Peace Corps Mourns the Loss of Volunteer Thomas Maresco:

Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams is saddened to announce the death of Peace Corps volunteer Thomas “Tom” Maresco in Lesotho. Tom, 24, died as a result of a gunshot wound on Sept. 3 in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. The investigation into this incident is ongoing, but at this time it appears it may have been an attempted robbery.

Lesotho has been one of the Peace Corps’ most dangerous locations, and has a long record of violent criminal attacks on volunteers.

Volunteer safety is basically an intractable problem for the Peace Corps, given the nature of volunteer work in very remote and frequently unsettled places.

 Yesterday The 5 of us (Max, Myself, His Sister, and His Parents) braved the sweltering humididity and took the metro to the Main State office in Foggy Bottom to see Max sworn in as a foreign service officer.  The ceremony was perfectly meaningful and perfectly short.  Way to go my sweet Max.  I can’t recall being so proud. 

 We looked down at the translation devices and noticed that they are all of Max’s languages (save Portuguese).  It seemed perfectly predicting of our impending French-ification. 

Here’s a pic from flag day.  Can you see the glee on our faces?

Click on the picture and read the label.

At the Natural History Museum

The week ended with a bang when John passed his final Hebrew test! Talk about stressed out (me, not John!). He did great, and can now move on to his political/econ training class for our last three weeks here.

Also on Friday, Phillip, Michele, Alise and Andrew arrived for a Labor Day visit. We had dinner with them Friday night, then did some sightseeing on Saturday at the Natural History Museum. After that, we walked to Old Ebbitt’s Grill for dinner, then walked across the street to the White House. Great to get to see the family!

We kept pretty quiet the rest of the week, in anticipation of John’s test. I’m working to get the Volvo cleaned up – it’s me vs. pine sap!

So clearly there is a lot of catching up to do in the laundry department. Which may explain why I’m blogging right now.

Let’s see, what can I tell you about my weekend? Well, a couple of neighbor kids came over to play while their dad took Bart “souvenir” shopping. I made them lunch: grilled cheese, tuna salad on crackers, apple slices and edamame. After they finished, I sat down with a book to enjoy my own lunch. Ainsley and Kyra sat with me and continued nibbling on edamame.

Ainsley wouldn’t stop talking, but I was doing my best to ignore her and read. Until I became aware of what she was saying: “Ouchie, mommy. Edamame. Ouchie.”

Huh?

Well, it turns out the darling girl had stuffed a soy bean up her nose, and it was firmly wedged up there. It took quite awhile to get it out, using my oughta-be-patented method involving both tweezers and a toothpick.

So much for my break.

I decided to clean up the lunch dishes, and was elbow deep in soapy water when I heard someone crying. Screaming, actually. I listened, but the shrieks seemed to be far away – not my kids. That poor mom, I thought, I wonder what happened to her kid.

I kept on scrubbing, and the kid kept on screaming. Why isn’t his mother calming him down, I wondered. I listened again. Nope, definitely not my kid. But then, that little tiny bit of grey matter still lodged up in my skull had a sudden thought: There are two kids in my house whose screams I do not yet recognize. Might it be….?

I dashed to the back of the house and discovered that the screams were emanating from behind a closed bathroom door. I carefully opened the door to find the 6-year-old neighbor boy standing on the bidet (who uses those things, anyway?), screaming and shaking.

Turns out there was a gigantic roach in there with him.

I managed to get the kid out of there, and I shut the door again. My first thought was to leave the bug there until my husband returned. After all, he has a badge and a gun, and I figured both might be required to get rid of that roach. But I wasn’t expecting my husband home for a few hours. What if Ainsley opened the door and the roach escaped, killing us all? What if noone opened the door until Bart came home, and the roach had inexplicably disappeared? I would never be able to sleep in the house again.

It was clear I was going to have to deal with this monster roach myself. Sigh. Seriously, what’s the point of being married if the guy isn’t even around when the entire family needs saving from a hippopotamus-sized roach?

I devised a plan to scoop up the bug in an empty grocery bag. And lo – it worked! It was gross. It was scary. But the giant bug is now on his way to a museum somewhere in Europe – I hope.

A weekend full of roaches and edamame up the nose. What could be better?

I guess this is the point where I should go ahead and clear up the mystery of this post’s title. So, without further ado, I present our first Jordanian souvenirs:

They’re called saluki, and they are one of the oldest breeds of dogs around. I believed they originated in Egpyt, and they were bred to withstand life in the desert.

That’s not the important thing for you to remember, however. No, what you need to remember is that I was firmly in the “don’t get a dog” category. Bart, however, was in the “let’s get two!” category. And somehow he won.

No matter, though. I’ll get my revenge. For starters, I’m going to name this one Snuffy:

copyright Donna S Gorman

We are overwhelmed. With amazing amounts of cr*p.

We. Are. Finally. “Home”.

Today was  a good day for me in the College football world. Cal beat UC Davis (which isn’t that big of a deal, but its a win and I’ll take it), USC beat Hawaii and Nebraska beat Western Kentucky (also not that big of a deal, but who cares?).

The best part of the Cal game was that Kevin Riley, the QB, actually showed up to play today. And that the new freshman Keenan Allen is AMAZING. Seriously. We were sad to see Javid Best go, but Allen looks like he has a very promising future ahead of him. If you care, here are some cool photos from the game.

Watching the game at the Alum bar in DC was a blast. The game on every tv, super crowded with nothing but Cal fans, complete with singing songs and cheers. Its going to be a fun rest of the season.

We have, as a group, kind of switched our focus from “learning useful Khmer” to “learning Khmer that will be useful for our test”, and I don’t feel all that guilty about it. I feel like FSI is generally pretty good about following its policy of “not teaching to the test” but at a certain point in time it becomes unrealistic to expect us to walk into a test and do a cold reading without actually having ever practiced doing cold readings.

I am feeling confident. Three months ago I tested at a 1+/1, and I only need a 2/2 now. If I needed a 3/3, I’d be crying the corner pulling my hair out, but a 2/2 is very much within my reach.

Yesterday we practiced discussing immigration. It’s one of the big topics that we could be asked about on the test (and in real life – we do work at the Embassy, duh) but we had never learned the actual word for “immigration”. Can you imagine trying to give a presentation and having to say “people who cross our borders without permission” every time you wanted to say illegal immigration? Haha. Yea. Much easier to learn the word. (And its antow-pro-vase, in case you were wondering.)

I actually really like the topic of immigration, at least at a base level. I would never want to get in a debate about immigration – that would never be my idea of fun – but the topic is so broad that it’s great for someone learning a language.

For example, I could talk about illegal immigration and all the issues in California, Arizona, Virginia etc… Or I could talk about refugees and relocation and the United States’ responsibility (or lack thereof) to these people. Or I could talk about the history of the quota system (I did write my thesis on this… come on now.) Or I could talk about how the United States was founded as a country of immigrants, and how this has affected our culture today. I could go on and on and on.

I’m looking forward to taking my test and moving on to my tradecraft training. Language has been great, but I’m ready to not have to do this again for two years. Cheers.

Leningradskie Prospect. Looking to see how to get Sheryl Crowe tickets (yes! Here! In Moscow!) I looked up the venue, to see where it is located, and realized I could read those words, Ленинградский проспект, without actually sounding out each letter. I feel like Helen Keller, "water!"

And it only took two years! 

I love it when I sound out a word, usually on a billboard, and it's English. "Business Class" on a Volkwagan ad. And on a billboard for a novel–billboards advertising novels! Can you stand it?– "Best-seller."

You have to say "beeziness closs" and "beast sellirrrr" with your best Russian accent, the way Camille says, Oy-zi Oz-borrrrrn, after hearing someone on the radio talk about his upcoming show. For which I am not trying to get tickets.

But most of the time, still, I painfully sound out the words and then I don't know what they mean. 

This week I needed to add the word "remodel" to a headline, and that's one word I actually know, there are so many signs with that word on so many buildings being "remonted." But the cashier at the grocery store told us we could only be in her line if we had cash, and I had no idea what she was talking about. I don't know the word for wind, which we are having a lot of right now, or how to tell the vegetable stand lady that after being gone all summer, I'm happy to see her.

Russia has a self-proclaimed 99.9% literacy–see, communism accomplished something! Everyone here reads while riding on the metro, walking down the sidewalk, and yesterday I saw a guy reading a magazine while driving. But I'm illiterate. Russian is not one of those languages you just pick up. This is the week to sign up for language lessons, again.

I missed this yesterday, but September 3 is a significant date in U.S. history. On that date in 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the American War of Independence and extending international recognition to “the said United States.”

Article 1:

His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.

Read the text here, and see document here.

The Continental Congress sent its A Team to negotiate that treaty – John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay. They got everything they wanted. Have we ever done that well since?

This weekend, I celebrate two successes of some long-term labors here in Cotonou, stuff I’ve been working on pretty much since I got here a year ago.

Nothing is as easy as it looks in Africa, or in the State Department.

One of the problems I ran into when I first got here was that it was hard to communicate through the thick security windows in the consular section.  Not because of the French, you just couldn’t hear through them!  I ended up with a sore throat each day from screaming to be heard.  I partially solved the problems by using the intercom system with some new headphones that cleared up the tinny sound, but what I really needed to do was replace the tile walls and floors and high ceiling of the enclosed interview booth with sound absorbent materials. Like a recording studio, this would fix the acoustics of the booth, and I had done it at home where I had converted a spare closet into a recording booth.  All you need is some acoustic foam (available over the Internet) some two sided tape, and an afternoon.  In the case of the booths, add a suspended ceiling and carpet for the floor.

And only a year later ( I first applied for the funding about this time last year) they’re finally done!  Well, almost.  There’s still some final cleanup to do, which is why no photos yet, but the foam, ceiling and carpet is up and working.  The foam color they chose is a little weird, but with the green carpet it kind of gives an “Eddie Bauer” vibe to the whole thing.

The second long term project has been SMS text messaging for the warden system.  In other words, a way to text all the Americans in Benin in case of emergency, or just when the Embassy wants them to know something.  The Ambassador took a personal interest in this, so it’s been embarrassing I haven’t been able to deliver up until now.  That’s particularly true because about 11 months ago I chose the bulk SMS messaging software I wanted to use and tested it successfully.  It’s called Frontline SMS.  It’s free. It’s designed to be used in places like Africa, where your only communication may be a cell phone, or you may have Internet access.

Without going into details, I had problems:

• Getting an Internet Connection
• Getting a cell phone
• Getting a GSM modem (like a cell phone without the phone)
• Getting a laptop to run it on

Some of this was Africa.  Some of this was Washington.  All of it left me banging my head against the (not yet padded with acoustical foam) walls.

After the most recent roadblock, and approaching a year without success, I decided to take Joe Shea’s advice that “better is the enemy of good” and walk away from my best solution to a “good enough” solution.  There are online services that will do worldwide text messaging.  You’re tied to the Internet (instead of being able to work from a cell phone and laptop) and it’s less flexible, but it had the advantage of my not having to deal with any of the four bullets above.

So, this week I successfully sent out the first SMS message from Embassy Cotonou’s consular section.

That’s TWO!

Wrapping up, Congrats to Andy, husband of Alex, incoming Public Diplomacy Officer next March, who just passed the Oral Evaluation to join the Foreign Service.  Goodbye to Pete, our TDY Management Officer who dodged Hurricane Earl on his flight home.  Welcome to Madagascar for Misun, my former across the street neighbor at her new post, this time in tandem with her husband Glen.

Only one more month of FY 2010!

[Note: an earlier version of this post identified Alex as the incoming Political Officer.  The Times regrets the error ]

Until then, though, I’m living it up with the last few days I have around here. One of my friends is throwing me a BBQ at her house, and a large number of my friends are

This lady needs a break from everyday life, so I’m very excited about this.

Balancing energy security and environmental concerns can be challenging for many countries. For U.S energy diplomacy, we seek to find policies that advance both of these key priorities, focusing on the long term. This is why I launched the Global Shale Gas Initiative (GSGI). Unconventional sources of natural gas, like shale gas, may be technically and economically recoverable in large quantities in many countries that lack diverse sources of energy supply, or rely on higher carbon sources of fuel for electric power. Natural gas can act as a “bridge fuel” between coal and future development of base-load sources of renewable energy. But if countries want to access these potential sources of energy, they need to be careful to do so safely and in an environmentally sensitive manner. On August 23 and 24, 2010, my office hosted the first ever GSGI Conference, in which over 50 delegates from 20 countries came to discuss the full range of regulatory, investment, and environmental issues involved with shale gas development. More than 13 different USG agencies participated. We also invited the private sector to share their experiences. Countries in attendance included China, India, Poland, Jordan, Chile, and South Africa, among others.

On the first day, the conference took the delegates through the process of what governments need to know before they establish a shale gas industry, based on the United States’ experience. We began with presentations from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on the role that unconventional gas will play in U.S. and global energy supply, from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on how to assess the extent of a country’s shale gas resources, and then presentations from the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, and the Ground Water Protection Council on the umbrella of regulations the United States has put in place at the federal and state level to ensure the safety of drinking water and that shale development is conducted safely and responsibly. On the second day, the presentations focused on the infrastructure, technology, and investment climate necessary for shale development, with presenters from private firms, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development Program, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). Finally, on the third day, the U.S. Energy Association (USEA) arranged for the delegates to travel to Pennsylvania for a visit to a Chief Oil & Gas shale gas site in the Marcellus shale play. Participants were given the chance to see a drilling rig, observe water containment facilities and ask questions at a live gas site. The event was remarkably successful.

While there are no forms of energy without challenges, shale gas presents countries with a cleaner alternative to coal and a way in which they can, potentially, create a more secure energy future for themselves. It will be difficult for any country to replicate the United States’ shale gas experience in the energy sector, but the response we have gotten from the conference has been overwhelmingly positive, and I am hoping that this will start a discussion on how countries can enhance their energy security and accelerate their progress to a low carbon future.

Related Content: Briefing on the Global Shale Gas Initiative Conference

There we sat, side by side, around the conference table. We, the Public Affairs summer interns were nervous, but also a little lethargic, as most of us had been sitting in the same position throughout the preceding practice session and pep talk. But now the moment had arrived, and it was time for the young Public Affairs interns to give their presentations in front of Assistant Secretary of of State for Public Affairs Philip J. Crowley and other U.S. Department of State directors and officials.

As I told the group assembled that day, to say that my time in Public Affairs was rewarding is an understatement. It doesn’t adequately capture the vast wealth of information and insight I have gained in foreign policy issues. Every day of the job presented new and unique challenges and opportunities; the learning curve was steep; the pace, brisk. On my first day, I was asked to read and highlight Secretary Clinton’s speech on Internet freedom. A scant two weeks later, I found myself drafting story pitches to multiple State Department bureaus, monitoring trending headlines among major news outlets for content relevant to foreign policy issues, and wrangling breaking stories around our YouTube channel.

At times, I was a little daunted by the scope of the opportunities that were there. Even a conversation in the cafeteria could turn into a learning experience, as I mingled with people from throughout the Department. And you never know who you’re going to meet in the hallways. One day, I turned a corner and was shocked to see Secretary Clinton approaching. I managed to get out a “good morning,” and she replied. In a way, the incident sums up my time in Public Affairs: unusual, inspiring, and rewarding.

It’s never too early to start making plans for next summer, and I encourage anyone who is interested in foreign affairs to consider applying for a State Department internship. You can find more information at careers.state.gov/students.

On September 2, Secretary Clinton hosted direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, at the Department of State.

In his briefing on the talks, Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell said, “The parties agreed that a logical next step would be to begin working on achieving a framework agreement for permanent status. The purpose of a framework agreement will be to establish the fundamental compromises necessary to enable them to flesh out and complete a comprehensive treaty that will end the conflict and establish a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The parties agreed that in their actions and statements they will work to create an atmosphere of trust that will be conducive to reaching a final agreement.”

The parties will meet again on September 14 and 15 in the region, and approximately every two weeks thereafter.

For these future meetings, what other elements are key to achieving progress in the talks?

Ceiba is three, but I still worry about showering while she is napping. She’s old enough to get out of bed and come to find me, and our apartment is almost small enough to look from one side to the other. But… I still worry and always hope I don’t walk out to a screaming, crying kid in bed, forever traumatized by her mama’s poor choice of shower timing. She was fine. I was worried for nothing, for the 100th time. Now cleaner, but still a silly mama.

In reality, what we found was that despite a healthcare system still struggling to emerge from the crippling after-effects of communism, Serbian physicians were highly-trained and very capable. The facilities in which they saw and treated patients were deplorable, and the equipment in some instances was very outdated, but the docs, well, they were good. Moreover, we had the opportunity to deal with physicians in Slovenia, Austria and Italy, and across the board, we were very impressed not only with the service and care we received, but with the “customer service” provided, for lack of a better term. Suffice it to say that it was immensely easier for me to reach these doctors by email, and to receive timely, meaningful responses, than it ever has been here in the U.S. Granted, we have pretty hospitals here, modern, fancy and expensive equpment, and great doctors, but the system is bureaucratic, and sometimes getting through to a doctor is like trying to speak directly to President Obama himself!

Well, to get to the point, the reason for this post is to share the struggle that we are now encountering here in the good ole US of A. Graham’s neurologist has prescribed a medication called Diastat to be used only if Graham has a seizure that goes on for a while, and which isn’t stopping on its own. Luckily, we’ve never had to use this medication. We had it with us in Serbia, however, and Graham’s assistant had it in his backpack at all times, and was on ready to give it to him if he needed it.

Our school district, however, has refused to give the medication to Graham, even if he were to need it. The reason? Why, because he’s never had a dose before. The alleged reason for this is that the health department in Nashville evidently believes that it is more dangerous to give this medication to a child who has not had it before, than it is not to give it to a child who is experiencing a seizure that will not stop. Where is the logic here? Are they really going to sit there and watch my child seize endlessly (while waiting for 911 responders to show up), despite the fact that an effective and safe anti-seizure medication that has been prescribed by his highly-trained physician is right in his backpack? The answer, sadly, is “yes.”

And so, I’m on the rampage. Trying to figure out the best way to reverse this policy that could result in death or serious brain damage for Graham and/or other kids like him. The great irony, as I see it, is that, in light of this most recent development, apparently Graham’s critical seizure-related needs were actually better met in Serbia than they are right here in Nashville. Go figure.

Happy Labor Day weekend to all of my blog readers!

We haven’t yet done or seen a lot, for several reasons: we still have no car, so touring isn’t easy. Because of Ramadan, nothing’s open, and you can’t eat or drink in public, making even half-day trips out of the question. And finally, it’s been hot!

Those problems are fading, slowly, because: rumor has it the car and HHE will be delivered any day now. As in, the Embassy asked for our cell phone numbers so the movers could call us if they decide to show up tomorrow or Sunday. Cross your fingers, people. Also, Ramadan is drawing to a close – next week it finishes off with the three-day Eid al Fitr celebration. We might actually get to sample a restaurant or two in the coming weeks. And finally, it isn’t hot anymore. The first two weeks here we had a knock-the-power-out heatwave – one day it even hit 109 degrees. But this weekend the highs have only been in the high 80s, and with no humidity, that feels like heaven. In fact, we went to dinner at the Embassy pool last night, and I was shivering in my jeans and t-shirt.

Let’s see, what else? Bart has had a crazy week at work. It was one of those weeks that can’t be blogged about, but oh, if it could… We didn’t see much of him at all. We’ve started discussions with the boys about emergency preparedness, to include: duck-and-cover drills at the Embassy, how to contact the Marines for help, what to do if intruders enter the house or school. Not fun stuff, but the conversations need to happen.

In other news, I interviewed my first nanny candidate this morning. I’m a terrible interviewer, because I spend so much time trying to make sure the other person is comfortable that I basically forget to ask them anything substantive. Still, this lady seemed very nice and competent, and she came with terrific references, going back ten years. So we’ll see. I have two more interviews this week.

I hate doing this. I hate knowing that every person I see needs a job. In some cases, if they don’t find a job, they have to leave the country. So they’re desperate, and it shows. Once I do choose a candidate, I’ll have to negotiate salary and hours, which I also hate. I hate it all. But not as much as I hate ironing and folding laundry. I really want to get some help in here so I can leave the girls and take an Arabic class, or go to the gym – I haven’t been since we were in Seattle, and it’s starting to show.

Hopefully by weeks’ end I’ll have a car, a house full of boxes and a nanny. That’s the goal.

Oh, and did I mention Aidan’s birthday is this week? I have to figure out how to bake 2 dozen cupcakes (without a cupcake tin) and deliver them to the school on Monday (via taxi with girls in tow, unless aforementioned car arrives by then). Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are school holidays. So’s next Sunday. And maybe Monday, too – it depends upon when the official Eid holiday happens, and apparently there’s no way to know without going out and looking at the moon. Kind of reminds me of Groundhog Day.

But I digress. Aidan wants to invite zillions of kids to his birthday party. What party, you ask? Or at least, that’s what I asked. We had planned to invite a couple of families and make pizza. But now he wants to hold it at an indoor playground. And he wants to invite Justin (“What’s his last name, honey?” “I don’t know.” “What’s his phone number?” “I don’t know.” “How about his address?” “Ummm….”), plus a zillion other kids whom he’s just met, and whom I don’t know. And he wants takeout pizza, but where does one get such a thing? And of course we have no gift bags. We have no plates. We lack invitations and balloons, along with any ability to plan children’s parties under the best of circumstances. I’m trying to figure out how to weasel my way out of this one.

So. To summarize: HHE, car shipment, nanny interviews, cupcakes to school, birthday party. Oh, and Kyra goes to meet her teacher at her new school this week. And Shay has a doctor’s appointment.

It’s nice in a way, those first few weeks at post, when you have no friends and no car, so no plans need to be juggled. But it looks as though I’m entering the juggling phase this week, with a vengeance.

Wish me luck…

copyright Donna S Gorman

The unpacking process is a bear of a task. But by the second day, I had achieved a couple of small victories such as finishing the kitchen (about one-third of our stuff goes in the kitchen) and all of my clothes.

I decided that this was a good time to get rid of clothing that is in tatters, out of fashion (Natalie might say they were never in fashion) or just never worn. I did a little of this pre-pack-out, but you don’t really appreciate how much garbage you own until it is paraded through your front door by a bunch of Mexicans.

This is one of the youngest shirts to get tossed out; I’d estimate it to be circa October 2005. It was part of a Halloween costume in which I donned a Bill Clinton mask (Natalie was Hillary; in no way did we have any idea that she would be working for Hillary for the State Department five years later.) By the way, now that Hillary is the chief diplomat, does that mean Bill is the chief EFM? Anyway, I was never really that picky. I think Tiffy might be a closet Republican, and she sleeps with us all of the time.

Moving right along, you might think this T-shirt is from 2003, but it is actually from the class of 2003, which means this one is circa the Summer of 1999. This was my first “free” college T, which was courtesy of a bookstore for spending way too much money on books. I later learned that I could buy the book, copy the chapters we would cover, and return the book for full value. The copies only cost maybe $10 to $20 as opposed to the $150 or whatever for a new textbook (which I also still have somewhere, speaking of collecting garbage.)

Reaching still further into history is this high school football state championship T-shirt, circa December 1996. I’m proud to say that not only was I a member of that team (I kept the bench very warm), but that 14 years later, the shirt still fits. This wasn’t the oldest high school football T to get tossed out this time around either, but they were all pretty close to each other. These shirts had a little sentimental value, but not to the new minimalist version of me that can do with out.

