Hurry Up and Wait

Pilots in the Shade
The Pilots and Baggage guy relax in the shade as we wait for the plane to be fixed. 

In the oilfield there is a common saying, "Hurry up and wait," this essentially encompass many jobs where we are told to rush rush rush so that we arrive at a rig site just in time to sit around waiting on the job to begin. If you have ever experienced this you can understand how frustrating it quickly becomes. In my particular situation I have been living in this zone of hurry up and wait for several months waiting to get to Venezuela. 


In January I received all my paperwork that approved my visa and I was ready to fly south. All I had left to do was get my passport stamped with the visa and buy a plane ticket. However, when dealing with anything government and Venezuelan nothing is simple. After sending in my Visa Authorization paperwork and passport to the consulate in Washington D.C. I realized that this was going to take awhile. After 5 days of silence I began calling the consulate. To my surprise no one answered calls or emails and the voice mail box was full. Each day I began my incessant calling and the one day magical day the phone was answered by a lady who spoke no English. I was put on hold and then disconnected. I could not reach anyone when I called back. This went on for two weeks until one glorious day I received a phone call from the consular telling me that my visa was ready and that they were going to send it out. Oh man was I happy. Finally I was going to be heading to Venezuela. A few short hours later the news of Chavez's death was in the headlines and the consulate was going to be shutting down until further notice. Bummer.

Luckily my passport was sent back to me before the news of Chavez's death however I now couldn't travel due to restrictions imposed by my company about traveling to Venezuela during this time. So I went waiting on a visa to waiting on my passport to waiting on elections.

Here I am, 10 months after I was initially told I was going to Venezuela still not in Venezuela. With one thing after another impeding my swift move there I don't know if I ever will see South America. I'm growing anxious and worried about what my future will hold. I guess all I can do is keep my fingers crossed that something will happen soon.