Canada Bound

We got back on the boat yesterday at about 1 in the afternoon, so I have no real excuse for not writing yesterday other than laziness.

We spent yesterday morning in Ketchikan, the salmon capital of the world (or so they told us). We took a tour that started at Saxman Native Village, where our guide told us about some of the totem poles they have there. I wish we could have spent more time there, but I was trying to pick a tour that offered some physical activity in addition to sight seeing. So I picked one that advertised a short nature walk on the way to a cannery tour. Well, by short, they meant like two minutes. The tour was a bit heavy on the cannery tour, which I was not really so interested in. I mean, do you really want to go from watching the salmon swim upstream outside the cannery to watching a video of them chopping the heads off of the salmon at the cannery. Ick.

Anyway, we traveled to the village and cannery by bus but back to the ship by boat. We finally saw a bunch of eagles, and I even got some pictures of them. And they had apparently had four inches of rain the day before, so we saw places where whole parts of a hill had slid into the water.

Back in Ketchikan, we wandered around town for a bit. We saw salmon trying to swim up a rapid at Creek Street. That area is also known for having been the red light district of the town. We had some lunch (guess what we ate…) and got back onto the boat in the pouring rain. This area is actually a rain forest, so we have really lucked out with all the sunny weather we have gotten. We lined up to go back onto the ship under a breezeway, and the port security woman was trying to force us to direct our line out into the rain. She said, “It’s a rain forest! So of course it is raining!” Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you have to stand in it.

Back on board, I spent some time in the spa. We went to the casino for a while, but neither of us is much on gambling. So we gave ourselves $10 each. We left the casino with $14.25, so we didn’t lose much. And then last night, the café had death by chocolate. They had chocolate everything, including chocolate sushi (um…ick?). I settled on chocolate covered strawberries and bananas (so gotta get back to running after this cruise…one of our tour guides joked that the cruise policy was that we were required to eat every two hours. I haven’t been that bad, but I am sort of tired of food).

This evening we land in Victoria. I am not all that excited about it…I am sort of ready to be home. I miss the pets and our bed. We hit Seattle tomorrow morning and fly home Monday. Then it is back to FSI Tuesday.

Okay, that part I am NOT ready for.

Saxman Village Totem Pole

Eagle in Flight at George Inlet

Glacier Bay National Park

We arrived this morning in Glacier Bay National Park…I was told we arrived at 6 am but I can’t swear to it. I did make it up by about 7.

The views are incredible! We saw calving at the Margorie Glacier, though of course I couldn’t manage do get a picture of it. But it is amazing when it happens. You hear the crack of the ice, and then this hiss as the ice falls. When it hits the water, it sounds like a gun has gone off. And this in the very quiet backdrop of the park, which limits the number of cruise ships to two per day and the number of small boats to I think about three per day. And the park is only accessible by boat.

There is a ton of wildlife in the park, as you’d imagine. Folks on the ship saw both bears and wolves feasting on the carcass of a dead humpback whale that washed ashore last winter. The park service guide who came on board for the tour told us they have set up a motion detecting camera there and have gotten some great information on the animals who ate there, from bears to wolves to eagles and all sorts of small critters. But of course, that was on the side of the boat opposite where I could see, so I missed it. I saw the carcass on the trip back out, but there was nothing there (the guide said there was a brown bear on the beach near it, but all I could see through our zoom lens was a brown spot that wasn’t moving. I really think it was a bush). Ditto for the Orca my wife saw this evening while I was getting a glass of water (yesterday she saw a bear I missed…I am Bear Clan for pete’s sake! How does this happen??). I did get to see a cute little otter swimming right next to the boat, shell in paw, but in a recurring theme for this trip, I didn’t have my camera handy. I also saw some seals and some more humpback whales.

Tomorrow we arrive in Ketchikan, where I hear that there are bears to be seen near a cannery we are visiting. Bets on whether I either miss them or fail to have my camera handy?

Johns Hopkins Glacier at Jaw Point

Juneau and Scagway

I was too tired last night to write about our visit to Juneau, but it was lots of fun. I knew it was going to be a good day when we pulled into port and there was the Time Bandit.

Now for most sane people, this means nothing. But for my wife and the billions of others who apparently watch Deadliest Catch, this is a very big deal. She has a serious addiction to the show. She once asked me if an episode coming on was one she had seen before and I said, “Yes, this is the one where they catch some crabs and that guy gets hit with the crab pot.” And she said, “Oh yeah,” to which I cried, “They are ALL that episode!”

I seriously can not tell them apart. But she can. And the Time Bandit is one of the boats on the show. So she was very happy.

Our shore excursion for the day was a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier and a boat trip out to see whales. We saw lots of them, including one that leapt into the air and splashed down. That was pretty cool. We also saw an island packed with Stellar Sea Lions who were enjoying a rare sunny day. We were enjoying it too.

Whales Tail

Stellar Sea Lions

We spend a lot of time out on the water, and I almost wish we had cut that trip a little shorter so we could have had more time on the glacier. The little we got to hike there reminded me of how much I miss hiking. We need to go more. My wife reminded me tonight that she actually started running not for marathons but to make hiking more fun. There was a waterfall that we could have hiked to given more time, and a second one coming out of the glacier that we could have gotten closer to.

Oh well. Next trip. One think being in the Foreign Service has taught me is that these sorts of trips don’t have to be once in a lifetime.

Today we docked in Scagway, Alaska. We had to leave really early for our trip to the Yukon Territory in Canada (we were supposed to leave at 10:50 but there were only 4 people from our ship signed up, so we joined the group from the Norwegian Star, including the owners of the Morgan Winery in Monterrey, California). It was my first time in Canada (I attempted to go once with my ex but we weren’t allowed in. I had a New York Drivers License and SC plates, which of course made the border guards think we were drug smugglers. We said we were going across to the Canadian side of the Mohawk reservation and he asked if we were Indian. I answered that I was, and so he said he had to run a check on her but that I was free to go (Indians are allowed unrestricted access to the reservation). Turned out she had bounced a check when she was in college and it had been turned over to the police, making it a felony in Canada. So she wasn’t allowed in).

So anyway, we made our way to Spirit Lake Lodge near Carcross (it used to be called Caribou Crossing, but they kept having their mail sent to other “crossings” so they changed the name). There we met Marvin and Diane, our guides. They took us on a one hour horseback ride (Diane had her two Pomeranians in her saddle bags…they apparently love to ride) followed by a one hour canoe ride on Spirit Lake. Then we were treated to a nice lunch followed by a scenic ride home. Our driver Paul was great.

Diane and the Pomeranians

Back in Scagway, we wandered through the town, which is mostly for the benefit of the tourists. Only 900 people live in Scagway. Today they were joined by 10,000 tourists! I was really happy for our little nine person excursion!

Downtown Scagway

We just left port, and are headed to Glacier Bay, which is only accessible by boat. We’ll be there in the morning when we wake up.

More Whales!

We finally get to do our first shore excursion today, which also happens to be our wedding anniversary (yay! 8 years!). Today at 2, we will dock in Juneau, Alaska, and we will head out on the Mendenhall Glacier and Wildlife tour.

Of course, we have already seen a good bit of wildlife today. We went to one of the restaurants for breakfast and got a seat at the window at the very back of the boat. And before long, we were watching whales.

I am pretty sure these were humpbacks, and we got to see their magnificent tales as the crested the water. It was pretty cool. And as I look out of our stateroom door, I see another one.

We are passing through the Frederick Sound now, with Admiralty Island to our left and I think mainland Alaska on our right, and the mountains are spectacular. We saw a pair of mountains side by side that came down to the water’s edge and it almost looked like one was the shadow of the other.

I can’t wait to get ashore and see the sights. Not a bad way to celebrate eight wonderful years.

Cruisin'!

I saw my first whale this morning, less than 24 hours after getting on this cruise.

We are on a Norwegian Cruise Lines cruise to Alaska. I have been looking forward to it for a while.