I can’t confirm it, but I’m fairly certain this was the oldest shirt I could dig up. The front of it says Kentucky Wildcats Basketball 1995 (or is that 1945?), so I would estimate it to be a birthday or Christmas gift from 1995; the only times I really got new clothes other than right before starting a new school year. That would make this sweatshirt 15 years old (still fits), and in a somewhat unrelated note, I turned 30 today. I’m no mathematician, but by my estimations, I have been wearing this shirt for half of my life.

On August 26, 2010, the Bureau of Consular Affairs and Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-CA-53rd) teamed up to announce the news to San Diegans: a new passport agency is coming.

“The citizens of San Diego, Southern California, and surrounding states will be well-served by this new agency. Its proximity to our shared border with Mexico provides U.S. citizens with a convenient location in which they can apply for a passport book or a passport card,” said Rick Saltzman, future Director of the San Diego Passport Agency.

Mr. Saltzman and the General Services Administration led Rep. Davis on a tour of the construction site. Also present were representatives from the offices of Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Darrell Issa, and Mayor Jerry Sanders; as well as representatives from local USCIS, Social Security, and Diplomatic Security offices. Last but not least, crossing the border to join Rick and his guests were the Consul General, Vice Consul, American Citizen Services Chief and others representing the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana.

San Diego has long been a gateway to Mexico. Traditionally, border crossing was a casual affair for U.S. citizens traveling back and forth and no passport was required.

However on June 1, 2009, the second phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) went into effect, requiring that U.S. citizens have a passport to re-enter the U.S. from Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean by land or sea (since 2007, a passport book was already required when re-entering the U.S. from those locations by air).

To lessen the impact on U.S. citizens in border communities, the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) developed the passport card, a lower cost, easy-to-carry alternative to the passport book. The card can be used to meet the land and sea requirements of WHTI.

And there are more than 100 non-Department of State passport application acceptance facilities in the San Diego region, so that one could easily apply and get a passport book or card within four to six weeks; or for an additional $60 expediting fee, within two to three weeks.

But what if you needed a passport sooner to cross the border? What if you had a sick loved one in Sinaloa? Or a family vacation next week in Ensenada and didn’t realize your passport had expired?

Certainly a stressful situation. The only solution would be driving from San Diego to the Los Angeles Passport Agency; and if you’ve ever taken a bumper-to-bumper ride on the 405 freeway, that’s a very stressful situation itself. As noted by Congresswoman Susan Davis, “When people have passport emergencies the last thing we should have to ask them to do is drive five hours roundtrip up to Los Angeles and wait around all day to get their passport issued.” The Bureau of Consular Affairs was thinking the same thing.

The San Diego Passport Agency is expected to open in downtown San Diego in the spring of 2011. “San Diegans are an on-the-go group,” commented Rep. Davis, “We certainly expect that the San Diego Passport Agency will help San Diegans to truly be on- the-go rather than stuck in stop-and-go on the 405!”

I have been reading a lot this week–life in New Jersey is so quiet! I finished Hotel du Lac, which struck me as a bit fussy, and have now moved on to a book I bought in Toronto, where it is set: Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam. It’s a series of short stories about a group of medical students in Toronto–very interesting to read a behind-the-scenes look at the medical profession, and so far I like the stories pretty well. Lam is clearly trying to be the medical Jhumpa Lahiri, and he’s not there yet, but it’s not a bad goal.

Last night we went to a new restaurant, Uproot, that is trying to yank Central New Jersey into the world of haute cuisine. The New York Times (which reviews precious few things in New Jersey) said not to miss it, and I agree. Lovely dinner. If you, too, are stranded in Central NJ, you should definitely make a point of going.

All in all, I continue feeling like I’m back in high school being here in my parents’ house this summer. I think next home leave I need a different base so I stop feeling 16.

Recently, our Provincial Reconstruction Team in the northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk took time out to join in the dribbling, penalty kicks, and discussions about playing fair — and avoiding dangers from landmines and other unexploded munitions — at the “Spirit of Soccer” Youth Soccer and Mine Awareness Festival.

As Iraq emerges from decades of conflict, it continues to face serious challenges from these hidden hazards. According to surveys, as much as 1,500 square kilometers of the country are believed to contain landmines and other unexploded ordnance. Meanwhile, countless caches of illicit weaponry and ammunition present not only immediate humanitarian risks but also a ready source of explosives for extremist militants seeking to derail the country’s progress.

The United States is the world’s single largest financial contributor to post-conflict efforts to remove landmines and unexploded munitions around the world, working with dozens of nongovernmental organization (NGO) partners to deliver more than $1.8 billion in aid to more than 80 countries through the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program. Since 2003, my office has worked in close partnership with the Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy Baghdad to invest more than $182 million toward humanitarian mine-action and conventional weapons destruction projects that we believe will continue setting the stage for Iraq’s economic development and post-conflict recovery, as detailed in our annual report, To Walk the Earth in Safety.

But survey and clearance operations are only half of the story: U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action also supports survivor assistance programs to help the injured and their families, as well as Mine Risk Education programs like the soccer class aimed at preventing injuries in the first place.

The festival was conceived by Spirit of Soccer, one of our 61 partners in humanitarian mine action. Founded in 1996 by coach Scotty Lee after witnessing first-hand the impact of landmines and unexploded munitions on communities as a volunteer aid worker in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Spirit of Soccer has been dedicated to using soccer skills clinics and tournaments to teach Mine and Unexploded Ordnance Risk Education to more than 14,000 boys and girls in Iraq, as well as thousands more in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, and Kosovo.

Earlier in the year, several Iraqi soccer coaches attended a series of training sessions with experts from the Spirit of Soccer in Amman, Jordan. Returning to Kirkuk, they passed on what they learned to more than 50 more of their fellow coaches — including 15 female coaches — as well as others representing every ethnic community from all corners of the province. These classroom sessions stressed the need to build sportsmanship, encourage tolerance and non-violent conflict resolution, and the importance of Mine Risk Education to playing safe.

Iraqi coaches and Spirit of Soccer staff then organized a Youth Soccer and Mine Awareness Festival. More than 100 boys and girls rushed the pitch, where they showed off their soccer skills, learned new moves from the coaches, and competed in short matches against other local teams. They also received important information on what to do if they find a mine or other dangerous weapon in their neighborhood, school yard, or play areas. The newly-trained coaches will continue to manage their teams and educate their players on playing safe for years to come.

After the festival, the young participants will return to their local communities as coaches to organize football tournaments of their own — as well as to spread the word among their peers about how to recognize and avoid landmines and unexploded munitions. The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs has been proud to support this unique NGO’s initiative, providing grants worth more than $400,000 in support of Spirit of Soccer’s Mine Risk Education programs, and expects to see their success around the world for many years to come.

Today I went to the gym at the embassy. I did that last Friday, Sunday, and Monday. I can’t go Tuesday and Wednesday because of work, so I was back today. I remembered a running program that my friend’s trainer put her on. It. Is. Amazing. I was only on the treadmill for about 20 minutes but I did almost a mile and a half and looked (and probably smelled) like I’d been on for an hour. Here’s the program I do, it’s not the exact same one she does (her speeds are much higher and I don’t know what she does for warm up and cool down).

Warm up: 5 minutes walking, increasing speed every 60 to 90 seconds
Run: 5.5 mph for 30 seconds
Walk: 3.7 mph for 30 seconds
Run: 6.0 mph for 30 seconds
Walk: 3.7 mph for 30 seconds
Run: 6.5 mph for 30 seconds
Walk: 3.7 mph for 30 seconds
-repeat-
Cool down: Walking for approximately five minutes similarly to the warm up with decrese in speed instead of increase

I did the run/walk cycle three times with the second to last walk only being 15 seconds and the last run being a minute, and boy was that a hard minute! I really had to push myself to make it the whole 60 seconds. If you like to run (even if you don’t but you like to sweat) I highly suggest this. Adjust it of course to your ability just as I did.

I also did weights. I really like doing weights. John doesn’t like very muscular women so I’m keeping the equipment at the lowest resistance possible. I’m just toning I guess. Toning is good – and husband approved! I need some advice on my rear end though! I’m suffering from what many postpartum women call flat butt. Not that I had much of one before Malachi was born, but since the pregnancies, it’s gotten really bad. What do you postpartum women do for the flatbutt syndrome?

**Back to today**

I have so many things I can share with y’all. But I have to get ready to leave for the morning. Today on the docket – highlights! I’m not excited about the process – it’s boring! Maybe I’ll bring my latest book. A National Geographic history of the US from 1492 to the Present (probably 2008). did you know that Pocahontas didn’t marry John Smith? I didn’t! But she married John Rolfe – and she died of what is assumed was small pox at the young age of approximately 21! Crazy! She was very well received in England too – even the King received her well. I would’ve thought she would’ve been an outcast.

I grew up watching College Football with my dad (my mom loves to tell stories of having to take me out of the house when I was really little because my dad would get so worked up/I would be so annoying during games.) I follow three teams – the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the USC Trojans (both inherited from my dad) and my very own California Golden Bears. I’ve been to a Rose Bowl National Championship Game (and watched Nebraska lose in 2002), the Fiesta Bowl (and watched Nebraska win in 1999) and a few other minor bowl games to watch Cal.

This year, Cal is unranked. They were recently listed as one of the most disappointing teams in the past few years (thanks for pointing that out dad). But I am still planning my remaining Saturdays (and a Friday) around the Cal Bears game time. I will be joining the rest of the rather vocal Cal Alum in the greater DC area at The Sign of the Whale to watch the games (since they are unranked and a lowly Pac-10 team, why on earth would they be broadcast on the East Coast?) and I am super excited. I am wearing my Cal t-shirt to work today. I won’t wear red all season (except for on Oct 16th, because of Red Out Around the World for Nebraska – I am the one Husker fan in Cambodia, thank you very much, even though I’ll still be in the US then.) I am trying to plan a Big Game Party in Vietnam with the Stanfurd grads that I know who are serving at the Embassy in Ho Chi Minh City. My future boss is a Standfurd grad, so next year we’ll have even more fun with that. I’m taking some friends to the Navy game next weekend just because I wanted to see one more football game before I can’t for two years, and they are the right colors. My friend and I have a deal, that no matter where we are in the world, if Cal ever makes it into the Rose Bowl, we are going.

I am excited. Can you tell?

And just an FYI, my love of sports isn’t just reserved for College Football, I’m just most vocal about it. I’ve watched nothing but the US Open on TV since it started. I love major sporting tournaments. Tennis, Little League, Football, Soccer, Rugby, anything on the Olympics. And I love attending sporting events. Anything. The atmosphere, the camaraderie. It’s just fun. And GO BEARS!

… we were assigned an apartment. Ug.

All in all though, what I’ve been able to find about it looks super nice. And the neighborhood is very nice and near a park with a lake (not a lot of park space in Dhaka). So though I REALLY WANTED a yard for gardening and family play, guess I can learn to garden in containers and we can go to the park to play.

Hope to get happy details next week

The proceedings were so very unmodern. Which I mean in a good way.

First, they were brief. It was all over in twenty minutes. There were no keynote speakers, no introductions or formalities, no legions of lesser Generals getting into the act, no rigmarole of any kind.

Second, they were direct and pointed. General MacArthur begins his brief remarks by saying something I can’t imagine coming from any contemporary American General:

“The issues involving divergent ideals and ideologies have been determined on the battlefields of the world, and hence, are not for our discussion or debate.”

I like that. No warm fuzzies, no pouring out of concern or remorse, no existential angst, no grand vision for the future. Nothing but a plain statement: we beat you.

Third, they were utterly unsentimental. There was neither weeping nor chest-thumping. Now, there was plenty of emotion, but the restrained kind that used to be associated with manliness. MacArthur had two men stand behind him: General Wainwright, who had been forced to surrender United States forces in the Philippines in 1942, and General Percival, who had been forced to surrender British forces at Singapore. That was a gesture of triumph, sorrow, closure, satisfaction, symbolism, and I don’t know what all, but it was more powerful for being unspoken.

Last but not least, not a single PowerPoint slide was needed. (How did the military ever get anything done without them?) The documents were printed on parchment, fountain pens were used for the signing, and the news media covered it all with just paper and pencils, wind-up movie cameras, and a microphone.

And it ends just this simply: “These proceedings are closed.”

We shall probably never see any occasion of such moment handled with such purposefulness and dignity again.

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In truth, I felt that the Israeli-Palestinian issue has grabbed far more attention than it deserves. Both participants now have so many people who have been born and live their lives in these locations that the history no longer matters. Technically Israel shouldnt exist as its former pretense for being there is more than 1000 years old and Palestine shouldnt exist as it never was a country and hasnt had a unique culture or custom or language until the formation of Israel where it gained a resistance as it’s culture. The reasons for the two existing are purely dependant upon one another. Israel needs overtly hostile neighbors to encourage US investment into its military and commercial structure. Palestine needs Israel to resist against or it will surely be consumed by its larger fellow arab neighbors (most likely Syria) as shown when Syria did grab a chunk of Israel. For the most part, that was my response to my professors challenge be it correct today or not that was my best go.

I was promptly failed by the professor as he refuted all of my arguments with red penned-in statements like you arent following instructions or you need to work on seeing the other side of an arguement. This is another instance of when I learned people do not like to hear what is not their truth.

Later in college that professor and I became good friends as I realised he liked that not everyone in his class was a pushover and he enjoyed the challenge. He appreciated the fact that I would stick to my guns in terms of the truth versus what his perception was. This professor later decided to take a number of students on a study abroad to Italy and I was asked if I wanted to go. I readily accepted, even though my school loans were already astronomically high from previous schools, because opportunities like this are only available when one does not have a career, or so I thought.

I studied Italian for the 6 month preceding my visit, then took a jump into oblivion. When one lives overseas, I realised that you are a complete and utter baby when you get there. You cannot buy food, ask directions or know what the hell is going on on a daily basis, you are helpless. There really is nothing quite like it and you cannot prep for it no matter how much language and culture you try to absorb before you go.

I was living with one other American roomate from my school and the owner of the apartment at the same time. I quickly learned a few things about Italian men.

1: Apparently, no one here uses or sells deoderant. That is an American thing. Showering is also a once a week deal and it is recommended to just wet a washcloth and rub down your upper torso only………..
    —-I decided to skip his advice and deal with the constant complaints of high water bills by actually using the shower. I know it was rude, but it was the one piece of American-ness I needed to keep.

2: Italian males traditionally live with their mother until they are around 40 if unmarried (as many are) and then they will generally get a place in the city but still have mom do cooking, cleaning etc.

3: They love to dress in veeery tight pants and hang out at McDonalds. It seriously looked like the 80s happened all over again when I saw this routine. I am a medium build athletic guy and absolutely nothing fit me. I felt horribly fat at 160, but eastern European knockoff clothes fit great!

Beyond getting over the new culture routines, I enjoyed every bit as it was facinating to see the incredible similarities to American living but HUGE differences as well. As I got to scooting around more of the periphery of Italy to other countries I got to really understand how much I loved discovering every new culture by country or even region.

 Example: Train is 2 hours late in Sicily
Italian man : God damn those Romans and their trains, nothing has run on time since Mussalini!
Italian woman : This one is pretty close, only 2 hours from when it was supposed to be in

Example: Train is 2 minutes late in Switzerland
Swiss Announcer : We do humbly apologise for the wait, complementary coffee service will be conducted and we hope that will make youre trip more relaxing
Swiss Woman : I want a refund, they were probably drinking too much last night.

Incredible world, more to come……

In other related Christmas in Cambodia news, I will not be deprived of Christmas music! I may be deprived of quality Christmas music, but there will be some nonetheless.

Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell held a special briefing today at the State Department on the successful re-launch of direct negotiations among the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority. Special Envoy Mitchell said, “In the trilateral meeting, there was a long and productive discussion on a range of issues. President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed their intent to approach these negotiations in good faith and with a seriousness of purpose. They also agreed that for these negotiations to succeed, they must be kept private and treated with the utmost sensitivity. So what I and they are able to disclose to you today and in the future will be limited, but I will now describe some of the key items that were addressed in the trilateral meeting.

“Both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas condemned all forms of violence that target innocent civilians and pledged to work together to maintain security. They reiterated their common goal of two states for two peoples and to a solution to the conflict that resolves all issues, ends all claims, and establishes a viable state of Palestine alongside a secure state of Israel. President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed that these negotiations can be completed within one year and that the aim of the negotiations is to resolve all core issues.

“The parties agreed that a logical next step would be to begin working on achieving a framework agreement for permanent status. The purpose of a framework agreement will be to establish the fundamental compromises necessary to enable them to flesh out and complete a comprehensive treaty that will end the conflict and establish a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The parties agreed that in their actions and statements they will work to create an atmosphere of trust that will be conducive to reaching a final agreement.

“They agreed to meet again on September 14 and 15 in the region and roughly two weeks thereafter — every two weeks thereafter. Of course, continued interactions at other levels between the parties and also yet others involving the United States will take place between those meetings. In fact, a preparatory trilateral meeting to plan for that second meeting in the region has already begun at another location in this building and will continue here and in the region between now and September 14th, as is necessary.

“As both President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have said, the United States pledges its full support to the parties in these talks. We will be an active and sustained partner throughout. We will put our full weight behind these negotiations and will stand by the parties as they make the difficult decisions necessary to secure a better future for their citizens.”

A complete transcript of the briefing is available here.

When the cameras roll, they show the faces everyone knows. But for every major White House or State Department event, dozens — sometimes hundreds — of other people are at work out of camera range, making preparations and doing their best to ensure everything will run according to plan and to schedule. In this Photo of the Week, which comes to us from the White House, Ambassador Capricia Marshall, Chief of Protocol, waits for the arrival of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt on the South Portico of the White House. The Office of the Chief of Protocol fosters an environment for successful diplomacy by ensuring that appropriate hospitality is extended to foreign missions and their visiting leaders.

A major focus this week has been on the Middle East, with both White House and State Department meetings to relaunch direct negotiations among the United States, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority in pursuit of a final settlement and a just peace, with two states living side-by-side.

In “Beyond the Blackberry Ban: Realpolitik and the Negotiation of Digital Rights,” Shawn Powers looks at the Blackberry data network as a component of the global communications grid called for by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In doing so, Shawn asks,

…shouldn’t we be talking about the importance of maintaining the sanctity of such a network, and even thinking through how to get more secure, BlackBerry devices in the hands of civil society advocates and leaders in the Middle East? Or would such a strategy backfire, similar to the way U.S. arms sales to mujahidin during the Cold War continue to thwart American policy in Afghanistan today? …

But what would a world with ubiquitous secure, mobile communications actually look like? Would democracy and civil society flourish, or would hateful and violent groups be better able to organize and plan their terrorizing of society?

While I disagree with Shawn’s characterization of Wikileaks in his article as an organization “whose primary mission is to enhance democratic deliberations and accountability through transparency”, his points about the tension between the freedom and security of information exchange are valuable fodder for a serious discussion on the issue.

In my article “Everybody’s Diplomacy” in this issue, I take issue with the name of “digital diplomacy” and describe challenges from the failure of bureaucracies and traditionalists to adapt to the modern era when everyone is a communicator and information moves seamlessly between online and offline platforms (see Now Media). 

The concept of open engagement upsets the traditional hierarchies and entrenched bureaucratic cultures of institutions like the State Department. Never comfortable with public diplomacy, digital diplomacy is now forced on it as a kind of “public-public diplomacy.” Everyone from “front office” diplomats and public affairs officers to “back office” staff are potential communicators with audiences who may be anywhere in the world, hold any rank, and reuse and manipulate anything conveyed. In other words, regardless of title, experience, or employment status (contractor, government service, Foreign Service, or political appointee), virtually anyone can, intentionally or not, shape conversations about critical topics.

I conclude that we will be successful when the term “digital diplomacy” disappears and all we talk about is engagement.

Other articles in this issue include Tori Horton on the benefits and critiques of “digital diplomacy” in A New Breed of Foreign Policy, and Rima Tatevossian on the growth of mobile technology and the use of social media by the U.S. government in No Simple App for Public Diplomacy.

What are your thoughts on Digital Diplomacy?

I can’t believe how fast our home leave has gone by.  It has been fantastic.

Stella has really blossomed into a ham and a half.  Gone our the days of her initial shy-ness.  Here to stay is Stella the performer.  She introduces herself to everyone she meets and informs them she is three.  She also makes up her own songs and stories.  She had me and Seth in tears on the way home the other day.  Here is the story:

Once upon a time there was a giant baby who ate all of the toys.  No one could find the toys and they were sad.  Then they followed the trail of toys and found the baby who was actually a nice baby.  And then they played.

It has been a good time.  We love, love, love our vacation home.  However, despite our very darnedest efforts to have our own space and still see family it is never enough.  My family has their own schedule, Seth’s family has their schedule and it is never enough time.  We have had a lot of fun but look forward to our families visiting us when they will have nothing else to do but vacation.

The car debate is still on.  We will buy a car next week and I will tell you where we will NOT be buying a car Mini of Baltimore County.  So they list a used Mini with about 2000 miles on it.  They mark the price on the car about $5000 less than what it should be (this is all on the Internet).  Of course this raises a red flag so we call.  They say it was mismarked but continue to leave the mistake up for two weeks.  And then we ask about payment (we don’t want to finance we just want to buy a car, crazy I know).  They don’t take checks, banks are closed on Labor Day, they won’t let us put money down on a credit card and drive away, and they are SHADY from the beginning.  So…we will not be buying a mini or any car from Baltimore.  And that’s the other thing, I am total biased about Baltimore.  I am sure there are wonderful people there but getting there is a PAIN and I have only had terrible stuck in traffic for six hour type experiences with Baltimore.  So Mini of Baltimore you will have to do your Bait and Switch tactics to someone else.  Not buying it.

This is, I guess, the control tower, such as it is, at Taloqan’s gravel airstrip.

The one thing I love about Costello is how dang inventive he is.  Due to how quiet and reserved he is with people outside his inner circle, you would never know.  But, to those who are close to him… he’s freaking hilarious and has more moxie than one person should have.

In an earlier post I mentioned my New Years Eve Theme Parties.  And well, Costello always shocked people with how far outside the box he was willing to go.  For my “Heroes of the Red Scare and Cold War” party, where most people arrived dressed as world leaders and celebrities, Costello arrived as the ‘Duck and Cover Turtle’…

I can see you… you’re processing it.  ‘The Duck and Cover Turtle’… what is… AH!

Do you have it yet?  Have you ever seen the old safety commercials from the Cold War?  The ones where all the kids get under their desk to save themselves from the A-bomb?  Well, do you remember the animated character that hosted those commercials and taught the kids to get under their desks?  AHHH… yes, that’s right!  The ‘Duck and Cover Turtle’.  It was flipping Brilliant!

The following year at my “Villains of the Bible” New Year, Costello took a slightly different approach when he showed up as Jesus.  His response to the shocked looks as we walked through the door?  “What?  I was a biblical villain!  If you’re a Roman!  You people need to lighten up!  Where’s the water, I have a party to start.”… 100% and completely WRONG!  But that’s Costello.

So, how far outside the box did he go with the stroller?  Well… he pretended to be married… with a kid… and one on the way… okay, be pretended to be me.

