I am embarrassed to see that it has been a year since I last
wrote a blog post. It’s been a busy year
of transition. So in an effort to get
caught up, we’re just going to do a quick synopsis of this eventful year.
As noted in my last blog post, I departed Tokyo at the
beginning of June 2016 and began a
month of home leave. This included time
in Virginia, buying a car (a light blue Honda CRV, for those who are dying to
know), and going about the business of transitioning my life (temporarily) to
the U.S. I then took my new car on a
road trip. I spent one night in Hilton
Head on my way down to spend close to a week with some dear friends in
Florida. We had a good time hanging out,
including a trip to the beach and another trip to see the mermaids at Weeki Wachee.
On the way back north, I spent
two nights in the historic district in Savannah. I took one of those hop-on-hop-off bus tours
(rode it all the way around once and then got off at a couple places the second
time around) and did a ghost tour (primarily so that I could get inside of one
of the houses). I’d love to go back some
day when I can take the time to stroll, do more tours, and sit and watch people
while drinking peach sangria.
In July, I moved
into temp quarters in Pentagon City. My
home leave ended with a visit to the Tidal Basin to ride the paddle boats and
watching the fireworks from the Air Force memorial on July 4th. Over the next six months, I took (abbreviated)
Spanish and other trainings, took care of all of those doctor appointments that
we FSOs do when we are back in the States, and visited with as many friends as
I could get in. I hosted my Florida
friends for a week in the fall. I went to DCI in Annapolis and watched the children of various friends in band concerts, basketball games,
Nutcracker performances, etc. And after
spending 15 years or so saying that I wanted to take one of those Sur La Table
cooking classes, I took three. All told, it was a good time of both very useful training, but also of rejuvenating the soul - soaking in as much time with friends
and American experiences as possible.
In January, I
moved to Santo Domingo. Less than a week
later, I went to Jamaica for a very short trip. In retrospect, I should have delayed that trip a week or so. Live and learn. As close as our two islands are, it takes all
day to get there, because we have to fly up to Miami and then back down. So two days of travel for one day on the
ground. But I had a bunch of meetings in
the embassy and met some key contacts. My household effects were shipped from Tokyo to Miami, so they were
delivered to my apartment two weeks after I arrived. Also in January, I went on the 27
Waterfalls adventure with a group from the Embassy. We hiked in and then hiked down the river,
jumping off of or sliding down 27 waterfalls in the process. I have a slight fear of heights, so I liked
the sliding better than the jumping, and I chose to walk around the two tallest
waterfalls. But it was still a great
adventure.
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| Commuting |
I spent the first week of February in Haiti visiting our McGovern-Dole school feeding program
there. That was a fascinating trip. The Dominican Republic and Haiti share one
island, but they feel like different worlds. W
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| Lunch time at a rural school in a church |
Also in February, I joined a couple friends for an amazing
girls’ weekend at Disney World (so much fun!!!!), and I went on a tour of a rum
factory with a group from the Embassy.
In March, I went
on a whale
watching trip in Samana. The Bay of
Samana is the breeding ground of the Atlantic Humpback whales (slightly smaller
than the Pacific Humpback). We were able
to see some whales swimming along and a number of babies playing. (The whales were always on the other side of the boat, so I don't have any good pictures.) Then we had lunch and a couple hours of beach
time. It was the only time I’ve made it
to a beach since I arrived. Also in
March, I visited a chocolate factory (love my job!), finally hired a maid to
come in once a week, and got pictures put up on the walls. And then the Embassy told me that they were
breaking my housing assignment and making me move. (Long story.)
April was spent
getting more settled, looking at possible homes for me to move to, and getting
introduced to the game of bunco (and a lot of great ladies) at an Embassy
Ladies’ Bunco Night.
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| Prawn motorcycle at the NRA show |
May began with a
fun Kentucky Derby party, complete with mint juleps. Then I went to Chicago for the first time
to attend the National Restaurant Association (NRA) show. The NRA show is huge and very
impressive. I’m glad I’ve finally seen
it so that I can better promote it to potential buyers. While in Chicago, I also managed to sneak in
a quick boat tour (recommended by several taxi drivers), Chicago-style pizza,
and a game at Wrigley Field - complete with a hot dog, although I skipped the
mustard. I’d love to go back to Chicago
some day so that I can see more of the city.
June began with a spa day at the CLO's house - wonderful ladies, food and mimosas, manicures, pedicures, facials and a 1-hour massage, all for about $50. I also discovered that I can hire somebody to come to my house and give me a 1-hour massage for about $15. I am definitely going to look into doing that on a regular basis!
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| In Port Royal |
I then went to Jamaica for a week – so, three days on the
ground. This time, I was able
to get out and have more meetings. We went to the east end of the island to see some sugar and dairy. We visited the APHIS pre-clearance site near
Kingston’s airport and had lunch in Port Royal. Port Royal is a fishing village, but it was
once the home base of Henry Morgan and was known as “the richest and wickedest
city” in the world. I went straight
from Jamaica back to the U.S. to see a dear friend’s oldest son – who’s been
showing me how to operate tech gadgets since he could walk – graduate from high
school. So proud of him, and so excited
to see what he does at Virginia Tech in the coming years!
And now we are in July. I was in DC for 10 days for an Ag Attaché
conference (great to see so many friends from all over the world!), followed by
a quiet week of vacation before heading back to Santo Domingo on Tuesday. My new deputy will arrive at the end of August, and I'll move to a new house sometime this fall. So I have high expectations that the transitioning will end (for the next three years) by the end of the year.