I didn’t think we’d ever actually go on a cruise, since my wife is concerned about the reports of norovirus on so many cruises (I think the cruise staff is as well, since they have women at the entrance of every restaurant with spray bottles of hand sanitizer that they insist you use before entering, all the while saying, “Washy washy, smiley smiley, happy happy.” Yes, I may have to kill them). But my cousin told my wife about how much fun she had on her Alaskan cruise, so she decided we could give it a try.

So far, the ship is nice, though we did have to tell them twice that we wanted the two beds made into one bed (really, one bed? One bed? Are you sure?). And I am not overly impressed with the “all inclusive” nature of the cruise. Basically, the all inclusive is not so very inclusive. We knew it wouldn’t include alcohol or the shore excursions. But it also doesn’t include using the internet or the spa or drinking any soft drinks (luckily, I was able to sneak nearly three cases of Diet Mountain Dew on board…they didn’t say I couldn’t and my wife put it in her carry-on. The ex-ray guy actually called his friend over to look at it and laugh). The $12 a day gratuity you pay isn’t all inclusive either…you also pay an “autogratuity” on every purchase. And if you want to eat at any of the restaurants other than the buffets, you pay for that too.

The boat supposedly has stabilizers to keep you from feeling a lot of the movement, but one of them is apparently stuck. It actually woke my wife up last night (not me…she is the one who woke me up) and today the boat is much more rocky than it was yesterday in similar seas. One of the seminars actually got called because the host got seasick. So, I hope they get that fixed soon.

But in spite of all that, so far, I’m having a great time. We have a balcony off of our room, so we can sit and enjoy the view without having to do so with 2,000 of our not so close friends. And it was from there that we saw a whale this morning. I think it was a humpback, or at least it looked like the humpbacks I have seen on tv. Watching it blow water out of its blowhole was pretty cool too. Of course, my attempt at catching it on video was an utter failure, so you will just have to take my word for it. Ditto for the pod of dolphins and the bird that looked suspiciously like a penguin (are they this far south? Or are we now that far north? I have no clue.)

Tomorrow we hit Juneau I think, where we will do a Mendenhall Glacier tour. Maybe I will get some pictures of wildlife to share with you at that point. You probably shouldn’t hold your breath though.

Leaving Seattle


Our State Room

Now I Get It

I have a lot of friends from Seattle. One of my very best friends and her wife live here. A friend from college. Several Foreign Service friends. They all LOVE Seattle.

I never understood what the big deal was about, but then again, I had never been here.

Okay, so now I LOVE it here! In just three days here, I have decided this needs to be added to the list of potential retirement locations.

We came in Thursday to spend a few days here before getting on our cruise to Alaska (yay! vacation!). In that time, I have done a good bit of walking around the city, and found a nice place to run along Alaskan Way on the waterfront.

And oh that run! We left the hotel around 7:30 or 8 in the morning. The temperature, for this Southern girl, was, uh, brisk. We walked down to the waterfront (man, this place has hills!) and started running. I had actually gone a little distance before I realized I had not taken out my ipod. I ALWAYS run with my ipod (down low, so I can hear people and cars around me). But this time, I just left it in my pocket. The clouds were clearing over the snow capped mountains in the distance and the sun was shining right on them. It was amazing.

I ran further than I have ever run. And when I was done, I ran up some of those hills. It was awesome.

We've also done some touristy stuff, like going to Pike Market and watching them throw the fish. And taking a "Duck Tour" with "Captain Beau Dayshush." He was hysterical.

But what strikes me most is how nice the people are. Everyone is so laid back...I had forgotten how aggressive people can be in DC. I returned to DC from Jerusalem, which made DC seem downright polite! But Captain Beau Dayshush assured us that we would be waved at, and that people in Seattle wave with all five fingers.

And he was right!

Yeah, now I get it. I could get used to this.

Seattle From the Duck

U.S. diplomats told to send their children out of Monterrey

U.S. diplomats told to send their children out of Monterrey

(CNN) -- The State Department told U.S. government employees in Monterrey, Mexico, on Friday to send their children elsewhere because of heightened security risks related to drug violence.

The order is the first of its kind in any Mexican city, said Brian Quigley, a spokesman for the U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey, adding it reflects an increasingly violent and insecure reality. Monterrey is located in northern Mexico.

The travel warning was issued after an August 20 shooting in front of the American Foundation School in Monterrey, said the State Department. The high incidence of area kidnappings was also cited as a motive behind the move.

"U.S. government personnel from the Consulate General in Monterrey have been advised that the immediate, practical and reliable way to reduce the security risks for children of U.S. government personnel is to remove them from the city," the State Department said in a statement.

The new rule will take effect on September 10 and affect roughly 25 families, Quigley said.

In a separate message, also issued on Friday, the U.S. consulate in Monterrey said adequate safeguards simply do not exist to protect the children of U.S. employees.

"Local police and private patrols do not have the capacity to deter criminal elements from areas around the schools attended by the children of U.S. personnel assigned to the consulate," read the statement from Monterrey.

The authorized departure of family members of U.S. government personnel from consulates in the Mexican cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros remains in place, the State Department said.

The United States has a travel warning issued for Mexico because of drug-related violence, particularly in the northern border areas.

Gunfire exchanged near U.S. Consulate in Pakistan

When I heard about this, I was with non-FS friends. They commented, yeah, that is a dangerous place. I said, "you don't understand. We have FRIENDS there!"

The Foreign Service makes the world VERY SMALL.

Gunfire exchanged near U.S. Consulate in Pakistan

(CNN) A confrontation between gunmen and security forces near the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, ended Saturday after the militants surrendered, a Pakistan military spokesman said.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the militants were taken into custody and two Pakistani security guards who were taken hostage have been freed. There were no casualties in the incident.

The gunfire started sometime between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. (8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET Friday) about 100 meters from the U.S. consulate, near military barracks and several other military and intelligence buildings.

All consulate employees are fine and the consulate did not appear to be the target of the attack, said Rick Snelsire, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan.

Dear Abby

Two Crabs found this piece in today's Dear Abby:

DEAR ABBY: Last year I decided to pursue a career as a foreign diplomat. My wife and I weighed the pros and cons and concluded that the opportunity was worth the separation from family and friends. I'm proud that I'll be able to provide the kind of life for my family that we have always wanted, and I'm set to begin training soon.

We have begun spreading the news, and most of our relatives and friends share our excitement. My wife's sister, "Lucinda," however, is furious. Her objections started with snide little "jabs" but have grown into a full-blown assault. She is accusing me of ruining her life and threatening to cut off all contact unless we reconsider. My wife is distraught from the badgering and I'm afraid their relationship is on the verge of collapse.

Should I bow to Lucinda's threats or follow our dream and risk being disowned by a member of the family? I'm afraid I have inadvertently ruined my wife's relationship with her sister. -- SECOND THOUGHTS IN MINNESOTA

DEAR SECOND THOUGHTS: Unless you want the remainder of your marriage and your career to be dictated by your wife's sister, do not back down. Lucinda appears to be an insecure, and possibly troubled, woman who is trying to control you and your wife through emotional blackmail. You have a bright -- not to mention fascinating -- future ahead of you. So follow your chosen path and do not allow your sister-in-law to continue to interfere. To fold now would only be the beginning of your problems.

You should head over to Two Crabs to read their response. I agree with his assessment that you should talk to your family early and often if you are considering joining the Foreign Service, because your career affects every family member you are close to, if in no other way than through your absense from important family events. I do agree with "Abby" that you can't let extended family dictate your life, especially when you have such an incredibly opportunity presented to you, but certainly your spouse needs to have as much say in the decision as you do. Because ultimately, it is the family that serves, not just the employee.

Military Bands vs. FSOs

If you are in or have been interested in the Foreign Service for any length of time, you have no doubt heard how there are more people in military bands than in the Foreign Service.

The Washington Post has a fun, and very explicit, break down of that today.

Vast number of military bands may not be music to Gates's ears

By WALTER PINCUS
Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates frequently makes the point that Congress funds Defense Department personnel far more easily than it does State Department employees.