When the ticketing agent told him it would be $50.00 to check the additional item he told them this whole sob story about how his wife was flying and son were flying on another carrier… and he wasn’t even supposed go on the trip because he couldn’t get out of work… but then he was able to get out of work, but not until after his ‘wife’ had already booked tickets… anyway, with the grace of a con-man, Costello circled his story back to the stroller.  “She left yesterday and Delta wanted her to check the stroller at the gate and there was no way she could have made it through security pregnant with a three years old and this.  It’s not even a real stroller, it’s a cart for a car seat… which Delta agreed to check… but they wouldn’t take this because strollers have to be checked at the gate… and… listen I wasn’t going to argue with Delta or my angry pregnant wife… it just wasn’t going to happen.”

Now, one key factor to this story is that Costello was standing at a US Airways counter… in Atlanta… blaming Delta for being unreasonable while also painting himself to be the loving, helpful, and flexible husband.  This is classic Costello maneuvering.

He gave a plausible story, which endeared him to the woman behind the counter, which also involved Delta, the king of Atlanta, playing the part of the villain.  US Airways, being a member of Star Alliance has no affiliation with Delta… and when in Atlanta… this is a recipe for getting what you want… within reason… and that’s what Costello got.

The woman behind the counter of course felt for him regarding his fictitious wife, however, her hands were tied… she couldn’t comp the cost of the extra piece of checked baggage without calling attention to herself from management.  However, as soon as Costello mentioned Delta… the woman behind the counter proposed an alternative solution.

She gave him a gate check tag for the stroller, “If I give you this here, you can check the stroller free of charge as you board the plane and they aren’t going to hassle you about anything at the gate.  Just leave the stroller by the entrance of the plane as your board.  The down side is that it won’t be checked the whole way to London; you’ll need to pick it up as you leave the plane in Charlotte… I’m sorry, that’s the best I can do.

Costello smiled… “You can do that?  Thank you so much.”

EVIL!

This morning I found a great site for tiny travel things: Minimus.biz

Minimus has got tiny sized bottles of all sorts of stuff, from generic to fancy-organic quality, and the prices are comparable to the mini-section in a drugstore or dollar store. They sell individual packets of things like salad dressing or hot sauce, in case you want to pack your meal to bring on the plane. They’ve got compact “flight comfort” sets, with eye masks and ear plugs, etc. And, for the minimalist survivalist types, you can buy tiny 3-day survival packs, in case of disasters while traveling.

Previously I had seen this site, 3floz.com For those people who are slightly more …posh(?) than I am, 3floz.com is amazingly full of travel sized versions of high end salon and spa products. Prices are, of course, comparable to buying something in a salon.

Here’s a few other “travel sized” product sites:

Standard drugstore products:
Alltravelsizes.com
Traveltoiletrykits.com
Cheaptravelsizes.com
Drugstore.com

High-end salon or spa quality:
Sephora.com
Salonsavings.com
Beauty.com

Of course, this doesn’t include all those other things you might want to make your trip pleasant, like ultra-light luggage, anti-theft wallets, inflatable pillows, or whatever other inventions they’ve devised. For those, the classic site is www.magellans.com But, you might also look into www.protravelgear.com

Intended for teachers of public diplomacy and related courses, here is an update on resources that may be of general interest.  Suggestions for future updates are welcome. 
Bruce Gregory
Adjunct Professor
George Washington University / Georgetown University

Andoni Alonso and Pedro J. Oiarzabal, eds., Diasporas in the New Media Age: Identity, Politics, and Community, (University of Nevada Press, 2010).  In their introduction, Alonso (University of Extremadura, Caceres) and Oiarzabal (University of Deusto, Bilbao) discuss the literature and evolving meanings of diasporas as dispersed minority populations (migrants, exiles, refugees).  They define "digital diasporas" as "online networks that diasporic people use to re-create identities, share opportunities, spread their culture, influence homeland and host-land policy, or create debate about common-interest issues by means of electronic devices."  Eighteen essays by scholars in Singapore, Canada, Spain, Israel, the UK, and the US examine the impact of social media on populations in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America and their uses in preserving cultures, accessing information, creating new communities, and sustaining political and social movements.

Gregory Asmolov, "Russia: From ‘Sovereign Democracy’ to ‘Sovereign Internet’?" Global Voices Online, June 13, 2010.  Asmolov (George Washington University, Asper Institute for New Media Diplomacy) examines Russia’s state-sponsored Internet initiatives.  These include an increase in activities by government officials in virtual space, development of e-government services, regulations aimed at reducing the digital divide, and emergence of a new Cyrillic domain.  He concludes that Russia’s goal is to increase online interaction inside Russia, especially between citizens and the government, and an isolationist effort to decrease Russian interaction with the global network.  See also a related by post by Asmolov, "Russia: Flaws and Pitfalls of the Subsidized ‘Social Internet Plan," Global Voices Online, June 21, 2010.

Ken Auletta, "The Networker: Afghanistan’s First Media Mogul," The New Yorker, July 5, 2010, pp. 38-49.  The New Yorker’s  "Annals of Communications" columnist examines the programming and reach of Afghanistan’s leading media company, the Moby Group, and the influence of its CEO Saad Mohseni.  The Moby Group owns Afghanistan’s most popular television and radio networks, Tolo TV and Arman radio, as well as "a music-recording company, a second TV network, an advertising agency, a television and movie production company, the magazine Afghan Scene, and two Internet cafes."   Auletta discusses Mohseni’s background, his relationship with President Hamid Karzai, and the impact of the Group’s news and entertainment programming on Afghan politics and society.  The largest contributor to the Group’s capitalization is the US Agency for International Development, which also sponsor’s Tolo TV’s popular weekly reality show "On the Road."  Most of Tolo TV’s programming, much of it youth oriented, is commercially funded including the country’s most popular show, "Afghan Star", a Central Asian version of "American Idol."  Auletta looks at the prospects for continued media freedom in Afghanistan and concludes Mohseni’s influence over time may turn more on the Group’s entertainment programs than its news reporting.    

For additional views on Saad Mohseni’s influence and the growing competition of local and regional broadcasters for government broadcasters such as the BBC World Service and Voice of America, see "Waves on the Web: Western State-backed News Outfits Are Struggling to Keep Their Influence in the Developing World," The Economist, August 14, 2010, 47-48. 

Andrew J. Bacevich, Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War, (Henry Holt & Company, 2010).   Bacevich (Boston University) looks at US national security strategy from Truman to Obama and finds three elements of underlying continuity.  International peace and order require the US "to maintain a global military presence, to configure its forces for global power projection, and to counter existing or anticipated threats by relying on a policy of global interventionism" (emphasis in the original).  Consensus on this triad is widely shared in American political culture broadly defined to include government departments, think tanks, interest groups, former officials, financial institutions, defense contractors, corporations, media, and elite publications.  Bacevich calls for a fundamental reexamination of America’s role in the world and its reliance on national security strategies grounded in the projection of military power.

John Brown, "America as a Shopping Mall: U.S. Cultural Diplomacy in the Age of Obama," Perspectives, Layalina Productions, Vol. II, Issue 6, June 2010.   The compiler of John Brown’s Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review 2.0 challenges the Obama administration to undertake bold new thinking in cultural diplomacy and give higher priority to "well planned government cultural programs overseas."

Victor Cha, ed., "Match Point: Sports, Nationalism, and Diplomacy," Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Summer/Fall 2010, 3-33.  In this forum, Cha (Georgetown University) has compiled three essays on the links between sports and politics.  Includes:
– Derek Charles Catsam (University of Texas), "The Death of Doubt? Sport, Race, and Nationalism in the New South Africa"
– Junewi Yu (National Taiwan College of Physical Education), "Cross-Strait Tug of War: Taiwan and the World Games"
– Thomas Garofalo (New America Foundation), "Sports Without Diplomacy: The United States, Cuba, and Baseball"

Melanie Ciolek, "Understanding Social Media’s Contribution to Public Diplomacy," posted on MountainRunner.us blog, June 17, 2010.  Ciolek (USC Center on Public Diplomacy) looks at the US Embassy Jakarta’s Facebook page, which with the two US consulates in Indonesia as of April 2010 "had more fans than all other U.S. embassies combined."  Ciolek analyzes the embassy’s Facebook strategy and how it "illuminates the limitations and potential for the State Department’s use of social media."

David Criekemans, ed., Regional Sub-state Diplomacy Today, (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2010).  Criekemans (University of Antwerp) has compiled essays by scholars who examine ways in which the diplomacy and "foreign policy" of sub-state actors parallel, complement, and conflict with central governments.  The essays were originally published as Volume 5, No. 1 (2010) in The Hague Journal of Diplomacy.  Includes:
– David Criekemans, "Introduction" and "Regional Sub-State Diplomacy from a Comparative Perspective: Quebec, Scotland, Bavaria, Catalonia, Wallonia and Flanders"
– Noe Cornago (University of the Basque Country), "On the Normalization of Sub-State Diplomacy"
– Jorge A Schiavon (Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas, CIDE), "Sub-State Diplomacy in Mexico"
– Elena Albina (Institute for International and European Policy, Leuven), "The External Relations of Tartastan: In Pursuit of Sovereignty, or Playing the Sub-Nationalist Card?"
– Ellen Huijgh (Netherlands Institute of International Relations, ‘Clingendael’), "The Public Diplomacy of Federated Entities: Examining the Quebec Model"
– Peter Bursens and Jana Deforche (University of Antwerp), "Going Beyond Paradiplomacy? Adding Historical Institutionalism to Account for Regional Foreign Policy Competences"
– Stephane Paquin (Universite de Sherbrooke), "Federalism and Compliance with International Agreements: Belgium and Canada Compared"
– Luc Van den Brande (European Union Committee of the Regions), "Sub-State Diplomacy Today"

Gao Fei, "The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and China’s New Diplomacy," Discussion Papers in Diplomacy, The Netherlands Institute of International Relations, ‘Clingendael’ No. 118, July 2010.  Fei (China Foreign Affairs University and Vice Secretary General, China National Association for International Studies) analyzes China’s "new diplomacy" in this case study of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional organization devoted to building "mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of politics, security, the economy, trade and energy."  Fei argues that practical achievements in the SCO reflect China’s embrace of multilateral approaches to regional issues and evolution from its communist ideology to a diplomacy based on economic and cultural cooperation.

Ali Fisher, Mapping the Great Beyond: Identifying Meaningful Networks in Public Diplomacy, USC Center for Public Diplomacy, CPD Perspectives on Public Diplomacy, Paper 2, 2010.  Fisher (Director, Mappa Mundi Consulting, and author of Wandren PD blog) builds on his network based approach to public diplomacy with three central arguments.  First, foreign ministries and other public diplomacy organizations are limited in their participation in networked conversations by technological constraints, policies, and organizational cultures.  Accordingly, they miss opportunities to listen, engage, and influence "hidden conversations" and known conversations where the risks are deemed to be too high.  Second, network tools and methods can enable resource mapping, information coordination, and planning.  Third, a network approach has potential in the evaluation of public diplomacy campaigns and initiatives.  Fisher’s paper contains case studies and detailed examples of network mapping.

John B. Hench, Books as Weapons: Propaganda, Publishing, and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II, (Cornell University Press, 2010).  Drawing extensively on archival and secondary sources, Hench (former Vice President of the American Antiquarian Society) tells the story of collaborative efforts by the US government and American book publishers to distribute books in occupied Germany and Japan, and elsewhere in Europe and Asia during and after World War II.  Hench focuses on activities of the U.S. Office of War Information, the US military’s psychological warfare units, and American and European book publishers whose interests in export expansion coincided with the government’s interests in countering Nazi and fascist propaganda.  A brief epilogue focuses on US book programs after 1948.  (Courtesy of Martin Manning) 

Parag Khanna, “Beyond City Limits,” Foreign Policy, September/October 2010, 120-123, 126-128.  Khanna (New America Foundation) contends that networks of cities, not states, are becoming “islands of governance” for the future, as well as “the real magnets of economies, the innovators of politics, and, increasingly, the drivers of diplomacy.”  He looks at historical analogs, quantitative indicators, megacities, telling anecdotes, cities as experimental laboratories, and ways in which "cities are the problem — and the solution” on issues from “climate change to poverty and inequality." 

FP’s issue on cities, “Metropolis Now,” also includes “The Global Cities Index” (2010), 124-125; Joel Kotkin (Chapman University), “Urban Legends: Why Suburbs, Not Cities, are the Answer,” 128-131; “Prime Numbers: Megacities,” 132-135; and Christina Larson (New America Foundation), “Chicago on the Yangtze: Welcome to Chongqing, the Biggest City You Never Heard Of,” 136-148.

Pauline L. Kerr, "Diplomatic Persuasion: An Under-Investigated Process," The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2010, 235-261. Kerr (Australian National University) advances the claim that persuasion — "the process of arguing and reasoning" — in diplomacy is under-investigated by scholars and practitioners.  Important insights into the nature of diplomatic agency and diplomatic outcomes are missed as a consequence.  Kerr makes three basic arguments.  First, a diplomatic model of persuasion can be built in part from existing models, particularly constructivism and political psychology.  Second, a diplomatic model must accommodate the greater variation in existing models and the variation in persuasive processes, particularly those that (in contrast to constructivist models) are coercive or power based.  Third, a diplomatic model should reconceptualize constructivism to include coercive framing and rhetoric.  She compares constructivist, political psychology, and diplomatic studies models at four contextual levels:  outcomes, actors, processes, and conditions.  Her article concludes with a rich agenda for further research.

Ali Molenaar, Library and Documentation Centre, Netherlands Institute of International Relations, ‘Clingendael.’  The Institute’s extensive "Reading Lists," include updates on diplomacy and negotiation, citizen and track II diplomacy, city diplomacy, public diplomacy, soft power and public diplomacy in East Asia, US diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, branding, intercultural communication, and other topics.

William Pfaff, The Irony of Manifest Destiny, (Walker and Company, 2010).  Pfaff (journalist, essayist, and the author of numerous books on US foreign policy) challenges underlying assumptions of America’s global strategy:  its commitment to "a secular utopian ideology of universal democracy," and its claims of exceptional status and a unique moral role in world affairs.  He traces historical roots of the American project in the Enlightenment’s secularization of society and subsequent globalization of America’s 19th century transcontinental expansion.  Pfaff questions the US effort to "consolidate its ideological assumptions and historical legacy in a universalization of the power and leadership it has assumed since the collapse of the Soviet Union."  Religion figures in his narrative, not as a factor in violence or domestic politics, but in his treatment of the consequences of substituting the Enlightenment’s secular utopian aspirations for religious expectations.  Part history, part political theory, and part strategic analysis, his book is a critique of American statecraft in the tradition of George Kennan and Reinhold Niebuhr.

PD Magazine, "Pursuing Human Rights Through Public Diplomacy." Issue 4, Summer 2010. The online magazine of USC’s Association of Public Diplomacy Scholars concludes its second year of publishing with this edition that focuses on "the use of public diplomacy by nonstate actors to further the promotion of human rights." Includes the following contributions:
– Geoffrey Wiseman (University of Southern California), "’Polylateralism’: Diplomacy’s Third Dimension."  Wiseman’s essay anchors this issue with an inquiry into conceptual issues in diplomacy raised by the proliferation of varieties of nonstate actors.  He explores analytical distinctions and definitional questions — and provides a brief survey of relevant literature.  Wiseman seeks to test claims that "a new age of international politics" is changing the balance between states and global civil society actors.  He offers six hypotheses for analysis:  1. "State capacity for diplomatic intervention is generally underestimated;" 2. "Small and middle-sized state diplomatic institutions are more likely to innovate and cooperate with transnational civil society actors;" 3. "Democracies are more likely than semi-democracies and non-democracies to innovate polylaterally;" 4. "States will welcome transnational civil society actors more in low politics than high politics;" 5. "State diplomats are more likely to engage with transnational civil society actors involved in long-term policy influence (a ‘cooperative’ model) than with those pursuing highly politicized, short-term campaigns or protests (a ‘conflict’ model); and 6. "State responsiveness to transnational civil society actors will vary significantly with decision phase."            
–  Dieter Fleck (Cologne, former Director of International Agreements and Policy, German Ministry of Defense), "Direct Participation in Hostilities by Nonstate Actors and the Challenge of Compliance with International Humanitarian Law"
– Jody Williams (Nobel Laureate, International Campaign to Ban Landmines), "Public Diplomacy and Human Rights: Nothing About Us Without US"
– Ven. Pomnyun Sunim (The Peace Foundation in Seoul), "The Human Rights Situation in North Korea and Humanitarian Aid"
– Tori Horton (Weber State University), "New Technology and Public Diplomacy"
– Colin M. Wilding (BBC Global News and BBC World Service), "International Broadcasting"
– Matt Armstrong (MountainRunner blog), "Foreign Policy and Public Diplomacy"
– D Varaprased Sekhar (Jawaharlal Nehru University), "Science Diplomacy"
– Leah Rousseau (Senior Editor, PD Magazine), "Interview with Robert Glasser" (Secretary General, CARE International)

William Powers, Hamlet’s Blackberry, (HarperCollins Publishers, 2010).  Powers (a former staff writer for The Washington Post) examines "the conundrum of connectedness" — the values of computers and digital connections and the challenges they present to the competing values of focus, depth, solitude, and strong relationships.  He draws insights from the ways in which history’s leading thinkers addressed comparable challenges of "connectedness" and "disconnectedness."  Includes chapters on Plato, Seneca, Gutenberg, Shakespeare, Ben Franklin, Thoreau, and Marshall McLuhan.  Powers offers clear prose, instructive examples, and practical advice. 

"Public Diplomacy: Moving from Policy to Practice," Report on Wilton Park Public Diplomacy Conference 2010, July 7-9, 2010.  This report contains a summary of key points made by participants at this conference sponsored in cooperation with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the US Department of State.  The conference website includes brief videos by conference participants on the meaning, value, and future of public diplomacy.    

Lee Rowland and Steve Tatham, "Strategic Communication & Influence Operations: Do We Really Get It?" Small Wars Journal, August 3, 2010.  Rowland (Behavioural Dynamics Institute) and Tatham (CDR, Royal Navy) examine the priority given to influence operations over kinetic operations by the UK’s 52 Brigade in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province (2007- 2008).  The authors discuss the critical importance and difficulty of understanding civilian populations and evaluating effectiveness in armed conflict.  They conclude that "how to do it" guidance needs to catch up with increased enthusiasm for the use of strategic communication and influence operations.   

Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age, (The Penguin Press, 2010). In this book, Shirky (New York University and the author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations) argues that global media allow people to treat free time as a shared global resource.  This "cognitive surplus" has the potential to enable new kinds of participation and sharing.  Using numerous examples and ordinary language, Shirky examines the means by which humans are aggregating free time, motives in taking advantage of this new resource, and the kinds of opportunities that are being created.    

US Government Accountability Office, Engaging Foreign Audiences: Assessment of Public Diplomacy Platforms Could Help Improve State Department Plans to Expand Engagement, GAO-10-767, July 2010.  GAO’s report examines challenges and opportunities in the State Department’s physical and virtual outreach platforms located outside US embassies and consulates:  American Presence Posts, American Centers, Binational Centers, American Corners, Virtual Presence Posts, and social media efforts.  The report reviews legal authorities, physical safety issues, technical and staffing limitations, and State’s expansion plans.  GAO finds that State "lacks information that would enable it to assess the effectiveness of these platforms," and recommends that State undertake evaluations that would inform resource allocation decisions.  Extensive use of photographs and descriptions based on GAO’s field work make this a useful classroom resource.  

U.S. International Broadcasting: — Is Anybody Listening? — Keeping the U.S. Connected, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, June 9, 2010. This 91-page report, signed by Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), the Committee’s Ranking Member, and written by senior professional staff member Paul Foldi, examines U.S. international broadcasting’s changing context and an array of geopolitical, technological, and management problems facing the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).  Recommendations include:  (1) confirm long pending BBG nominations; (2) consider another management structure for US broadcasting if BBG staffing problems persist; (3) increase resources for the "little watched" Alhurra Arabic television network and consider discontinuation if viewership does not increase; (4) give priority to multiple challenges in Russia, China, and elsewhere in Asia; (5) given a 25% decrease in listenership for Radio Sawa’s music/news format due to imitation by local stations, consider additional funding or changed formats; (6) give high priority to US Persian-language broadcasts; (7) revisit "anachronistic and potentially harmful" Smith-Mundt domestic dissemination restrictions; and (8) reconsider the decision to close the only remaining shortwave broadcasting facility in the United States.  The report is useful for its historical and current factual information on US broadcasting services.

Thomas Wright, "Strategic Engagement’s Track Record," The Washington Quarterly, Volume 33, No. 3, July 2010, 35-60.  Wright (The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, University of Chicago) examines the Obama administration’s engagement strategy in five areas:  "engaging civilizations, allies, new partners, adversaries, and institutions."  He concludes the administration has "largely succeeded" in engaging civilizations, described as building relationships with Muslims, not just the governments of Muslim majority states, in areas of common interest beyond counterterrorism.  In the other areas, Wright argues, geopolitical realities have led the administration to scale back its ambitious goals and have "called into question some of the strategy’s underlying assumptions and propositions.  He calls on the administration to adopt a more "competitive mindset" while continuing to recognize that many of today’s global issues can only be engaged multilaterally.      
Gem from the Past

Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion, (Macmillan, 1922; CreateSpace Paperback edition, 2010). Lippmann’s masterpiece remains highly relevant for public diplomacy and related courses for a variety of reasons:  his insights into cognitive framing and the psychology of how we know, the role of the media in shaping thoughts and actions, democratic theory and the role of citizens in a democracy, his debate with John Dewey on the role of elites and deliberative dialogue in the public sphere, Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points speech, and his views on communication strategies (enlisting interest, building common ground, political symbols, and the importance of building political consent).  The full text is also available online courtesy of the University of Virginia and Google Books.

For previous compilations of Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites, visit a wiki kindly maintained by the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy.  Recent lists are also maintained by George Washington University’s Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication.

See also previous compilations posted on MountainRunner.us:

• Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #51
• Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #50
• Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #49
• Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #48
• Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #47
• Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #46
• Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #45
• Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #44
• Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #43

As it turns out, my talented husband can play three of the listed instrument choices: clarinet, saxophone and something else shiny. (He can also play the violin, but enough of my bragging.) (He's cute, too.) (I know – enough already!)

Anyway.

They went over the list and Shay decided to select those three instruments, so his dad could help him as necessary. These three had the added bonus, according to Bart, of being relatively quiet and easy to learn.

But then Shay came home from school with an instrument box, and inside was…. a trumpet! Not one the three originally chosen noisemakers. Turns out two of his pals wanted trumpets, so he changed his list around at the last minute.

What do I know about trumpets?

They are loud.

Really, really loud.

(and did I mention how insufferably LOUD they are?)

So now I spend a mercifully short part of every afternoon listening to him "practice."

But wait, there's more!

His friend Jack from Beijing just Skyped him. Jack is also in band. Jack has a clarinet.

I suppose I should be pleased that they are practicing together. But seriously, people, no one should have to endure listening to two band beginners serenade one other via Skype. My ears are bleeding. I've shut myself into the spare bedroom and am typing this on my cell phone while they practice.

It could be worse, I suppose. The two new pals could've chosen the tuba.

Sent from my iPhone

copyright Donna S Gorman

Today, Secretary Clinton hosted the relaunch of negotiations to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Secretary said, “For our part, the United States has pledged its full support for these talks, and we will be an active and sustained partner. We believe, Prime Minister and President, that you can succeed, and we understand that this is in the national security interests of the United States that you do so. But we cannot and we will not impose a solution. Only you can make the decisions necessary to reach an agreement and secure a peaceful future for the Israeli and Palestinian people.”

