I have been terrible about updating my blog over the last little while only because I haven't been taking pictures. However, this picture of James is a pretty good depiction of my mood over the last week. I have been very happy and I like it.
Because I do want to share with you what I've been up to, please accept this text-only update of some of the fun things I've been working on.
As most of you know, I am working in Russia as an environmental coordinator. That means I coordinate our environmental protection efforts during our 2011 offshore construction season. Over the last few weeks I have been bouncing from ship to ship providing environmental training and vessel inspections. I've trained somewhere around 250 people. It has been very fun.
Last week I boarded a large pipelay barge filled with nearly 200 burly Russian men and proceeded to give them a Sunday-school style lesson on oil spill prevention and waste management. They were so attentive, I could hardly believe my eyes. I spoke with a translator to make sure everyone understood everything they needed to hear. Then, at the end I switched to Russian to give them one last hooray. They nearly gave me a standing ovation! They were all clapping and cheering. Made me feel like a million bucks. Thanks guys.
Our construction continues to be delayed, but I don't really mind sticking around here. It gives me the opportunity to spend more time exercising and eating well. I also have been fortunate enough to have been roped into a few other activities going on in the office. One of them is the Western Gray Whale tagging program.
A few days ago I went with the whale crew to test out their boats. They built for themselves this little extension they are calling a pulpit that allows them to walk out, over the water in front of the boat. They are hoping it will make tagging a few whales this summer much, much easier. Last year they were only able to tag one whale, and are hoping that they can take their lessons learned this year and tag a few more. Good luck everyone.
Of course there have been a lot of fun cultural things I should share as well. One, my favorite, relates directly to the whale boats. Not only are Russians kind and traditional, but they are also sometimes a little slow to try new things. I usually like this because it means that they are very resourceful. Dad would like them, too, for their Use-it-up,-wear-it-out.-Make-it-do,-or-do-without mentality.
When we arrived at the little lake we were testing the boats in (it was more like a large pond actually) I couldn't help but notice that all the biologists were practically naked. In fact, their cotton underwear did very little to hide their anatomy, if you know what I mean. It made me chuckle. I often like to compare Russians to little children. This, in my opinion, did nothing to prove the contrary. They were all very nice men. Very gentle in helping me and another, now much more Russianized, American girl get into and out of the little boats. They paddled us around for a little while (they accidentally forgot the motor) as the girls stood together out on the pulpit, trying to simulate a much larger man bouncing over waves attempting to tag a whale. As you can imagine, we had a great time.
That's all for now. Thanks for all your kind comments in future and past posts.
Sounds like you are amazing as usual!
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