:11. I am of course sitting in the very back. I finally get off run like a crazy person all the way to the other side of the damn airport and make my flight. I get on the plane huffing and puffing and sit next to a what you would think is a charming young man.
We talk he has a cute Boston accent. He's an engineer. He keeps asking the flight attendants for drinks and I thought he was joking bc we haven't even taken off yet. Well we get in the air and he orders some wine. Then another. Then another. He then buys me a drink and is like come on you have had a horrible travel day. So I accept the offer. Don't get me wrong he didn't really have to twist my arm to get me to drink a glass of wine. So we chat the flight is full. People all around. Its a 3 hour flight. He starts to get louder and louder. Laugh more and be almost touchy with me. I'm thinking what the F$%^?? I can attract creeps at any altitude, longitude or latitude. Then I am not making this up. He "whispers" (a whisper that can be heard by the 15-25 surrounding passengers. "HEEEEYYYY COMMMEE HAVEEE SEXXX WITh ME IN THE BATHROOM"". He gets up and stumbles winking and walking away. Everyone on the plane looks at me. Im like, "Hey I don't know this guy!! I have never met him before in my life." So he is in the bathroom for a long time and I look back the flight attendant is out side the door. I'm thinking the disgusting worst. And I am going to have to sit by this pig the rest of the flight. Then he opens the door smoke trailing behind him. The flight attendant follows him and is like "sir ....sir you cannot be smoking in the bathroom". This guy is like running to his seat. I am on the Aisle he is in the middle I have to get up to let him in. He stands next to me like I'm with him and his girlfriend. He looks at the flight attendant and yells I wasn't smoking I went in there and it was filled with smoke. He looks at me again like I should be defending him or something. I announce once again I have never met this guy in my life. The guy looks at me like, "you bitch how could you". We take our seat as he gets in he spills his last glass of wine allllll over me. Then he trys to clean it up. I was like hey PAWS OFF I got this. The rest of the flight was awkward.

We get to St. Johns I just want to get off the plane. I leave go through customs go to get my bag. And wait. And wait..... everybody gets their bags. EXCEPT ME. All of my equipment for my morning flight offshore is in my bag. This is the worst case scenario when traveling offshore. I fill out the claim then head to immigration for my work permit. The border guy is like where is your packet. I give him my documents I have received and then he's like noooo I need your packet. I have no idea what this packet is. He says we can legally send you back to the US for this. ( In my mind I'm like please do). I am being interrogated and Its like I have no energy left I don't care if I work here or if I don't. Finally after an hour or so of him making phone calls he is like how would you like to pay for your permit?
Another thing my company failed to mention. I haven't got offshore pay in so long and didn't get paid till the next day. I didn't have the money to pay for it. They take all my identification and say come downtown to immigrations in the am pay the money get your passport and IDs. So I leave legally not allowed in Canada. Go to the hotel and my companies credit card is declined. I AM RAGING NOW. My company makes 97 billion dollars a year in profits. WTF??????????? I call my mom and dad has to pay for room. I go to sleep update my company on whats going on. In the AM I go to front desk they are like are you checking out and I say no I have to stay another night because airline lost my bag. They  say ohhh well we are booked full. So I have to go to another hotel and my companies card doesn't work their EITHER. IM LOSING IT AT THIS POINT.

Anyways hotel situation was never solved. I'm pissed how unorganized my company is. I finally get my bag. It has been HELLLLLLL.

I leave for my ship in the am. 2 hour chopper flight. I'm really nervous hope my bad luck ends here!

Till next time
Hillary

Training in the North Atlantic

I arrived in St. Johns, Newfoundland last week. I absolutely love it here. I have never met a nicer group of people. They are called “Newfies”. The men are complete gentleman and are good looking Irish guys! Its really easy getting used to being called Lovey and My Darling all day :). The women are so nice and friendly. You can’t meet a stranger here. I feel like I fit in the culture really well. The North Atlantic Ocean is breathtaking. The cliffs along the shore with waves crashing against them are breathtaking. The trees are greener, the sky is bluer. This Island off of Canada has such charm.