"There are about 6,000 FSOs," or Foreign Service officers, he told an audience in San Francisco this month. He drew laughter when he added that former secretary of state "Condi Rice used to say, 'We have more people in military bands than they have in the Foreign Service.' She was not far wrong."

Well, maybe Gates should take a closer look at those military bands during his campaign to trim defense spending. My interest was triggered by a new field manual for Army bands, released last month, that Steven Aftergood first noted on his Secrecy News Web site.

You may be aware of the Army Band, known as "Pershing's Own" -- based in the Washington area -- which, according to the manual, is authorized to have 250 officers and enlisted men. Then there is the Army's Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, West Point's Military Academy Band, and the Army Field Band, located at nearby Fort Meade, Md. These are known as the Army's "special bands."

But there are also three large Army bands: the Army Training and Doctrine Command Band, at Fort Monroe, Va.; the Army Ground Forces Band, at Fort McPherson, Ga.; and the U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus, stationed at Heidelberg, Germany.

In addition, there are 28 other regular Army bands in this country and abroad, 18 Army Reserve bands and 53 Army National Guard bands. Beyond that, almost every regular Army band has "music performance teams" (or MPTs) that can be "employed separately from the band headquarters in support of specific musical missions," according to the manual. The Army Band, for example, has a ceremonial trumpet group, the Herald Trumpets; the Army Chorus; the Army Blues, a large, popular music group; a smaller pop group, Downrange; and a string element, the Army Strings.

Other bands also have smaller groups.

The purpose of Army bands, and others run by all the military services, as described in the field manual, is to "provide music throughout the entire spectrum of operations to instill in our forces the will to fight and win, foster the support of our citizens, and promote America's interests at home and abroad."

Solid and reasonable aims, but how many do we need to accomplish those missions, because, of course, the Navy, Marines and Air Force cannot be outdone by the Army?

The Washington-based Navy Band, with 105 members and a 24-person support staff, has eight chamber music ensembles, plus the Commodores, a 19-person jazz ensemble; the Sea Chanters, a chorus of 23; the seven-person country bluegrass group Country Current; and a pop entertainment ensemble, the Cruisers, with two vocalists and six instrumentalists.

In addition, there are two Navy bands in Japan and Italy, one in Hawaii and eight across the U.S. mainland. For example, there is the Navy Band New Orleans, which has not only a ceremonial/marching unit but also the Express (top 40/variety); Navy Showband South (show/dance); and the Crescent City Brass Quintet Brass Band (traditional New Orleans), according to its Web site.

Located in Washington, the Air Force Band has 180 musicians along with it own "staff of music arrangers, composers and copyists who create many of the works performed by the band," according to its Web site. It, too, has a number of ensembles, including the Singing Sergeants and its newest group, Max Impact, "four of the Air Force's most dynamic vocalists and supported by a hard-hitting five-piece rhythm section," its Web site says.

The Air Force Academy Band has a marching band of 60; a concert band of 45; the Falconairs, an 18-member jazz ensemble; the eight-member Blue Steel pop/rock/country group; the five-man Wild Blue Country group; and five other subgroups.

In addition, there are 11 other active-duty Air Force bands, plus 11 Air National Guard bands. Nine active-duty Air Force bands tour in their own geographic areas in the continental United States while one is in Europe and another -- the USAF Band of the Pacific -- is stationed in Alaska, with elements in Japan and Hawaii.

The Marine Corps Band has about 160 members. Its ensembles include a Marine Chamber Orchestra, the Marine Jazz Orchestra and its country music group, Free Country.

Pay and benefits are worth noting, particularly in comparison with the Foreign Service. A beginning Foreign Service officer can expect pay in the $45,000-to- $50,000 range. Becoming a member of the military's "special bands" -- which beyond the four Army bands include the Navy Band, the Naval Academy Band, the Air Force Band, its Academy Band and the Marine Band ("The President's Own") -- gets you a ranking of staff sergeant or the equivalent and an annual salary of $51,000 for single people and $58,000 for married ones. The Coast Guard Band provides a ranking but slightly lower pay.

Then there is the assignment. Take the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, for example. All members over their four-year enlistment period have "a stabilized assignment at Fort Myer, and enjoy full military benefits including medical and dental care, group life insurance coverage, 30 days of annual paid vacation, Post Exchange and Commissary benefits, and educational benefits," according to its Web site.

In the Navy bands, as their Web site notes, "Your full time job will be to play your instrument, but as you advance in rank you may be assigned with a collateral duty to help manage daily operations of the band."

The opposition Gates has received for his budget plans so far probably would intensify were he to go after military bands.

For example, a question was posed on the Naval Institute Web site: "With a budget squeeze looming . . . is it time to shrink the Navy Chaplain Corps?"

One answer: "Had you been in the Navy you'd know that the personnel program of choice, when one is tilting windmills, is the Navy Band . . . not the Chaplain Corps."

Excuses

So for the past week, I was back in South Carolina. And when I am there, I stay at the house I grew up in, a 100-year old mill house which of course has no internet. I suppose I could have it installed there, but since I am only there once every six months or so, why?

So you didn't hear from me because there was only dialup available. Maybe I will get a Droid so next time I can have my own mobile hot spot.

Anyway, it was a good trip...I got to see family and friends (though not as many of them as I would have liked) and I got some work done on my dissertation (which was, after all, the main point of the trip). Now I just need to write and edit some more. Fingers crossed for me, okay?

I did manage to get a nasty wasp sting while I was there. I usually just get bit by fire ants when I am home, like the need to prove to me that they know who I am and just because I have moved away doesn't mean they won't get me at every opportunity. Evil little creatures.

But wasps usually just do fly-bys without inflicting damage. Who knew when I was cutting down some shrub overgrowth in my yard that I would disturb their nest? I am lucky they only got me in the arm, because they swarmed my head.

And now I have a nasty "non-reaction" on my arm that is about 3 inches wide and itchy.

So that is a long way of explaining why I didn't write this past week...I will likely be largely absent next week as well, since I am finally getting a real vacation.

You may get some pictures of whales.

Insurance for Partners

I know several folks are interested in this, so I thought I would provide the info from the American Foreign Service Protective Association:

The Protective Association offers two worldwide medical insurance plans for Members of Household, including domestic partners, parents and dependent children over age 22 who do not qualify for coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Both policies offer a choice of deductibles and coverage for Preventive Care, Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D), Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation of Remains. Separate coverage applies for treatment received inside the U.S. and Canada.

Reside offers comprehensive coverage at an affordable premium. Benefits are paid up to the amounts listed in a fee schedule for each service.

Reside Prime offers more extensive coverage. Most benefits are paid for eligible expenses based on Usual, Reasonable, and Customary (URC) charges up to a policy maximum. Also, you may choose to add separate riders for Dental, Sports, additional AD&D and Hospital Daily Indemnity coverage.

These plans are individually underwritten. You will be subject to medical underwriting and pre-existing conditions are taken into consideration when you apply for coverage.

NOTE: The applicant must be outside of the U.S. at the time of application or must depart the U.S. within 30 days of the Certificate’s Effective Date.

Click here to review the Department Notice on Benefits for Same-Sex Domestic Partners of Foreign Service Employees Serving Abroad.

Back in the Land of Interwebs

Hope you have had a good week...I have been in the land of dial up. I'll try to catch up some tomorrow.

If You Are Around FSI Monday....

GLIFAA has (or at least tries to have) an informal brown bag lunch for each new A-100 (the last one got all screwed up, turned into a coffee and the one person who was interested and I managed to miss each other). We will be having a brown bag on Monday in the FSI cafeteria from 11:55 to 12:45. We usually grab a table at the entrance closest to the visitor center. We will have a little sign there.

I want to stress that allies are VERY welcome. We usually have several GLIFAA members there, and we are all willing to talk not just about same-sex partner issues but Foreign Service issues in general. So I welcome you to join us.

Heartbreaking

I learned today that one of my new friends lost one of her old ones just as she arrived at her first post.