“…We’ve been here before and we know how difficult the road ahead will be. There undoubtedly will be obstacles and setbacks. Those who oppose the cause of peace will try in every way possible to sabotage this process, as we have already seen this week.

“But those of you here today, especially the veterans who are here today, you have returned because you have seen the cost of continued conflict. You know that your people deserve the benefits of peace. The core issues at the center of these negotiations — territory, security, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, and others — will get no easier if we wait. Nor will they resolve themselves.

“Success will take patience, persistence, and leadership. The true test of these negotiations will not be their first day and it will not be their last day. It will be all those long days in the middle, when the path toward peace seems hidden, and the enemies of peace work to keep it obscured. But we are convinced that if you move forward in good faith and do not waver in your commitment to succeed on behalf of your people, we can resolve all of the core issues within one year.

“You have taken the first steps. You have both embraced the idea of a two-state solution, which is the only path toward a just, lasting peace that ensures security and dignity for both Israelis and Palestinians. I fervently believe that the two men sitting on either side of me, that you are the leaders who can make this long, cherished dream a reality. And we will do everything possible to help you. This is a time for bold leadership and a time for statesmen who have the courage to make difficult decisions.

“…And I want to conclude by just saying a few words directly to the people of the region. Your leaders may be sitting at the negotiating table, but you are the ones who will ultimately decide the future. You hold the future of your families, your communities, your people, this region, in your hands. For the efforts here to succeed, we need your support and your patience. Today, as ever, people have to rally to the cause of peace, and peace needs champions on every street corner and around every kitchen table. I understand very well the disappointments of the past. I share them. But I also know we have it within our power today to move forward into a different kind of future, and we cannot do this without you.”

The full text of remarks by Secretary Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is available here.

U.S. Embassy Jakarta celebrated the Islamic holy month of Ramadan by hosting a science-themed Buka Puasa (Iftar) on August 26. Eighty high-level Indonesian guests attended the celebration. Adding a high-tech twist, U.S. Science Envoy Dr. Bruce Alberts, Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) Lawrence Gumbiner from the Bureau of Oceans and International and Environmental Affairs (OES), and Gray Handley from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) joined the event via digital video conference (DVC) from Washington, D.C.

Charge d’Affairs Ted Osius opened the evening in Indonesia by highlighting the great strides both countries have taken in the past year to deepen science collaboration, including the recent joint ocean science exploration of the sea floor and biodiversity of North Sumatra by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Okeanos Explorer and Indonesia’s Baruna Jaya IV. Via DVC, DAS Gumbiner praised the conclusion of the new Science and Technology Agreement signed earlier in the year, and emphasized President Obama’s commitment to science and technology in the United States and as a key pillar of international engagement, saying “our president, Barack Obama, has a commitment to science diplomacy and international S&T collaboration that is placing these themes at the forefront of U.S. diplomacy.” He added that the U.S.-Indonesian relationship “is a partnership that will be continuing and deepening. We look forward to both Muslim and non-Muslim researchers and collaborators working together to solve these great problems that we all share on the global stage.”

Dr. Alberts expressed his strong support of continued science and technology engagement between the two countries that he explored during his trip to Indonesia this past May, including launching regular engagement between the next generation of Indonesian and American scientists. Mr. Handley reinforced the NIH’s continued interest in engaging and cooperating with Indonesian counterparts on issues such as infectious diseases.

Speakers from Indonesia included Professor Zuhal Abdul Kadir, Chairman of the National Innovation Committee and Rector of University Al-Azhar, and Dr. Jamaludin Jompa, head of the Coral Reef Research Institute at Hasanudin University, who discussed the relationship between religion and science. In particular, Prof. Zuhal commented that in Islam, “people with wisdom and knowledge” — scientists — are highly regarded for they further the teaching of Islam, which includes the human responsibility to preserve nature. Dr. Jompa expanded upon this theme by summarizing the efforts by young Indonesian scientists under the age of 45 to address cross-cutting issues on climate change and the future of human life. The two speakers represented the expanding network of seasoned and up-and-coming scientists in Indonesia’s science community and embodied Indonesia’s desire to expand science and technology collaboration with the United States.

When my older brother was taking a psychology class as part of his nursing degree, one of the topics was happiness.

“Do you know what happiness is?” He asked me.

I thought about it a moment and told him what I though happiness was.

“To you perhaps, but your happiness it not necessarily someone else’s happiness. Take for instance the homeless person that lives under the bridge. His happiness will be completely different than yours”, he told me.

Wow! I never really thought about it like that before. I am the kind of person that likes to see happiness. I like to see people smiling and laughing. In my previous opinion before our conversation, if you were not smiling and laughing, I just assumed you were not happy. Kind of like my mom. Don’t get me wrong she smiled and laughed but she complained all the time. It was interesting to hear her complaints and it wasn’t until my brother and I had that conversation that I realized that “complaining” was a key component to my moms’ happiness. If there was nothing for her to complain about she was not happy. It made me see things totally different for the first time.

I deal with many people every day, from all walks of life and ranging from all ages. Some I have relationships with and others are just passing strangers that I might have a small interaction with. Never a moment goes by that I don’t think about what makes one happy. I often think there must be something wrong with me, because it is rare that I get sad or get let down by a situation. I would love to be able and say what makes me happy because I truly don’t know. It is so much easier to say what make me sad.

What make me sad?

When I see someone I love, unhappy or sad and there is nothing I can do help.

I would love to know what makes you happy or if you are a person like me…what makes you sad?

Many Foreign Service families do fully experience living in another culture, but it requires one to venture beyond one’s normal routine, and in our case, the barbed wired walls and armed guards protecting our housing community. By our third week here my body was adapting to the environment and time change and we were starting to feel settled, but every night before bed I felt a little anxious, and it wasn’t because I had just moved to a foreign country. It was because I had moved to a foreign country but was spending most of my time within the walls of a place that looked a lot like South Florida.

As a post Manila is unique in that it would be easy to try to insulate oneself from the city’s culture. You can’t avoid the traffic, the pollution, or seeing evidence of extreme poverty as you drive to work, but you can eat at Chili’s, shop for groceries at S&R (Costco), and watch Scrubs and Everybody Loves Raymond on local cable in your air-conditioned housing. You’d find yourself inconvenienced by not finding everything you want, but life would be familiar. In many ways, having access to American products is one of the benefits of this post, but it can also feel surreal.

Fortunately for me, the weekend after I began to feel agitated we went to Tagaytay, which, being without transportation, we wouldn’t have been able to do without our wonderful friends.  In Tagaytay I finally felt like I was living in a foreign country, and the bedtime anxiety disappeared. I find it interesting that in order to feel comfortable I had to pushed out of my comfort zone.

The Foreign Service community is one of the best things about life in the foreign service, but experiencing the exotic aspects of life abroad is equally important to enjoying this lifestyle. I look forward to exploring the Philippines further, and, in case I haven’t mentioned it, the arrival of our car.

I had always known the whole kids growing up, going to school, moving on, getting married thing was universally accepted as a sad step for a parent. Something that when someone tells you they are in the process of doing, you kind of take a deep breath, sigh, give them a sympathetic grin to attempt to commiserate and then make a little joke with them about it.

Well, the conversation I had with this woman on Monday put it in a different perspective for me.

With wide eyes she said, “I was getting ready to leave, and I just thought, ‘I hope I was a good mom!’ “

at which point, a lump jumped up into my throat and tears immediately welled in my eyes, and all I could say was, “Oh, that is so sad!”

She went on: “Eighteen years goes by so fast — everyone said it would when they were born, but it just goes by and suddenly here I am leaving them at school; I just couldn’t stop thinking that there was my chance, it flew by, I hope I’ve taught them everything they needed to know!”

I  could only say, “Oh my gosh, that is so sad, oh, wow!” to keep the tears from escaping the fragile edge of my eyes while she said that as she was getting ready to fly out, one of the boys called her and said, “Mom, I miss you already.” Too much. Luckily she went on to joke about them calling her later to ask her the classic questions about separating laundry.

Ever since high school, the years have passed by rapidly, each more quickly than the previous. It feels the same way with baby Nile. She was born and time slowed down for a minute and now it is passing more and more quickly like in fast forward and she is now a little more than five months old! I only have 17 and a half years to teach her everything I want to. I know maybe this sounds dramatic, but I think it’s true. What’s also true is that I love her!

I had always known the whole kids growing up, going to school, moving on, getting married thing was universally accepted as a sad step for a parent. Something that when someone tells you they are in the process of doing, you kind of take a deep breath, sigh, give them a sympathetic grin to attempt to commiserate and then make a little joke with them about it.

Well, the conversation I had with this woman on Monday put it in a different perspective for me.

With wide eyes she said, “I was getting ready to leave, and I just thought, ‘I hope I was a good mom!’ “

at which point, a lump jumped up into my throat and tears immediately welled in my eyes, and all I could say was, “Oh, that is so sad!”

She went on: “Eighteen years goes by so fast — everyone said it would when they were born, but it just goes by and suddenly here I am leaving them at school; I just couldn’t stop thinking that there was my chance, it flew by, I hope I’ve taught them everything they needed to know!”

I  could only say, “Oh my gosh, that is so sad, oh, wow!” to keep the tears from escaping the fragile edge of my eyes while she said that as she was getting ready to fly out, one of the boys called her and said, “Mom, I miss you already.” Too much. Luckily she went on to joke about them calling her later to ask her the classic questions about separating laundry.

Ever since high school, the years have passed by rapidly, each more quickly than the previous. It feels the same way with baby Nile. She was born and time slowed down for a minute and now it is passing more and more quickly like in fast forward and she is now a little more than five months old! I only have 17 and a half years to teach her everything I want to. I know maybe this sounds dramatic, but I think it’s true. What’s also true is that I love her!

Here’s the announcement of TTP’s designation, and here is a further announcement of the offer of rewards up to $5 million each for information leading to the location of Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali Ur Rehman.

It was Mehsud’s operatives who attacked the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, last April, using three vehicle-borne bombs, six attackers, RPGs, rifles, grenades, and explosive charges, and managed to kill at least six Pakistanis and wound 20 others.

Here are the results for TSA:

Ranking (out of 223 agencies of similar size):

Employee Skills/Mission Match = 203 of 223
Strategic Management = 220 of 223
Teamwork = 219 of 223
Effective Leadership = 221 of 223
Effective Leadership – Empowerment = 220 of 223
Effective Leadership – Fairness = 222 of 223
Effective Leadership – Leaders = 219 of 223
Effective Leadership – Supervisors = 208 of 223
Performance Based Rewards and Advancement = 222 of 223
Training and Development = 188 of 223
Support for Diversity = 211 of 223
Pay = 223 of 223
Family Friendly Culture and Benefits = 223 of 223
Work/Life Balance = 208 of 223

Ouch. Dead last in pay and family-friendliness, next to last in performance-based rewards and fair leadership, and dragging close to the ground on all other categories.

It looks like “soul-sucking evil demons” is an understatement.

Fair is fair, so here are the results for the State Department:

Ranking (out of 28 agencies of similar size):

Employee Skills/Mission Match = 5 of 28
Strategic Management = 5 of 28
Teamwork = 4 of 28
Effective Leadership = 3 of 28
Effective Leadership – Empowerment = 4 of 28
Effective Leadership – Fairness = 3 of 28
Effective Leadership – Leaders = 3 of 28
Effective Leadership – Supervisors = 3 of 28
Performance Based Rewards and Advancement = 5 of 28
Training and Development = 4 of 28
Support for Diversity = 3 of 28
Pay = 7 of 28
Family Friendly Culture and Benefits = 25 of 28
Work/Life Balance = 17 of 28

State kept it in the single digits for all but the last two categories. That’s better than TSA, but still shows room for improvement.

“Can someone get this man on Twitter?”

Oh, yes, please. Please! If ever a man and a medium were made for each other, they were.

The Rewards for Justice Program has announced a five million dollar reward for any information leading to the arrest of Mehsud or Rehman. Additionally, the Department of Justice has filed an arrest warrant for Hakimullah Mehsud and charged him with conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens abroad and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.

TTP is a Pakistan-based terrorist organization that has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist acts against Pakistani and U.S. interests, including a December 2009 suicide attack on a U.S. military base in Khowst, Afghanistan, which killed seven U.S. citizens, and an April 2010 suicide bombing against the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, which killed six Pakistani citizens.

TTP and al-Qa’ida have a symbiotic relationship; TTP draws ideological guidance from al-Qa’ida, while al-Qa’ida relies on TTP for safe haven in the Pashtun areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border.

During a briefing this afternoon on the U.S. Government’s continued efforts to disrupt and dismantle TTP, Ambassador Daniel Benjamin, head of the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, said, “The various actions taken today against the TTP support the U.S. effort to degrade the capabilities of this dangerous group. We are determined to eliminate TTP’s ability to execute violent attacks and to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat their networks.”

You can read the full announcement of this morning’s designation here. More information about the rewards leading to the location of Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali Ur Rehman is available here. A transcript of the briefing with Ambassador Benjamin and Robert Hartung, Assistant Director of the Threat Investigations and Analysis Directorate in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, is available here.

Questions about the designation process? Myths and facts about it are explained in this fact sheet.

About the Author: Nicole Shepardson serves as a Program Officer in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM).

Though born in Vietnam in 1982, Ho Manh Cong’s life in his native country was proscribed in many ways by his lack of citizenship status. That is until July of this year, when the government of Vietnam, working together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, committed to end the saga of statelessness this year for more than 2,500 former Cambodian refugees and their descendants, many of whom came to Vietnam in 1972 to escape the Pol Pot regime. Unable to buy homes, receive social and health benefits, or even attend universities, many Vietnamese people of Cambodian descent now have access to citizenship and all the social benefits that this status implies. For Ho Manh Cong, this means he can now — at the age of 28 — purchase and register a motorcycle, for the first time in his life.

Most people around the world seldom think twice about showing their identity documents to travel freely, enroll in school, get a job, open a bank account, get married, or register the birth of their children. Yet in all these ways and others, citizenship is a critical part of our daily lives, livelihoods and human dignity. For a stateless person — someone who is not recognized as a citizen of any country — these aspects of daily life that we take for granted are a constant challenge.

Efforts to publicize and elevate the importance of statelessness are critical because for many, statelessness seems abstract — some vague notion caught up in political theory about the relationship between the individual and the state. Few Americans might ever imagine that the problem is so widespread, with considerable stateless populations living in countries such as Burma, the Dominican Republic, Syria, Nepal, Russia, Kuwait, and the Ukraine, as well as for many Palestinians living in the Middle East, and on and on. Most Americans have never met a stateless person, and those of us whose citizenship is secure tend to take it for granted.

Until recently, the issue has been “in the shadows,” like stateless people themselves. There is little data on the history of statelessness or population trends. Information on stateless populations has seldom been highlighted. Issues of citizenship and nationality are politically delicate. In the most egregious cases, governments have denationalized their citizens for political reasons; in some cases, governments simply lack the capacity to officially recognize and document their citizens; and in other cases, statelessness results from systematic discrimination or other gaps in citizenship laws and procedures. Whether they are deliberately excluded or simply fall through administrative cracks, stateless persons are often described as “legal ghosts.”

This information graphic produced by the Department’s Humanitarian Information Unit with the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) is the latest in our continuing efforts to create awareness about the global challenge of statelessness. Further information is available in the State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the PRM-supported Forced Migration Review issue on statelessness, and from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Though born in Vietnam in 1982, Ho Manh Cong’s life in his native country was proscribed in many ways by his lack of citizenship status. That is until July of this year, when the government of Vietnam, working together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, committed to end the saga of statelessness this year for more than 2,500 former Cambodian refugees and their descendants, many of whom came to Vietnam in 1972 to escape the Pol Pot regime. Unable to buy homes, receive social and health benefits, or even attend universities, many Vietnamese people of Cambodian descent now have access to citizenship and all the social benefits that this status implies. For Ho Manh Cong, this means he can now — at the age of 28 — purchase and register a motorcycle, for the first time in his life.

Most people around the world seldom think twice about showing their identity documents to travel freely, enroll in school, get a job, open a bank account, get married, or register the birth of their children. Yet in all these ways and others, citizenship is a critical part of our daily lives, livelihoods and human dignity. For a stateless person — someone who is not recognized as a citizen of any country — these aspects of daily life that we take for granted are a constant challenge.

Efforts to publicize and elevate the importance of statelessness are critical because for many, statelessness seems abstract — some vague notion caught up in political theory about the relationship between the individual and the state. Few Americans might ever imagine that the problem is so widespread, with considerable stateless populations living in countries such as Burma, the Dominican Republic, Syria, Nepal, Russia, Kuwait, and the Ukraine, as well as for many Palestinians living in the Middle East, and on and on. Most Americans have never met a stateless person, and those of us whose citizenship is secure tend to take it for granted.

Until recently, the issue has been “in the shadows,” like stateless people themselves. There is little data on the history of statelessness or population trends. Information on stateless populations has seldom been highlighted. Issues of citizenship and nationality are politically delicate. In the most egregious cases, governments have denationalized their citizens for political reasons; in some cases, governments simply lack the capacity to officially recognize and document their citizens; and in other cases, statelessness results from systematic discrimination or other gaps in citizenship laws and procedures. Whether they are deliberately excluded or simply fall through administrative cracks, stateless persons are often described as “legal ghosts.”

This information graphic produced by the Department’s Humanitarian Information Unit with the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) is the latest in our continuing efforts to create awareness about the global challenge of statelessness. Further information is available in the State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the PRM-supported Forced Migration Review issue on statelessness, and from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

But why is this cool? Why am I going to start wasting my time (along with tons of other people out there) watching videos posted by people I have never met? Because they are so darn funny. There are so many nerds out there who love Harry Potter and hate (but have read and seen) Twilight and can talk intelligently about current events and how on do you meet people like this in real life? Or really, how do you meet people like this in real life and get over the “I don’t want to seem like a nerd” factor and just own up to being one? Haha. These guys definitely own it.

Here are a few of my favorites:

This one is by the VlogBrothers. They are famous because one day they decided that they would only speak to each other via YouTube video… and voila. This is what happened.

And then there are these guys, who are part of a Trock – ie Time Lord Rock – ie A Doctor Who Band. And in my world, nothing is cooler. Haha. They sing songs, make fun of Twilight and are generally British. And I like British humor. Its funny.

Nerimon – for a Twilight Reading

Charlieissocoollike – for Doctor Who chat

And I own it. I am a nerd.

As it’s the last week of summer vacation, we’re also trying to do all the summery things one last time, plus visit as many people as possible since they won’t see Sophie for a while.

And we’re doing it all during a heatwave and impending hurricane. Yay summer!

Our processes  — the slow, challenging, and sometimes frustrating bureaucratic movements that color most of our daily actions — are also aired on occasion, usually through the lens of paperwork management, the joys of ConGen, or trying to pack out or get travel orders.  As a daily part of life that’s also not a surprise. 

On September 6, I hit the five-year mark with the Service, as do my wife and about 90 of our A-100 colleagues.  And after five years I’m hitting a cognitive milestone as well – understanding the “whys” behind the jargon and the processes.  Part of me feels like its Stockholm Syndrome, having been in so long the outside world doesn’t make sense.  That’s a negative portrayal; a more kind one would be that the tough lessons from working (and failing!) in the system are finally getting internalized.

Explaining the jargon is the easy part.  We’re a culture as much as anything else, and our language is designed to keep things concise, without repeating the same old long constructions over and over again.  Telcon, septel, EER, SCIF, the acronyms of our bureaus, the acronyms of our neighbors.  All shortened to facilitate rapid communication, once you’re fully indoctrinated.

The processes are a little harded to explain, but here’s one example.  For months I’ve been wondering why I was putting my extension next to my name when drafting a paper.  It seemed like an odd requirement.  Surely the clearers could look me up in our global address system, right?  Wrong. 

Working on an active desk in an extremely busy bureau has given me a real appreciation for exactly how busy management can be.  Many of my high-level superiors have no time to log on to their computers, let alone look up an address.  They do their clearing on paper, and if they have a question, a phone is way faster than email.  Hence the phone number.  Its helpful to be called directly by a superior or lateral colleague who can walk me through edits he/she wants, or add in issues I didn’t think of because my experience is so limited.

That begs the question: why clear in the first place?  You worked hard on that paper, you stayed late, you agonized over paragraphs.  And you have an advanced degree!  And now your painstakingly crafted words have been struck through in multiple colors, gone as fast as you can click “accept all changes in document.”  Boy does that burn. 

Another hard lesson learned.  When I’m working on taskers, I’m not the author.  In our peculiar lexicon, I’m not even the writer — I’m the drafter.  The best euphemism I’ve heard to describe it is that when you’re the drafter, you “hold the pen.”  The semantic/symbolic breakdown of that phrase is illuminating.  You’re holding the tool for constructing the Department’s documents.  The writer of the paper is the Department, not you – you are making the writing happen.  The thoughts in those documents aren’t supposed to be yours, they’re precisely supposed to be collective.   The clearance process has it’s drawbacks, but it also plays an important purpose in getting things done right.

I don’t deny that there are processes in our building that scream for innovation, or irk to the point of distraction, or are outdated reminders of the days before computers and internet.  But as days go on it’s heartening to realize that sometimes there are reasons behind everything, ones not readily apparent but there to keep the wheels of the business turning.  Institutions, especially ones as old as our nation, are built as much on processes and habit as they are on product. 

This post dedicated to my two fans on the seventh floor who have jobs that are as process as can be.  You know who you are.

Thought I would start one of these blogs about me joining the foreign service. I am coming in from another branch of federal service in which I was displeased with how things were run (nothing as aggravating as being officially told by your supervisor to not do your job because of political correctness) so I hope this will be a good change and a way to grab a career I have always been intrigued with. First, I will give you a little backstory of myself. I only go into detail to try to give you an understanding of where I got to today to prove to those who wanted to join anything that seemed impossible is possible through a myriad of ways.

My first job I ever wanted to be when I was really young was an undercover FBI agent who drove an RV. Yes, I know that sounds odd but for some reason the ability to travel anywhere with my house seemed like a dream for me. Entering high-school, I decided to sign up for some aeronautical science course and in the process, got the opportunity to fly a plane. I decided to follow it up and perhaps being a pilot would be my calling.

I went to an aeronautical engineering college and quickly obtained my pilot’s license at age 19. My family is not wealthy and the school I happened to be going to cost roughly around the same money as an ivy league one. In order to offset this cost, I joined the Army ROTC program, hoping to get a scholarship and a garaunteed job as a helicopter pilot for the military. As I have always been an incredible history buff, I took alot of world history and government electives right away. One class particularly struck me called Early American Foreign Policy taught by a professor Glenn Dorn.

He noticed my interest in foreign policy and invited me to join the university’s model UN conference at Harvard and participate as a delegate for the nuclear proliferation debate where I would be representing Cambodia. The process was very eye-opening and from then on I knew I wanted to work in foreign policy some time in my life. I decided to leave that college and return to my home state to continue a degree in Political Science closer to home, if I wanted to return to the military I could always go to OCS (officer candidate school) when I was through I figured.

My first year in my new college (entering 3rd year overall), I met a very old and cantankerous political science teacher who I happened to disagree with on everything. I argued incessently throughout the class with him on nearly every topic he brought up as he was obviously a communist/socialist and slanted his teachings accordingly, of course without telling his students as such and claiming to be unbiased.

