Pacific to Atlantic

After spending the last year on the Pacific Coast, I am now getting use to life on the Atlantic. I took this to new extremes as I spent the night on one of our FPSO's for work one night this week. 

Now I won't get into the nitty gritty of my work, but I must say that spending the night on a platform has never been more enlightening. Getting a tour of how we actually get oil out of the ground was absolutely mind blowing. The engineering and complex systems that our the core of our business is far beyond anything I could have imagined. I already found the industry I worked in dynamic and interesting- and not to nerd out on y'all- but I am more intrigued and motivated then ever to continue to learn about our business. 

Enough work though- this weekend has been my first quite weekend since I've been here. Due to work I had to skip out on my Idanre trip, and instead I spent a weekend just hanging at my house. It's been brilliant! Nothing but a little cooking, working out and resting. All and all dull but exactly what I needed. 

The next couple weeks should be heavy with work stuff as we wrap up the end of the year. I have Thanksgiving, a aqua/run race and St. Andrews night next week and then it's all. 

Marine Ball 2013

It took for me to move to Lagos to have a true sense of American pride. Last night I celebrated the 238th birthday of the United States Marines at the 2013 Marine Ball at the Eko hotel. The men broke out their suits and tuxes and ladies found their fanciest dresses to show respect to our Marines. 

It was my first ball, so I wasn't sure what to expect but I must admit I wasn't disappointed. We walked a red carpet to be greeted by the Ambassador and all the Marines based in Lagos. Champaign kicked off the event, followed by a wonderful and symbolic ceremony. In the middle of a room full of overseas Americans at tables was an empty black table with one candle to represent the fallen Marines. The Ambassador and some Marines gave speeches, and the colors were retired before the cake was cut by a sword. The first piece of cake was offered to the oldest Marine in the room and then gifted to the youngest Marine in the room. It was a beautiful ceremony, and everyone in the room felt an overwhelming pride in our country. 

Dinner was then served and the dancing began. People were more than willing to bust a move, and I started to learn how to Texas two step (if I can do that in Houston all the time, I'll be one happy camper). 

Here some photos of the group all done up: 

Until my next adventure- Kate 

Run for the Cure

It's been about 6 years since my last formal race back in my High School cross country days, and it wasn't until today that I broke that dry spell. While I had no expectation of achieving the  pace  7-something minute miles mile pace I ran back in the glory days, I figured it was time to put my fat boy run training to the test. Heck, worst case scenario I could putz my way across the finish line and consider it a decent workout. 

So to prepare for the Run for a Cure, I found myself once again at the Fat boy run. Well, scratch that- I went for a run so I could have a few beers, s'more and laughs. But some of the people training for a marathon really kicked my butt into high gear, so there was no rest for the weary. Each beer was hard earned and considered much needed "hydration". 

When walking back from the run, I found myself stopped at a neighbors for a cheeky glass of wine. Three hours and a few glasses of wine later, I found myself headed home to make my bright and early 6:30 bus to the race. 

Now, as should be expected, races in Nigeria aren't quite the same as America. 

1. They are in kilometers. This one was 6 km (so 3.72 miles)
2. They never start on time. 
3. Safety pins and water are not easy to come by. 
4. Policeman are the trail markers.
5. A half hour of zumba is considered the warm up.

So Nick and I finished in a little under 32 minutes, which I must admit I am quite proud of, especially considering the sweltering heat we endured. Kelsie, my roommate, placed 2nd overall in women! So we stayed for the entertainment and awards before heading back to camp around 11. 

It was a long morning, and I was famished. Andy and I headed out for a bite at   Bungalows, a nice restaurant in Victoria Island (VI). I had a massive burger, which was exactly what I needed after this week. We than headed to the Eko hotel for a few drinks before making our way back. 

As far as the rest of the night, I think I am going to happily take it easy. Karen is hosting a brunch tomorrow, and after looking at my calendar it looks like this month will fly by! Next weekend I have the marine ball and the weekend after  I'm headed to Idanre on a biking trip. Next thing you know its Autumn Fest (ie Thanksgiving) and St. Andrew's Day. 

Stay in tune for more on my upcoming adventures!- Kate

Officially Initiated

The weekend of food finally caught up with me.  We all knew it was coming, so Friday we laid low with a Fat boy run on the beach and a few drinks.  Then Saturday Ricardo talked me into his spin class before my luxurious Italian lunch at La Veranda. Of course part of our lunch gang new the chef, and so we had plate after plate of creamy pasta dishes come for us to taste. It was a true smorgasbord. We were all so full and happy we only made it down to sit by the pool to smoke hookah.  It was a beautiful afternoon, and it was nice to sit outside.

Then it was back to camp early since the Oro festival is going on through Nov 1-7^th. It’s a Yoroba festival where the men bring out the deity Oro for the week to cleanse the streets of evil.  Women are not allowed to see this festival, and if they do they are sentenced to death. Needless to say the 10 p.m. curfew taken pretty seriously.

This gave the camp the perfect excuse to cater in Indian food for our Dwali celebration.  Despite being full from lunch, eating homemade naan was too good to pass up. The night ended pretty early, so a few of us just ended up watching the Life of Mars UK TV series (which is hilarious I might add).

Sunday all my energy was drained, which should have been a warning sign. But I decided to take a swim and then go to a dinner party which was a proper British roast. Dinner parties here are four course meals, and better than most restaurants I have been in the states.

It wasn’t until Monday I really felt off. And then Monday night I died. The scary thing about Nigeria, is you’re never sure what you actually have. If I had been in the US, I would have chalked it up to being a bug but here malaria is a major concern.  So after a little fretting, I managed to make my way to the clinic Tuesday (which is an adventure) and got it confirmed that it indeed, it was only a bug- phew!

I am thinking that all the strange foods and time difference finally caught up to me.  So needless to say I feel officially initiated into Nigeria.

Lata skata- Kate