Sadie, who is new to the Foreign Service and who I was in training with for a month at FSI, wrote in her blog today that her beloved companion Hattie, a shitzhu mix turned mixed breed-guard dog, had died before she was released from Customs at post.

I don't know the circumstances. I just know that Sadie adored her impossibly cute little fur daughter and I am very sad for her today. I know how much pets mean and how much a part of the family they are. And for those of us like me and Sadie, who don't have human offspring, they are very much like our children.

I hope you will keep Sadie and Hattie in your thoughts. This is an awful way to begin a first tour.

Annoying

This article in today's Washington Post really annoyed me.

It is about how the Department's costs are skyrocketing now that it is being asked to take over much of the military's role in Iraq as the military withdraws. and how Congress is annoyed about it and is slashing our budget.

Really? It is okay for DOD to spend a bazillion dollars on security in Iraq but not for the State Department to need an additional $400 million because costs have gone up (and maybe they have gone up because the situation there has changed?)?

What really griped me was this quote: "'They need a dose of fiscal reality,' a senior Senate aide said, speaking on the condition of anonymity amid ongoing negotiations over the State Department funding."

So brave that he would say that without giving his name. And such a crock that he would say we need to learn fiscal responsibility, unlike say, Congress? Or even DOD, which is really trying to move away from single bidder contracts that result in $4000 toilet seats and hammers?

We have a job to do in Iraq. We want to do it. But doing it costs money.

Not Exactly the Moment I Was Waiting For

Okay, so this is off topic. But it is on a regular off-topic topic of mine, and besides, I am on my disser-cation, so it is hard to be ON topic. How was training today? I wouldn't know. I'm on disser-cation.

So anyway, the moment I have been waiting for has arrived. I missed the National Equality March back in October because I had made a trip back to SC to see my grandmother. Luckily, my wife did us proud there.

So I knew, when the National Organization for Marriage announced their "One Man, One Woman Summer of Marriage Tour" that they HAD to come to DC. And I would get my chance to show them that they are on the losing side of history. That they are on the side of bigotry and hatred, while we are on the side of love and fairness.

And then Judge Vaugn Walker ruled that Prop 8 in California banning gay marriage was unconstitutional, and I thought this would be some protest indeed.

So now they are coming. They will be here on Sunday at 2pm.

And the local LGBT organizations, under the umbrella of The Big Commit have decided, since the NOM demonstration will be on the West Lawn of the Capitol Building, that the counter-demonstration will be at Freedom Plaza.

Freedom Plaza, in case you didn't know, is not within sight of the West Lawn. Not within site of the Capitol Building at all.

They think the venue isn't important.

I think they are wrong.

I think that our numbers need to be seen next to their numbers. I think THEY need to be seen by US.

This venue will give the impression that we didn't care. That for their big finale, we wen't somewhere else.

So I am disappointed. This is not exactly the moment I was waiting for.

Goose Crossing

Being a staffer is a fast-paced job. Coming back to FSI meant shifting into a lower gear. Sometimes that takes some getting used to...I confess that for me, it took maybe a day

I am so geared down that I even take time, even when I am late (because those who know me know that as a half-German, half Indian, I either have to be 15 minutes early or it is a good day to fish), to stop and smell the roses

Or let the geese cross, as the case may be.



If you have spent any time at FSI, you have seen geese. Canadian geese. There used to be tons of them, but there aren't as many now as there were the last time I was here...it seems the cardboard cut-outs of coyotes (which I admit I laughed at) have worked to a point. But some have figured it out and the geese (and goose poop) have returned. I guess we just built a smarter goose...more proof Darwin was right.

I have concerns about these geese though. I mean, they are Canadians. So I am not sure whether they are legal permanent residents, here on a visa, or here illegally. I do suppose though that the chicks they gave birth to at FSI are U.S. citizens since they were born here (at least until some birthright movement folks try to get their way and remove that protection from the Constitution).

Yes, FSOs are geeks...you knew that already.

Last Day

Today is my last day of training before I begin my disser-cation (kind of like a stay-cation, but where you work on your dissertation).

I've been in grants training this week, which hasn't been a thrill a minute, but thanks to two particularly funny instructors, also hasn't been as dreadful as I had feared. I mean, there is only so much you can do with the material, but they are doing the best they can.

We did spend way too long on an exercise yesterday and so now we are behind. I imagine we will have to move at lightning speed to get through all of the material today. But regardless, after today, I am done for a month.

Well Said

It is infuriating to see this surface again. Many thanks to AFSA President Susan Johnson for setting the record straight.

A letter writer's slur on Foreign Service employees

In the midst of his critique of The Post's excellent report on "Top-Secret America," [letters, July 23], William Lucyshyn posed the following question: "Remember State Department employees refusing to 'volunteer' to be assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Iraq?"

No one "remembers" that because it never happened. To the contrary: No matter how dangerous and difficult the job, Foreign Service members and other State Department employees continue to step up to fill every position for which they have been needed in Iraq, Afghanistan and countless other war-torn countries -- just as they have done throughout our history. Not a single Foreign Service employee has had to be identified for "directed" assignment to any of those jobs.

To use Mr. Lucyshyn's words, such attacks on the professionalism and dedication of Foreign Service employees are "misleading and sensational."

Susan R. Johnson, Washington
The writer is president of the American Foreign Service Association.

Equality Wins!

Because equal means equal, not just for those you like.

From the Washington Post:

Prop 8 overturned - Judge overturns Calif. gay marriage ban

A federal judge in California ruled Wednesday that the state's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitutional right to equal protection, the first step in a legal struggle that most expect will end at the Supreme Court.

"Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license," wrote Judge Vaughn R. Walker, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco. "Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same sex couples."

And one more thing...

I ran into a friend of mine yesterday, who told me the latest specialist class had started this week too!

So a big welcome to the 115th Specialist class!

Welcome to the 155th

The 155th A-100 started yesterday and will descend on FSI for the first time today. I always like seeing all the new, excited (terrified?) faces, and I will have a front row seat, or at least a nearby seat, today since the course I am taking meets right around the corner from the A-100 classroom.

I'll be the one in blue jeans!

Anyway, as promised, and in honor of the new class, the following blogs have been moved from the future Foreign Service blogroll to the Foreign Service blogroll:

Destination: Diplomacy

Diplomatic Mom

The McGee Family

The World That We Live In

and

V is for Vonhinken

Congrats to all! And if you have any concerns about blogging, especially after your DS briefing, shoot me a line!

Welcome!

I just wanted to congratulate all the folks who started A-100 today. I will try to move your blogs to the FS blogroll tomorrow...I am nursing sushi coma tonight and so work on the blog is just not happening.

One more week until my disser-cation.

Tomorrow, I begin my last week of training at FSI before I begin language training in September.

I have dubbed the break in between, which will be most of the month of August, as my disser-cation. Kind of like a staycation except I will be using the time off to work on my dissertation. This will include lots of time applying butt to chair and writing, as well as a bit of time doing some additional analysis. I am pretty excited about it.

And of course, at the end of August, a real vacation, when my wife and I take an Alaskan cruise.

I will of course post pictures because I am cruel that way.

What stands in the way of me and that disser-cation is a week of grants training.

I am not looking forward to it.

It is one of those things that I know is important. I know I need to do it. Kind of like getting vaccinations. You have to, but no one really wants to. I could have taken it online, but that would have meant burning another week of leave. And really, I would rather save that for time spent on real vacations, or at least disser-cations.

So here is to getting through the next week watching paint dry with my brain reasonably intact so I can disser-cate. Because I'd rather do almost anything other than die ABD.

Corridor Reputation

This is a cautionary tale: Don't be this person.

As most of you know, I am in training. If you are a Facebook friend, you know I am in training with a self-absorbed know-it-all.

This officer is one of those people who has an answer or experience for everything. You'd think she should be teaching the course...except of course she had never had the position she was going into.

When she wasn't busy pontificating, she was asking really simplistic questions that had already been answered.

She either really liked the sound of her own voice or really didn't notice the sighing every time she spoke up. Which was all the time. Even when we had gone over time and it was time to go home.

