place2place

one year, pretty much

I recall wanting to know how long it would take from start to finish regarding entry into the FS. While you wait, it is mental cruelty.

I sent off my application for the Foreign Service Health Practitioner position on March 4th, 2005. (3-4-05--get it? We thought that date auspicious.) I heard back 6 or eight weeks later, with a message that my application had been looked over and that my candidacy would continue to the next step since I was considered "mentally competent". My wife got a lot of milage out of that one. In July, I was in France and I received an e-mail from the State Department informing me that my NP license had expired. I faxed my renewal in August.

In mid-September, I got a call from the State Department telling me I was a qualified candidate and they wanted to invite me for an interview. There were two days open to interview in October and one in November. I chose November 7th because that suited my work schedule best.

Naturally, I was nervous. But I did prepare as best I could for the interview:

I brushed up on the 5 paragraph essay. (Choose one side of the topic with 3 supporting points defending your view in the introductory paragraph, use each supporting view in the following three paragraphs and embellish it, then restate in a cohesive manner, your view and how you believe your supportive arguments demonstrated your point). I practiced writing several under the time restraint of 45 minutes. I chose topics such as: Should abortion be illegal? Should we drill for oil in the Alaskan national wildlife refuge? Should we continue with the death penalty?

In addition, I focused on the 13 dimensions sent to me before the interview. They are readily available on the web. I thought of good examples to demonstrate each dimension and rehearsed answers so that if I had a melt down, I could still pop off an answer. Of course, during the interview, I ad lib'd but I was confident that I at least had a quick response and I did use a lot of the examples I had in my brain from that exercise so I really recommend it.

The interview went well and the entire time I was well composed on the outside but felt like my innards were doing summersaults. And there was the stressful but humorous story of forgetting my suit and trying to find an outfit at Chicago airport between flights. It all worked out but I don't recommend it.

After the interview, I was asked to step out while they commiserated and then when I was asked back in and they welcomed me and told me I successfully passed the interview process of the FS.

Since then, I had to pass the medical and security clearances. More mental cruelty but finally, the clearances took less than three months and I was offered a spot in the March orientation. I postponed due to school, work, house, etc... but I am looking forward to my upcoming orientation.

whole new bag

I am so happy with my new Oilily purchase. I think it will be really good for travel, it's big enough for my knitting and a book and a few toy trucks. Wipes clean. But this morning, I went to buy gas and couldn't find my wallet. I was going to have to hate my new bag if my wallet easily slides out. Came home, searched the car, the kitchen. Looked in the new bag again and there it was, in a nice pocket I had forgotten about. Doh.

Tried to go to Lisa's party before she ships her paintings off to New York and couldn't find her house. Almost four years in Portland and I can't find a place, even with map quest. I hate that aspect of Portland, all the roads are curving cow paths. Arrrggg.

standing on the vortex

Like we're being dragged in. Now it seems like Niger will be our destiny for 2 years. But wait! Perhaps not. There are 5 new posts coming up that require medical providers. Where? We don't know. But Stefan told Tyotya (aunt) Nina on the phone that when we move to Africa, he will live closer to her. She lives in Juneau, Alaska!

Dina and I are excited to be at this junction. We are figuring out where I stay in DC for 3 weeks for the FS orientation (indoctrination). And then afterwards when we all go in July. Most days and nights are preoccupied with thoughts of what it might be like and how will we fit into the theater and culture of the FS, Africa, and eventually Asia, the far east, or Europe. Do we take a car from here or buy one there? Should we ship our piano? Once we are there, liquid items are difficult to come by in Niger and you cannot order it by mail in your pouch. So how much shampoo and dish soap do we take with us? And how will we survive the heat there?

But besides the anxiety, there is an excitement which makes it obsessive. How will it be? I envision myself seeing patients in a small clinic. The streets are a wild mix of Africans wrapped in brightly colored print linen dresses and wraps around their heads which balances a jug of water. And camels and donkey carts in the streets amongst diesel cars and the lazy Niger river providing a bath for its people. The displaced medical provider arrives with his family and settles into the elite quarters of the embassy housing. And I will walk to work just as my grandfather did in Peking China. And I fantasize about volunteering at the World Health Organization or Doctor's Without Borders clinic. And my children will learn that we are privileged and be humbled. And every 3 months I will drive the boulderous route to Burkina Faso to deliver my care to the embassy there. And things will drive us crazy. And we will miss the weather and people who we care so much about.

All this and so much more.

corner of my house

On Feb 15 I was thinking...

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.

my mantra

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.

Who knows?

This whole process has been a full on stop and go from the very beginning. "Let's just send in the application and see where it takes us." Then there was the interview with all it's stressors. Then there was the congratulatory handshake with the reminder not to quit my job or sell my house. Then we went through the security and medical clearences. Secret agent man followed me or I followed him (not sure which) for a couple of weeks and my lab work revealed some bizzare findings in my blood which all added up to nothing. (except maybe being bullet-proof to malaria. -ed) Wheww! Then there was the out-of-the-blue phone call February 12th while at work asking me if I could start FS Orientation on March 15th! I hadn't even received a salary or final suitablility yet! We freaked! We came to our senses. We said; "NO!" So they immediately placed us into the following class in May (still too soon) and implied Niamey Niger as our tentative post assignment. The May class would mean leaving ahead of Dina and the kids, living by myself in DC, and preparing the house for rent before that. There are other issues too, such as Nina's health and my lecture commitment at OHSU. All possible to do but why?! I spoke frankly with the Medical Specialist coordinator who was most supportive and understanding. Now we're back in limbo, on our own accord, regarding where and when. Doh!