Hey there,
SLB decided we needed more tests in a week than normal, so I'm in the middle of taking those. I should be done with the majority of my tests and what not by next week, I'll provide an update then.
Just an FYI, I will be back in Alaska by the 1st of May and back in Texas by the 5th.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
A giant Mosque, SLB Dorms, Dubai: Part Deux
Readers,
I had not even thought about updating the blog until my Uncle messaged me earlier today. I am sorry it took this long for me to update, as I'm sure you have been frantically hitting 'Refresh' page on your internet browser to see if I updated.
I have been pretty busy with school recently, as we are delving into the more complicated tools (theory and operation wise) that we are to learn during this course.
If you go to the picture site you will see pics from the Sheik Zayed Mosque (second largest Mosque in the world) and various pictures from my second trip to Dubai.
I must say that I finally looked over some of my pictures, and realized quite a few of them are a bit slanted; sorry about this, I usually snap quick pictures and keep walking. I'm going to make a more conscious effort to take a few extra seconds each picture and not tilt the camera so much.
The Sheik Zayed Mosque, named after the late Sheik Zayed who united all the emirates to from the UAE, sits on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and is an absolutely amazing site in this urban jungle. Like all things in this country, it is still under construction (the plaza at least, the mosque is complete). The pictures can describe the gold leafing, the crystal chandeliers, and the world's largest handwoven carpet better than I ever could.
The same day I visited the mosque, my class had to move to the Schlumberger Middle East & Asia Learning Center dormitory. Hooray... In all actuality, the place is very nice and has a variety of facilities to allow students to relax. However, the walled complex and constant security guard presence makes one feel like they are at a prison sponsored by IKEA (all the furniture is from IKEA, stickers are still on some of the pieces). This makes the commute to Abu Dhabi on the weekends a bit more difficult, but the site does offer a free bus to Dubai on the weekends.
Two friends and myself took advantage of this last weekend (April 3rd). After touring the Dubai musuem (similar to the East Texas Oil Museum in Kilgore), we went to the Burj Khalifah where the top was open! The viewing deck had not been open for more than two weeks, but we managed to buy tickets and make it up to the top. The experience was unreal, as the largest skyscrapers in the city looked minuscule. This is another case where my words cannot do justice to the experience; check out the pictures. We meet up with my friend Paul's old classmate and she showed us parts of Dubai we had heard of, but had no idea where they were.
During this experience, I learned Dubai is a lot like Dallas; the main things to do are eat, drink, and shop. The locals enjoy visiting various malls and walking around gawking at the expensive goods and escaping the heat by way of the strong air conditioning in each building. My friends (both from the northern US) wore sweatshirts inside, just to give you an idea of the temperature.
Unfortunately, this weekend has been taken over by radiation training. We might get Sunday off (our usual weekend is Friday and Saturday), but that doesn't seem to be set in stone.
I'm sorry again on the slow updates, but I'm a mover and a shaker.
Hope all is well on your side of the world,
Russell
I had not even thought about updating the blog until my Uncle messaged me earlier today. I am sorry it took this long for me to update, as I'm sure you have been frantically hitting 'Refresh' page on your internet browser to see if I updated.
I have been pretty busy with school recently, as we are delving into the more complicated tools (theory and operation wise) that we are to learn during this course.
If you go to the picture site you will see pics from the Sheik Zayed Mosque (second largest Mosque in the world) and various pictures from my second trip to Dubai.
I must say that I finally looked over some of my pictures, and realized quite a few of them are a bit slanted; sorry about this, I usually snap quick pictures and keep walking. I'm going to make a more conscious effort to take a few extra seconds each picture and not tilt the camera so much.
The Sheik Zayed Mosque, named after the late Sheik Zayed who united all the emirates to from the UAE, sits on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and is an absolutely amazing site in this urban jungle. Like all things in this country, it is still under construction (the plaza at least, the mosque is complete). The pictures can describe the gold leafing, the crystal chandeliers, and the world's largest handwoven carpet better than I ever could.
The same day I visited the mosque, my class had to move to the Schlumberger Middle East & Asia Learning Center dormitory. Hooray... In all actuality, the place is very nice and has a variety of facilities to allow students to relax. However, the walled complex and constant security guard presence makes one feel like they are at a prison sponsored by IKEA (all the furniture is from IKEA, stickers are still on some of the pieces). This makes the commute to Abu Dhabi on the weekends a bit more difficult, but the site does offer a free bus to Dubai on the weekends.
Two friends and myself took advantage of this last weekend (April 3rd). After touring the Dubai musuem (similar to the East Texas Oil Museum in Kilgore), we went to the Burj Khalifah where the top was open! The viewing deck had not been open for more than two weeks, but we managed to buy tickets and make it up to the top. The experience was unreal, as the largest skyscrapers in the city looked minuscule. This is another case where my words cannot do justice to the experience; check out the pictures. We meet up with my friend Paul's old classmate and she showed us parts of Dubai we had heard of, but had no idea where they were.
During this experience, I learned Dubai is a lot like Dallas; the main things to do are eat, drink, and shop. The locals enjoy visiting various malls and walking around gawking at the expensive goods and escaping the heat by way of the strong air conditioning in each building. My friends (both from the northern US) wore sweatshirts inside, just to give you an idea of the temperature.
Unfortunately, this weekend has been taken over by radiation training. We might get Sunday off (our usual weekend is Friday and Saturday), but that doesn't seem to be set in stone.
I'm sorry again on the slow updates, but I'm a mover and a shaker.
Hope all is well on your side of the world,
Russell
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
School and the uneventful weekend
"Life's hard. It's even harder when you're stupid". -John Wayne
I really enjoy this quote, and am using it as inspiration to not make life any harder.
