New life, new place but not a new me

So, where should I begin... I moved AGAIN! For the past two years, I have been moving but now I am finally settled - why? well the simple answer is, I accepted an opportunity in Fort McMurray instead of elsewhere and the long and detail answer is below.

Because I wanted to experience the oil sands and to see what it is all about. I realized that I had really no clue about what the oil sands are unless I work in it. I graduated from University of Waterloo in Engineering so the oil companies came to recruit us during career fair so I kind of know what it is about but not really...

Before coming to work in Fort McMurray, it didn't register in my mind that the oil sands is a mining area, I thought it was just sand beaches covered in oil (I feel very stupid right now) and we would load it out but it is actually bigger than that. Loading out the sand is just a small portion of the oil sands. Anyways, I'm not gonna get too technical but I am enjoying it a lot - learning a lot from the Engineers but I am learning more from the Operators, it is quite amazing the amount of people that work in the mines and their untold stories...

Last week, a fatality happened on dayshift and it shook everybody up - I still can't believe that it happened... Safety is such an important concept in the mines but sometimes accidents can happen with preventive measures. Hopefully something can be learned from this accident.

The famous question - Do you like Fort Mac?
I do, there is really nothing wrong with the city. It is a place with people that make and spend way too much money. You just make the best out of it. I am enjoying every moment of living here. The only thing that I dislike is missing my husband but besides that, I do see myself raising a family here.

Beautiful fall in Fort Mac

Christmas spirit from the neighbors

Love the sky

Very expensive alcohol

Really nice sky in the mine

Crazy parties...

Australia and New Zealand - It's been a year! HOLY CRAP!

WOW, time flies! Best thing I have ever done for myself is to quit my job and just explore. I love my carefree self but life goals and social expectations are getting into the way...

I miss all my friends that I met in Australia and New Zealand, it was such a blessing to be able to travel with my best friend JF and meet new people - we try our best to stay in touch.

My favorite places in Australia are definitively Adelaide and Melbourne - amazing people and lots of fun and soul searching.

Favorite place in New Zealand was definitively (the whole country!) I hope that I can relocate there when the time comes. Loved it!

Hiking a Glacier trail in sandals was not very smart

Surrounded by NZ sheep

Philippines, Dulag - settling down

Before starting this post, I have a feeling of sadness and joy coming through me. Writing about this is nostalgic to me. I miss every single soul that I encountered there.

When I arrived in Dulag after the bumping ride and the destroyed landscape, Christy was the first to welcome me with a big smile. Second person was Matt, the male nurse (while writing this, I have Jamie's husband's voice in my head). They were setting up a new birthing room for the patients. I also met Jamie, the Chaplain and Michelle, a midwife. Everybody was very nice and welcoming in the clinic.

I remembered that I had to settle down a bit, traveling for the past 2 months has taken a toll on me. I went to the beach with my friend John. Thinking back, I was very quiet on that day because everything was so different - there are no other words to describe it. Even though destruction is everywhere, people were still smiling which was comforting to me. The Filipinos are a very strong community and I think part of it is because of their faith.

Getting back from the beach, I started prepping for cooking, seeing the nurses work so hard inside and out motivated me to cook. My first dish was fried rice with SPAM. Everybody seems to like my cooking. I hope they did because they were stuck with me for a month, whohahahaha.

I became Jamie's tent-mate. Very grateful that I got to rest with her :) It was fun! She was so nurturing and is a mother of a lot of children- I lost count.

Our medical clinic was inside of an elementary classroom and we were living in tents. We had three non functional bathrooms that had to be flushed manually with a bucket of water. Let me tell ya, you need some skills to flush down number 2 - I still didn't acquire that skills and I don't think I will ever!

My second day in Dulag, I went to the market with Michelle, Jamie and Tano (he is our ambulance driver and go-to person for anything)

Where our clinic was located temporary

Destruction everywhere

Kid smiling and having fun with a bucket of water and rain

We found fresh chicken at the market!!!!!

Cemetery at the church

Can rebuilding with urbanism in mind possible after a disaster?

I was reflecting on my experience in the Philippines as a future planner and was thinking about how to rebuild a city after a natural disaster such as a tsunami or a typhoon. In this case, Typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines in November 2013, every top newsroom were reporting on the disaster. After a month, total silence, no media covering the situation but I had a friend that went in December and he informed me that the situation is still very bad.

Landing there in January, I met people that wanted to make a difference to rebuild Tacloban. Honestly, I didn't have the mental strength to stay long-term but I could offer my knowledge from my planning and engineering background. Many meetings were planned and attended but I felt that it was too early to talk about rebuilding. The survivors were suffering emotionally and helping them emotionally was more important than building a city back from the ground without any planning. I have witness the power of healing on the survivors and there is nothing like it. 

Before offering a solution, an assessment of the current status of the disaster must be done but because time is at the essence, the focus was far from it. The focus was to rebuild as soon as possible which is understandable because the survivors need a place to stay.

I saw how the temporary shelters were made - a very simple bunkhouse in rows with a door and two windows (one in the front and one in the back). They were very tiny. At first glance, I was shocked by it, my instinct was yelling but I didn't have the proper resources to research on temporary shelters norms. After coming back from Philippines, I started researching and I found that many others have also questioned on those bunkhouses.

I understand that these are temporary shelters but seeing the magnitude of the disaster, I am positive that it will take years to rebuild Tacloban and the areas. Toilets and kitchen were in a common area. I even got to use one of the toilet: no flushing capabilities, no seat and no toilet paper. I had to come out of the enclosed toilet to get water to manually flush and get my own alcohol wipes to clean my hands. Don't get me wrong, I was super happy about having a toilet and when in disaster, it makes you appreciate what you have back home (toilet paper, toilet seat, even though I don't use it in public places, soap...) and also makes you realize that to survive, the Human only need the basics.

  

Philippines, Tacloban to Dulag - Part 1

With many requests from people, I decided to write a bit about my experience in the Philippines... I came back in February and I just could not submerge myself in writing my experience because I also had to move forward and consolidate my own experience.

After hearing about the typhoon, I committed myself to volunteering. I have always wanted to give back to the community. With a leap of faith, I left to the Philippines, arrived in Manila and met a friend that hooked me up with a clinic located in Dulag, an hour of drive from Tacloban where typhoon Yolanda hit back in November 2013.

On google maps it says 33 mins of drive but when I was there, it was more an hour because of the debris

New Nail polish obsession!

Well, if you know me personally, I loveeeee nail polish! I do nail polish parties where I paint all my friends nail for fun (my creative side)

why?

1. I am a girl

2. I love to paint. 

3. I have a sense of empowerment when I have painted nail. I feel that I have magic powers.