Caracas - Day #1

Our plane landed at the airport outside of Caracas as dawn was breaking. We slept some on the plane but we were pretty tired when we finally landed. We were in first class, which allowed us to hit the immigrations lines first.

As we got off of the plane we were greeted by airport workers wearing surgical masks and gloves. Chris and I had to sign had to sign medical release forms before we cleared immigration/customs and lots of people had masks on. There were signs warning against flu and instructions on how to avoid transmission of the flu as well.

I knew that a car and driver would be awaiting us, and I imagined a young chauffeur and a sleek black sedan. Much to my surprise, a chubby middle aged man met us - his name was "Jaime" (pronounced Hy-mae) and brought us out to a slightly beat up mini-van. Once I got over my initial disappointment, Jaime turned out to be a sweetheart and we loved having him show us around. He spoke in broken English, and we spoke in broken Spanish - but managed to understand each other for the most part. The drive to Caracas from the airport takes about 30 minutes, and goes up about 3000 feet. The views are breathtaking. Caracas in in a valley and is surrounded by mountains, nothing is flat here.

The airport was very near the beach and we could see hi-rise hotels along the water as we landed. The foothills of the Mountains started just behind the airport and were riddled with 'barrios' - neighborhoods of the poor people. These meager dwellings are carved into the hills and mountains surrounding Caracas.

He whisked us to the J.W. Marriott and we checked in around 6 am. We were still pretty wired from the flight and new environment so we decided to do our P90X workout in the gym at the hotel. After that, we went to the breakfast buffet - very different than what you usually find in the U.S. First of all, the fruit was different and I did not know what half of it was. There was lots and lots of meat options, sliced, shredded, grilled, fried (yes, fried meat). There was ONE kind of milk. No skim, 1%, 2% - just plain leche. Oh, and as far as Spanish goes, everyone speaks it here. I know that sounds funny - but it is a little freaky to realize that almost no one outside of the guy checking you in at the hotel speaks any English!

After a nap, Tara Turner came to pick us up for our tour of the school, neighborhoods and potential places to live. God bless this woman. She patiently toured us for several hours stopping at grocery stores, pharmacies, the school, and an apartment. Tara is wonderful, she is a spouse of one of the management team in Caracas. She is an RN with a master's degree in public health, but now stays at home with her kids. The school was beautiful and looks like Katherine and Madeline are going to have a great time there.

We are going to live in a high-rise apartment and will have a pick of a few to choose from. We saw a couple of apartments, including Tara's that are coming available soon. After touring grocery stores, pharmacies, etc.. to get an idea of goods sold here we ended up at Tara's apartment to meet her husband and kids and hang out with them for dinner.

They are very nice and have four beautiful kids - they love their life here and told us about the good things and challenges of living here. They ordered in Sushi and we drank wine and talked for hours about life in Caracas. Jaime brought us back to the hotel and we are about to fall into bed happy, excited, and exhausted.

First Class is the Only Way to Fly

Chris and I are sitting in the "E" terminal President's Club enjoying 'free' glasses of wine waiting on our 11:59 flight to Caracas. This is our preassignment trip and includes meeting the other members of the Chevron Family in Caracas, visiting the kids school, and hopefully, finding a place to live. I plan to update this frequently - so stay tuned.


By the way - the President's Club ROCKS. I highly recommend scoring a pass to get in here if you can.

The last time I was in this room was in 2005 with Christy Abair - we were flying to Chicago to the Oprah Winfrey Show - another great story - for later.


My In-laws are watching the kids while we are gone - as an added bonus - they are also helping us show and sell the house. The house is not even officially on the market, but I have potentially four families interested in it.


Swine flu is still an issue - we saw two people wearing masks in the airport tonight. That's not saying much, but the airport is very empty due to the lateness of the hour. I have masks tucked into my purse - just in case someone is coughing next to me IN FIRST CLASS (in case you forgot) on the airplane.


Chris and I and the girls went to Houston on Wednesday for our medical clearance. Chris and I went to the Occupational Medicine Clinic in Chevron's building in downtown Houston. I had a 1.5 hour screening, exam, blood work, and 4 vaccines. My deltoids are so sore. My exam was perfunctory at best. I did not even have to get undressed. Chris, on the other hand was a little freaked out because it seems the doctor was a little more thorough on his exam - it included a prostate and testicular exam and he just did not see that one coming. After that fun experience we found enough time to head to Rice Village for a little shopping and lunch. At 1:30 we had appointments for the kids at the Texas Children's Travel Medicine Clinic (I mean seriously, these people think of everything!). We did not walk out of the hospital until 4:00. The kids each had 3 vaccines and a TB test AND blood work. Katherine did pretty well, but Madeline was PISSED. She screamed bloody murder when they had to draw blood, on my lap, with me holding her.

Its getting late, and I am tired. I'll sign off for now. More to come soon.

Personality Assessment

Today I had a phone interview with a psychologist to review the results of my personality assessment. Chris and I actually conferenced in together. We passed. Whew......

Of note, I am very tolerant, Chris, not so much - shocker. I am very social, Chris, not so much. Chris is a risk taker, me, not so much. Psych man though those points were very interesting that we were so dichotomous on those particular scales. I explained to him that we took the tests individually, and had we taken them as a team our answers would have met in the middle somewhere (likely after much heated discussion). I guess after 14 years of marriage, 2 kids, Medical School, Residency, an MBA and Hurricane Ike - you figure out we are pretty much bomb proof; or just too tired to look elsewhere?

We have that out of the way at least. Our medical exams are next week on Wednesday. We fly out on Friday for our "Look and See" tour. We have a whole itenerary! - and nearly every minute is accounted for. Very "The Firm-ish." More details to follow.

