Category: FS Wannabe

The FS called Peter and started to put some pressure on him to start the March class. And they told us the places to choose from:
Kosovo (then on second thought not Kosovo, as children can’t go to that post)
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Niamey, Niger
Asmara, Eritrea

So Peter and I walked around the house saying, “No way!” And, “Maybe later!” It’s her job to ask and Peter’s job to say no, I told him. We don’t want to go to any of those places! And especially we don’t want to ruin our lives and move out of the house before it’s all set up to rent. So he called and told her it took him 5 minutes to decide no. Maybe May. Maybe July. She said, “I had to ask.”

Sierra Leone is just not safe enough.

Niamey has a decent-looking–as much as you can tell from a website–french school, and it’s a francophone country so if I need to tell someone to cook the chicken all the way through I can. Downsides: hot and hotter weather, with blowing dust, anti-malarials, not much to do, second-poorest country IN THE WORLD. Upsides: francophony-ness, giraffes a few miles away, a wildlife park, and pools at every (american embassy-provided) house. The school, house and embassy are close together so there isn’t much of a commute.

Asmara is the cleanest city in Africa, you can ride your bike everywhere, there is a hotel with a gym and a pool we can join like a club. Downsides: no French, teeny school. Upsides: great weather, no anti-malarials.

Lots to think about.

FSHP are currently posted in Abuja, Accra, Ankara, Asmara, Antananarivo, Beijing, Bucharest, Budapest, Baku, Bangkok, Bogota, Brussels, Colombo, Conakry, Harare, Havana, Hong Kong, Islamabad, Kabul, Kampala, Kiev, Kathmandu, Kigali, Kinshasa, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, La Paz, Lilongwe, London, Managua, Manila, Maputo, Mexico City, Monrovia, Moscow, Nairobi, Ndjamena, New Delhi, Niamey, Ouagadougou, Prague, Pretoria, Quito, Rabat, San Salvador, Santo Domingo, Sarajevo, Sofia, Tashkent, Tel Aviv, Tbilisi, Tegucigalpa, Tirana, Tokyo, Tunis, Vienna, Yaounde, Yerevan.

I’ve been reading your blog of your family’s experience in Togo, which I adore, for over a year. My husband is the one who recently passed all the clearances for the Foreign Service. I think he will start orientation in May. Unless we back out. Right now our post would be in West Africa. I have moments of being okay with it, my kids go to a french school here in Portland, Oregon, so a francophone area would be a bonus, having a pool would be nice. But then I read in the paper this morning about 15 christians killed in Nigeria– by rioting mobs. Okay. Now I’m thinking, do we really want to do this?

How SAFE do you feel?

I remember your first few days in Togo, thinking maybe you would start a count down: one day down, 700+ days to go.

And now I’m worried about internet connectivity. I can live without dsl, but I must have internet hook-up or I will feel so isolated. I’ve already started a blog to keep in touch with family, I have to have the internet! How is it in Togo?

How are the anti-malarials going? I’m not a good sleeper. Not looking forward to “vivid dreams.” How are your kids tolerating the anti-malarials?

I think you grew up in Niamey? Any thoughts for me? Did you go to ASN?

I’m so glad you are back and healthy from London. Thank you so much for your work at globehoppers.us

Best,

November 6 I wrote:

Well, so P. passed. I was so trying to wrap my mind around the idea that he wouldn’t pass, kind of like trying to imagine having a boy and not a girl, but I never could go there mentally. P. and I are floating on the happiness of this development and it wasn’t until this morning when he had to take kids to a friend’s house to be dropped off at o’ dark thirty, or maybe even o’ dark, so I could ride my bike to work, that I’ve even seen a hint of a bad mood.

And he had left his suit at home, which we discovered (horror!) the morning he was flying to dc from Seattle. Many panic-y calls, and he somehow bought something on his layover in Chigaco. Even shoes. And then he passed, he friggin’ passed the Foreign Service orals. Woooooooooooooooo-hoooooooooooooooooooo. Holy Camoly. Please, please, please.

Now I’m having a moment of fear that he won’t get past the security clearance, although I don’t see why he wouldn’t. We have paid a a few bills late and have a few crazy friends, but I don’t think it’s enough to be a security risk. God I hope. After all this, we really, really want it.

Is it possible? This summer maybe? They said six months is average, and P. seems like an average guy, not having moved too much, or worked overseas ever. Dreams do come true?