She is apparently a civil service conversion...she announced she had come in at mid-level and made clear her utter distain for Junior Officers. This annoyed me not only because she had never been one, but because we had several JOs in the class. Besides, I like JOs. They tend to be smart, motivated and energetic. My biggest goal as I go to post is to be a good boss to my JOs, because I think they deserve that. And I think they will be better bosses for it.

Her poor JOs will not get that.

But it goes further. She announced that the military in Iraq had a more positive experience because of her presence there. And she is convinced that the people at her onward post, which she made very clear wasn't one of her top choices, were either "idiot JOs" or idiots who didn't know how to deal with the local government.

She even asked the Ambassador who was speaking at one point how to deal with a Charge' who had screwed up relations with the country she was going to by not dealing with them at all. She was concerned that her new Charge' would prejudice the new Ambassador before she got there. She said she expected, because they had screwed things up so badly, even putting a first tour JO in the position she is to hold rather than letting her come to post early, that there would be a parade at the border for her when she got there.

No, I am not making that up.

So she said those things to the Ambassador, who tried to answer her diplomatically while the rest of the class gasped. And then afterward, I said, "Isn't your Charge' [name redacted]? She said yes, and went on to repeat how he had messed up. And I said, "I served with him in [post redacted]." "Yes, well," she continued, and went on to trash him some more. "I find that surprising since I found him to be an excellent officer. Very smart and nice. I'd serve with him again."

In other words, I know him, I like him, I am trying to help you put down the shovel because you have hit bottom. I am trying to help you realize that when you name your post, people will know who you are talking about. And not all of them will share your distain.

She never put down the shovel. She just kept digging.

Don't be that person. That is what corridor reputation is all about. Do people want to work with you? Are you a nice person? Do you pull your own weight? Or do you spend all your time bad-mouthing others while tooting your own horn.

It does not surprise me that she didn't get a post she wanted. Because to a person in the class, NO ONE wanted to ever serve with her. Her name is now on that list we all carry in our heads of people we would avoid our dream post to avoid serving with.

The Foreign Service is small. And posts are even smaller. You don't want to serve with people who are negative and arrogant.

That is corridor reputation.

Don't be that person.

I Can See The Light...

At the end of the tunnel. The one that leads to my vacation...and then to another tunnel that is language training.

I am nearly done with the PAO course. Friday is the last day. I have to say I have found the course, for the most part, to be really valuable. Much of what we have learned has been very practical.

Plus, I have met some folks who I plan to keep in contact with and hopefully share ideas (plus one person to avoid serving with like the plague...ALWAYS valuable information). And I have heard some GREAT things about my new Ambassador from folks who have worked with him.

All of this makes me very happy.

Next week, I have grants training. It has been described by many as some of the most painful training FSI offers. Having not been in the course yet, I imagine some of that is not really the instructors' fault. I mean, the topic is by neccessity legalistic and dry. We have to know it to get our warrant so we can give grants at post.

One person described it as about as thrilling as watching paint dry. Another advised me to take the online version. But that, unfortunately, would mean needed to burn another week of leave. And I am already taking four weeks (starting after next week's grants class is done), much of which my wife can not take with me. But this will get me out of "use or lose" leave territory, and we will be spending a week and a half together in Seattle and on an Alaska cruise (that would be the light I am seeing at the end of this tunnel).

And actually, I am really excited about studying language. I have always liked learning new languages. Had my parents not divorced and my mom and I moved to another state, I was slated to take four years of French, three of Spanish, and two each of German and Latin by the time I finished high school. I really dig languages. But alas, my new high school did not offer ANY language courses when I got there. They ultimately added French (so I did a second year of that by independent study....shhh, don't tell the State Department...they don't know) and later Spanish. I studied some German in college, building on what my grandfather had started teaching me when I was little. And I have since gotten Hebrew and a bit of Russian and picked up snippets of Arabic and Azeri.

So language is going to be fun. Hard, but fun.

I am sure I will complain some anyway. Because somebody's gotta do it.

Better but Not Perfect

Aaron over at Adventures By Aaron talks this morning about some of the challenges still facing same-sex couples joining the Foreign Service. He says:

"Under Secretary Clinton, the partners of Foreign Service Officers are now counted as Eligible Family Members (EFMs), which impacts the square footage provided to the FSO's in their overseas assignments. I now qualify for emergency evacuation in times of crisis. I am able to get a job in a consulate or embassy and earn a salary in US dollars vs. local currency. I am provided all of the tools necessary to learn the language spoken at our post.

Our biggest concern is the continued inability for me to obtain health care benefits under TJ's plan. It is not enough to be an EFM. We must be in a federally recognized marriage for me to qualify for health care. What this means is that, unlike any other spouse, I must find employment when we leave the country. It means that, when I quit my job in September to start language training, I will either be without medical coverage, or will have to pay higher premiums for private coverage."

It is worth remembering that while we have come a long way, we are still a long way from full equality. Consider if Aaron had been from another country, for example. Then not only would he not get health insurance, he would not even be able to live in the U.S. while his husband is doing a D.C. posting. And at the end of their careers serving this country, they would be unable to retire to the country they loved and had devoted their lives to.

PD Does Not Stand For Pixie Dust

A quote I heard twice on Friday, attributed to Dan Sreebny, is that PD does not mean "pixie dust." You can't spinkle a little PD on a steaming mess and make it all better.

It seems a lot of non-Public Diplomacy folks tend to leave PD out of the picture until something bad happens, and then they hope PD can fix it. Part of this stems, no doubt, from the time before "integregration," when USIA was folded into the State Department. It seems it has been, and to a degree continues to be, an uncomfortable marriage.

I think this is a shame. I believe in Public Diplomacy as part of our overall diplomatic strategy. It is not just about "poster shows" and making people love us. Because people don't love or hate us because of a lack of exposure to America and Americans. They love or hate us (or both) because of our policies.

Which is why I believe, as does Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Judith McHale, that Public Diplomacy HAS to have a seat at the policy table. We need to know before the catastrophy how an action we take is going to be received. We need to be able to aim all of our programming and messaging at meeting the strategic needs of the mission and of the Department. We can't do that if we concern ourselves only with culture and cleanup. We have to be pro-active.

Which is why I am glad she is creating DAS (Deputy Assistant Secretary) positions in each of the regional bureaus. So we have a PD voice at the policy table from the get go.

Because I am a diplomat. My job is representing the US and its policy overseas.

And I'd make a lousy pixie.

Embassy Guards Killed in Iraq

You might have heard about the rocket attack on the Green Zone in Iraq yesterday.

Just please don't tell me that you stopped being concerned when you heard no Americans were killed.

Three Embassy guards, two from Uganda and one from Peru, were killed in the attack.

They are heros. They served this country and died protecting people who serve this country.

It always upsets me when the media seem to forget that.

The Foreign Service Nationals we serve along side at post are serving America and they are part of the Foreign Service family.

So please remember them, and their families, in your thoughts and prayers.

I Suppose That IS a Danger Post...

I read this in today's Washington Post and it gave me a laugh.

I think I have mentioned before that I served with the soon-to-be Ambassador Connelly in Jersualem and I think she is stellar. Anyone who gets to serve with her in Beirut should count themselves fortunate, and I would work for her again in a heartbeat.

Her first tour was pretty tough, too

Maura Connelly, the president's nominee for ambassador to Lebanon, has taken a long journey in her career as a Foreign Service officer. Her tours have included Algeria, Damascus, Jerusalem, Jordan, London, South Africa, and Washington, where she now serves as deputy assistant secretary in the bureau of Near Eastern affairs.

At her confirmation hearing Tuesday, we learned that her career in government service began when she was a Senate page during high school; she then worked as an elevator operator in the Capitol building while an undergrad at Georgetown.

But Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) highlighted her childhood experience in the rough-and-tumble suburbs of northern New Jersey as another asset she can bring to bear when she gets to Beirut.

"Anyone who was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, could probably do very well in Lebanon, Menendez said.

