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.