On my last ship I learned so much from the marine department. I miss hanging out with the guys out there. Most of my blogs have been about learning all about ships! Right now I am at the Marine Institute in Newfoundland. It is a college for mariners. So everything I was taught on the Titanium Explorer I am using now in my practical hands on training. I have 13 days of training out here and am being certified to meet Canadian cold water offshore survival  standards. I have learned to put out all types of fires, I have learned to escape a fire with compressed air to breath and a gas mask on, in the dark where I have to feel for my exit. I have learned to davit launch lifeboats and rafts. I basically have learned and physically practiced everything that could aid in survival from top to bottom, inside and out.

Yesterday we did our capsized underwater helicopter evacuation . I have done this in Houston to be certified in the gulf but here it was way more intense. We wore a huge flight suit and boots so it was harder to escape but I got it done. My nervousness has changed to confidence and adrenaline rush during this training. We did it over and over and over. They train you well here, the guys who teach the class are all mariners and ex military. They have the best leadership personalities and push you and make you confident in your abilities. There was a crash here a couple years ago and everyone but one person died. One girl got out but didn’t make it to the surface in time so they decided to put compressed air cartridges in the flight suit. We practiced over and over getting oxygen underwater. I was always scared to go scuba diving and now I know I can go after today.

Today was sea day! We used all of our survival training out in the ocean. Its like the final exam. We had to launch lifeboats, life rafts and do everything in real ocean conditions. We jumped off of the vessel into the cold Atlantic ocean. We had to climb this rope net along side the huge boat. We even had to float around out there in the freezing water waiting to get rescued! At first I was nervous about getting bit by a shark but the guys and instructors are so great and told me that they will let the shark get them before it gets me! One thing is for sure chivalry is NOT DEAD in Newfoundland!

I really wish I could have gone to school here. Don’t get me wrong I love SMU and learned so much, but this marine institute feels like home. Its all Newfoundland Navy guys teaching everything. These past five days I have learned so much and built up so much confidence. I really am glad I went through this course!
Pictures coming soon :)
Miss everyone!

28 Days... Starting Now

My time off was great. I got to see my family in Dallas for my moms birthday. I had so much fun hanging out with Kevin and my sisters. I got to see Laurens baby Addison. So sweet. I got to see Brandy and my future God Daughter. I am so proud of mommy to be brandy and I can't wait to spoil Brooklyn Monroe rotten. I went to Chicago to visit my South Side Sista Angie. Had a great time. GO CUBS !!! I also had some great pool and beach days with Rachy :)

I flew to New Orleans yesterday had some great vietnamese food and a dirty martini. It was great. I got to crew change at the same time as some of my friends so it was an awesome last day on land. The start of a very long day.....2:45am Wakeup call FML! A couple hour drive to the heliport. Then I was on the last flight so I was stuck at the heliport all day! I still get anxiety when I am on a helicopter. I guess I am just an airplane girl. I land at the rig around noon and take a shower unpack. I have to be on tour at 6pm so I only get a few hours asleep. Of course during the 4 hours I get the fire alarm goes off. 

So when a fire alarm goes off... you grab your life jacket and go to your assigned station immediately. Its not like a school fire drill.... since your on an oil rig and the alarm is going off it can be pretty scary. I went to sleep in my new pajamas that are silk pink and white stripes. I am on the top bunk all comfy. Then, BEEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEEP. I jump up and literally slip off the top bunk those PJs are slippery! Then fall down on the ground because I didn't estimate the height of the top bunk. I grab my life jacket and then I realize I don't want everyone to see my pink silky PJs. So then I have to decide what to do? Be the first to the lifeboat in pink PJs or change so I don't look absolutely ridiculous..... all I needed was a teddy bear to make the outfit more dramatic lol. 
I choose not to change and head to muster station.

Luckily as I'm leaving my room they announce to disregard the alarm. PHEW. I try to get at least another hour of sleep. 

I come to the unit. I brought goodies for everyone. Its amazing how something as small as sour patch kids can brighten someones day. Mike my data engineer is so nice. He brought Starbucks Blonde roast coffee and made me a pot and said here let me make you some coffee so your transition will be easier. Blonde Roast is described as soft and mellow, like my new blonde hair :P. 

Its nice seeing people... I am def. a people person and its like a little community out here! 

This hitch I am back in SPONGE MODE. I need to learn more!!!! I am going to complete all of my jobs task sheets (these task sheets display competency of my specific job). I also want to learn some more cool stuff in the marine dept. <3 those guys! #TeamMarine! Lots of interesting blogs to come this hitch! So stay tuned :)