IT'S OFFICIAL!

Friday was our official swearing in ceremony, so it’s official!  I’m a legit Foreign Service Officer!  Foreign Service Officers are appointed by the President with the “advice and consent of the Senate,” so somewhere my name is appearing on a nomination list going to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for approval, and someday I may receive official documentation of my appointment.  In the meantime, I’ll just take their word for it.  

Where's Waldo?  I'm one of 98, so spotting me isn't easy but trust me - I'm there.

Friday was also the last day I’ll have to wear a business suit while I’m here in training.  Ahhhh!  Sweet freedom!  I’ll have six weeks of training for my consular position starting this week, and then six months of Spanish classes that will keep me here in DC through January.   

My parents were here for the flag day ceremony last week and stayed through the weekend.  We covered a lot of territory around DC while they were here.  Several foreign embassies held open houses last weekend, so we visited the Belize embassy (of course!).  In the name of research and cultural awareness, my dad and I sampled a couple Belizean beers.  We also met the current Belizean ambassador and a former U.S. ambassador to Belize.  Let the diplomacy begin!

With my parents at the Belize embassy 

Ambassador Vinai Thummapapally (U.S. Ambassador to Belize) and
Ambassador Patrick Andrews (Belizean Ambassador to the U.S.)

We also visited the National Cathedral and took an evening tour of the monuments.  Very cool to see the monuments all lit up and without the throngs of tourists that visit them during the day.

The National Cathedral

The monuments at night are so impressive!

We also went to Arlington National Cemetery and were able to find the grave of my great- great-grandfather (my mom’s great-grandfather), William Jennings Bryan.  For you non-history buffs, he was Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson, a two-term Congressman from Nebraska, and a three-time presidential candidate.  His daughter Ruth Bryan Owen, my great-grandmother, was the Foreign Service’s first female Chief of Mission (to Denmark in 1933).  There’s a nice little write-up on her on the State Department’s website here.  Some fun family history facts for you!

My parents visiting WJB

Andrew was also here this past week and was able to come to the swearing in ceremony.  He’s headed back to Portland this week.  Movers come the week after next to pack and ship all our stuff.  (It’s all headed to a State Department warehouse in Maryland.)  So Andrew will be in charge of that operation.  Then he’s going to drive across country and join me here full-time in early June.  It’ll be a long drive, but it’s the only way to get our car here along with other important things we can’t ship – like WINE! 

That’s the latest out here!  Hope all’s well where you are!                 

AND THE WINNER IS...

Today was “Flag Day!”  After 5 weeks of training, we found out where our first assignment will be… and when!  And the winner is…

BELMOPAN, BELIZE!

We will head there in January 2017.  Until then, we’ll be in DC while I finish all the various training programs, and then I'll spend six months learning Spanish at the Foreign Service Institute.  We are super excited!

And FYI... Belize is technically part of North America... which none of you picked as the continent where we would end up in my blog survey.  But don't worry!  You'll have a chance to redeem yourself when we start bidding on our next post in a couple years.

And now... some background.  In my first week here, we were given a list of available posts, and we had a couple of weeks to do some research on all of them.  There were 60 possible locations.  (Some posts had multiple positions available to accommodate all 98 of us.)  Lots of things to consider!  Language requirements… housing… the actual job…  Andrew was here and provided invaluable research and input into putting together our bid list.  We were allowed to rank all of the posts as high, medium, and low… although we could only identify a maximum of 15 posts as “low.”  We focused on those – let’s agree on where we DON’T want to go!  (A caveat here… “Needs of the Service” are the priority here, so even if we ranked something “low,” we could end up going there.  But they stressed that they really try to take our preferences into account.)  So, after lots of research, we turned in our bid list a few weeks ago.  Of the 60 available posts, we ranked eight of them “high” – mostly Mexican and Latin American posts where I could get Spanish under my belt (I’m required to be proficient in a language), where Andrew would still be able to work (remotely), where we could get out and explore without being too terribly constrained by security considerations, and… where we hope our friends will want to come visit!  Belmopan, Belize was one of the posts we ranked “high” – so we are really looking forward to what lies ahead! 

Flag Day!

Andrew and me before the flag day ceremony begins.

My parents are here this week playing tourist in DC... and seeing where Andrew and I will be going!

A thumbs up before the ceremony starts.  Let's do this!  (Our class sat together with family and friends behind us all.  Look closely and you'll see my parents a couple rows behind me.)

Receiving my Belize flag from our class mentor, Ambassador Ken Merten.

My assignment!  A consular position in Belmopan starting in January 2017.  Looking for a vacation destination next year?  May I suggest... Belize!!!