Tuesday, February 17, 2015

A Long Weekend

It was a three day weekend, made into a four day weekend by the lovely snow! And what, you may ask yourself, have I been doing?

Why, spazzing out about my post, of course! Bamako, Mali, a fascinating place that is going to become a reality in ten months, holds every ounce of my attention these days. Just to give you an idea, I have sixteen tabs open in my browser right now. They vary from Wikipedia to Youtube to BBC news to various educational websites about Mali. I'm listening to Diabaté Sissoko, a popular Malian musician.

My readings include discussions about the Taureg rebels, al Qaida alliances (but not really the al Qaida most of us know), cultural reference guides, history summaries, and more. I've put half a dozen books on hold at the library and marked a few more on Amazon for possible purchase.

Between bouts of Mali-intensive research, I have written an organizational change paper for class and spent time with my brother, who is staying with me until next weekend. I've also had fun e-mailing with many friends and family about Flag Day and the upcoming year of excitement.

It's been a perfectly lovely weekend, as you can tell!

--Z

Saturday, February 14, 2015



Flag Day was yesterday! This is the State Department's informal ceremony notifying new Foreign Service officers of their first posting. I got one of my top choices: Bamako, Mali! My parents and some good friends were there to cheer me on, which was fantastic! 

I will go through seven months of intensive French language training (starting 2/23), followed by a few months of area studies and management training. Then, in December, I'll be off to live and work as a diplomat and management officer for the Embassy there. More on the job itself once I find out!

My schedule is pretty constant, but my plan is to try to find the odd 3-day weekend to visit family and friends as much as possible.

I'm terribly excited about this new career and first posting, and look forward to sharing it with you, readers, whoever you may be, every step of the way. If you've got any questions, any at all, send'm my way. I've probably got many of the same ones, to be honest, but hopefully many things will become clearer in the next ten months! 

Another note about Flag Day: my colleagues nominated me for the Glenn Munroe award, which is named for a past Foreign Service Officer. The description is: "Glenn was a firm believer in the importance of 'esprit de corps.'  He also believed that 'service' was the operative word in Foreign Service, and was committed to serving his country."
--Z



Friday, February 13, 2015

Jitters

It's 6:19am and I'm awake. Well, technically, I'm awake. In a few minutes I'll set out to pick up my carpool buddies, head to the fifth Friday of A-100, and remain as attentive as possible during the day's usual insane schedule. And then, at 3:30pm, after friends and family of more than seventy professionals have gathered in a room in Arlington...

Then, I will find out my first overseas Foreign Service posting. In honor of my schizophrenic mood this morning, a poem:

A Jumble

I want to run and jump and shout!

I want to run and hide and cry.

Excitement, thrill, intensity, anticipation,

Fear, apprehension, unease, dry-mouth.

New friends and colleagues around me,

Old friends and family left behind.

Overlaying everything:

passion adventure dreams.




More in approximately twelve hours...

--Z