Tropical Storm Isaac

Tropical Storm Isaac blew in on Friday, bringing strong winds and lots of rain, but luckily mostly not at the same time. The strongest winds were on Friday, while Saturday we were hit with intense rain and subsequent flooding of roads and overflowing of rivers.

We did our best to prepare, stocking up on food and water (of which we always have ample supply, actually), taping the most vulnerable windows, and filling the bathtub and basins with water. Then we hunkered down and spent the time cooking and surfing the internet, ironically. Our building's generator(s) is pretty reliable and I often don't even notice when the power goes off and the generator switches on. So we were really lucky.

But outside my privileged world, it was a different story.

The media is reporting a few deaths, 25,000 displaced people, 5,000 destroyed homes, and 116 communities cut off from the rest of the country due to washed out roads or bridges.

It's not the worst this country has seen, and I think everyone is glad about that. But that fact is no comfort to the people who lost everything. Isaac wreaked havoc in Haiti and is now heading toward the Gulf Coast. My thoughts are with that region now, feeling grateful that we were spared great devastation and hoping the same for everyone else.

London 2012 in photos

Here are a few photos from my time in London.

The city was all decked out for the Olympics

My coworker and I spent a weekend day jumping on and off the big red bus...it was awesome.

The Olympic mascot was all over town in different getups.

I got a kick out of the different colored Olympics BMWs which were everywhere.

I may have spent half of my per diem in the Team USA shop.

One of the two free events I was able to see

From the London Eye

The London Eye is pretty amazing

One of my favorite photos- from the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics exhibition

One of my favorite moments- having a drink on a sunny afternoon with my sweetie

Waiting for the women's marathon in the rain

It was a great trip, and I'm pretty sure any future TDY will have a lot to live up to. Maybe I have time to learn Russian so I can go to Sochi.

One year: changes are coming

Yesterday was our year anniversary at post, which was a little funny since I’m still in London. I spent some time reflecting on it, though, because it’s an important date. It’s also strange since in many ways, it feels like our tour is almost over: we have our new assignment, which we’re thinking a lot about; we’re planning for the holidays and then it’s the New Year; everyone says your last six months fly by and I can see that happening with my friends who are leaving/left already. Suddenly there isn’t enough time to go to that favorite place one last time. But on the other hand, we are exactly 50% through our first tour, and I truly don’t want the time to rush by. I’ve always wanted to live on a Caribbean island full-time! I love my colleagues and friends. We have great managers. We have a beautiful apartment with views of the sea. And we can go to the beach or pool whenever we like! Wow, as I’m writing all of this down, I’m getting sad…I don’t want to leave yet.

Luckily, we still have another year, which won’t be exactly like last year for a few reasons. D was hired by the consular section and will hopefully start working in the next few months. He is excited about joining the Mission formally and being more a part of things. And the job will position him for future jobs in China.

But that means that we need someone to take the children to and from school each day. The kids will be attending their same schools this year, which was something D and I debated – he feels it would make our lives easier to send them to the school next door, so that the nanny could walk them there. He is right, it would be easier, but I feel it’s more important to provide continuity in their schools whenever possible, since we will be moving around so much. It would be one thing if they were struggling at school, but they are both happy, adapted, and bonded to their schools. So now we’re hunting for a new housekeeper.

It’s been a rough year with and for our nanny/housekeeper. She lost her only daughter to sickle cell anemia last year, so whenever I get too frustrated at her absences, I remember again- she lost her only child- and I feel guilty about wanting to fire her. We’ve kept her because she is trustworthy, kind, and bonded to our children. But her attendance has been spotty at best. Now that D is going to work, we need someone here much earlier (6:30am) who is 100% reliable. We would certainly give her a chance, except for one complicating factor: she is pregnant, and already having attendance issues. There’s just no way we can continue to employ her. I feel terribly about that.

So when I get back from London, we’re going to start frantically interviewing every lead we can find, in addition to searching for a driver, since almost no nannies drive. We have a driver we can use temporarily, if necessary, so I’m not too concerned about that. I’m a little worried about the kids adapting to all these changes, but we’ve come a long way in a year.

We’re looking for a live-in nanny/housekeeper, since 6:30am is pretty early to arrive from the poorer suburbs where most live. That means a) we have to clean out our storage room, and I don’t really know where all the stuff will go, and b) we’ll have to adapt to having someone here all the time. It will be different.

So like I said, lots of changes, but things still the same. L will have the same wonderful preschool teacher this year. M’s best friend will be in his class again. We’re looking forward to a great year.

London!

Hello from London, where I’m on TDY (temporary duty) for three weeks. Yes, it’s a tough job, and I can’t believe they picked me to do it. I’ve been doing immigrant visas here while the regular staff handles Olympic-related duties. This has been an incredible experience so far. I’m terribly grateful to my managers who agreed to send me here, despite the fact that it’s the busy summer transfer season AND we are down a handful of officers due to medical issues and curtailments. I’m also grateful to my coworkers, who don’t seem to hate me (right, guys?), despite their grueling workload.

London is an incredible place to do consular work. They see 150+ nationalities, and each country has its trends and peculiarities- I’m just getting the tip of the iceberg. They see incredibly wealthy applicants who have invested in U.S. companies, thereby earning themselves a visa, and they see low income applicants from everywhere who just happened to fall in love, or have a U.S. citizen child. Today, I did my first adoption (although I’m the adoption officer in the DR, we have such small numbers that I haven’t done one yet!), which was a joyful moment. The officers and staff are top notch here, and I’ve learned a ton in just two weeks.

And you may have heard that the London Olympics are going on. No, I haven’t seen any ticketed events, but I have cheered on the women’s marathon runners and the cyclists from the side of the road! I’ve really just enjoyed being part of the excitement here. It’s been years since I’ve been to London, so I’ve been acting like a tourist and eating myself silly.

A fabulous team consisting of my mom, pop, mother-in-law, brother, and aunts took care of the kids so that my husband could join me here for a week (I must also mention the miles gifted by my sister and brother in law). Thank you everyone! He left today and it feels a little quieter.

I have only one complaint- the internet in my hotel is terrible and therefore, I cannot skype with my kids for more than a few grainy seconds. I miss them terribly!

But soon I’ll be back in sunny Santo Domingo. As great as this trip has been, I’m looking forward to going home where I belong.