All is well over here in the UA of E. I've heard about the controversy in the states, sorry guys. Good luck with all of that, and I'll deal with it when I'm back in May.
School has picked up as of recent, causing us (the students of Drilling & Measurements ENG-1) to relax more on the weekends instead of traveling or going on exotic safaris. We are primarily studying MWD (Measuring While Drilling) tools right now, the foundation for our division. These tools are the ones that transmit real-time data up the mud column to the surface, and provide us measurements that let us know where we are underground once we deviate from a vertical hole.
This weekend consisted of going to the beach and starting to make the trek to Al Ain (Old Abu Dhabi). We didn't realize it was farther away from Abu Dhabi than Dubai, and promptly turned the cabs around and headed home. I didn't know that in the 60's they moved Abu Dhabi from Al Ain (where it had been for hundreds of years) to its current island.
I also tried pigeon last night; fried and grilled. Interesting taste, a mix between duck and chicken. I most likely will not be trying it again, but that would top the most bizarre foods I have tried on this trip.
Keep in touch,
Russell
I really enjoy this quote, and am using it as inspiration to not make life any harder.
All is well over here in the UA of E. I've heard about the controversy in the states, sorry guys. Good luck with all of that, and I'll deal with it when I'm back in May.
School has picked up as of recent, causing us (the students of Drilling & Measurements ENG-1) to relax more on the weekends instead of traveling or going on exotic safaris. We are primarily studying MWD (Measuring While Drilling) tools right now, the foundation for our division. These tools are the ones that transmit real-time data up the mud column to the surface, and provide us measurements that let us know where we are underground once we deviate from a vertical hole.
This weekend consisted of going to the beach and starting to make the trek to Al Ain (Old Abu Dhabi). We didn't realize it was farther away from Abu Dhabi than Dubai, and promptly turned the cabs around and headed home. I didn't know that in the 60's they moved Abu Dhabi from Al Ain (where it had been for hundreds of years) to its current island.
I also tried pigeon last night; fried and grilled. Interesting taste, a mix between duck and chicken. I most likely will not be trying it again, but that would top the most bizarre foods I have tried on this trip.
Keep in touch,
Russell
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sorry about the lack of updates
Hey there readers (the few that I have left). Sorry about the lack of updates, things picked up in the old UA of E (that doesn't work at all, but oh well).
I just posted some more photos here. These pictures are from the beach in Abu Dhabi, as well as our little jaunt into the desert.
I'll catch you up on Dubai and then fill you in on the rest of my time to this point, so be ready for some reading action that may blast your cranium to the back of the auditorium...or wherever you choose to read this attempt at a blog.
My trip to Dubai was overwhelming. The town in under construction, similar to Abu Dhabi, but the finished areas are perfect to the smallest details. The Burj Khalifa is truly a wonder of the world. I've seen some tall buildings (Sears Tower, Empire State Building) but never did I have to lean back in order to see the entire building. Most know this as the Burj Dubai, but when the project went bankrupt (about halfway through construction) the Sheik of Abu Dhabi lent them a few billion to finish. No big deal; oh, and they had to change the name. Unfortunately the continuing problems with the building are keeping visitors from going to the top, so needless to say we did not walk up however many thousands of flights of stairs to the top. Malls in Dubai are crowded with Europeans, Arabs, and anyone else that has ventured into the bustling port city. If you notice in all the advertisements, it is filled with westerners instead of the native Emirates. We also ventured to the beach near the Burj Al Arab (7 star hotel) and I snapped a few pictures of that $7,000 (US) a night hotel. Visitors are allowed in if they pay for a $120 (US) cup of tea. I've heard its great tea.
The pictures from the beach are pretty straightforward, just a day relaxing in the sand and eating ice cream. The next day a group of us embarked on a little desert adventure and went dune driving (more so riding) which is similar to a roller coaster, rode a camel, and ate and drank under the stars in the middle of the desert. The pictures tell a much better story than I can.
I'm going to get back to studying, but I promise more will be posted.
We should be going back this weekend, so I will gather more stories.
I just posted some more photos here. These pictures are from the beach in Abu Dhabi, as well as our little jaunt into the desert.
I'll catch you up on Dubai and then fill you in on the rest of my time to this point, so be ready for some reading action that may blast your cranium to the back of the auditorium...or wherever you choose to read this attempt at a blog.
My trip to Dubai was overwhelming. The town in under construction, similar to Abu Dhabi, but the finished areas are perfect to the smallest details. The Burj Khalifa is truly a wonder of the world. I've seen some tall buildings (Sears Tower, Empire State Building) but never did I have to lean back in order to see the entire building. Most know this as the Burj Dubai, but when the project went bankrupt (about halfway through construction) the Sheik of Abu Dhabi lent them a few billion to finish. No big deal; oh, and they had to change the name. Unfortunately the continuing problems with the building are keeping visitors from going to the top, so needless to say we did not walk up however many thousands of flights of stairs to the top. Malls in Dubai are crowded with Europeans, Arabs, and anyone else that has ventured into the bustling port city. If you notice in all the advertisements, it is filled with westerners instead of the native Emirates. We also ventured to the beach near the Burj Al Arab (7 star hotel) and I snapped a few pictures of that $7,000 (US) a night hotel. Visitors are allowed in if they pay for a $120 (US) cup of tea. I've heard its great tea.
The pictures from the beach are pretty straightforward, just a day relaxing in the sand and eating ice cream. The next day a group of us embarked on a little desert adventure and went dune driving (more so riding) which is similar to a roller coaster, rode a camel, and ate and drank under the stars in the middle of the desert. The pictures tell a much better story than I can.
I'm going to get back to studying, but I promise more will be posted.
We should be going back this weekend, so I will gather more stories.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