Passport Photos and Paperwork and P90X

My kids are so cute. We had to do "passport type" photos - which meant a head shot on a white background for their visas. In our home, we don't have "white" walls, so "buttermilk" will have to do. The color is above the wainscoting in the kitchen, so we had to stand Madeline on a chair to get the right background. I am still in post-peel mode, so my picture leaves much to be desired, but remains a lesson learned.

The whole moving overseas process is so much more detailed than I expected. The medical documentation is brutal. I have had to do a 7 page medical history form, which included a page for the physical exam (including pelvic - oh joy, a stranger doing my GYN exam). Chris and I and both kids have exams scheduled for April 29th. Chris and I have to see Chevron physicians (how do you get THAT job????) and the kids go to a "Chevron approved" pediatrician at Texas Children's. I also had to fill out mental health form for both kids, and pulmonary functional assessment and mental health forms for myself.

In addition to medical information and exams, I had to perform a two hour online personality assessment. I just found out today that Chris and I have a two day orientation in June at Chevron in Houston. We also have to meet with a counselor to review our personality assessments for an hour each. Impressive.

On one hand, I am pleased that Chevron is investing so much time and energy to make sure we are going to be happy and healthy on our new adventure. They do not seem to be leaving any stone unturned before we relocate. On the other hand, it feels a little invasive and creepy. It reminds me a little of when I almost joined the Navy. It also makes me realize that some people must have REALLY freaked out overseas. I realize that the company is investing a small fortune to send us over and ensure our safety and happiness - I guess this is just a way to protect their investment.

The Navy comment is relative because I almost signed on the dotted line to join as an officer before medical school so they would pay for it. It is a pretty good financial deal for me and the opportunity came highly recommended. I went to New Orleans for my physical exam and testing. The nurses who were checking me in and administering tests kept whispering to me "don't do it, just take out student loans" or "its not worth it." Hmmm, I began to think. Maybe they are right. When it came time for my physical exam, the "doctor" walked into the exam room. There I sat in a paper gown, face to face with the scariest looking man I had ever seen. He was at least 7 feet tall (no kidding), he had exopthalmus (googly-eyes for the uneducated), and long skinny fingers. All 12 of the hairs left on his head were sticking straight up and the rest had relocated to his eyebrows. His lab coat was dirty and he did not introduce himself. I had not even started medical school yet, but I knew something was very wrong. I had an epiphany. The Navy was not for me. NO WAY was I going to let this man examine me and no scholarship was worth that. I jumped off the table, grabbed my clothes and with as much dignity as I could ran out of the room to the bathroom with my paper gown flapping in the breeze. The Admiral was very upset and called me repeatedly, but I just could not tell him why I could not go through with the exam and sign on the dotted line. So I am a little nervous about who is going to do my exam in a couple of weeks.... Having some insight into the medical field makes me think that anyone working for an oil company as a physician is either a genius or a total reject? I'll keep you posted. I'll also do my best not to jump off of the exam table and ruin my husband's career - especially after I just ruined mine.

P90X came today. Off Ebay. From China. I bet Tony Horton is so happy about that. I did Chest/Back and Ab Ripper X today. I did not take the "before pictures" as recommended and need to get the journal/calander to keep track of my progress, but I am commited to it and will keep you posted. I realistically don't expect to be able to lift my arms tomorrow. Thank God speculums don't weigh much.

I really think I may have gone too far.

Yesterday was a very very bad day.

It is just too gruesome. And let me tell you, I just took this picture and I look about 1,000 times better than I did yesterday.

What on earth was I thinking? I am sure in three weeks, I will be glowing like tween who just swallowed kryptonite, but for now, I suffer....... Yesterday it was horrible. I could only put Vaseline on it and it made it slick and shiny. People stared at me - but tried not to look like they were - all day long. My kids were truly embarrassed to be seen with me (so I took them to NASA as a learning experience). Today, it was better, but I coated it in base makeup to cover the redness. It itched, flaked, and peeled all day. By the afternoon, I was scaring my clinic patients and having to explain - Oh, I just had a chemical peel.........

Vanity.

It is so sad.

It drives me to exercise, cleanse, botox, exfoliate, peel, paint, primp, dye.

Yesterday, I had to take a morbidly obese patient to the OR for drainage of a 21 centimeter wide pus pocket that had formed in 12 days under her skin from a cesarean section. We had to cut through 6 inches of fat to get to the abscess so we could drain it.

I had gone to Wendy's for dinner and ordered a #1 meal deal (burger, fries, diet coke). That is something I rarely do, but I was so depressed and in pain because of my face I thought it would cheer me up. After cutting into a smelly abscess, through about 327 #1 meals (super sized), and draining 600 cc of pus, I thought I was going to die. Then we had to jet lavage the whole thing and debride the necrotic tissue, but I digress. It was so sad actually. She is a nice person, and she just had her fourth child, and she could barely move herself from one bed to another for surgery.

What am I teaching my children?

The Farewell Tour Begins......

After much debate, we decided to go to Lafayette for a long weekend during Spring Break. We left after Mom got off of work and headed to the ferry. Two hours later we were crossing onto Bolivar Peninsula. W-O-W. I had not been there since the hurricane. I was disoriented as most of the landmarks (and structures) after Crystal Beach are gone. When I got to Rollover Pass and realized where I was, I started crying. There was nothing nothing nothing there. No buildings, no real roads - just sand and water. Katherine and Madeline had no idea where we were.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and fun. We took my parents dancing and out to dinner and spent lots of time with Isabella and Juliana our cousins. It was good to see Gee-gee and Pappa. We made it home no problem.