I Can Has Mind Meld?

Yesterday was the first of a two-day module in our course on how to handle the budget in our PD section (and how to handle FMOs, Management Officers, DCMs and Ambassadors trying to get their mitts on our PD money for non-PD uses!).

The section is informative and stressful. There is just SO MUCH to remember!

I am comforted though by the knowledge that our presenter is also the budget officer for EUR (the European Affairs office). She is a Foreign Service Officer with about 30 years of experience as a PD officer. She is awesome.

I would like to just mind meld with her. Short of that, I am never ever losing her business card!

And when she said yesterday to be nice to your budget officer, I offered, "We love you, Susan!"

Keeping Those Links Current

I got an email from a reader alerting me to some bad links on my sidebar. He noted the following problems:

Live, Learn, London (dead)
SuperMario Diplomacy (moved to SuperMarioDiplomacy.com)
Prince Roy's Realm (seems to be down)
Inspired Overseas Living (domain expired)
From an Anthropological Perpective - down

So I have gone in and removed or edited those links.

Now I need a favor.

If you notice any links with issues, please let me know. Some, like Prince Roy's Realm, I had kept because the old content was there. But now that seems to be gone. So if the old content is still there, I'll leave it. But if the blog is completely gone, please give me a head's up so I can keep it current.

And thanks to Miles for letting me know. He also let me know that his specialist class started a blog, FSSFSO.com that you might want to check out.

Another Day, Another Course

So I haven't written for a few days because I have been stewing about whether to write a particular post. I've decided it needs to be said.

But first, I have started my next course at FSI, this one on managing a Public Affairs Section. I think it has the potential to be a good course. It has already been interesting so far, even the sections I thought would be repeats of similarly titled sections from the CAO course. And even better, several of the folks from the CAO course that I really liked are in this class as well. So it should be a fun two weeks.

But now on to the post I have been stewing over.

So as you know, I missed last Wednesday and Thursday because my ceiling collapsed. Still working on that issue...it may take as much as a month. Sigh. At any rate, the course instructors are working with me to make up the sections I missed.

But apparently class was not all I missed. I missed drama as well.

A few posts ago, I wrote about a community theater we had two sessions at. I offered what I thought was constructive criticism and positive feedback. But they were apparently so upset at the critical part that they threatened to sever their ties with FSI. I think that is a bit juvenile...I mean, they had no way to know that there would be anyone in the Department who could contact me about the posts, so they were threatening to sever their contract over something that was not officially connected to the Department. How much money would they be walking away from over something they had no idea that the Department could change?

But fine. I removed the name of the community theater from the posts, because I really thought the training was beneficial. Everyone was happy.

Or so I thought.

Apparently, this theater also submitted a names of 10 of my classmates to the Dean's office complaining about their behavior in the class (no, I wasn't one of them). The offenses included rolling their eyes and sighing. One person was even accused of sexual harrassment. Yes, seriously.

All of this strikes me as really absurd and juvenile. First, because part of the idea of this training, I would think, would be to move beyond your comfort zone, try something new, and benefit from it. I suspect the eye rolling and sighing are a reflection of people doing just that. And for the sexual harrassment comment...it just wasn't. I was there and heard the comment, No one in our class said anything about being offended, including the person he made the comment to (she laughed), and if the instructors were offended by it, they could have said something to the commenter privately. He is a good guy, and I suspect would have been mortified if he had thought he offended anyone.

But no, instead, these folks too sensitive for me to offer constructive criticism by name were certainly fine with naming others.

And that is just childish. We are professionals.

I Can Has Normal Bak Nau?

I will finally go back to work today. I say finally, even though I have only been out two days, because it feels like years since the house has been normal. And it is still far from it.

I am exhausted. I haven't slept much since the bigger of the two storms came through Thursday night.

The pets are stressed too...neither they nor I have eaten as much as we normally do. Not a bad thing for me but not a good thing for them, especially our 16 year old cat who is battling lymphoma. We nearly lost her last year when she had a flare up that caused her to quit eating completely. I was much relieved this morning when she finally showed interest in her food. The other cat still seems out of sorts. She stares at the holes in the ceiling and walls and at the big machines. And the dog thinks the machines sound an awful lot like vaccuum cleaners, which she abhores, but vaccuum cleaners on steriods.

I love our little condo. I did the first time I stepped inside. And while this isn't the home I would retire to, it is my refuge, and these days, my refuge is loud. Very loud. We have dehumidifiers and air movers everywhere. And it is hot too. The dehumidifiers put out a lot of heat to help dry things out, and of course, the holes in our ceiling, now enlarged to remove all the wet drywall and insulation, allow lots of the heat from outside to come inside. It has always been hotter upstairs than down, but now it is unbearable.

We are lucky. We have a spare bedroom that was unaffected, and if I keep the door closed, it stays reasonable cool and slightly less loud in there. Of course, we have had to move our parrot in there with us into her tiny travel cage. She isn't pleased. And from her new vantage point, she can see the roofers through the window as they go up and down the ladder. It freaks her out. And then of course, the cats have to be locked out of that room, even at night, because the travel cage offers them easier access to the bird, which also freaks her out. And the cats, who are accustomed to sleeping with/ON us, are freaked out by the noise and by being locked away from us at night.

I feel like this has taken over my life, like I can think of little else. The contractor will be here this afternoon to take a look, and I am hoping that he will be able to get us back to normal in a reasonable time. At least the dehumidifiers are scheduled to go away on Sunday, so it will be quieter.

I am looking forward to training today. I am looking forward to being in a room without holes in the ceiling, that is blissfully quiet and over-adequately air conditioned.

And I am looking forward to getting normal back. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Ugandan Human Rights Activist Focuses on LGBT Advocacy in the U.S., Visits D.C., Louisville, and Salt Lake City

Here is something from State.gov that I missed the other day...

Ugandan Human Rights Activist Focuses on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Advocacy in the United States, Visits Washington, D.C., Louisville, and Salt Lake City

Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC

July 9, 2010

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of Uganda’s most outspoken and prominent human rights activists, Ms. Valentine (Val) Kalende, is visiting the United States under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program to focus on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) advocacy. Ms. Kalende will have discussions with members of government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, faith groups, and the media, as well as with local and federal government officials. In turn, she will talk with U.S. interlocutors and broader audiences about the Ugandan human rights situation and challenges faced by members of the LGBT community.

As a human rights-LGBT rights advocate and Programs and Communications Manager of Freedom and Roam Uganda, Ms. Kalende has been deeply involved in opposition to a proposed “anti-homosexuality” law introduced in 2009 in the Ugandan parliament. The controversial law would sentence some LGBT people to life in prison or even death. A former journalist, Ms. Kalende has written a full accounting of the anti-homosexuality movement in her country. She has also raised awareness of how this legislation would impact all of Ugandan society. Ms. Kalende has been harassed, beaten, and arrested because of her advocacy work. She has been featured by U.S. and international news organizations as one of the most courageous human rights activists in Uganda.

Ms. Kalende’s program includes visits in Salt Lake City, Utah (July 7-10) and Louisville, Kentucky (July 10-13) before concluding in Washington, D.C. (July 13 – 15). This exchange experience is designed to provide her with an in-depth understanding of U.S. government systems and political organization at all levels; civil rights protections and equal opportunity laws in the United States; advocacy strategies adopted by organizations to influence policy and effect positive change; organizing strategies across sectors, from building a movement to peaceful protests; challenges and work of the American LGBT movement; faith communities and LGBT issues; media coverage of human rights issues and use of media to advance organization’s message; and, the work of international human rights organizations focused on Uganda and gender issues.

Availability: Ms. Kalende is available to speak with the media.

Media Contact: Catherine Stearns, (202) 632-6437 and StearnsCL@state.gov

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs fosters mutual understanding between the United States and other countries through international educational, cultural, and professional exchanges. The Bureau’s International Visitor Leadership Program manages professional visits to the United States for current and emerging foreign leaders, who represent government, politics, business, the media, education, non-governmental organizations, the arts, public health, international security, business, and many other fields. Annually over 4,500 participants around the world are selected by U.S. embassies to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to gain a firsthand understanding of U.S. society and culture.

