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 →
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.
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).
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.
After nearly 14 months in Israel, it's officially time to start looking ahead to our next post. Â In State Department lingo, this process is called "bidding." Â I've mentioned the term "bidding" in several previous posts and in many conversations with friends and family. Â When using the term in conversation, I'm almost always met with confusion. Hopefully, I can clear up some of the that here.
Talk about a crazy start to Misha's career with the State Department. First there was the shutdown. Then there were the impeachment proceedings, which included multiple members of the diplomatic community. And now this: a global pandemic.
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 →
Beer and Diplomacy 
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