With our time in Israel now over, we're back stateside in between tours. Misha jumped immediately into Spanish before even getting over her jet lag, while I've taken the time to relax (because I just worked so hard before, right Misha?). The departure process included selling my car, sorting through our belongings (see below), getting... Continue Reading →
In what was perhaps our last excursion from Israel, Misha and I had an absolute blast in Jordan, Israel's eastern neighbor. The country is currently only allowing those with diplomatic visas to cross the border by car, so we took advantage of our status once again. This may also be our last road trip in my car before we sell it to a fellow diplomat, so it was a nice final drive for my Jetta. This trip didn't have the bewildering brush with border patrol that our Belgium trip had, but it wasn't complete devoid of anxiety all the same. Namely, as the trip wore on, I felt more and more certain that I was coming down with covid.
After our first attempt to visit Belgium was nixed back in August, Misha and I regrouped for a second attempt during the Christmas season. I can't believe I'm saying this after only two years away from Massachusetts, but the trip actually made me miss winter weather....It wasn't all a nostalgic return to holiday cheer, though. As a matter of fact, it started as poorly as an international trip can start.
Back in November, Misha and I, along with my mother and sisters, took an off-season trip to Greece. Keeping with the tradition of this blog, I will eschew a day by day breakdown of our vacation and instead recount a few anecdotes and highlights. An aspiring travel writer I am not. Even if I were, it’s a little late in the blogging game to be offering advice on what to do in Athens and Santorini.
Misha and I took advantage of the September holiday season in Israel to skip town for a week and head to Germany. Rather than return to Bavaria, this time we spent two days each at the beginning and end of our trip in Berlin with two days in Saxony sandwiched in the middle. The food was delicious, the weather warm and sunny, the trip a great success.
After several false starts due to ever-changing travel restrictions, Misha and I finally settled on an August vacation destination: Austria. We stayed at an Airbnb in a quiet little town near Krems an der Donau for two nights. Then, it was on to Vienna.
Last fall, I wrote a blog about my first job as a family member in the State Department. I described some of my duties as ESTH Assistant and a bit about our work. I also described my official role of Roving Administrative Assistant and how this role involves being plugged into different openings around the embassy as needed. I held the ESTH position while someone waited for a security clearance, so once that clearance came through I was freed up for another role. Cue my second assignment: Office Management Specialist (OMS).
Just like back home, American FSO's in Israel enjoyed an extra day off for the holiday. Rather than celebrate it on the beach in Tel Aviv, a friend and I decided to take advantage of the loosened travel restrictions and fly to Germany for the long weekend. One of the things we've missed out on most with Covid restrictions is cheap travel around Europe and the Mediterranean, so we weren't going to let this opportunity pass us by.
I doubt many people out there read these posts without also following one of our social media accounts, but if you are one of those people, sorry for keeping you in suspense. We found out only two weeks after submitting our bid list that our second destination with the State Department will be Guatemala City, which just so happened to be our top choice.
The main reason we haven't posted in a few months is because there hasn't been much to post about. All we do is work or relax around the apartment these days. There are other factors as well, such as colder weather and lockdown protocols, but we've reduced ourselves to working stiffs who use the weekends to watch Cobra Kai or the latest episode of The Stand.
Beer and Diplomacy 
You must be logged in to post a comment.