U.S. Passport Application Should Reflect All Families

U.S. Passport Application Should Reflect All Families

by Dana Rudolph

I got my seven-year-old son a new passport yesterday. I think I impressed our town clerk by putting down every piece of needed documentation right before she asked for it. Completed form, notarized document from his other mother consenting to the passport (since she was working and couldn’t be present in person), photos, original birth certificate, court order stating that we were both legal parents.

You want people who are on top of their documentation? Look for same-sex parents.

“We have to travel with this all the time, anyway,” I told the clerk, pointing to the birth certificate and court order. She shook her head in sympathy.

The only thing I hadn’t completed in advance was the place on the form where it asked for my son’s “Father’s Name” and “Mother’s Name.” Since he doesn’t have a father — but rather two moms and an anonymous sperm donor — this was a bit of a stumper.

I’m used to such wording, of course. Most forms we get from schools, doctor’s offices, and the like still have it, even here in Massachusetts, although some are starting to adopt the broader “Parent” and “Parent.” Usually I take matters into my own hand when needed, crossing out “Father” and writing in another “Mother.”

Passport agents can be picky, though, and I know crossouts are frowned upon. The town clerk was sympathetic, however, and made a special call to the main Passport Agency in Boston to see what to do. The answer was indeed to cross out “Father” and “Mother” and write in “Parent 1” and “Parent 2.”

No big deal, perhaps — but my son was standing there with me noting how this Very Important Piece of identity documentation did not acknowledge the existence of his type of family.

The fact is, the Department of State under President Obama and Sec. Hillary Clinton has been one of the leading federal departments in terms of supporting LGBT rights. It has said it will provide equal benefits to the same-sex partners and to opposite-sex spouses of foreign-service employees sent abroad, including diplomatic passports. Not only that, but a person in a legal same-sex marriage can now apply for a new passport using his or her married surname, and a transgender person can change the gender listed on his or her passport based on certification from an attending medical physician, without needing gender reassignment surgery.

I therefore urge the State Department to continue this positive trend and revise the passport form to say “Parent 1” and “Parent 2.” It remains accurate, but is more inclusive. Not that it is really arduous to cross out a word and put in a new one — but for our children who watch us do it, it is yet another reminder that our families are often marginalized. Allowing for the possibility of different types of families on a form like this also reminds people that we exist and that our presence is recognized by the State Department.

It may be a small change, not up there with employment nondiscrimination or marriage equality — but because it is small, there seems little reason not to make it happen. It would be another sign of acceptance — and perhaps a reminder to other agencies and businesses to revise their forms in the same way.

A Terrible, Horrible No Good, Very Bad Day

I got to work yesterday to an email telling me that since I was no longer a staffer, I was no longer entitled to my shift differential.

This was not news to me.

What was news to me was that they wanted me to pay back $650 from Pay Period 12. No matter that I didn't actually RECEIVE $650 since a big chunk of that went to the tax man. Also never mind apparently that I was actually STILL THE STAFFER during that pay period. So they wanted me to pay back money I received for time I actually worked.

To make it worse, when payroll asked our EX office about it, they replied that I was not entitled to the differential for that pay period because my replacement came on board on June 6. Never mind that I was still there, training her, for the next two weeks.

In the end, it seems to have gotten sorted out. I am cautiously optimitic that they will not take that money out of my pay.

I got home, had a nice run, and a nice dinner with my wife.

Then we had a massive thunderstorm storm was around 8 pm. I called our homeowners' associations' emergency line around 9 or 9:30 to report that I was seeing water on the wall in the upstairs guest bathroom. The on call guy said the drain was probably clogged and that he couldn't get a roofer out until morning.

Around 12:30 or 1, we had a second serious storm, at which time I noticed leaks in the hall near the roof access and through the dining room light on the first floor and put out pots to collect the water. A few hours later, water came pouring through the ceiling onto the bed (yes, with us in it) in the master bedroom. At this point, fearing a roof collapse, I called the fire department and the emergency call number. The fire department discovered the entire roof was covered in about 6 inches of water. Finally, at about 3:30 am, the on call guy was willing to call the roofing guy to unclog the roof drain.

So now we have serious damages thanks to the on call guy's unwillingness to call the roofer (who said he would have MUCH rather gotten the 9:30 call than one at 3:30). The ceiling in the master bedroom has collapsed and the ceiling in the office is threatening to. My carpets and high quality mattress are soaked, and I will have to have an electrician come look at my wiring as well. And all of this could have been avoided.

So now I am home today, missing class (meaning I will have to make up material of risk not getting credit) while I wait for the ServPro folks to come and dry out the place so the damage isn't even worse.

I am thankful though, that no one was hurt, that we have insurance, and that we have a spare bedroom to sleep in.

Today's gotta be better, right?

And on a happier note, sometime overnight, I passed 100,000 hits on this blog. Not a massive amount compared to some blogs, but I feel pretty good about it.

Ready to Go!

Class was a bit less, shall we say, inspiring today.

We did have one segment on fundraising today that was much better than I could have hoped. The speaker was engaging and informed, and her presentation was not death by power point. I felt like I got a lot of useful information out of a section I expected to be painful (because let's face it, if asking for money was my talent, I could make a lot more than I do by going into sales!).

But the other sessions...not so much. One felt like an hour and a half on using netflix (even though I like the idea of using movies for programming) and the other did feel a bit like death by power point.

But one good thing did happen today. I got to meet one of the FSNs from my future post.

She is in town for training, and we had lunch together. I enjoyed talking to her, and I am more excited than ever to get to post. More excited than ever to get to meet new people from new places. More convinced than ever that this job is going to be a lot of fun!

One of my friends, who is currently posted to my future post (but sadly won't be there when I get there next August) said "this place is paradise." He said if he was told today that he had to stay there for the rest of his life, his response would be "Thank you! THANK YOU!"

Now that's an endorsement!

A Moment of Clarity, Courtesy of FSI

Fair warning: I am going to talk a bit about spirituality here. If that turns you off, we will resume our normal broadcasting tomorrow.

For background. I was raised Catholic. I am, from my mother's side of the family, American Indian. And when I do participate in any kind of organized religion, it tends to be through the United Church of Christ, the church where my wife and I got married.

I am a fairly spiritual person, and my beliefs are probably an odd mixture of those three influences. I believe now that all religions are true, that they are songs sung to us by the Creator. That much like we are unable to hear every pitch of sound, we hear the song the Creator meant us to hear. The differences are just man trying to shape and understand the Creator's songs.

I also believe we all have a path. My mother died 14 years ago this month, an experience that I consider to be formative for me. Much of what I do, think and feel is through the lens of that loss. I miss her horribly.

When she died, I thought I saw my path clearly. Life was too short to postpone what we were meant to do. I was to go into archaeology, get the credentials to be able to teach, and become a role model and mentor for young Indian kids.

I still think that is true.

But what I no longer believe, and I did think this for a while, was that this whole State Department tangient was me taking myself off of my path, at least temporarily, in order to be with my wife. Because I knew if I stayed stateside while she was a diplomat, we would grow apart.

Now I think my path may lead back to teaching Indian kids, but it will be when I am older, and hopefully, wiser.

I am where I am meant to be right now. I am where the Creator wants me to be.

I have been slowly coming to this conclusion. This blog has played a role in my search. But it was actually an assignment for my Cultural Affairs Officer training this week that really brought this home for me.

We had to pick a piece of art and discuss how we would do programming around that piece of art.

I picked two pieces by Brian Jungen, an Indian artist whose work is currently on exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian. I used his work to talk about how acculturation in America has not been uni-directional, with Indian people acculturating and non-Indians remaining unaffected by contact with my ancestors. I talked about how American Indian culture has affected American culture in profound ways, such as the influence of the Iroqouis Great Law of Peace on our ideas of liberty and democracy and indeed, the U.S. Constitution.