Being an independant myself, I hate it when things are taught to students in a politically biased way, be it one direction or the other. To give you an example of how he taught the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, he told us he would bring in two speakers to give us an account from both sides. Great idea I thought, this will allow students to make their own decisions with most of the facts. Well, I was incredibly wrong. The first speaker was an impassioned Palestinian youth who had since moved to the United States because life was too difficult in Gaza. He told us all about the settlement process and Israel’s invasion of his people’s ancestral lands and drew pictures and told his personal story mixed with a historical overview.

He did a good job and made a compelling case so I was eager to hear who the opposition speaker was. She happened to be a priest of an offset of Judaism which not only believed that Jewish priests could be women, but also lesbians, which she was. Fine, I thought, she may not be orthodox but she seems like she could hold an argument. To top it off, she was vehemently anti-Israel and agreed with virtually everything said by the Palestinian and she said that America was a slave to the Jewish lobbyist groups and that was that. And that was the end of our debate. Both sides were “equally represented” and now we had to write about which “side” we agreed with and why……

To Be Continued…..

We really had no other option.  Serena and I told Costello to check the stroller as an extra bag… if they charged him any fees, we would pay him back when he arrived.  For the most part, airlines allow strollers and car seats to travel for free… HOWEVER, when you are not traveling with a child, they are not as keen on giving you a free pass.  A couple of weeks before Costello’s trip, British Airways charged me 35 Pounds to check Grayson’s car seat… because I wasn’t traveling with Grayson.  He had arrived in London 10 days before.

So, we were prepared to pay $25 to $50 to get the stroller to London.  It would still end up being cheaper than buying one in England… however, the saving probably would not have been worth the hassle at that point… but we were locked in.

However… Costello had a plan of his own.

This is too perfect. I’m listening to an NPR program about medical marijuana. Diane Rehm is interviewing a distinguished panel of experts. And one of them, Dr. Lester Grinspoon, associate professor of psychiatry (emeritus) at Harvard Medical School, is calling in from his present location at the Burning Man festival.

Burning Man is the Labor Day weekend bacchanal that started out as a bonfire on San Francisco’s Baker Beach in 1986, and then got so out of hand that it was moved to the Black Rock desert 100 miles north of Reno, Nevada. Imagine 1960s Haight Ashbury druggieness overlain with New Age shamanism and transported to an Anarcho-Libertarian utopian community. Not my cup of tea, but it’s okay with me so long as they keep it in the desert. (Not all the participants are impressed by Burning Man. Here’s an unfavorable review.)

But to get back to Dr. Grinspoon, after a quick Google search I am bowled over by his credentials. According to an impeccable journalistic source, Dr. Grinspoon has a special strain of gourmet cannabis named after him. A laid-back salute to his long advocacy on behalf of the weed’s almost magical medicinal properties.

Spark up another J, Dr. G., the holiday weekend won’t be over for another four days.

Last night, millions of Americans tuned in to listen to President Obama’s Oval Office address where he announced the end of our combat role in Iraq. Like almost every American with a family member or loved one serving in Iraq, my parents were listening carefully to what the President had to say. For my colleagues and me serving in Iraq (many of whom woke up at 3:00 a.m. to watch the speech), this solemn moment gave us an opportunity to reflect on America’s responsibilities to Iraq and the many sacrifices made. Service in Iraq has touched tens of millions of American lives in the most profound ways. From diplomats and development professionals who found themselves serving alongside our men and women in uniform for the first time on the front lines, to young soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines serving multiple tours under the most challenging circumstances, Iraq has had an impact on all of us.

The United States’ military presence in Iraq has largely defined the relationship between our two countries since 2003. But with the drawdown of our troops and a change of mission — from combat to advise, train, and assist — we now see a historic transformation of our relationship with Iraq. This shift reminded me of something I heard Secretary Clinton say when she first arrived at the State Department. Speaking to a group of Foreign Service Officers about her vision for American foreign policy, she spoke of the three pillars: diplomacy, defense, and development. I didn’t reflect much on those words at the time, but here in Iraq, they resonate deeply with me. We are now seeing a moment in Iraq where defense — the hard work and sacrifices of our men and women in uniform — has paved the way for the enduring pillars of diplomacy and development in Iraq.

With the State Department taking the lead in Iraq, diplomats, development professionals, and specialists in fields such as water, agriculture, health policy, rule-of-law, and governance, who have been working with Iraqis in every province, will continue to assist the people of Iraq in building a strong democracy. From my last tour in Iraq, I saw with my own eyes how U.S. civilian assistance and civilian reconstruction projects have contributed to Iraq’s progress. We’ve now moved from helping Iraq rebuild and reconstruct its infrastructure and institutions, to providing technical advice to strengthen capacity in key fields such as health, agriculture, and economic diversification. Americans should be proud that this important work continues.

With the change of command, and the change of mission, the President reminded us that, “Our combat mission here may be ending, but our commitment to Iraq is not.” As we civilians now take the lead in this new phase in our relationship with Iraq, we do so with a great sense of optimism but also with a solemn sense of duty. More than 4,400 Americans made the ultimate sacrifice here in Iraq, and we civilians who now take the lead owe it to our own nation, to the people of Iraq, and most important to the families of the fallen to answer the President’s call and lead our new mission.

My fancy shmancy car has a DVD player. With wireless headphones. So, in theory, I’m able to listen to my own music or talk show on the drive, but when the girls want something, need something, or must have something that VERY minute, they yell to me. Or cry to me. Or bicker to me. They obviously can’t hear how loud and annoying they are when they’re tuned into their own movie. Nor can they hear when their brother needs something. I spent a majority of the drive down to Southern California breaking up fights. Handling minor crises. Talking through clenched teeth.

I think next time I’ll wear the wireless headphones.

The drive back down to Orange County was uneventful. Albeit long. We decided to stay in a hotel for the last few days before we move into our rental home on Sunday. A bit more convenient to have our own space. A lot more considerate for all parties as we spread out and unwind. And it’s great practice for us to get used to living in close quarters… for the rental house we’ll be living in for the next 9 months is not that much bigger than the hotel suite we’re staying in.

Five days until we move into our house. Seven days until school starts. Seventy-two days until we see Matt.

I went home to CA this past weekend to see my family and friends one last time before I head to Cambodia, and saying goodbye to my brother and sister hit me a little harder than I thought it would. Realistically, it will  be less than two years before I see them again, but since its hard to say when I will see them again two is years is the assumption I’m working off of.

We did a family portrait while I was home, which was fun and funny. We haven’t done one since I was about 10 years old, and the difference was startling. I’m hoping the photos turn out well.

I also managed to see six college friends in 2 days, which I consider a feat. It was great to see all of them (a few of whom I hadn’t seen since graduation!) and to reconnect. I think I’ve got at least a few promises of visits, which is great. Haha.

Now I’m back to the grind – two weeks til my language exam. When did that happen?!?! And tomorrow is September? Really? I’ve been here for 9 months already? Wow. But since I’m still sick (and sick of it!) I’m staying home in an effort to do nothing and get healthy. Because trying to speak a foreign language is hard enough when my sinuses aren’t clogged and I can actually hear what I’m saying. I need to be able to tell a difference between words during my exam or I could really be in trouble.

For the second time this summer, the State Department may have gotten a bite on the bait it sets out in the Narcotics Reward Program.

Assistant Secretary Philip J. Crowley took a question during today’s daily press briefing about yesterday’s capture of a major Mexican narco figure:

QUESTION: On Mexico, can I ask, Mexican federal police have captured one of the most violent criminals in Mexico, Edgar Valdez-Villarreal. I would like to know, what do you think can be the impact of this capture in the drug war conducted by the Mexican Government? And how the U.S. agencies have supported Mexico with intelligence?

MR. CROWLEY: Well, first of all, we congratulate Mexican authorities on the arrest of “La Barbie.” We are in touch – obviously, we are in touch with the Mexican Government. We are working collaboratively with the Mexican Government. The investigation will continue. But this is part of the partnership that we have developed with Mexico, and we’re grateful for the aggressive action and commitment by Mexico. And our assistance has helped to expand the capacity of the Mexican Government to take these kinds of actions.

QUESTION: I understand the State Department offered $2 million reward for his capture.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: I understand the State Department have offered $2 million rewards for his (inaudible) – for his capture.

MR. CROWLEY: I’ll take that question. I’m not – it is quite likely. I just don’t have that information in front of me.

After checking, Mr. Crowley confirmed that the answer to that question is yes:

Edgar Valdez Villarreal was listed as a target of the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Narcotics Rewards Program with a reward offer of up to $2 million.

Of course, there is no way of telling whether Mexican authorities captured “La Barbie” after a confederate turned him in for two million gringo dollars, or whether it was just good police work. Riiiight. Ken, don’t spend it all in one place.

Today I made my first visit to Target since returning to the U.S. It was traumatic. I feel like, for most people in the Foreign Service, Target is a gleaming symbol of all we couldn’t get overseas; but in New Jersey–the most densely populated state in America–shopping there is just a good way to prompt your descent into madness.

Started Anita Brookner’s Hotel du Lac last night–the first chapter seems delightful, if a bit wordy.

Understanding the context of public diplomacy, the institutions, and methods is important. For too many, public diplomacy began in the 1980s when the beginning of recent memory. At a 2009 conference organized by Doug Wilson, now the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, I sat on a “scene setting” panel with Harriet Fulbright, widow of the late Senator Fulbright, Len Baldyga, former Director of the Office of European Affairs of USIA, Barry Fulton, former Associate Director of USIA, and moderated by Bob Coonrod, former deputy director of VOA and former president and CEO for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. (I still don’t know why I was on this panel of luminaries.) Each person told a terrific example of public diplomacy. My job was to wrap it up, so I did. I realized there was a common theme: at one time we prioritized the resources (people, money, and “things”) to identify and engage the right audiences.

This idea of appreciating the imperative and the necessary activities is at the root of what was once simply public affairs, before politics in DC necessitated a distinction between audiences and bureaucracies that we are still struggling to overcome (though many still have yet to grasp the damage caused).

In 1944, the State Department underwent two bold, self-imposed reorganizations. Over the previous years, “students, publicists, members of Congress, and members of the Department itself have repeatedly pointed out that the Department has not been geared up to performing the functions required of the foreign office of a great twentieth-century world power.” Besides empowering the current geographic bureau system to support country teams, a product was the creation of the Office of Cultural and Public Affairs led by a new Assistant of Public Affairs. (The first Assistant Secretary held the office for less than a year. The second dropped “cultural” to shift Congressional attention away from artworks and exchange and on to information activities.)

In August 1945, President Truman reorganized the government’s war-time information apparatus. The foreign information services of the Office of War Information (OWI) were transferred to the State Department, along with those of the Office of Inter-American Affairs. Truman declared that “the nature of our present-day foreign relations makes it essential for the United States to maintain information services abroad as an integral part of the conduct of our foreign policy” and that domestic information activities of OWI were “no longer necessary” and discontinued.

Almost immediately, the State Department went to Congress to permanently authorize and fund these peace-time services as they recognized the rising ideological and informational struggle against Communism. In October 1945, Assistant Secretary of State William Benton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee the world has gotten small and the autonomy of states is diminishing. “Relations between nations,” Benton told the committee, “have constantly been broadened to include not merely governments but also peoples. The peoples of the world are exercising an ever larger influence upon decisions of foreign policy. That is as it should be. … The people themselves, as well as their ideas, are moving about the world farther and faster.”

Benton reiterated his arguments to the House Committee In an article published in The New York Times Magazine on December 2, 1945. Highlights below are mine.

Because we have risen to be one of the most powerful nations in the history of the world, we may reap envy, fear and hate. We do not want such a harvest. Our national security is threatened by it. This was true before Hiroshima. It is even more true now.

The proposal for a state Department foreign information service, supplementing the department’s diplomatic activities, is a new idea for Americans in peacetime. In the critical years just before the war, and in the midst of the war itself, it became painfully clear that accurate, well balanced information about the United States was urgently needed in many countries. Nelson Rockefeller discovered this in South America. The Office of War Information encountered it across the globe. Along with its “psychological warfare” activities directed at enemy countries, the OWl found that it was equally necessary to provide information about America to the people of Allied and neutral countries.

Is it any longer important to us in peacetime what the peoples of other countries think of the United States? Does it realiy matter what a New Zealand farmer, a Chinese peasant, a French business man or an Argentine school teacher knows
about our life, our customs, our aspirations, our foreign policy?

Some Americans, contemplating our great power, would say no. Others – and I am among them — believe that foreign opinion about the United States may determine our future peace and security and the peace and security of the world.

We have committed ourselves to a policy of active participation in world affairs. We do not intend to forsake that policy. It will involve us In new problems, carrying the risk that our strength will be feared and our Intentions misunderstood. The solution will not be less active participation. It can only be the active promotion of understanding.

Fear and misunderstanding of America will act against our own security because it may cost us friends and allies in time of crisis. It will also act against the world’s progress toward international security. The successful development of the United Nations Organization, upon which we are placing so much hope, is not something which will occur of itself. The United Nations Organization is simply an instrument. The value of that instrument will depend upon the spirit in which it is used. And that, in turn, will depend basically upon a better understanding of each other among the peoples of the world: the peoples are going to have a great deal to say about the policies which their Governments will advocate _ in – the Security Council and in the Assembly and the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations Organization. …

Private initiative and private facilities can do a very big part — indeed. an overwhelming proportion-of the job of disseminating abroad information about America. The more of It they will do, the better. The Government should not undertake to do what private press, radio and motion-picture organizations do better, or what our tourists, salesmen, technicians, book publishers, play producers and universities do regularly and well. The soundest procedure is for the State Department to determine, and to keep determining as conditions change, our information needs area by area, then to support and help private industry to do everything it can to meet these needs. The remainder of the job will devolve upon the department.

In news distribution the Government will progressively retire from the field, which it moved into as a war necessity. My hope is that The Associated Press, The United Press and International News Service, highly competitive organizations, will greatly expand their world coverage. Before very long governmental overseas news will be limited mainly to such background information as full texts of Presidential statements, acts of Congress, or reports like that of General Marshall, which have proved of great value to foreign editors, writers and organizations and which are essential to our embassies and missions abroad

In short – wave radio the role of private enterprise is under study. This is a much more complex problem. There is no profit in short-wave radio. The Government must put up the money. Other Governments are using short – wave on an increasing scale. Technical efficiency grows from day to day. We cannot retire from the field. We have not yet determined how to operate it or who should own and control it. .

The motion picture industry’s sales abroad, estimated at about $90,000,000 annually, are said to provide 30 to 40 per cent of the industry’s gross revenue. As
every traveler knows, the people of other countries have gained their strongest impressions of us from the movies. These impressions have not always been "full
and fair." There is no thought by the State Department of "censoring" American films which are exported. It is in touch with the industry, which in wartime has shown a real desire to produce pictures for export which are broadly representative of
American life. The department may produce some inexpensive documentaries, under contract, for use abroad. Col. John Hay Whitney is advising with me and the department in this area. He has had experience in Hollywood and served as head of Nelson Rockefeller’s OIAA film division before entering the Army.

Exports’ of American books and magazines will be encouraged through our information libraries and through other means. Before the war hardly 3 per cent of the
output of American publishers was sold abroad. …

“We need to open our own doors and minds, and invite a greater inflow of knowledge about other countries and peoples. International information must be a two-way traffic. We do not intend to take part in any sort of international ‘information race.’ Nor do we propose to depend on other nations to speak to the rest of the world on our behalf.”

See also:

• Reforming Smith-Mundt: Making American Public Diplomacy Safe for Americans
• Recalling History: the 1947 Smith-Mundt CODEL to Europe
• Recalling History: Secretary of State testifies before House Appropriations
• Smith-Mundt Act resource page

As U.S. combat operations officially end this week and Washington’s reconstruction effort winds up, Iraqis complain that America is leaving little behind to show for an investment that President Bush promised in 2003 would parallel the post- World War II Marshall Plan in its scope and accomplishments. …

A power plant in southern Baghdad is operating at 50% capacity because it wasn’t designed to withstand Iraq’s searing temperatures. …

Baban said the Iraqi government has taken on only 300 of the 1,500 reconstruction projects handed over so far by the U.S. The rest have been "put on the shelf," he said, because they are too shoddy to continue, aren’t needed, or are incomplete and lack the documentation such as plans and contracts that the Iraqis would need to finish them. …

The $32.5-million cost of a sewage treatment facility for the war-ravaged city of Fallouja, begun in 2005 by the U.S. military, has mushroomed to $104 million, and will now reach only 4,300 homes instead of the 24,500 originally envisioned, if it ever reaches any homes at all. Although the treatment plant is almost complete, the contract did not include a pipeline to connect the plant to the town.

"I asked the Americans, what is the benefit of building such a project without building the pipeline?" said Fallouja’s council head, Hamid Ahmed Hashem.

Iraqis marvel at the price tag attached to many of the ventures. The 94-bed Children’s Hospital in Basra, launched with much fanfare by then-First Lady Laura Bush in 2004, was originally pegged for completion in 2005 at a cost of $37 million. It remains unfinished, and the cost has spiraled to $171 million, $110 million of which was provided by U.S. taxpayers. …

Successes tend to have been simpler in scope and smaller in scale. Several Baghdad parks renovated by the U.S. military for about $2 million apiece are jammed with people every day, as is a swimming pool in Sadr City. Micro-grants to shopkeepers of a few thousand dollars each helped regenerate the economy in Baghdad after the U.S. troop buildup in 2007 tamped down violence.

While functionally this development aid was generally outside the bureaucratic institutions of public diplomacy – from the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs to the public diplomacy desks of the geographic bureaus and the Embassy. In fact, we know from the records, including Bremer’s stunning account of the early years in Iraq, that the various offices and desks of public diplomacy had little to no input into the development programming and monitoring. Regardless, public diplomacy is not defined by whether a specific bureaucracy is involved or not: these acts, which did not meet our promises, shaped perceptions and attitudes in the “last three feet” of engagement with local and global audiences, as well as gave ammunition to our adversaries in the struggle for minds and wills.

This was nothing like the Marshall Plan – and despite the rhetoric, it was never going to be like the Marshall Plan because the fundamentals of the European Recovery Program were completely lost on America’s leaders (which is slightly ironic considering the number of Soviet experts… then again, they were focused on the latter part of the Cold War, not the first half when the struggle for minds and wills actually meant something).

See also:

• NPR’s Following the Reconstruction Money in Iraq

“These are the rough waters encountered during the course of one of America’s longest wars. Yet there has been one constant amidst these shifting tides. At every turn, America’s men and women in uniform have served with courage and resolve. As Commander-in-Chief, I am incredibly proud of their service. And like all Americans, I’m awed by their sacrifice, and by the sacrifices of their families.

“The Americans who have served in Iraq completed every mission they were given. They defeated a regime that had terrorized its people. Together with Iraqis and coalition partners who made huge sacrifices of their own, our troops fought block by block to help Iraq seize the chance for a better future. They shifted tactics to protect the Iraqi people, trained Iraqi Security Forces, and took out terrorist leaders. Because of our troops and civilians — and because of the resilience of the Iraqi people — Iraq has the opportunity to embrace a new destiny, even though many challenges remain.

“So tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country.

“…Two weeks ago, America’s final combat brigade in Iraq — the Army’s Fourth Stryker Brigade — journeyed home in the pre-dawn darkness. Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of vehicles made the trip from Baghdad, the last of them passing into Kuwait in the early morning hours. Over seven years before, American troops and coalition partners had fought their way across similar highways, but this time no shots were fired. It was just a convoy of brave Americans, making their way home.

“… Those Americans gave their lives for the values that have lived in the hearts of our people for over two centuries. Along with nearly 1.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq, they fought in a faraway place for people they never knew. They stared into the darkest of human creations — war — and helped the Iraqi people seek the light of peace.

“In an age without surrender ceremonies, we must earn victory through the success of our partners and the strength of our own nation. Every American who serves joins an unbroken line of heroes that stretches from Lexington to Gettysburg; from Iwo Jima to Inchon; from Khe Sanh to Kandahar — Americans who have fought to see that the lives of our children are better than our own. Our troops are the steel in our ship of state. And though our nation may be travelling through rough waters, they give us confidence that our course is true, and that beyond the pre-dawn darkness, better days lie ahead.”

You can read the full text of President Obama’s remarks here.

Visit whitehouse.gov/live at 8 p.m. to watch a livestream of the President’s remarks as well as the question and answer session.

My name is Susan Vogelsang. I’m a senior planner with the Civilian Response Corps Active Component. I deployed to Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from January 4th of 2010 until the middle of April. I was there at the request of the U.S. Embassy to support five assessments based on Secretary Clinton’s visit.

Assessment teams from an interagency group came to look at gender-based violence, security sector reform, food security, anticorruption issues, and economic governance, namely minerals management. And S/CRS (Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization) contributed the logistics and a lot of the conceptual framework for those assessments so that the teams could recommend 200 different steps that the government can take in these areas. We winnowed those 200 steps into 21 practical recommendations that are currently in front of the DRC’s president’s chief of staff.

For me personally, it was an amazing opportunity to be part of an analysis of these issues, really critical issues, and to be in Central Africa working with people as committed as our U.S. Embassy people are and with an interagency group of experts who share that commitment who were there, in some cases putting themselves at some risk to conduct these assessments and carry forward recommendations.

The Civilian Response Corps provides me an opportunity to be sure that my work makes a difference every day. It’s a lot more fulfilling than just showing up at an office. It’s about being on the spot where there are problems and bringing the skills and talents of the U.S. Government to bear on those problems, being right at the spot. And for me, it’s the most exciting thing I could be doing at this time. In the development field and the stabilization field, the Civilian Response Corps is right at the cutting edge.

Editor’s Note: The above text has been excerpted from Ms. Vogelsang’s video remarks.

Slowly but surely we’ve been getting the house unpacked.  The kids rooms are coming together and the basement is turning into a great playroom and guest room.  Our room is shaping up well, but the dining room is a DISASTER!  That’s where all the boxes that aren’t unpacked are living right now.  The dining table is up, the china hutch is up, but you can’t really get into the dining room because of all the boxes.  I keep thinking one day they will just start unpacking themselves…. right?  Guess I need to get to work.  Hopefully soon the house will be in order and I’ll have some photos to post! 

Sweet babies watching movies with mom and dad.  Our new tradition of family movie night!

Maya is taking ballet and tap – she’s a natural.  Ok, she does spend a lot of time getting distracted by the mirrors in the room, but she is so much fun to watch.  Sagan loves watching it too.  He’s such a great guy, sits watches and enjoys the entertainment.

Dancing Queen – one of my favorite photos of her dancing!

My sweet Sagan watching big sister

I’m doing well with the pregnancy.  We’ve decided to keep the sex of the baby a surprise!   Since we have one of each that are perfect in every way, we are going to wait to find out if it’s a boy or a girl.  We’re working on names.  Like we did with Maya and Sagan we will probably keep the name choices a secret until the baby gets here. 

That’s about all for now.  Looking forward to cooler weather!!!

Here’s a few photos of the kids from the past few weeks.  

Enjoy!

Sassy Maya

Maya’s teacher Miss Liz

getting ready for ballet

 

she loves her “clap shoes”

rainy day in the new house

Our skill in growing boxes can’t be denied.

