Staying Busy

Since R left, I've been keeping myself busy with various activities.

I spent Easter weekend with my sister in Utah. Oh, my, but it was good to be back in the U.S. - in the land of  cold weather,easy access to whatever random product you might need, and sane driving. I didn't think I had a close connection in Miami (I had scheduled nearly 2 hours), but my plane from Santo Domingo was 30 minutes late and customs/immigration sucks at the Miami airport, so I ended up making my flight to Salt Lake with just 5 minutes to spare. My luggage was not so lucky. When I arrived at 11:30 p.m. in SLC, my sister and I promptly drove to a 24-hour Wal Mart (don't judge) and had a great time shopping for underwear and PJs to tide me over. We laughed plenty in the aisles of Wal Mart - a little "punch-drunk" from being overtired, to be sure. It was a great way to start the weekend, really. We watched movies and ate chocolate and chatted the time away.

Back in Santo Domingo, I had the opportunity to go to a shooting range with some military personnel and fire an M4 and a handgun. I hadn't shot a weapon that big since my Army days, so it was pretty fun. The weapons were also surprisingly heavy. I don't remember my 24-year-old self having any difficulty lifting that M16! Note to self: Begin strength training ASAP.

Work is humming along. I found out that I'll be heading to the Immigrant Visa (IV) unit at the embassy in August for the second year of my tour. I'm lucky that I have the opportunity to learn this aspect of consular work during my first tour; many consulates do not process immigrant visa applications, and many embassies have a very low volume. Here in the Dominican Republic, however, the demand is high - we're second in the world in processing the most IV applications. I'll also have the chance to cross-train in Non-Immigrant Visas (NIV), so I'll be really well prepared for whatever consular post comes next.

I only have 4 months left in American Citizen Services, and I will surely miss it. Arguably the most important aspect of consular work is helping US citizens abroad. Last week I visited a US citizen who was being held by Dominican authorities, awaiting extradition to the US. He had been "on the run" for over 13 years and asked that I contact his relatives in the US (he signed a privacy act waiver allowing me to do this). When I reached his family, rather than being upset that he was in custody, they were relieved to know he was alive. "On the run" apparently means no contact with loved ones.