I thought we could use a discussion of that to talk in Estonia, where we have a mission goal of strengthening their peace and security, especially in light of the 30% Russian-speaking minority that causes Estonia concerns. They fear Russian uses that population to influence Estonian politics. Talking about our shared history of occupied vs occupiers and that we have gotten where we are not in spite of that history but precisely because of it might open up dialogues between the Estonians and the Russians living there.

I presented my idea and my classmates seemed to like it.

And I thought that it might be a hard thing for a non-Indian to present. So easy for a non-Indian to say that good has come of colonization/occupation but hard for an audience to believe. I think it is a different discussion when facilitated by the descendant of the occupied rather than the occupier.

It was then that I realized I am on my path. That this is the thing I can contribute. That I am not just a tag-a-log to my wife, who is so clearly meant to be a political officer. That my background has prepared me for precisely this, and that the Creator wants me here, or I wouldn't have gotten into the Service so easily when so many other with much better preparation than I (and probably lots more brains too) have failed.

I think I will end up teaching. Whether in college or in our communities, I don't know. But this path is the same path. It didn't divert me from there. It is leading me there.

Cautiously Optimistic

I am not sure how I missed this, and of course it could be an imposter (though it certainly sounds like her), but it appears that Madam Le Consul has rejoined our ranks!

Hoorah!

I Take It Back...Sort Of

So we had our second day off campus yesterday, and I must admit I found some of it useful.

I do think the class could have been shortened to a day (though splitting the class in half was the right call). And I do still find some of the exercises felt really silly. For the record, I am also not yelling "WEE WOO WEE WOO" before I do a talk, no matter how much is loosens up my facial muscles.

I thought giving the speech though, after learning about how the ways you can present yourself affect the ways you are received, was really helpful...it would have been helpful to know before going there that we were going to give a speech though, since I know my biggest issue with public speaking is preparation.

But what also struck me about these exercises is how much they can play on body issues that people have. As a kid, I was very shy (go ahead, get it out...I'll wait). My response to that was to become the smart ass, the class clown. Better to control when people are laughing at you. It is kind of like owning the word "dyke": it doesn't hurt me anymore when people call me that because I have made it my word. But it used to sting like hell.

Likewise, some of these exercises brought back an old pain. Running under the parachute when certain things are called out may sound like fun to you, but for me, it was hard not to feel like the fat kid people tried to trap under the parachute when we played similar games in school. And what I didn't sense from the instructors was any understanding that this could happen, or how it could affect people. Perhaps as actors, they forget what it is like to have or have had body issues.

But like I said, in all, I found the exercise useful. Speaking publically makes me nervous every single time, even though I sort of enjoy it. Yeah, I suppose that does make me a masochist. But regardless, I felt I left with a few tools that allow me to make that nervousness less obvious to the audience.

And since I will likely being doing lots of public speaking in my career, this is a good thing.

Two Days Off Campus

I have found that a lot of training at FSI is longer than it needs to be.

This week, I am not sure I would have invested the time we have in going off campus to a local performance facility [Name Redacted].

I am not saying the workshop isn't useful. It does have its moments, and the instructors are really nice (and occassionally funny, which I appreciate). But parts of it pinged my inanity meter so hard, I had to leave the room.

For example, relaxation techniques are good. I have used them before. And while I am pretty comfortable speaking publically (and have done it A LOT), even I get nervous before doing it. Every time. For those less comfortable speaking publically, I can imagine these relaxation techniques are even more vital.

But vocal warmups, while great for actors, are not so useful for diplomats, in my humble opinion. No way am I ever going to stand backstage before going on to give a talk yelling "HA HA MAMA MA!" from my diaphragm. Not going to happen. Ever.

And teaching us how to constructively critique artists...also not so useful. "I have an opinion, would you like to hear it?" We are diplomats, after all. I would like to think we can do better than that. Okay, I know a lot of us can't, but they are also the ones I wonder how they passed the group exercise of the oral assessment.

Yesterday, we were back at FSI getting talks about how art can influence people and about new and social media. I was/am alarmed that I seemed to be the most comfortable with social media of all the folks in the room except the instructor. Really, no one else tweets. (By the way, our social media instructor, Suzanne Hall, mentioned that the new FAM guidelines are out and the verdict on New and Social Media is essentially that the Department encourages us to use it but be smart about it! Hooray! For more on this, I encourage you to check out DiploPundit's piece on the guidelines.)

We will be back at this facility again today. Say a little prayer that the air conditioner holds out this time. And that I can get my little speech out before somebody makes me yell "HA HA MAMA MA!"

Fireworks on the Fourth

I love fireworks. I think most everyone does (well except my dog...and almost every other dog on the planet).

And I am as sappy a patriotic person as you will find. I tear up at the National Anthem. Every time. Yes, really.

But I avoid D.C. like the plague on July 4th.

We did it once. Braved the masses and went down early and scoped out a spot to watch a Capital Fourth. Everyone should do it once.

No one should do it more than once. It is nuts. Just nuts.

But last night my wife had a great idea...let's go watch the fireworks from this side of the insanity.

So we drove down Columbia Pike and parked near my favorite dog park, then walked about 15 minutes to the Air Force Memorial. We figured with the hill it is on, we could get a decent view of the fireworks without having to brave the masses in D.C.

What a great idea! There were lots of people there, but we found a seat and were entertained by the Air Force band while we waited for the show.

Best of all, we got there about 8:15 and were back home by about 9:45. And we got to see all of the fireworks show and listen to a great concert (and from that vantage point, we also got to see all the mini-fireworks shows going on around the city. There were.....lots.).

We also got to see a pretty decent DC sunset.

Happy Birthday, America!

For the second year in a row, I have the Fourth of July off.

Believe me, for a Foreign Service Officer, this is a big deal.

Most of my friends overseas will spend today in business suits, eating nasty finger foods, listening to some speeches, and entertaining their foreign contacts.

I don't miss that part.

They will also be given a thousand congratulations on our independence from those same contacts.

I DO miss that part.

So for this Fourth, hats off to all my friends and colleagues working in the service of this great country.

And to you, here is my vow:

If I am ever the Chief of Mission, while I know that we must have a reception on the Fourth, I promise you this.

There will be hamburgers and hot dogs. There will be ice cream. And if we can get it, there will be watermelon.

If we can manage, there will be some fireworks. And you will be able, if at all possible, to come in a little late the next day, so that you can spend some of the Fourth in your shorts and t-shirts, grilling with your family and friends, enjoying the freedoms we have as Americans.

And there will NOT/NOT be egg wrapped salmon as a finger food.

It is all about the people

I had a great day yesterday, and it had almost nothing to do with training.

Class was okay. Parts were interesting, parts were dull. That is sort of the way it goes with training.

But one of the junior officers in the class had earlier in the week asked people to bring their lunches for a picnic.

I bring my lunch every day (because the food at FSI is too damned expensive for the (lack of) quality. I will grant you that the food is a bit better than it was, but it is still not as good as the food at Main State and it costs more. So I eat my sandwiches instead). So I figured I would probably join them.

We ended up in two groups, which we referred to as the full sun ( or skin cancer) group and the partial shade group. I opted for partial shade, mainly because I wanted to sit on a bench instead of the ground.

The weather was perfect...low 80s and low humidity. There were six of us in our little group, three first tour officers and three of us with a few more trips around the block. And we just had a nice discussion...about posts, about movies, about life. It was nice to sit around with a bunch of nice, smart people. It reminded me that the people I serve with are the best part of serving.

And then, for some icing on the cake, I had dinner with some more foreign service friends. Six of us met at the Quarterdeck and shared a couple dozen crabs (they were awesome!). Two were a couple we served with in Jerusalem. I don't get to see them often enough. They are great guys and were great to serve with...we only see each other every year or two (thank god for Facebook!), but each time, I remember just how much I care about them.

I have been convinced many times, especially when I was not enjoying my career as much as I am now, that the people in the Foreign Service are the best part of it, and that the friends I have made are a big part of why I stay.