Back at Oakwood!

It's great to be back at Oakwood after two years away. For those outside the Foreign Service, let me explain. The State Department contracts with Oakwood to provide temporary furnished apartments for employees in training in the D.C. area. You can also choose to find your own home outside this arrangement, but for us, the camaraderie found here and the ease of logistics (State pays the rent and utilities; we just show up) make it a very attractive option. The kids had a ball last time we were here, and we met a ton of people who became friends and part of our State Dept. network, a very important thing when you are bidding for your next position. Oakwood Falls Church is very popular with young families- the bus stop must have at least 50 kids!- and people help each other out. We just love it here.

Oakwood has been renovating the units over the last few years. The biggest change since we were here last is that a washer and dryer were installed in the unit, although I'm a little bummed they take away from our closet space. 

The closets are the best feature! Lots of storage

This time, I remembered to take some pictures before we unpacked all our stuff. If anyone out there is a future FSO wondering about housing during A-100, hope these photos will be helpful.  I'm really not sure if anyone is reading anymore (let me know!)!

The new bathroom area provides a lot of storage too. 

Last time, we were able to fit a crib and toddler bed in this second BR. This one is much smaller, but luckily, we have no need for any addl. furniture!

Arrival recap and apartment photos!

I wish I could have posted this sooner...but the days have been racing by. Here's a recap of our arrival and some photos of our new home. Forgive the long post- this is mostly for the benefit of our mothers – hi moms!!

We arrived Santo Domingo on Thursday night, after a 2 hour delay. We were so anxious to get here! Our wonderful sponsor, J, was waiting for us in the VIP lounge, and answered all of our chaotic questions while the staff retrieved our bags and processed our arrival. We were very appreciative of the nice treatment.

We arrived at our new home around 10pm – L fell asleep on the way and did not wake until the morning. The other half of our sponsor team, DP, was waiting with baked ziti in the oven and a salad in the fridge. They had purchased some groceries for us so we'd have something to eat in the morning. They helped us unpack our welcome kit and get a bit settled, and then left us alone. Truly awesome sponsors. Thank you, J and D!

Speaking of welcome kits, I was really glad I brought our own bed linens. It was great for all of us, but especially important for the kids, to go to sleep on familiar sheets. I wish I had brought our towels, too, but they are in UAB. I brought some Tupperware and knives in our luggage, as well as the kids’ plates, snack bowls, utensils, placemats, and cups. I think it’s helped them feel more at home from the start.

Speaking of home, we are so grateful we were able to move right into our permanent housing. Apparently that’s not exactly the norm, and may be a reason we received an apartment rather than a home (it was ready first).

My sponsors picked me up early for the ride over to the Embassy. I can walk (only about 10 min), but I appreciated the ride, as I was sort of in a daze and couldn't get my bearings. J gave me a tour of the Consular section (we call it the Consulate here, since it’s in a separate building) and I must say it was pretty overwhelming. The NIV (non-immigrant visa) section is extremely busy and there are like 30 people working in a very small space. The mission is building a new Embassy, which will house everyone in one place, but it won’t happen during my tour.

I spent most of my morning at the Embassy, where I had check-in meetings with various people until noon. Our sponsors then picked us up and brought us over to their home to play with their 3yo son and have lunch. It was a lovely afternoon.

The kids have been having some difficulty, but not too much. There is more whining and more picky eating than there used to be (even when we’re giving them things they’ve eaten before). L was off her nap schedule but seems to be back now. Thank goodness- we’re not ready to give that up. Little M has taken to getting in bed and snuggling his ginky when he feels “kind of weird.” Frankly, I think that’s a good strategy. I brought some wall decals in our luggage and I think it was the best thing I packed. We fixed up the kids room on Friday and it feels “kind of nice”, says M.

And now, a few words from M, who is sitting next to me: “I like that we live on the seventh floor and in VA, we didn’t. I love the balcony and outside of our apartment, like in the hallway, I love that you can see to the bottom from the top. I love being in the Dominican Republic.”

Today is our 6^th day in country and we’ve made it to the grocery store, which has basically anything we could possibly want, and a huge Walmart type store, which had home goods, food, toys, etc.  We spent a morning playing at the home of the lovely author of For Lack of Tacos, who helped me through the waiting process and answered all my crazy DR questions over the past year (and thanks to her, we have our wonderful nanny- see below). It was really terrific to meet her and her beautiful family. 

I’ve watched interviews for hours and it may be time for me to get started on my own. My fellow NIV officers are really nice and have been so patient with my questions. My husband’s adjustment might take a little more time than mine. I think it will be good when the kids start school, he can start Spanish class and join a gym, and we can all get into a regular routine. It’s hard to entertain yourself and small kids without many friends, toys, or a vehicle.

I may have mentioned that we hired a housekeeper/nanny before we arrived. Y was working for an expat family and came highly recommended, so I interviewed her via Skype and decided to go ahead and offer her the job. She started yesterday, and she is fabulous- energetic, warm, kind, smiley, and a great cook. She reminds me a lot of our former nanny, who we adored. She will clean in the morning and watch the kids in the afternoon after school. She will also make us dinner every night! I am so thrilled about that. Coming home after my first day of work to a home cooked meal was extraordinary.

We’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of our car. Our apartment is gorgeous, but our neighborhood is not really walkable.  I don’t know that it’s dangerous, but there are places where the sidewalks are broken or there is trash in the way. Plus there are not that many places to go. Since cars don’t really yield to pedestrians, we don’t feel comfortable walking around with the kids. So, we’ll mostly be getting into the car and going places. It won’t be that different from our life in NY or VA, but in my mind, I had created a more walkable neighborhood, so it’s slightly disappointing. For now, we can only travel by taxi, and it’s scary not having the kids in carseats. So we can’t wait for our car to arrive.

