Cherry Blossoms

The National Cherry Blossom Festival started this weekend, and we had heard that the cherry trees at the Reflecting Pool were in full bloom, so we headed down there at about 7:00 AM to try to beat the crowds.



We were prepared for the chilly and windy weather, but not many of the trees have bloomed at all. In any case we wanted Clara & Gwendolyne to see at least some cherry blossoms, since we won't have an opportunity for at least another four years. Perhaps Patricia can take them down there again later on when more buds will have opened.

After a brisk walk all the way around the Reflecting Pool (with a requisite visit to the Jefferson Memorial), we fetched some pains au chocolat, pains au raisin, croissants and a baguette from Pâtisserie Poupon. We enjoyed the pastries, but won't return there anytime soon - it set us back $18. Why does French food always have to be so fricking expensive?

Larry & Patricia's night out

Patricia and I needed a chance to get reacquainted after my trip to Germany and her clown conference in Massachusetts the preceding weekend, so we got a sitter. We especially wanted to see a movie, which we hadn't done in quite a while.

My new colleagues at State organized a Happy Hour at Ireland's Four Courts at Courthouse, so we stopped in for a brief chat and beer. From there we headed up Wilson Boulevard to Minh's, since we were in the mood for Vietnamese. We started with some spring rolls, Patricia ordered vermicelli with beef & shrimp, and I had spicy lemon grass chicken in a clay pot - sublime! The thing was, we had to wolf it all down because we had to get to E St. Cinema for a 9:20 showing.

Fortunately we found parking across from Ford's Theatre, just around the corner from the cinema. Patricia had her heart set on Tsotsi, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film in 2005. I wasn't too interested, since I usually avoid films with violence. I was very pleasantly surprised.

What a joy to watch a film with actual character development, which has become anathema to most American filmmakers! It concerns a South African gang leader who rediscovers his humanity when he accidentally kidnaps a baby strapped in the back of a car he hijacks. There are some parallels to A Clockwork Orange - the violence, the gang members, discovering humanity among hardened criminals, and (at least in Burgess's novel), redemption for the main character.

The scenes of Johannesburg townships are stark reminders of the poverty and hardships still facing South Africa. An especially interesting cinematographic moment occurs near the end, where the main character is surrounded by police and the baby's parents are standing on the opposite side of an automatic gate - we see the gate opening slowly, each bar of metal passing in front of the anguished faces of the parents. The music, performed by the popular South African artist Zola - who also appears in the film - is appropriately exciting, breathtaking, and deeply evocative at the appropriate moments. I'd give the film four stars (out of 5).

First week's over!

Well I survived my first week in the Foreign Service. I had my French test yesterday and scored 4+ speaking/4 reading (out of 5), about which I cannot really complain.

Given my French result, the fact that Djibouti is a Language-Designated Post, and that none of the other seven IT guys speak French, we're guessing that it'll be Djibouti. Our ordered list reads: Addis Ababa, Jakarta, Conakry (though my colleague whose wife is stationed there is 99.44% likely to get it), Santiago, Djibouti, Helsinki, Bridgetown, and Abidjan.

Patricia and I have a date tonight - our first movie in months - so I'm looking forward to our reacquaintance over dinner.

I've received only one comment so far - feel free to write in!

Still jet lagged...

It's been six days since I returned from Germany, but I'm still waking up at 4:30. Last night I fell asleep as Clara was reading to me, the poor dear.

I had hoped to rest a bit more because I know how fatigue affects me, and because I have my French language examination today at FSI (Foreign Service Institute).

Patricia and I are pretty clear on our bidding list. We'd prefer to go to a "hardship" post on our first tour. We won't go to Abidjan because they're not sending children there; one of my colleagues is married to a Foreign Service Officer in Conakry, so that's likely also out. Feel free to comment if you have any ideas on the remaining six posts.

Bidding List

State gave us our bidding list yesterday. We're headed to one of the following eight posts for two years:

• Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire,
• Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Bridgetown, Barbados
• Conakry, Guinea
• Djibouti, Djibouti
• Helsinki, Finland
• Jakarta, Indonesia
• Santiago, Chile

Patricia (my wife) and I are madly researching these places, as our bids are due next Tuesday at noon.

Back from Germany... Training starts today

Friday I returned from a short inter-employment sabbatical in Germany, where I visited friends in Munich & Berlin. While my family back in Washington enjoyed an early spring with temps well above 20º C, I experienced snow and cold.

In Berlin, I saw the construction site for what I hope one day will be my workplace - the new US embassy just down the street from the Brandenburger Tor and next to the Holocaust victims' monument.

I hadn't visited Germany since 1989, and Berlin since 1987 (when the wall was still up), so I found things very much changed. Since we seem to visit exclusively France when we travel to Europe (all of Patricia's relatives live there), my German friends had grumbled for a while about not seeing me. This short sojourn made up for it.

If Martin sends me his picture of the Schweinshaxe I ate, I'll post that too. Es war lecker.

Patricia is joining me for the first day of orientation at NFATC (National Foreign Affairs Training Center) today, which starts at 8:00 am sharp. We'll receive the list of available posts and start the bidding process.

Larry leaves Georgetown

I haven't told everyone what's going on, and the people I have told all have the same questions, so I'm starting a blog. I'm going to need it where we're going...

After nine years of service at Georgetown University, I'm leaving the university's employ tomorrow, March 8. I've accepted a position as an "Information Management Specialist" (IMS) with the US Foreign Service. IMSs provide computing, telecommunications, and network support in US embassies and consulates around the world.

My training will start on March 20; I'll have three weeks of orientation, followed by technical training through at least August 11. Depending on which post State assigns me to, I may have further post-specific technical and/or language training after that.

State assigns FSSs (Foreign Service Specialists) to post after a bidding process, which starts at the same time as my orientation. State will provide a list of available posts and give us a week to research and consider our preferences. We'll also meet with the Career Development Officer (CDO) to discuss and defend our preferences. For example, I might list a francophone country and justify it because I speak fluent French.

The CDO will inform us of our assignment on April 4. It's unlikely we'd be assigned to Khartoum, Kabul, or Baghdad, because State is not sending families to those posts right now.

We don't have our hearts set on any particular post. It would be nice to leave the Western Hemisphere for our first post, but there are interesting countries on every continent. One of our two first assignments must be a "hardship" post in any case.

We're excited about this new opportunity.