Sure, there are lots of boxes and and unwrapping and things; for example, we planted some box plants yesterday morning, and look at how fast they sprouted in our back yard.

That is about one-third of our emptied boxes, which we threw into the backyard to make more room. Then Mother Nature thought it would be funny to let it start raining. I’m still laughing.

And I guess like Christmas can be, the whole day was stressful and overwhelming.

The delivery truck arrived around 10 a.m.ish with four sheds…er crates, and perhaps six Spanish-speaking Mexicans to unload them. Then the parade of boxes begins. One by one, a Mexican brings a box through the front door, angles it so one of us can see how it was labeled, and then make a decision on where they should take it. In Spanish. Of course, as good as our pack-out guys were, they didn’t always do the best job labeling the boxes. And after the first two sheds…er, crates, were unloaded, it became more a matter of just finding space for them.

Then the real fun begins, which I suppose this is the “Christmas part” begins. The joy of opening and unwrapping all of the boxes. Oh, and the trying to find a place for everything.

Now maybe it was the past two months of living mostly out of suitcases and the welcome kit, but I grew accustom to living a bit of a minimalist lifestyle. I kind of miss those days already.

Don’t get me wrong, I like a lot of my stuff. But if I forgot we owned it, odds are we really don’t need it, or probably don’t really want it. Kind of wish we would have taken more time going through our things before the packers arrived so we could have moved more things into storage.

For example, we have three sugar bowls and cream pitchers. I like my coffee black, and Natalie seldom drinks it. And speaking of Christmas, we have Christmas-themed salt and pepper shakers. Actually, I think we have an entire Christmas-themed kitchen that will be stored somewhere until December arrives and put away after New Year’s Day.

I like to remember my Christmases as a big breakfast, opening of gifts, and then playing with the new toys and enjoying some family time. Yesterday was a little heavy on the gift-opening and a little light on all of the fun parts of Christmas.

But hey, I got my coffee back, so all and all, it was a good day.

But moving on to the matter at hand: French.  Remember I mentioned the crazy amazing benefits for spouses in the Foreign Service?  Well, for me, that will mean a 5 month intensive training course in French and North African Studies!  I know, shut the door, right?  Providing there is still room in the class next week I will get to go to work with Max everyday and we’ll learn French together.  I’m SUPER excited, but also a little nervous.  With that kind of time and intensity there really isn’t a reason why I shouldn’t become an excellent French speaker…that’s a lot of pressure. 

I imagine it will be like the days when we were back in college at the same time.  We’ll pack our lunch the night before and try to be the responsible one in the morning who doesn’t let the other sleep in past the third snooze alarm.

Bonjour Français!   

Right about the same time that the molar teeth started making an appearance, Luca decided it was a good time to start testing boundaries and asserting his independence (what you say? this is what toddlerhood is all about???). Yes….more complaining and whining when he doesn’t get his way (oh the whining….) like when I drive his royal highness through 45 minutes of terrible traffic (to get as far as 7 miles) to a fun activity or playdate and he decides that after 10 minutes, he’s had enough and it’s time to leave RIGHT NOW…. Yeah….cue in the fun background music while I *patiently* explain that “no, it’s not time to leave yet; we still have lots of time here to have some fun (before mommy needs to go back into this horrendous traffic and wait patiently to inch forward closer to home while entertaining a restless child in the backseat who’s also had enough of the traffic).” Oh, and then don’t even get me started on the fun of disciplining a screaming toddler in public areas here in Brazil where children are always supposed to be happy and if they cry, it roughly translates into mild child abuse when mommy doesn’t pick up and cuddle the “cute and helpless little creature” to turn his mood around (cue in the scathing looks of other moms and nannies while I wait for my son to calm down during a temper tantrum *gasp* WITHOUT picking him up, wiping away his tears, and putting on a dance and song number….I am sure there will be more to say on that topic later).

Next – on to traffic….yes, it’s getting to me. Yes, it is just as bad as you may have heard …. A recent article in “Foreign Policy” confirms that traffic in Sao Paulo is no fun, ranking 4th in terms of worst city traffic-wise after Bejing, Moscow, and Mexico City (remind me not to bid on those posts) – here’s a link to the article:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/24/the_world_s_worst_traffic?page=0,3

On top of that, Luca and I spend at least 1 hour every day in the car just driving John to and from work because everyone else lives so far away from us that he can’t carpool with anyone. Yes, it’s not his fault and he does feel bad that I need to chauffeur him around town but …. well, that doesn’t help me much at this point…(as I need the car during the day since we can’t walk anywhere or take public transportation).

So yes, I am burned out…I need to get out of this crazy city where simple 10-mile trips have turned into 2 hour ordeals as you are waiting for the traffic light in front of you to change from red to green to red again without having moved an inch… and I need some mommy time (alone!) of sitting on a beach and reading a book in peace (without a whiny toddler or someone honking their horn)…. it’s time for vacation … good thing we’re leaving on Saturday. Whew…4 more days to paradise…that should roughly mean only a few more hours in bad traffic, a handful of more temper tantrums, and 3 more days of playing taxi driver… I hope there is some R&R waiting for me at the beach…

23:00 – Is that gunfire?

23:30 – I wake up and find Kyra snuggled next to me. When did she come in?

01:00 – Ainsley screeches in her sleep.

02:00 – Aidan is scared, wants to climb into my bed. I tell him to squash in next to Kyra. “But Ainsley’s already there,” he tells me. Huh? I check, and sure enough, she has snuck in next to Kyra. So I settle Aidan in the girls’ room (why? I don’t remember now), and fall asleep next to him.

03:00 – Kyra wakes me up and wants to climb back into her own bed. Great! I stumble back into mine.

04:30 – Bart leaves for work.

05:30 – mosquitoes buzz my one good ear, waking me up again.

06:15 – I give up on sleep.

10:30 – Two cups of tea and one cup of coffee. But I still can’t stay awake, for some strange reason.

Does this scenario sound familiar to anyone else out there? Or am I the only one with dysfunctional sleepers and mosquitoes wandering the halls at night?

copyright Donna S Gorman

Our yard is big enough that there is a strange feeling of living out in the country rather than in a city of half a million. We have a fair amount of wildlife running around the yard, mostly birds, frogs, and lizards. So far no monkeys or snakes, thank goodness! You might think this sounds peaceful. You would be wrong. It is loud! In strange way it’s louder than the traffic, louder than the baby crying, almost louder than the couple on the way home from the bar.

The birds wake us up at first light just before six by sitting outside our window singing “twee twee TWEET twee twee TWEET twee….” apparently this bird doesn’t need to breathe because he can keep singing without a break for more than 30 minutes. I don’t know which bird sings this song but I wonder if it is big enough to bake into a pot pie. The big pied crows make loud cawing sounds as they fly over. There are loads of small colorful birds that twitter and chirp all day as they flit through the trees. Oh and we can’t forget that one of the neighbors has a rooster that cock-a-doodle-doos in the morning. No we will not be getting a rooster, one on the neighborhood is plenty!

The lizards are blessedly quiet except for the peeping that geckos make, but that is pretty easy to ignore. The frogs on the other hand are loud loud loud. I am pretty sure that the Budweiser frogs have retired to my backyard pond and brought all their friends and relatives with them. If you think about that old commercial where the frogs are sitting on a log croaking BUD-WEIS-ER then you have a pretty good idea of what the frogs sound like. Except that there are dozens of frogs out there not just three. And trust me they are all looking for their Bud. There is also a higher pitch sound that could be some sort of bug or maybe little tree frogs. It doesn’t matter though, the big frogs are enough to keep us awake.

There is one more sound that surrounds us on a daily basis. Just after dark the dogs start barking. I don’t mean one or two dogs I mean it sounds like there are kennels full of dogs all barking. At first I thought that one of our neighbors had WAY too many dogs, but Friday we came home after dark and there were packs of mangy looking dogs roaming up and down the streets outside the walls that surround all the houses. They are scary enough that I will not be walking anywhere outside our walls after dark! I do kinda of wonder where they go during the daytime. Hmmm….

You might be thinking about now that we should just close the windows and turn the air conditioner up to drown out the noise. The are two problems with that idea. First it is still in the 50′s at night so the air conditioner is out. The bigger problem is that the windows don’t really close. We have old louvered windows like you might see on a original mid-century house. Really these things should never be used for anything but a screened porch, never never never for your windows in your bedroom. There is no way to get a good seal to stop drafts and sounds and wonderful stench of smoke from coming right into the house.

I wish I could show a picture of the windows or of the birds and frogs but I can’t upload pictures during the day (the internet is too slow) I will try to get some pictures of the windows and the yard up for Wordless Wednesday tomorrow.

No need to go into the details of what we saw at the zoo. You can pretty much take a guess at what was there… Baboons with ugly butts. Elephants eating and pooping. Animals that the zoo claimed were there, but never materialized (the lions, the tigers, and bears, oh my!).

In all a great day. Despite everyone’s crankiness. Though I have a ton of photos to show for it, I decided to spare you and just post a few of my favorites. I think you’ll see why…

Tomorrow we head back down to Orange County, where we’ll still be in limbo until Sunday when we FINALLY move into our rental house. Until then, enjoy the photos … and wish me luck that we fit everything back into the car.

A week into the La Paz experience, we are all still standing, alive and well, with no ill effects. This doesn’t mean we got away completely unharmed.

I have already described our arrival at the airport, although on our ride to our new house my popping ears indicated that things would improve vastly once we descended from the airport, the peak of the city at 14,000 feet. The first few days we braced for the worst, yet the headaches never happened, nor were we nauseous or felt overly alarmed. That said, climbing up the stairs proved to be a task. Whereas Kathmandu, less than a mile in altitude, was no challenge whatsoever, here we would have to pace ourselves. Even Axl learned this the hard way, and I would regularly find him breathing heavily after seeing him do what three year olds do. Even now, although I am convinced the worst is behind us, do I realize I find myself staring into space, as if I wasn’t quite sure where I was. Altitude will do that to you.

It is obvious there are certain things humans weren’t meant to do. They weren’t meant to run down animals and shred them with their bare hands and teeth. They were not meant to live in the water or outer space. The same appears to apply to high altitudes, although the history of La Paz seems to suggest otherwise. Here I can Take a walk around the neighborhood and I will still see kids playing in parks, grown men kicking a soccer ball around, workers doing heavy lifting without breaking a sweat. It’s obvious we haven’t reached that stage yet.

The visitor here will do well to be aware of the altitude. This isn’t a vacation resort where you step out, go for a jog or a nice power walk and then move on with your life. Any guest here will do good to reserve a few days for adjusting.

A few weeks ago, an American NGO staged a benefit women’s soccer match between an American team and a local team. The score was respectable at halftime, with the locals clinging to a slim 1-0 lead. When the final whistle sounded, though, the scoreboard read 7-0, locals. Superior soccer skills? Certainly, but you could chalk up most of those goals to the altitude and the fact that the American ladies, completely gassed, felt they were playing the second half in astronaut gear.

Not surprisingly, foreign national soccer teams hate coming to La Paz. To most, it must appear like they’ve been asked to chase dolphins underwater. I’m surprised the home team here ever loses, yet somehow they do. Also, it must be disheartening to the Bolivian national team that they have to play half of their games at sea level.

Foreigners here are strongly advised not to get pregnant, the obvious reason being that a fetus here will have less oxygen to work with. Miscarriages here are well above the average, and Americans are encouraged, check that, in some cases ordered to have their babies back home, provided the pregnancies survive until the latter stages. People are also strongly advised to abstain from alcohol when they first get here, since a hangover can last up to two weeks. This might become the right place for becoming a teetotaler.

On the plus side, it has been well established what high altitude cardio can do for you. I have an itching to run again, but will heed my doctor’s advice on this one, that is to wait a few weeks before even contemplating jogging. I can already walk at a brisk pace, so that’s a start.

Walk before you run. And don’t forget the breathing part before that.

Applying to preschool in the District of Columbia was more complicated than applying to graduate school — I do NOT exaggerate. Even now, we have not been able to fully demonstrate our DC residency and are scheduled for a home visit from the Director to prove we are who we are, and more importantly, that we live at the address we claim as our abode. No suburbanites for these folks. If you want the benefit of the most education $$$ spent per child anywhere in the US of A, you must also prove you live in the wholly unrepresented boundaries of the District. We are home owners here, but that is insufficient. We have (or will have tomorrow) DC driver’s licenses, again, not enough. Our pay-stubs show DC’s exorbitant income taxes are being deducted monthly, but the address on the pay-stub and our home address don’t match, so, no dice. Like I said, complicated. It’s no wonder I never changed my maiden name to the married one simply to avoid one more exchange with any branch of the DC government. True story.

Caleb was in school for almost 8 hours today — which seems stunningly long, no? But, he came home bubbling over with stories about his teachers and new friends, lunch and breakfast fare (both are provided for a small fee) and his favorite thing about the school, the day and likely the entire year, the rooftop playground. 6 stories up swinging, sliding, jumping, running, monkey barring and staring at neighboring rooftops is a 4 year-old boy’s never even dreamt of dream come true. And the best part for me is, he couldn’t wait to tell Isaac all about it. I can just imagine the day when he’ll get to take Isaac to the playground in person…moments like that are what make parenthood pretty darn spectacular.

We ended our day with a Family Home Evening trip to the Washington, DC, LDS temple. We’ve been telling Caleb there was a temple in DC for months and since the moment we touched down last week he’s asked over and over and over again “where’s the temple?” If it seems big in the picture, that is because it is. It is the third largest temple and the tallest, at 288 feet. It is visible from far and wide, so much so that traffic reporters use it as a landmark when reporting the road conditions on the DC Beltway. It is a beautiful building any time of year and the grounds are always gorgeous, but at Christmas it is aglow with millions of lights. I am already looking forward to taking Isaac and Caleb to see that. If you can, you should see it for yourself. But, at the very least, come back here, I’ll be posting pictures.

With amazing response time, the fire department arrived. We could hear them race through town and park in the front of the building. Chris stabilized Camelia and had some others neighbors stay with her while he went into the building to meet the firefighters. The hallways had filled with gas and people were coming out with teared eyes, mostly acting oblivious to the alarms and not getting away from the building. One guard even came straight to the pool door and began to open it before we all yelled to stay back. He met the firefighters, briefed them and took them to the courtyard.

Chris is a cool cucumber, always has been. His years of experience and training have him very prepared for emergencies and tense situations, from vehicle accidents to a three year old bleeding from bouncing off the bed onto the corner of a nightstand (our previous evening). My job while he’s putting out fires? To be one less thing on his mind. To be out of harm’s way with a child on my hip… and my mouth shut. This I can do

And Ceiba slept in our room for a night, in a pillow-blanket bed in the corner made for a queen. She was nestled in and asleep in no time at all. Glad the day ended with everyone safe and sound. And always glad to have our crisis intervention expert doing his best to keep us all out of harm’s way.

I’ve got just about as many channels to watch in Ottawa as I had back home, including both East Coast and West Coast US network feeds.  I find myself, however, spending most of my TV time catching up on old series that I completely missed when they were first broadcast.  This appears to be a common pastime for foreign service folks living abroad, particularly those living without the plethora of other options.  For me, it’s a way to turn the brain on neutral after the day’s stress (yes, doing visa interviews can be very stressful).  It also provides a welcome distraction from missing the family.

Watching a series has been much more fun than a movie.  I’m particularly drawn to a series if: (a) there’s a running plot, (b) it’s character driven, and (c) I haven’t seen it before.  I’ve also found that it’s actually better if the show ended up being canceled after a couple of seasons.  It’s far better to be left wanting more than to experience the “Jumping the Shark” moment which forever spoils the positive impression (I was 12 years old when the Fonz donned water skis to signal the beginning of the end for “Happy Days,” a TV moment forever responsible for the now ubiquitous phrase).

The key to determining whether the show works is that moment when an episode ends and I find myself doing the math to figure out if I can watch one more and still get enough sleep to be cogent the next morning.  There is also the engrossing factor.  I am a compulsive multi-tasker, particularly living alone for the first time in 25 years.  It is not uncommon to find me with the TV on, the Giants game on (either a small window on the computer, streaming radio, or the GameCast silently updating), editing photographs, surfing the Internet, and playing Words With Friends on the iPad.  A good show precludes most of that activity and requires me to watch (ok, maybe with the iPad on the couch).

Netflix provides a seemingly endless number of these shows.  As a long-time TV addict, there were a number of shows that I followed when they first ran, but if you haven’t seen them, must see candidates in my book include The Wire, The Sopranos, and Friday Night Lights.  That’s over a year’s worth of TV right there.  The following list are those nuggets I’ve found and enjoyed since last October:

Jericho.  Two seasons.  Skeet Ulrich and Gerald McRaney provide strong characters and an unfolding plot that is far from predictable.  Starting with the nuclear detonation of 23 U.S. cities, the show is focused on the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, one of the few places far enough from the blast radius to still function.  Definitely a show that made me want to watch just one more before ending the day.

Kings.  One season.  I’ll now watch anything with Ian McShane (Deadwood is on the short list for the future).  He’s amazing in this short-lived but well-written one-season wonder.  The production costs must have been too high for the low ratings as each episode looks like a well-done movie.  The premise centers on the internal machinations of a modern-day absolute monarchy, the Kingdom of Gelboa.  Using a long series of clever modern parallels, the unfolding plot is very loosely based on the biblical story of King David.  The central character, David, for example, gains initial notoriety in the opening episode by single-handedly facing down the enemy’s indestructible “Goliath” tank.  When this one ended, I couldn’t believe they didn’t make a second season.

Veronica Mars.  Three Seasons.  Very stylized father/daughter detective show set in the fictional upscale town of Neptune, California.  Each season has a big plot (e.g., who killed Veronica’s best friend or who’s responsible for the bus-load of students flying off a cliff) and many smaller complex cases that resolve each episode.  Once again, the common themes of good writing and solid acting make for an easy-to-watch distraction.  Not sure why we haven’t seen more of Kristin Bell.  Unlike most shows, they make the transition from high school to college without completely losing the show’s focus (as they did in two of my favorite guilty pleasure shows, the original Beverly Hills 90210 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer).  They were smart to pull the plug after Season 3.

Prison Break.  Four Seasons.  Watching the first episode, I was thinking this would not be a keeper.  It really sucks you in, however, to a core story involving two brothers: one on death row and the other a structural engineer.  The engineer spends six months creating an intricate plan to break his innocent brother out, tattoos the encoded plan over his entire upper body, and holds up a bank to get get thrown into the same prison.  It’s not quite Oz, but the mix of sadistic inmates and guards throws wrench after wrench into the well-oiled escape plan.  I’m currently on Season 4 which I’m still watching mostly because of the strength of the characters, but this one might have been better served by shutting down after the third season.

So what’s next after Prison Break?  I haven’t decided yet.  Let me know if you have any suggestions.

In his four years here, General Odierno was often at the center of shifting American military strategy in Iraq. He said the military learned lessons “the hard way.”

“We all came in very naïve about Iraq,” he said.

“We came in naïve about what the problems were in Iraq; I don’t think we understood what I call the societal devastation that occurred,” he said, citing the Iran-Iraq war, the Persian Gulf war and the international sanctions from 1990 to 2003 that wiped out the middle class. “And then we attacked to overthrow the government,” he said.

The same went for the country’s ethnic and sectarian divisions, he said: “We just didn’t understand it.”

To advocates of the counterinsurgency strategy that General Odierno has, in part, come to symbolize, the learning curve might highlight the military’s adaptiveness. Critics of a conflict that killed an estimated 100,000 Iraqis, perhaps far more, and more than 4,400 American soldiers might see the acknowledgment as evidence of the war’s folly.

Asked if the United States had made the country’s divisions worse, General Odierno said, “I don’t know.”

“There’s all these issues that we didn’t understand and that we had to work our way through,” he said. “And did maybe that cause it to get worse? Maybe.”

General Odierno shouldn’t beat himself up so much. In all fairness to him, there was no center of expertise anywhere in the entire U.S. government that had a good understanding of Iraq’s political, economic, and social problems way back then.

Oh, wait. I forgot. There was. There were people like Ambassador Ryan Crocker, whose entire professional live had prepared him for informing U.S. national policy toward Iraq at that moment.

Valuable expertise existed in the State Department, and yet Odierno says the military went into Iraq unprepared, learning the hard way through seven years of trial and error which might only have made matters worse. That’s outrageous. Why didn’t the Secretary of State warn the Pentagon about what it was getting into in 2003?

Oh, wait. I forgot. He did. From the Wikipedia entry on Ryan Crocker:

According to the book, Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell by Washington Post reporter Karen DeYoung, as the Bush administration was preparing for war with Iraq in late 2002, then Secretary of State, Colin Powell ordered Crocker and then Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, William Burns to prepare a secret memo examining the risks associated with a U.S. invasion of Iraq. The six-page memo, titled “The Perfect Storm”, stated that toppling Saddam Hussein could unleash long-repressed sectarian and ethnic tensions, that the Sunni minority would not easily relinquish power, and that powerful neighbors such as Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia would try to move in to influence events. It also cautioned that the United States would have to start from scratch building a political and economic system because Iraq’s infrastructure was in tatters.

But, General Odierno is saying today that the military was clueless about Iraq when it invaded the place. Something doesn’t add up, because surely the Pentagon would have taken a memo like Crocker’s seriously.

Oh, wait. I forgot. It didn’t. As Crocker recounted last year, his memo “had no operational traction.”

Washington turf battles had direct implications on the battlefield. In Baghdad in April 2003, after Saddam fell, few U.S. commanders had a clear picture of the political landscape and its importance to the overall mission. I remember meeting one in particular who had zero interest in anything except getting the kinetics right—deploy, defend, point and shoot. I tried to give him a sense of what the country would look like now for the Iraqis and, indeed, for his forces, if we didn’t find a way to address all sorts of economic, social, and political issues. His response (and he was not alone): “This isn’t our mission here. The things you are telling me are interesting, but they have nothing to do with me.”

Well, if the State Department had really done its job it wouldn’t have sent the Pentagon a measly six-page memo, it would have made a major planning effort. Like, assembling hundreds of experts and having them study all the many facets of the complicated Iraq problem. Really get down into the weeds and strategize about things like public health and humanitarian needs, transparency and anti-corruption, oil and energy, defense policy and institutions, transitional justice, democratic principles and procedures, local government, civil society capacity building, education, media, water, agriculture and environment and economy and infrastructure. It would have taken maybe a whole year to do it right. And then it would have produced extensive written reports to make sure that the Defense Department fully understood the problems it faced.

Oh, wait. I forgot. It did. That effort was called the “Future of Iraq” project, and you can read the reports for yourself:

The National Security Archive is today posting State Department documents from 2002 tracing the inception of the “Future of Iraq Project,” alongside the final, mammoth 13-volume study, previously obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. “The Future of Iraq Project” was one of the most comprehensive U.S. government planning efforts for raising that country out of the ashes of combat and establishing a functioning democracy. The new materials complement previous postings on the Archive’s site relating to the United States’ complex relationship with Iraq during the years leading up to the 2003 invasion.

I guess General Odierno didn’t get the memo about the Future of Iraq project. Too bad. That huge report would have filled him in on those issues he says he didn’t understand. The Defense Department is a big place, after all, and he’s only one man. It isn’t like the Pentagon deliberately rejected those 13 volumes of exhaustive planning advise.

Oh, wait. I forgot. It did. In fact, the New York Times reported exactly that back on October 19, 2003.