And now, the apartment:

This is from the front door- it's a very long aptmt.

Opposite view- the front door is up ahead. This is sitting area #1.

Sitting area #2. Thank goodness we got a brown couch!

We've been trying out all the places at the table. Can't quite decide where we want to sit. 

Love our kitchen. It is really bright, though. Have to get curtains asap.

Most awesome room in the aptmt

Servants quarters. Totally weirded out by this.

Can you guess whose room this is?

Kids bathroom

Guest room- can't wait to see family and friends here!

Guest room bath

Guest room

 I still have to take pics of the master bedroom, the messiest room in the place. But there you have it, our new home in the DR! We are very happy with it and look forward to cramming it full of all our stuff!

And with that, I'm going to sign off, as a big storm is rumbling and it's making me a bit nervous.

whew!

What a week! Our social calendar is wearing me out. We started the week with a birthday party for M at Burke Lake Park  (pictures to come), and then we had something going on every night. Two of my closest friends/neighbors from A-100 are leaving in the next week and so we're trying to see them as much as possible until they leave. And one of my oldest FS friends (she's been in 10 years, I think!) is also leaving soon. So many goodbyes in this new job. I know my friends are excited to head to post but it is sad to see them go...they are one of the reasons we've loved living here so much. It's been so fun to have friends right in the building who just stop by for a visit. And who knows when we'll see each other again? On the other hand, who's to say we won't be posted in the same country next time? This life is full of surprises.

Yesterday was my little guy's fifth birthday! I can't believe I have a 5 year old! Stay tuned for a birthday post.

And in the midst of it all, we received our DR housing!! We had heard that all families are assigned houses, so we were surprised to receive an apartment. But it is beautiful and close to work, so I think it will work out fine. My husband loves to walk around a city so I'm hopeful it will really be good for him.

Now that it's June, it's all getting very real. I test in 1.5 weeks. We leave in two months!!

Oakwood Falls Church

I thought I'd take a moment to share my thoughts on Oakwood Falls Church. State has a contract with Oakwood temporary housing to provide us with furnished lodging while we are in training. I haven't visited the other Oakwoods here in Northern VA, so I can't compare among them. I can say, however, that I've been impressed and pleased with this facility. It's tremendously helpful to be able to move in and not worry about the basics. Of course, we brought everything but the kitchen sink with us, and while it was a pain to move, I do think it helped us feel at home pretty quickly. (a word of caution to cooks: the kitchen storage space is not very ample, so I suggest being careful about what you bring).

I find that the reception and maintenance staffs are courteous and attentive. For example, when we moved in, we found that the closet light in the kids closet was out. We reported it on Sat pm, and it was fixed by Monday am.

Some of the pros of this Oakwood are
- shuttles that leave pretty regularly to the metro and FSI
- lots of activities such as Sunday brunch, kids crafts time, movie nights, etc
- pool and playground, which we hope to be able to use soon
- gathering rooms that State employees can rent at no charge. For example, we rented a room to watch post videos on a Sunday afternoon.
- really spacious closets in both bedrooms- the best feature of the apartment, for me. We can store our suitcases, plastic storage containers, linens which will become our UAB when we leave for post, etc.
- thick walls! My kids are terribly loud, and I *think* that the walls do a great job of containing the noise. Our neighbors insist they can't hear us, and we have a baby living directly below us, who I have never heard. I'm really grateful for this fact.

The only con to me is the shuttle thing- most of the other Oakwoods are closer to a metro station. You can walk to East Falls Church, but it's about 10-15 min and not something I enjoy (my husband does it regularly).

A tip for parents, especially: request an apartment on a floor with laundry facilities. They are located on every other floor and we are provided with free laundry cards. There are about 5 washers and 3 big dryers on my floor and it is actually easier to do my laundry here because I can do it all at once! At home, it used to take me all day. I do feel like I'm in college again, though.

One final thought: your perspective on Oakwood totally depends on where you're coming from. People who just returned from overseas, where they had luxury apartments or enormous houses, find this place pretty small. Personally, I like not having to run up and down the stairs- a 2BR is the perfect size for me. I'm not sure if my husband and kids agree, though. And we were definitely not living in luxury before, so this suits us just fine.

Here are a few pictures of the kids room, the only room I can keep relatively clean. As you can see, we brought a lot of things to help it feel like home. I really think that is one reason we settled into this new home rather easily. It will be more challenging to do this when we move to post, but I'll find a way.

I'm really glad we brought L's crib. She was very happy to see it and I'm glad we had something to contain her since she's going through a difficult bedtime phase. M has graduated to a big boy bed, and this reminds me that his toddler bed is still in my parents' basement. Sorry!

The closet has shelves and hanging rods on both sides- it's awesome. And ours, which I can't currently show you, is practically twice the size. We came from a very closet-limited home, so we are psyched. And yes, that is a small flat screen TV at the top of the closet. There are TVs in every room. We don't plan for the kids to watch TV in bed just yet, though.

And last but not least, I wanted to share my holiday card wall. It was really bothering me this year that I couldn't put my cards up, so it was one of the first things I did in the new home. Friends and family, we say hi to you every day! (if you don't see your card here, please know that I've added a lot since I took this picture!)

At some point, I might get around to cleaning up the apartment enough to share more pictures, but I'm not promising anything. In the meantime, hope this was helpful to future FSOs as well as our family and friends.