I’m three weeks into my tour in Tokyo, over the jet lag, and am starting to settle into life here. The flight over was the longest I’ve ever been on: 14 hours direct from Dulles in Virginia. It wasn’t quite as bad as I expected, but the food service came three times (and with it the lights) making it hard to get any real sleep.Â
If you follow the Beer and Diplomacy Instagram, you may have been a bit confused about some of my recent content. Didn’t you say you were going to Vietnam next? What’s this about Flag Day? I have purposely delayed writing this blog for a variety of reasons, including the uncertainty surrounding my own employment and the typical delay for security reasons. Some answers to the above questions can also be found in my OMS post, but the main thing to know is: I finally accepted the offer!
The last trip we made during our time in Guatemala was to Petén, the largest and northernmost department in Guatemala that borders Mexico and Belize. Our original trip was supposed to be in early July, but that ended up being delayed until just days before our departure due to a tropical storm. We knew we were taking a chance by booking a trip during rainy season, but we weren’t about to leave Guatemala without seeing the famous Mayan ruins of Tikal.
After a years’ worth of blogs about travel in and around Guatemala, I realized that I haven’t written anything about what we’re doing when we’re at work. It’s not all fun and games, you know.Â
When Misha was provided the opportunity to go to Bogota for a four-day training on atrocity prevention, we jumped at the chance to bundle it with some tourist activity. We flew down on a Friday in April, and I returned on Monday. Misha stayed for her training, which included one big tourist attraction outside of the city that I missed out on. Bogota is the third largest city in South America by population, home to over 8 million people. It’s also very high up in the mountains of Colombia, with an altitude of over 8600 feet.Â
In early December, Misha and I finally made our first visit to Lake Atitlan. It's one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country and routinely ranked among the world's most beautiful lakes. Lago de Atitlan is less than 50 miles from the capital as the crow flies but can take over 4 hours to reach by car due to a combination of traffic and winding, twisting country roads.  It sits in the shadow of three volcanoes and was formed by a supervolcanic eruption some 84,000 years ago.  Eleven little towns, each with their own distinct characteristics, dot the shores of the lake, three of which Misha and I visited on this trip.Â
This news is a coming a bit late but based on the number of variables and the confusing nature of bidding at this stage of Misha’s career, I wanted to make sure I didn’t report news that would require a retraction later on down the line. With that in mind, I am happy to announce... Continue Reading →
After roughly six months of silence, I’m finally back with an update. Between work, two nights dedicated to Spanish lessons, three nights booked for basketball, boxing, and tennis, and being the only one with the will or ability to cook real dinners in the house (sorry Misha), I’ve been finding it difficult to allocate time to write. Luckily, the December slowdown and a few well-placed days off has allowed me some time to not only get a few posts written, but to actually do a few things worth writing about.
Misha, Mochi, and I have now been in Guatemala City for three weeks. Keeping with the formula I started in Israel, I'd like to start my Guatemala series with my first impressions of our new post here and then write several follow up pieces once I've gotten more chances to explore the city. We live... Continue Reading →
After what feels like only two shakes of a lambs' tail (to quote Mia Wallace), our time in the DC area is quickly coming to an end. While we don't depart for Guatemala until mid-October, we are already planning our exit from Virginia.
Beer and Diplomacy 
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