A yearlong State Department study predicted many of the problems that have plagued the American-led occupation of Iraq, according to internal State Department documents and interviews with administration and Congressional officials.

Beginning in April 2002, the State Department project assembled more than 200 Iraqi lawyers, engineers, business people and other experts into 17 working groups to study topics ranging from creating a new justice system to reorganizing the military to revamping the economy.

Their findings included a much more dire assessment of Iraq’s dilapidated electrical and water systems than many Pentagon officials assumed. They warned of a society so brutalized by Saddam Hussein’s rule that many Iraqis might react coolly to Americans’ notion of quickly rebuilding civil society.

Several officials said that many of the findings in the $5 million study were ignored by Pentagon officials until recently, although the Pentagon said they took the findings into account. The work is now being relied on heavily as occupation forces struggle to impose stability in Iraq.

The working group studying transitional justice was eerily prescient in forecasting the widespread looting in the aftermath of the fall of Mr. Hussein’s government, caused in part by thousands of criminals set free from prison, and it recommended force to prevent the chaos.

“The period immediately after regime change might offer these criminals the opportunity to engage in acts of killing, plunder and looting,” the report warned, urging American officials to “organize military patrols by coalition forces in all major cities to prevent lawlessness, especially against vital utilities and key government facilities.”

Despite the scope of the project, the military office initially charged with rebuilding Iraq did not learn of it until a major government drill for the postwar mission was held in Washington in late February, less than a month before the conflict began, said Ron Adams, the office’s deputy director.

The man overseeing the planning, Tom Warrick, a State Department official, so impressed aides to Jay Garner, a retired Army lieutenant general heading the military’s reconstruction office, that they recruited Mr. Warrick to join their team.

George Ward, an aide to General Garner, said the reconstruction office wanted to use Mr. Warrick’s knowledge because “we had few experts on Iraq on the staff.”

But top Pentagon officials blocked Mr. Warrick’s appointment, and much of the project’s work was shelved, State Department officials said. Mr. Warrick declined to be interviewed for this article.

– snip –

In the end, the American military and civilian officials who first entered Iraq prepared for several possible problems: numerous fires in the oil fields, a massive humanitarian crisis, widespread revenge attacks against former leaders of Mr. Hussein’s government and threats from Iraq’s neighbors. In fact, none of those problems occurred to any great degree.

Officials acknowledge that the United States was not well prepared for what did occur: chiefly widespread looting and related security threats, even though the State Department study predicted them.

So, I guess the bottom line is that General Odierno, while he may be highly forgetful, didn’t really have to learn about Iraq’s societal problems and sectarian divides the hard way, after all.

In one form or another I kept getting the same question: “what does it feel like to be leaving?”

In truth, I didn’t know. One plane reservation in an endless queue doesn’t do much to the psyche, and the trip to London was going to be the 10^th weekend running I got in a plane left Riyadh. At that point it felt like my mind had been too many places and was going to be in too many places for much change to register anymore. It’s like I had become location-deaf. I figured leaving Riyadh would only register itself after a few weeks, when I realize that Chinese training is more than a week vacation from visa interviews and sandblaster heat.

But coming to London, the differences once again blast my location-deaf self into realization that my tour is done and I’m starting something new. Perhaps it’s because London, and Europe as a whole, has always served as a layover between the U.S. and the Middle East. I’ve never been to the continent for more than 10 days, and it’s always been going to or from somewhere else. But it’s also how much of a cultural pole the west is, and how far away it is from all the countries I’ve visited recently.

Morocco, Azerbaijan, Congo, Kenya etc. are all very different, but when compared to the U.S. or the U.K. they look a lot more the same. In London (the west) there are stripes on the road, movies in the theatres, internet fast enough to play games, concerts with thousands of attendees, and a native language I have in common with the local population. These are things, like rediscovering a childhood album, I’d forgotten how much I liked.

Pacific Partnership 2010 aboard the USNS Mercy came to its termination on August 23rd, with a closing ceremony held in Dili, Timor-Leste, followed by the transfer of Commodore Franchetti and about seventy personnel to the Royal Australian Navy amphibious ship the HMAS Tobruk, which will conduct a smaller mission near Rabaul, New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea (PNG). I left both Mercy, which is on its way home to San Diego via Guam and Pearl Harbor, as well as the PNG group, to fly from Dili to Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, where I am writing this piece.

As anyone who has followed Pacific Partnership 2010 knows, this project has been an impressive effort. It has involved more than 2,000 people from military, NGO, and partner nation organizations. We renovated schools, hospitals and public buildings in Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Timor-Leste, and drilled three badly-needed water wells in Cambodia. PP10 medical providers treated tens of thousands of patients, dispensed many thousands of pairs of eyeglasses, and provided needed basic medications to remote locations and islands. Volunteers visited orphanages and other public-assistance facilities almost daily while in our mission ports, and took part in frequent public relations activities (soccer, basketball, mangrove planting) which ensured people-to-people interaction on an unprecedented scale, compared to earlier Pacific Partnership missions.

Planning for Pacific Partnership 2011 has been ongoing for some months, and the official Initial Planning Conference is scheduled for September 28 and 29 in San Diego. Preliminary plans call for a return of the USS Peleliu (used in the 2007 Pacific Partnership) to some of the island nations of the South Pacific. Based on the extremely favorable reactions to Pacific Partnership over the years from the countries which have been visited, it will be difficult to choose a final list of mission countries for 2011 — but that decision is expected by September first.

You can trace the Mercy’s journey from its initial announcement to preparations for launch, setting sail, arrival in Vietnam, work in Vietnam, farewell to Vietnam, arrival in Cambodia, community outreach in Cambodia, celebrating U.S. Independence Day in Singapore, return to Indonesia, and work on projects in Indonesia.

There was a great area dedicated to Mexico’s Dias de las Muertos, the Day of the Dead, a custom I’m very interested in. Ceiba was able to see some history of her native Maya Indians, while we also heard of my Cherokee roots. Chris enjoyed pointing out which arrowheads were similar to those he’d found back in Illinois and Missouri. And the Tlingit and First Nations art and tools reminded us of our time in Alaska.

It’s a great place to make you remember how much history and culture the Americas encompass.

While in Shanghai last year, President Obama described the United States’ relationship with China, saying “today, we have a positive, constructive and comprehensive relationship that opens the door to partnership on the key global issues of our time.” Forging strong partnerships to confront global challenges has been a hallmark of President Obama’s and Secretary Clinton’s diplomacy. Their efforts not only further cooperation between governments, but also between the private and public sectors — and, most importantly, they help build stronger people-to-people relationships.

On Wednesday, August 25, U.S. Chief of Protocol Ambassador Capricia Penavic Marshall hosted a U.S.-China business roundtable discussion with Jon Huntsman, Ambassador of the United States to the People’s Republic of China, Zhang Yesui, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United States, Chinese and American business leaders, and senior members of the Obama Administration. Focused on the economy, the vibrant and productive discussion helped develop a greater mutual understanding among both the government and private sector leaders in attendance. The roundtable also laid an important foundation towards future partnerships, and helped extend the U.S.-China relationship beyond the halls of government.

The U.S.-China business roundtable was organized by the Office of the Chief of Protocol’s Diplomatic Partnerships division. Established in 2009, Diplomatic Partnerships seeks to foster international goodwill and cultivate the relationship between the Diplomatic Corps and the people and institutions of the United States through an exchange of ideas, cultures and traditions. Diplomatic Partnerships pursues this goal through a broad range of unique programs and events, such as a recent trip by the international Diplomatic Corps to Chicago, and an evening of food and discussion co-hosted at the Blair House with Mexican Ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan, and his wife Mrs. Veronica Valencia-Sarukhan.

“When the brave men and women of the Gdansk shipyards stood up against an oppressive regime and demanded their right to form an independent trade union 30 years ago, their courage gave birth to Solidarity. What started as a union of workers became an extraordinary social movement for individual liberty, dignity, and human rights that ignited a democratic revolution. Solidarity’s uncontainable messages of hope and freedom in Poland spread throughout Central Europe and helped speed the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

“We honor those who stood against tyranny 30 years ago and all who followed in their wake. The heroes of Solidarity knew that the Polish people desired and deserved more from their country, and they laid the foundation for the Poland we see today. Thanks to their valor and their commitment to liberty, Poland is now a key NATO ally, a thriving democracy, and a beacon of hope to many who still suffer oppression. Poland is a leading voice in the Community of Democracies and a valued partner with the United States to advance our shared goals of freedom and human dignity. Poland’s work promoting stability, security, and prosperity in Afghanistan is further evidence of this strong commitment. We thank the people of Poland for your partnership and honor your historic dedication to liberty. On behalf of the people of the United States, I send my warmest regards to the Polish people as you commemorate the 30th anniversary of the birth of the Solidarity movement.”

You can also read the Secretary’s statement on www.state.gov.

Bidding season is upon us.  It is the nature of the beast that every one, two or three years a Foreign Service Officer changes jobs and posts. Your first two assignments are ‘directed’, which means that you bid from a list of positions reserved for entry level officers. Your bids go to and are evaluated by a group of Career Development Officers who then assign you to one of the spots. Neither post nor the bureau really get too involved. Your first two jobs should set you up for tenure. By the end of your second tour you should be off language probation, have served as a Consular Officer for at least one year and have received at least two performance reviews or EERs. Then, with any luck at all, you are recommended for tenure and you bid mid-level positions for your third tour.

The 2010 Summer mid-level bid list came out on August 5th and there were 2,602 positions available to bid. Of these, 1,458 were overseas and the remainder were in Washington. Out of the 1,458 jobs overseas, 934 were at the 03 or 02 grades. Further narrowing down the list, there were 130 Management jobs among the 934 positions. Of these, only 30 were not language designated and 8 of those were 02s. You are required to enter at least six core bids. Your mandatory core bids must be “in cone/at grade”. That means, in my case for example, that I have to enter at least six bids that are at the 03 grade and are in the Management cone. Out of 2,602 positions, 22 were potential core bids for me. The starting date for these core bids must be realistic with respect to the end of your current tour. If the position you are bidding requires a language course or any other training, you must factor that in. So, let’s say your current job ends in August 2011 and you would like to bid on a job in Cambodia that begins in September 2011. If it’s ‘in cone/at grade’ it would qualify as one of your six core bids. However, if it’s language designated and you don’t happen to speak fluent Cambodian and the full language course lasts for almost one year, then you can’t realistically bid the job.

So, you sort and shuffle the bid list until you identify six positions that are ‘in cone/at grade’ and a) require a language in which you already have fluency, b) have a built in time frame for learning the new language or c) are not language designated. Fewer and fewer jobs are not language designated, but in the Management cone you can still find one or two. Once you’ve identified six core bids, you may select up to nine additional jobs to bid. These bids can be in cones other than your own and can be at a grade above yours, which is called a ‘stretch’. If all this sounds confusing and time-consuming, it’s only just begun.

I decided for many reasons, first among them being that I’m really really bad at it, to not learn another language. I’m fluent in Italian, unless someone who actually speaks Italian hears me, so I’m already off language probation and have checked that box. I’ve also decided, after a tour as a GSO, another as an Econ Officer and a third as a Consular Officer, that I want to return to the Management cone for my next assignment. It didn’t take me very long to sort and shuffle the list to come up with my six core bids. Then I found nine other jobs that I am interested in. So, I now have fifteen positions on my bid list.

All fifteen are either GSO jobs at larger posts or Management Officer jobs at smaller posts. The locations range from ‘right next door’ Montenegro to ‘other side of the world’ Papua New Guinea. I’ve ranked the fifteen jobs in order of personal preference and, at the moment, Podgorica, Montenegro and Hanoi, Vietnam are tied for top choice. Ten of my fifteen are core bids and the other five are one-grade stretches. So, if I were bidding an entry level position, that would pretty much be it. I’d send my list in to my CDO with a well thought out justification for assigning me to my top choice and I’d sit back and wait a couple of weeks for the notification.

However, bidding mid-level is a pasta of a different flavor. The first difference is the timeframe. The bid list came out on August 5th but we don’t have to submit our bids until October 12th. The posts we’ve bid will receive our formal bids on October 18th. No positions can be offered until November 1st. What, you are justified in asking, does one do between August 5th and October 12th? One lobbies. Lobbying is the major difference between entry and mid-level bidding.

You must do several things right away in order to be a viable candidate for any position you bid. Your resume and employee profile in Human Resources must be up to date. While you’re doing that, you have to line up several potential references from people you’ve worked for, people you’ve worked with and people who have worked for you. Then you have to send ‘Look at me, look at me’ letters to the posts to let them know of your interest. On top of that, you have to send similar letters to the Bureaus at the State Dept. in Washington that are responsible for those posts. The posts and/or bureaus that are interested in your bid will then contact you and ask you to either give them the contact information for your references or to ask you to contact your references and have them send in their recommendations. This generates another round of emails between you and your references.

You must walk a fine line between showing sincere interest in a post and becoming a stalker. Posts want to know that you’re interested in the position, but they don’t want to be harassed by overeager applicants writing and calling them every other day. I’ve decided to send an initial letter of introduction and wait to see what happens. I am, however, fully prepared to go to phone calls, candygrams, and wired money transfers if it will help get me the job I want. There is no guarantee that I’ll land any of the fifteen jobs on my list. If all those jobs go to other people, I have to replace them with a new set of bids from a markedly shorter list of ‘leftover’ positions.  If I can’t land a position through lobbying, I will be assigned to any job anywhere including back at the State Department in Washington.

Since August 16th, when I sent out my first letters, I’ve sent and received over 140 bid related emails and there are still six weeks left before the bids close. Many of the responses I’ve received are basically form letters telling me where to send my references and how many to send, but the most personal response was from a post that let me know right away that I wasn’t qualified. That crushing disappointment aside (by the way, when they described the job to me I agreed with them) I should know some time after November 1st where my guest room will be located come August 2011. My understanding of the process is that the dance becomes more intense as we get closer to the bidding deadline. Reference checks and telephone interviews will help posts make their final selections and job offers are given shortly after November 1st. A job offer with an acceptance is known as a ‘handshake’ and that’s the goal.

I still volunteer at the animal shelter on Sundays. It’s located 31 kilometers north of my apartment and this morning I got stopped at a random check point by the police. They were checking documents and the insurance card in my glove box had expired a week ago. I explained that I had the new card on my table at home but forgot to put it in the car. They explained that it was against the law not to put it in the car. I explained that I am a diplomat and carry a card from the MFA that says I am not subject to arrest. They explained that I was still subject to a very hefty fine. They, of course, were, unfortunately, correct. While two of them went off to huddle and determine exactly how hefty the fine would be, I chatted with the third officer and mentioned that I was on my way to the animal shelter just up the road to spend the day cleaning kennels and feeding the dogs. Turns out that they knew of the kennel and like what we do there. I received a very polite warning, a request to put the new card in the car, no fine and a wave good-bye. Who knew that scooping dog poop would trump diplomatic immunity?

Someone tied a puppy to the gate yesterday so we have a new little guy to take care of. He’s about four months old and is black with a white stripe on his back between his shoulders. He’s built low to the ground, like a dachshund. Naming the dogs is a serious business so I suggested we call him Puzzola which means skunk in Italian. That didn’t fly with my Italian co-volunteers so we ended up calling him Skunk which I have insisted is a very common name for really cute puppies.

Guyana Coast Guard Lt.Col. Gary Beaton greeted the High Speed Vessel Swift when it arrived at port in Georgetown, Guyana at 9:30 a.m., August 29, 2010. In a visit coordinated by the U.S. Embassy’s Military Liaison Office, members of the Swift will participate in “subject matter expert” exchanges with the Guyanese Coast Guard and other services here. The U.S. Navy is deploying the HSV Swift to Central America and Caribbean Basin to conduct “subject matter expert” (SME) exchanges and orientations from May 2010 to September 2010. The ship came from Barbados and will continue on to the Dominican Republic after visiting Guyana.

On Sunday, the ship’s commander, U.S. Navy Captain Kurt Hedberg, a New York native, explained the purpose of the ship’s visit to local reporters: “We have shared interests in security and common concerns,” he explained. “We will share best practices and ideas on how to deal with those common concerns during our two-week stay here.”

The leaders of both services met and talked together, along with the Embassy’s Military Liaison Office Commander, Col. Tod Furtado and Lt. Marlon Chichester, the “subject matter exchange” officer for Guyana’s Coast Guard. Chichester represents the bridging of the two cultures and is uniquely suited to coordinate the exchanges, as he is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, class of 2005.

You can view more photos of the visit here.

Anyway, now we are readying ourselves for the move to DC next weekend. Somehow I have accumulated a tremendous number of scraps of paper over the summer (I think most of them are receipts); this always perplexes me. But the scraps’ day of reckoning approaches–need to clean out and get ready to make a streamlined shift to our next location. I am also working on getting my computer fixed–taking it to a repair shop now, fingers crossed, because I am not ready to rush into making the great PC vs. Mac decision this week and would like to prolong my crappy Dell’s life.

If anyone does have thoughts on a good laptop, they are always appreciated, however.

The young people of today are a population that cannot be overlooked: more than sixty percent of the world’s population is under the age of thirty. Secretary Clinton has recognized that a foreign policy that ignores the impact of our decisions on young people is short-sighted. It is imperative that we mobilize young people as sources of positive change, energy, entrepreneurship, and commitment to global issues.

A major component of youth engagement is the critical and creative use of our public diplomacy tools around the world. Today’s youth are the first generation to grow up in a networked world. Access to technologies is breaking down the traditional barriers of age, geography, gender, socioeconomic status, language, religion, and circumstance that previously prevented young people from feeling empowered. Youth, bolstered by today’s technologies, are key to changing norms and building positive societies.

As this year has been marked the International Year of Youth, we have the incredible opportunity to promote dialogue and mutual understanding by and through young people all over the world. Last week in Leon, Mexico, hundreds gathered to celebrate the power and potential of young people at the World Youth Conference 2010. The United States sent a delegation to represent our country, including representatives from State, the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Department of Education. We were also thrilled that a young university student from Tennessee, Josh Conor, could join our delegation, as well as Scott Warner, Executive Director of Generation Citizen, a non-governmental organization that encourages U.S. students to engage in the democratic process.

The U.S. delegation interacted with youth from more than 100 countries in Leon, and discussed critical issues including poverty, environment, education and gender equality. Together, the United States and other countries present pledged to support youth in a multitude of ways. At the close of the conference on Friday, August 27, participating governments, including the United States, signed a declaration underscoring their commitment to empowering youth.

The United States is focused on engaging young people to create long-term relationships as future leaders, amplifying credible voices, and empowering them to play more constructive roles within their own societies. Leon offered a perfect opportunity to listen and learn from both youth and government counterparts around the world. In weeks to come, we will be forming a youth task force at the State Department, and the lessons we learned in Leon will help us shape this group to have as much effect as possible.

Want to learn more about World Youth Conference 2010? Check out videos from the event here, follow @WHAAsstSecty on Twitter, and Facebook.

Related: Photo of the Week: Connecting the World, One Young Person at a Time

No, I didn’t. I just removed it from the computer and locked it up into a case.

Then I got settled here, and it was finally time to pull some information off of that puppy.

Oh, it works. I can hook it right up to the new computer, do some other magical IT things and presto! There’s my hard drive.

Just one problem: there are many, many missing files. My meticulous financial records are gone. My iTunes library is gone. My tracking system for submitting articles is gone. Even my book proposal, which I spent many long hours crafting, disappeared, along with a rough draft of a book. An actual BOOK, people!

Lucky for me, after hours of searching, I found an older version of the book proposal – I’d emailed it to a friend for an opinion awhile back. But everything else seems to be gone, including the draft of the book. My writing files are actually backed up somewhere – I just can’t remember where. Probably somewhere in the HHE, which has supposedly steamed into the Port of Aqaba, but likely won’t be here any time soon. My financial files are not backed up, I don’t think. But I’m not sure.

I am beyond annoyed.

So, folks. Learn from my mistake. Back your stuff up before your last minute stressful move preparations begin. And then remember where you put the backup.

copyright Donna S Gorman

Mostly, however, I believe it’s a Canadian thing.  Forbes Magazine in 2007 published a list of the world’s top 25 cleanest cities.  Canada ended up with an impressive five cities on the list, including the top spot (Calgary) and four in the top ten.  Ottawa was a respectable No. 4.  There doesn’t seem to have been much change in the last three years.

Although there are exceptions, there doesn’t seem to be nearly the degree of miscellaneous graffiti tagging in the downtown area as I’ve come to expect in urban centers.  The City has designated a few spots, urban walls and a skate parks, as exempt from the anti-graffiti laws.  I took a road trip out to one of these sites and found a series of “Jersey barriers” set up predominantly as open graffiti canvases.  Some are detailed works of art while others provide a spot for taggers to mark their spot.

There’s quite the debate about whether the legal graffiti zones curb or incite more illegal graffiti in the surrounding areas.  Compared to San Francisco and Boston (forget about New York or Chicago), however, Ottawa seems to be way ahead of the game.

On Thursday our internet went out. John (using his far superior Spanish) figured out it was cut out by Amnet. He then called them – using their English line – and found out it was because our debit card expired and they didn’t have the new exp date. So…instead of calling us to inform us that our billing wasn’t working and giving us a warning. They cut us off. Nice.

John gave them our new exp date and was told it would be on in 24 – 48 hours. But for someone who’s filling out Security Clearance stuff online and someone else who uses World of Warcraft as a stress reliever, not having internet for any amount of time sucks. SUCKS!

So after I couldn’t get a hold of a friend because he phone was cut off just like my internet, John called Amnet Friday evening to check on the status. Apparently the guy who John talked to on Thursday night didn’t do anything. Here are your options: 1. wait until Monday when someone who can process debit cards comes in (REALLY?! You’re the biggest internet provider in Costa Rica and you don’t have an easy way for all employees to do this?!). 2. Go to a bank to pay the bill and then call them for service activation. 3. Go to a Fischell pharmacy and pay the bill and then call them. Fine. We’ll to option #3 because we can’t go a whole weekend with out internet!

So yesterday on the way home from a day in San Jose with some friends on a guided tour – a whole other story – of the historic part of San Jose we stop at the Fischell on the way home. John doesn’t have the customer number. No worries, they should be able to check by phone number. They can’t find it under our phone number – that’s not right. No phone number? Well they should be able to look it up by name. They don’t believe his last name is what it is (it’s a first name, but still!!). ARGH! #$%&*&^ %$#@#$$%^&** &^%$#@Q!#$%^&***&^%$$ #@!#@$%^^

I’ve entered the homesickness portion of my tour – I know it.

So I haven’t worked on my security clearance stuff since Thursday night and I have a TON left to do. John played WoW last night and is most likely on right now. I’ve been online for almost two hours this morning catching up on blogs (because I fell asleep last night trying to)…

(Three and a half hours later) I heard Simon playing with a toy and had to run to him. He’s so cute! I then went to the gym, fed Simon while John napped, made French Toast for Malachi and I while John napped, and worked a little bit on my Security Clearance while John napped. John only napped for about an hour and a half, but it was productive for me, and he was so touched that I offered to let him do that.

So…now I’ll work more on the Security Clearance, and after that who knows. I do know that tonight I’m watching the Emmy’s! I’m excited!!

John with Daphne at Meghan's BBQ

We are starting to feel like we are in the final stretch here. John’s Hebrew test is next Friday; we changed teachers this week and our new veteran teacher is focusing on the test, which is good. I’ll still have another three weeks of Hebrew while John is in political/economic tradecraft training to prepare for his job working for the Ambassador.

