On my way to Amman, Jordan "En'shallah"

Exciting and happy news...

I am so thrilled to have received my flag for my first post-Amman, Jordan! An amazing place and the position I will have is in public diplomacy (my cone) so I will be on track in the work I want to focus on-perfect fit!

Friday was flag day and my first tour will be in Amman-one of my top choices! I have a lot of work to do to learn Arabic, but there is an excellent language program available at the institute so I am putting myself in their hands-poor teachers LOL. I'll post more info on Amman, but for all you Oprah lovers Queen Rania was just on her show this past week-great interview!

I'll follow up with more information, but just wanted to share the great news!

 Salam

3 down and 2 to go...

Hi all-I returned this weekend from the leadership retreat. Overall it was a pretty good time and a great way to get to know people better-some good, some not so much LOL We spent most of our time doing outdoor leadership activities and a major operation called "Death Star- I was a leader for our group and the entire operation was actually amzingly smooth. We solved the death star and got the keys to the chest which held the torch of knowledge- so Star Trekky I almost expected Captain Kirk to beam in at any moment, good times and a welcome relief from 8 hours inside a classroom! Recap for the week: we worked again on writing Foreign Sevice style- apparently not my forte as I received my first cable back with an awful lot of red marks- makes me feel like one of my students. What was interesting is that we were able to watch footage of an envoy touring Rwanda during the genocide and read sample cables that reported back on what was happening there as a U.S. group of officers toured the area. It was an important reminder of how powerful those cables can be in certain times and places-literally life changing.  One of the other highlights was a panel discussion with FSNs (foreign service nationals) who were in town for training. These are local folks to the country where the Embassy is located. They shared some pretty funny stories about new officers and the blunders we make. I made a list of what to avoid!Wonderful folks and a true asset to our work. Cultural understanding and exchanges were also emphasized this week and the guy who taught the course was awesome- made me reflect on the many mistakes I've made over the years. Friday is the big day and is referred to as "Flag Day"-we find out that afternoon the country we will be assigned to for the next 2 years. I cannot wait and have the flags I hope to see memorized! 2 weeks to go...
Peace

Incredible 2nd week...

So the 2nd week has come and gone of A-100. It has been amazing so far with lots of new information to absorb and think about. There are 93 people in my class so it has been really nice getting to know everyone- a truly amazing group of people with incredible talents. I had my meeting with my career development officer and reviewed choices for placement. I have gone over the bid list a million times as there are some incredible posts to consider and also worked on narrowing my preferences. There is a lot of information to research on every post so my free time has been consumed by this process. Basically we will submit our ranks on Tuesday and wait until flag day (April 23) to find out what the next couple years of our lives have in store for us. I also have to take a language aptitude test this upcoming week- argh I fear I might stand out as language challenged (personally I think pig latin should count for something) LOL  Missing Spring in Minnesota and learning quickly that thick humidity will be my new norm-must acclimate... Peace

First week in DC...

Ahhh-Happy Easter!  My first week in DC is complete and overall it has been good. Training is really interesting and I am excited to be moving along. We received our bid lists for our first posts, which was definately the highlight. There are about 100 spots and 93 of us, so most will get filled. I've spent a lot of free time researching the various posts and determining the pros and cons- they all seem like great spots for so many different reasons. I think I just need to examine my preferences and narrow it down. Regardless the research is fasicnating and I certainly am getting a crash course in geography!  I've finally unpacked and set up shop in my temporary housing-nice to not be climbing over boxes and suitcases, although I have not even received my air freight and my apartment is pretty full- who knew an Escape could hold so much stuff. By the way if you subscribed via e-mail, you can respond to the e-mail you receive and it comes right to my private e-mail and does not pop up in the comments section. Heading out to the Cherry Blossoms and feeling jealous of what I've heard is an amazingly beautiful perfect Minnesota Easter day back home-enjoy and I'm with you in spirit!