Next Assignment: Shubuta, Mississippi !!!
After a weekend of hanging out with friends and family, I got onto a plane Sunday afternoon at about 12PM to head to SHUBUTA, MISSISSIPPI! HOWDY Y'ALL!!!!!! Three months in the middle of nowhere!!! My flight left DFW to Atlanta and then a tiny little plane into Hattiesburg-Laurel Airport (PIB).... The airplane going from ATL to PIB was this dinky airplane with actual fan shaped propellers and was probably the loudest, bumpiest plane I have ever been on. I was pretty certain that the people on my flight to PIB were all Halliburton employees because seriously... who goes to Laurel, Mississippi?! I missed breakfast and lunch so I got a burrito from Q'adoba and devoured the WHOLE thing in like 5 minutes on the airplane.... I had a window seat by itself, so I turned my face towards the window while I ate so no one would see how fatty status I was, stuffing my face with this burrito... oops! hahah I was kinda ashamed at how fatty I was eating this giganto burrito in like 5 minutes, so during the whole flight, I just put my jacket on my top of my head and slept...
Lo and behold, everyone who was watching me devour this burrito, were Halliburton employees... hahaha so embarrassing... Damnit!!!! !!! We got picked up by three Halliburton vans and headed to the apartments. I am actually staying in Laurel, which is a fairly big city compared to Shubuta.... Our apartments are shockingly very nice.... stained concrete floors, modern furniture, flat screen TV, new appliances, etc. I was also surprised that there is a Walmart, a Buffalo Wild Wings, Applebee's, and a handful of other "normal" American chain restaurants.
Dinner time, we all decided to go to Applebee's to eat... I was STARVING so I ordered a steak and a delicious cold brewski. I learned that our group is so diverse! There are people from Poland, Cameroon, Nigeria, Norway, Congo, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Russia, India, Abu Dhabi, France, Canada, and all over the U.S. It's exciting to meet and make new friends from all over the world! Yay! New place to crash whenever I go visit all these places ;-) tehe just kidding... no... but really haha.
Dinner was fun, learning all the bad words and swear words in like every language possible hahaha. Why do I only learn the bad words?? I guess they are quite essential to learn... muahhaha :) . We planned also, as a group, to go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, a weekend trip to Nashville, a weekend trip to Pensacola, and hopefully a weekend trip to Miami to surf and party!! (My new French friend has an apartment in Miami) So even though we are in the middle of nowhere, we are taking advantage of the cities close by.
My new roommate, Barbara, is great as well Physically, we are seriously COMPLETE opposites... she is a black, six foot 3 inches, female, and is 20 years older than me!!! So crazy! She played pro ball, broke like 13-15 U.S. track records, and was a finalist for the U.S. Women's basketball team... yet she looks only 3-4 years older than me... WOW! Amazing what fitness and health can do for your body... she is such a positive role model for me. I hope that I can look like her 20 years later... She is not like Goh (whom I do miss living with :( ), but it's nice to have a change of roommate and scenery.
The first day of class and the rest of this weeks' classes have been great! It's really tiring because we are gone from 6AM - 5PM everyday (it takes 1 hour to get to the site, and we are there from 7AM - 4PMish), but the teachers are awesome and I am learning a lot. During lunch time, we go to this little mom & pop southern restaurant in downtown Shubuta (probably the only actual business that is open other than the police station and postal office..) that has a changing menu every day... OMG... SO MUCH FOR EXERCISING.... I work out hard, but then blow it by eating here because the food is SO good. First day, I had meatloaf, mash with gravy, corn nuggets, jalepeno corn bread, and delicious Mississippi sweet tea. The second day, I tried to pack my lunch so that I wouldn't go out... I even ATE my sandwich so I wouldn't go out to eat lunch, but I somehow ended up in the buffet line for some smoked pork chop, macaroni and cheese, red beans with sausage and brisket over rice, jalepeno corn bread, and another amazing cup of sweet tea... The third day, I didn't even bother packing a lunch. I ate smoked 1/4 chicken and ribs, baked beans with brisket, cheesy potatoes, and sweet tea... Wow I'm a fatty. SO GOOD. I cannot resist the delicious foods.. oops!!!
I actually feel confident about the material we are learning because I learned A LOT about the tools during my Lafayette assignment. Many things are connecting between what I did before in my previous job in Fort Worth, and what I am learning now (I guess you could say that I am in a different sub-industry as before). For the first time, in my career, I feel confident in what I am talking about and I truly feel like I know my shit! It's such an awesome feeling to finally feel like I have some sort of knowledge and purpose in my position. Though, I constantly remind myself that I should not get too big headed, always stay humble, and constantly be open to learn.
I seriously am SO blessed to get this job. God has blessed me with such an amazing opportunity, being able to travel the world, meet people from all over, and work directly under THE boss, while still feeling as I am an asset to my company. In Dallas, I was so unmotivated at work, not meeting anyone, continually seeing the same friends, doing the same things... and don't get me wrong, I love my friends... but I love meeting new people as well. This job allows me to continually do that... I feel like for the past few years, I really have not been dating or "talking" with anybody, because I literally see the same people all the time. But I KNOW I will find SOMEONE in the world who will be a good match! I am so grateful and thankful to have this opportunity. I still sit and think, "Damn... I can't believe I got this job!! God is so good!"
Tonight will be our first night out in Laurel with the whole group, so I am actually really excited!! WOOTTTTT... there are two birthdays this weekend, so shit may get crazy out here... I will leave you guys with the photos of all my delicious foods! tehehe everyone have a safe weekend! I hope I don't get shot out here tonight... apparently everyone out here pulls out their like three guns when they have a few drinks... uh oh... I hope I survive!!! Wish me luck!!!
