October

In October we made it a point to get out of the house and enjoy time with our embassy colleagues.

We went to the opening game of the Dominican baseball season with about 30 people. Before the game we got together at a colmado (a kind of local bar/convenience store/delivery service) called the Dogout:

"No minors, no guns. They'll close my business. To drink without killing."

We also had a great time at a Halloween party organized by a colleague in IV:

Our costumes. We were .... wait for it .... ceiling fans.

🍃

The major thing that happened in October, however, was that I threw my hat in the ring for a PSP (priority staffing post), and have been assigned to a one-year tour in Islamabad, Pakistan, beginning in November 2017. I'll extend here in Santo Domingo for a month to make the timing work, and I'm already bidding on a linked assignment after Pakistan. More to come on that as details emerge.

This means, of course, that we will no longer be assigned to Yekaterinburg. A part of me will always regret not going to Russia, but that's how it will be for every assignment - the assignment you get is at the expense of the assignments that might have been.

One of the main reasons that we requested to be assigned to Pakistan was to avoid language training. It's not that I have anything against learning a language. It's just that as a vintage diplomat I have a limited amount of time in the foreign service and I want to spend as much of that time as possible serving the United States outside of its borders. Russian is nearly a year-long commitment, but the Pakistan job does not require a language at all.

R will be able to go with me to Islamabad if we can line up a job for him. I'm told that's a pretty straight-forward process; we're just waiting for official orders to start his job search in earnest.

It's constant change as a foreign service officer. I love the work, and I'm lucky that R shares my wandering spirit and is with me for the adventure.