The most exciting and nerve-racking day of this whole process was Flag Day. It's not even close. Following the events in the post "Now What?!", we went through a bidding process to determine what country we would be assigned to. We can only share general details, but the list of potential posts was slightly longer... Continue Reading →
By the time Misha got the call about the Foreign Service, we had been dating for three years. We had discussed marriage on several occasions, but didn't think it was an expenditure we would be able to afford for some time. Misha is a big proponent of the FIRE movement, which means Financial Independence, Retire Early. Having a big wedding complete with a hashtag was never part of our plans, but I still wanted to do something to celebrate our love in front of our families. Balancing these factors would take a lot of effort, so it was a conversation we decided to floor until it made a little more sense. The Foreign Service life changed all that.
Woohoo! Misha is joining the Foreign Service and I'm going with her! Deep breaths. Okay… now what? Once the excitement calmed down and we came to terms with reality, we realized we had a lot of work to do. I worked as a Beer Buyer and Marketing Manager for a craft beer and wine shop in Needham, MA, so we were in the midst of the busiest season of the year. UTEC, like most NGO's, was perennially over-worked and under-staffed. Misha was the Direct of Evaluation and Impact, so she had a ton of responsibility, and often had to take on tasks that fell far outside of her job description… and far outside normal working hours. So, on top of already being overloaded at our jobs, we were facing a major transition.
Thanks for following our adventure! Our story starts several months back on December 3rd, 2018. It's a Monday. I have the day off. Sometime in the late morning/ early afternoon I get a frantic call from Misha while she's at work. She has just received a call from the State Department to become a Foreign Service Officer (FSO), offering her a coveted spot that starts in little over one month. Holy crap...
Beer and Diplomacy 
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