We spent a lovely Sunday afternoon on Meghan’s back deck in Maryland, at her father’s house. It was wonderful to sit outside and we had a great BBQ lunch. I really enjoyed visiting with her dad, a Navy doctor who specialized in maladies associated with diving. (It’s funny to me that I guess I’ve reached the age where I have more in common with our young friends’ parents!)  They have a wonderful house, filled with art from his travels around the world. And, I ate a delicious tomato from his garden…yum…nothing better (although not as good as Aunt Gusta’s!).

We’ve started our rounds of consultations, where we meet with various people who work on Israeli issues. That means wearing a dress or suit instead of capri pants, and going downtown to the main offices for the morning or afternoon.

Friday afternoon after work, we made a trip to the mall to buy shoes for John, then came home and watched an excellent Israeli movie, Ajami. (Slow, but the ending was worth it).

Saturday morning I drove up to Maryland for a hair appointment and stocked up on a few things from the nearby Sam’s. That night, John treated me to an excellent steak dinner in downtown DC – we’re making a point to have some good dinners before we leave, because steak is so expensive in Israel! We went to Smith & Wollensky’s – really good, and it was a beautiful night to be out and about.

I wanted to share this great link – John’s cousin Jeff works at an animal park in Arizona and got some recent news coverage.

As we looked up at the monster of a building… the blue and yellow eerily staring back down at us… Costello turned to be and said, “I hate you.”

For Costello, quickly throwing out the words “I hate you” was his way of saying “I can’t believe you talking me into this… when will I learn to stop answering the phone???”

Yes… Costello has been sucked into many of my misadventures… and has agreed to countless favors… and he certainly has grounds for hating me.  After all, I made him carry a stroller from Atlanta to London for me.

Well… From Atlanta, to Charlotte, to London… well… it should have been that simple… his plane was diverted to Manchester… and well… he finally made it to London about 12 hours later.

Sit tight.

I kicked off the weekend with a Thursday morning trip to Carrefour with Connie of Whale Ears. Carrefour is huge – two stories of trying to convert dollars to JD and grams to ounces. I was exhausted afterwards, suffering total brain melt-down.

The trip was worthwhile, though, for this photo alone. Who knew there was one medicine that could cure absolutely everything (except death) right there on the supermarket shelves?

Next up: I took the kids to TexMex night at the pool: score one evening of NOT having to make dinner!

Friday dawned: the first day of the weekend here in Jordan. We got some stuff done around the house in the morning, then took the kids to the pool in the afternoon. In the evening, we walked to a neighbor’s house for dinner with a nice group of people. Awesome barbeque, good conversation, great margaritas and – evening #2 in a row of NOT having to make dinner!

Saturday arrived, and with it a caravan of cars. We hopped in for a quick drive to the “Scandanavian Forest.” It’s really called that – there were signs and everything. It didn’t look exactly Scandanavian, but that didn’t stop our group from hiking to the top of the hills for a look around.

Aidan took the photos, and you’ll see he got a few good ones. Bart and I took turns carrying Ainsley up the hill. I met some more really nice people on the hike.

Later that afternoon, we went to yet another neighbor’s house for a birthday dinner. Which means – you guessed it – three days in a row of NOT having to make dinner! The things I get excited about, honestly. But the homemade pizza with artichokes and mushrooms was pretty darn delicious.

Alas, this evening is Sunday evening – a school night. I’ve already broken my winning streak and cooked up some soup, which is cooling on the stove as I type. This whole Sun-Thurs workweek is going to take some getting used to.

Anyway, enjoy the photos of the “forest,” and I’ll be back soon with more. I’m off to meet the school bus.

copyright Donna S Gorman

Since it’s summer season, it would’ve been a nice opportunity to go for a swim on Malta’s beautiful coast along their port, but we were there on business and only had a day to go around town.

Summer has come in Malta, beach enthusiasts galore

Malta is even better to visit during the summer compared to when we first came at the end of winter few months ago. The streets were busier, with the locals going about their daily routine and the tourists walking around (often half naked in their swimwear) on their way to the beaches to get a good tan.

If six months ago, the sites and its history was its best qualities during the cold winter, this time it was its beaches that made it extra special. It was a little bit hotter than I expected, but still not as bad as the desert heat back in Tripoli, where you can’t even get a healthy sweat because it immediately evaporates because of the oven like climate.

I was looking forward for to this trip because in Malta I can enjoy some of the things that are not readily available in Tripoli. Just the little things like enjoying a BicMac meal and being able to wear shorts on a hot day without catching too much attention.

One of the simple joys I go to Malta for

We also planned to catch a movie while we were there, but we got too tired from walking around we skipped it all together.

I also got to see JG do some work while he was there, and assist Filipinos working or living there. Renewing, releasing, and filling out passport concerns may sound as a mundane part of consular duties but its a big deal to those who need them. And it is nice to know that my husband is able to help them. A couple came in to get their cute baby’s passport, which he can now use to visit home for the first time.

And the best, and our main goal with the trip is to stack up on our reading collection. There aren’t that many English bookstores here in Libya, and we’ve read through the ones that we brought from home. JG and I aren’t the shopping kind; clothes and other needs will always come in second when it comes to books.

In our six years as a couple, we hardly exchanged any other gifts during special occasions. Anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays were special days to exchange new reads. The only jewelry JG ever gave to me was my engagement ring, and that was his mother’s, everything else were books. And I, wouldn’t have it any other way.

So in Malta, every bookstore was a stop over. One of JG’s unfavorable traits is that he can be very tight with money, (hey he does earn it for us) but we wives are entitled to some whimsical requests once in a while. But JG can be very hard to persuade at times especially when he does not find the logic to the request, for example a pair of rainbow socks which he will probably thinks idiotic to wear. However still, when it comes to books, JG never says no. Especially when he wants me to read it. In Malta he got me this thick complete selection of Sherlock Holmes. We’ve been watching BBC’s new version of the English detective and he says it would be good if I had a background of the story.

New reading stack!

On the way back George the taxi driver who we always call to give us a lift to and from the airport, brought along his wife. As we passed the beautiful view along Valetta, I asked them if they ever got tired of Malta and its sites. Both of them unsurprisingly said no. And who would?

a) Because you would be interrupting your dinner?
b) Because it’s 2:00 in the morning in Serbia?
c) Because you would be waking up your family member in the middle of the night?

Congratulations if you circled b & c! You are tracking! If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call. You may want to review this document first. Thank you and have a nice day.
Love, Regina

(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.

Six and a half hours to Bolivia from Miami, good deal. La Paz is Eastern time, so no unnecessary break in our routine. The plane, of course, was late, but that’s American Airlines for you these days. There used to be a time when airlines (and their flight attendants, in particular) actually cared about passengers. These days, flight attendants all seem burned out, as if they truly didn’t enjoy their job anymore.

The plane is less than half empty, so we can spread out a little. I am a little apprehensive about the altitude sickness that will inevitably befall us, but for now I need to worry about Axl. Axl doesn’t wait till La Paz to get sick and does a double duty vomit paint job on our seats. The flight attendant gives me a few napkins and a trash bag. Too kind, really. Axl already has had his stomach acting up prior to the flight with huge bouts of diarrhea. Going to a place that is 12,000 feet up can’t possibly help.

When we get to La Paz, I feel winded the moment I get off the plane. As luck would have it, the airport is the highest point within the city at about 14,000 feet. We get the cat through customs and I breathe (with what little oxygen there is) a huge sigh of relief.

The moment we step outside we realize how brass monkey cold it is. Eddy, our sponsor, explains that this is the end of winter in these parts. Swell, I am thinking. We go from 90 degrees plus to freezing within half a day. I don’t even attempt to catch anything of the city on our way to the house. It is too dark, and I realize I need to focus more on the lungs. Breathe deep. Easy does it.

The kids go to bed, we follow soon after.

The next day, we realize how beautiful the place really is. Nestled in a valley (not unlike Kathmandu), La Paz is surrounded by huge hills, a lot of them partly eroded, so that it appears that the city was built in the middle of Bryce Canyon. I still have to slam one cup of water after the other. Don’t get dehydrated, otherwise this might turn into the never-ending hangover. Liebi and the kids take it easy. Axl still feels a little sick. He doesn’t realize that he is over two miles high up here, that the same conditions vis a vis running and other physical activities simply doesn’t apply here. He’ll throw up a few more times before he finally gets the message. The cat and Bash seem blissfully unaware of all this.

We have a fireplace and use it, too. We are well supplied with firewood so that the only challenge now is not the cold but how to get the kids away from the fireplace.

I am satisfied with our car, a Honda we bought from the guy who lived here before us. Eddy explains that the most frequent crime here in La Paz is stealing car parts. What’s more (or less, I suppose), you can find the same car parts at the market the next day and buy them back. The parts come with the license plate number attached to them. Wow. Charitable criminals indeed.

A uniformed guard strolls up and down the street and declares that this is his neighborhood, that he guards it with care, and for a small fee he will ensure your property is protected as well. We pass on that for now.

I need to get my breath back to enjoy this fully, but once I do, look out. This will be quite a trip.

But that is not what concerns me tonight. Instead, I wonder why Assange is complaining about a government official who leaked something to the press. The leak was about Assange himself, but hey, the man never saw a leak he didn’t like before. Why is he violating his principles now?

Assange is not yet in the clear on criminal investigations in Sweden. But, in a bizarre twist, the prosecutor who issued papers for his arrest has herself been reported to the Swedish Prosecution Service by a due-process watchdog group for – of all things – violating Assange’s privacy.

According to Swedish press reports:

The prosecutor who issued the warrant for the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been reported for violating rules on the confidentiality of preliminary investigations, newspaper Dagens Juridik (DJ) reported on Tuesday.

The prosecutor on duty, Maria Häljebo Kjellstrand, decided on Friday to issue a warrant to arrest Assange on suspicion of rape. She later confirmed to Expressen that there was a case and that Assange was charged in absentia. The warrant was withdrawn one day later.

Due process organisation Rättssäkerhetsorganisationen (RO), which had previously notified the prosecutor through the Ombudsmen of Justice (Justitieombudsmännen, JO) for her conduct in connection with the decision to issue the warrant, has now supplemented its notification, the report said.

According to the organisation, the prosecutor violated the confidentiality of preliminary investigations by giving the media information about this case, DJ reported.

“We believe that the matter has been handled extremely badly for all parties involved and we are highly critical of how quickly one has taken the decision to detain a person,” RO Chairman Johan Binninge told DJ.

“From an investigative standpoint, it is a disaster to go out in public this way, which can only harm the investigation. A prosecutor must also take into consideration all parties involved, including the suspect, and consider the consequences of a particular intervention for the suspect, in this case, an internationally known person,” he added.

The supplement submitted to Swedish Prosecution Service Authority (Åklagarmyndigheten) information director Karin Rosander confirmed that the warrant decision includes the confidentiality of preliminary investigations. Rosander added that all decisions taken in the matter now be analysed, DJ reported.

Several newspapers, including Svenska Dagbladet, have indicated that the confirmation from the prosecutor had a decisive influence on the editorial decisions that were made.

Assange ought to man-up and ask the Swedes to drop their charges against his own personal leaker. Or at least publicly express support for her, or pay her legals bills, or something. It would be an act of noblesse oblige worthy of The Thin White Duke.

For me, summer has always felt like a hiatus from my “real life” story. A departure from the day to day expectations I normally find so comforting. The hot and sultry days instead representing a series of vignettes that don’t quite fit the pattern of my routine, the one filled with milestones and goals, achieved or discarded. Summer is the place where dreams are realized or made or replaced with new and better versions of themselves. Where to-do lists are set aside and waistline forgotten. Where children wake-up and go to bed sticky from delicious seasonal fruits, popsicles and ice cream cones, even with regular bathing. Where every day dawns with the promise of fun and possibility. I have always felt this way, but even more so now. Summer has become my/our in between time, usually bookended by major relocations and job, school, language, friend, and everything else changes. This summer fits that mold beautifully, maybe even exemplarily. And, while I’ve enjoyed the mostly highs of the season, I am and we are, exhausted. Our steam meters were running dangerously low earlier this week before our FINALLY final flights. Even first class seats didn’t assuage the lack of enthusiasm shared by all. But, there are no more trips by car, plane, or train on the horizon and knowing that brings indescribable peace.

I know this is the calm before the storm, but I’m ready for what’s coming. We’ve been planning for the next phase of the real life stuff for ages, the anticipation alone has become palpable. Monday morning it begins again — but, before that, here’s a look at the pages we’ve added to our summer diary this time around. We wrote every entry with gusto and no regrets.

Goodbye Caracas, hello Washington, DC
1 new house
2 new cars (Americans are 2-car families right? We just want to fit in)
1 Back to school night (our first of many)
1 Grad school orientation
4 weeks of visits to grandparents
2 Dinosaur museums
3 firepit BBQs
11 hours in the car for a road-trip to Santa Fe, NM
30,000 frequent flyer miles
1 lost bag
1 found bag
8 suitcases
5 carry-ons
4 passports
6 flights (x 4 people)
1 new cousin
1 funeral
1 surgery
0 trips to the ER!!!
98 moving boxes by boat
17 moving boxes by air
1 never-ending garage sale
Countless hours playing with cousins
4 Grandparents
2 Great-grandparents
7 Aunts
2 Uncles
2 Godparents
47 Different State license plates (only TN, RI, and WV eluded us)
2 carousels
3 trains
100s of ducks and pieces of bread
Mounds of ice cream
Visits to: the Royal Gorge, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, NM, Bishop’s Castle, Payson Lakes, and Kangaroo Zoo

And…too much fun to quantify or ever forget

At the bottom of the Royal Gorge

Isaac posing at Bishop’s Castle
(go here and here to learn more)

Caleb feeding one of the many giraffes at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Caleb learned valuable skills this summer like building fires and making s’mores

A fair question and one I’ve heard often. I thought it time to put this down in print. “Strategic Communication” is the deliberate application of information and boils down to: Who do I need to know What, Why do I need them to know it, When do I need them to know it, Where are they, and How do I reach them. A relatively simple task that scales with the complexity of the goal you are planning to achieve. It is also a matter of situational awareness as a friend of mine pointed out, “As I reflected on our discussion, I thought about my old commander, Maj. Gen. John H. Admire, Commander of the First Marine Division, and his saying for good situational awareness. He told us to ask ourselves, ‘What do I know? Who needs to know? and Have I told them?’”

Strategic Communication is a process to enhance situational awareness of an organization’s movement toward a goal in which there are many stakeholders. The same process exists in other efforts such as the Military Decision Making Process. In commercial business administration and marketing it is known as backward planning. The process itself is well know but we haven’t related it to the process of communication. The process begins with the goal and works backward to plan how to achieve it. Which brings me to the second question, “Why can’t we get a handle on it?”

I believe it is because we have the wrong mental model for strategic communication. In some circles the model is depicted as an orchestra. In an orchestra everyone has their instrument and their piece of the music but they must play in tune and time with every other person. While this model has it’s truths, I believe it is inaccurate for communication. To communicate means to “share” or “to make common.” Communication is about action, moving something from one place to another. Communication is about doing things; human beings doing. This orchestra model leaves out the audience. They have either to like the music or not but are not considered part of the outcome.

Let’s review Jack’s Laws of Communication:

Jack’s 1st Law of Communication – In absence of a net force, information at rest will remain at rest.

Jack’s 2nd Law of Communication – Information experiencing a net force experiences Communication. Therefore, Communication is Information in action.

Jack’s 3rd Law of Communication – For every Communication (Information in action), there is an equal and opposite Communication (Information Reaction).

Communication is about “doing” things.

And now let’s review Jack’s Laws of Information:

Jack’s 1st Law of Information – Information is power, but only powerFUL when communicated.

Jack’s 2nd Law of Information – Information AS power is measured by the difference between communication “intent” and “effect.”

Jack’s 3rd Law of Information – Proficiency in wielding information as power is the difference between reacting and responding.

As I mentioned, Strategic Communication is the deliberate application of information.

I believe a better model is that of a movie. Every movie begins with “The End.” No producer will put a dime to any project until he, the director and the writer know what they want the audience to leave the theatre with. Then the project is put together line upon line, frame by frame, scene by scene in a logical sequence of the situational awareness of the characters that takes audience from one place to another; moved from one understanding to another. It is about storytelling and to tell a story you must have in mind the end from the beginning.

It is also important to understand that it is everyone’s responsibility to become situationally aware.

To paraphrase Maj. Gen. Admire, we too many times don’t ask ourselves, “What don’t I know? Who knows what I need to know? and How do I find them?”

Strategic Communication is about engaging and being engaged by all the stakeholders and helping them understand events as they occur in the accomplishment of the goal. For the US Government and especially the DoD the public is a primary stakeholder, an audience whose actions have a direct effect on the outcome.

Those charged with communicating with the public are the Public Affairs Officers. Public Affairs Officers too many times are not at the planning sessions, sometimes by omission sometimes by commission. This goes for businesses and their public relations people as well. They are left out of the planning and therefore unable to know the nuances of why what is happening is happening or what it actually means to the goal or objective. They can be very good at reporting on the events that are happening, but without an understanding of the original reasoning behind why an action is being taken they cannot explain it well in the proper context.

It is not for the Public Affairs Officers to create the perceptions or understanding they want, but to communicate the commander’s intent and explain events within that context. The role of the Public Affairs Officer is not to just be a trusted advisor to the commander or the flak jacket you put out in front of the press. The Public Affairs Officer is to be a trusted member of the team that works to build understanding between the commander, the command staff, the troops in the field and the public. Promoting and enhancing situational awareness is a command responsibility that falls to the Public Affairs Officer; but again, it is everyone’s responsibility to become situationally aware.

We must ask ourselves: What do I know? Who needs to know? Have I told them? What don’t I know? Who knows what I need to know? and How do I find them?

Charles J. “Jack” Holt III is the Senior Strategist for Emerging Media for the Dept. of Defense and adjunct lecturer at Georgetown University.

Guests posts are the opinions of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of MountainRunner.us. They are published here to further the discourse on America’s global engagement.

The morning started with a breakfast of cold pizza.  Of Champions, I know.  I was getting so anxious about the Flag Day Ceremony that I couldn’t really work on homework or do anything of a substantial nature.  So I painted my nails and watched project runway re-runs.

The ceremony itself is one of the most exciting and nerve wracking things I’ve ever been through.  Much worse than a job interview or a performance.  I started out pretty calm, but as the flags and names were ticked off and still no Max, I got more and more anxious.  So anxious, in fact, that the nice mother next to me shared some of her baby’s star banana puffs to calm me down.  My cold pizza stomach growled a little and she was generous enough to offer a nibble.   

It was a strange feeling to see some of the flags come and go.  There were a few places I had become convinced we were going and when someone elses name was called I felt a little bit like I’d been dumped.

“But I loved you Nepal.  I researched you and watched discovery channel videos about your mountains.  How could you abandon me like this?  He’ll never love you like I would have.”

But still, the flags came and went.  There are 92 people in Max’s class and he was called at #90.  I know, really.  But I have to say the wait was WELL worth it.  Casablanca was one of our top choices, but we didn’t really think we had a shot.  We kind of put it on the High list and forgot about it because, well, it’s awesome.  When Max turned around with his flag and walked back up the steps to his seat he had the biggest case of grinny winnys I’d ever seen.  Like a wee boy.  It was so great.

On a career level, this post is amazing for Max.  It will fulfill a few entry level requirements he has to meet in his first or second tour, including an Arabic speaking post.  In fact, because he already speaks Arabic they will teach him French! Here’s a list of other awesome things about Morocco on more personal level:

- The temperature sits around 70 degrees YEAR ROUND with a low of 45 degrees in January and
   a high of 80 degrees in August.

- Did I mention it’s on the coast?  Beachy McBeach.

- Mountains AND Deserts AND Forests AND Beaches. 

- Clean, safe, abundance of produce available
   (*relative to other Middle Eastern countries of course) 

- Not as conservative or restrictive to women as other Middle Eastern countries.
  Hello short sleeves!

- Travel.  Not only is travel within Morocco amazing (with efficient trains and taxis) but it has also become a destination for several European budget airlines.  We are talking $80 flights to London, Paris and Spain.  Now that’s rocking the Casbah – which I’m sure I’ll say a lot from now on.

- Moroccan Leather!  I’ve just started learning how to do leather bindings – I think we’re headed to the right place.

- There is an AmidEast there – that’s where I taught English in Jerusalem.   

I have to stop because my head is spinning a little.  We made it home from Flag Day sweaty, starving, and elated.  I made up a little meat and cheese plate, as is want in circumstances of celebration, and we toasted our vanilla cokes to North Africa.

Another thing that I’ll say now and often in the future.  Friends: Visit us.  I feel like Morocco will be such an accessible way to experience this region of the world and we would love to host you.  So, don’t be shy.  We leave DC late May of 2011 and we will be in Morocco for two years.  Our Casbah is your Casbah.

ps – Thanks for all the well wishing.  You guys are great! 

The way I see it, the Comments section is for the readers’ use. Generally, it is anything goes unless I start getting really terrible, hateful comments or if I start getting spam. At that point, I’ll reassess the posting process, but let’s hope I don’t have to cross that bridge.

Also, because I view the Comments section as your territory, I generally do not comment in that section. My feeling is that I’ve already stated my opinions or views on the topic, and I don’t want to be trying to get the last word in. That said, I’ll post in the Comments if someone asks me a question directly or if it is apparent people are not understanding my message.

But I do read all of your comments, and they are much appreciated. I enjoy getting some of these conversations started. I also receive e-mail notices when a new comment is left, so even if you are commenting on a really old posting, I still am aware of it.

Now, on to some bullets:

• It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here. There has been a ground/surface/sea packages spotting in Nogales, and the sleigh…er…truck is loaded and ready to make the trek south. Just because they are a bunch of sadists, they are making us wait until Monday to deliver the goods. I assume it works this way at all posts, but Natalie will take a Home-unpacking Holiday Event (HHE…dead to me, except when it is a holiday) on Monday. There will be dancing in the streets! And coffee for everyone!

• Today is the day I’ve been dreading ever since right before we left Crystal City for the long drive southwest. On just about the last day possible, I got a very short haircut, secretly hoping it would last two years. Alas, I made it almost two months, but I concede it is time. For my entire childhood and into young adulthood, only one man cut my hair. It was a bit of a traumatic experience when I went to college and finally had to get someone else to do the job. It almost felt like I was cheating on my barber. Then I moved to D.C., and for the first time, I had a woman cutting my hair. Another unnerving event for me. But today, when one of Natalie’s colleagues takes me to visit Miss Arizona (not the beauty-queen contestant, I assume), it will be the first time I will get my hair cut by someone who doesn’t speak English. Maybe I just need to shave myself bald and avoid this stress.

• Here’s a little leftover item from looking back at our arrival here. Would it be too much to ask to get the Internet ball rolling before we arrive. I’m guessing in some of these developing nation posts, there is probably only a single provider, so there really isn’t any reason why someone at post can’t make the necessary phone calls or whatever so the Internet will be waiting on us instead of vice versa. We actually had two options here, sorta. There are two providers, but if you want anything close to American service, you have to go through TelMex. And TelMex has three plans, but if you want anything close to American service, you have to buy the most expensive plan (about $85 USD per month). Still, we didn’t have to wait terribly long – less than a week – but still, this seems like an unnecessary amount of dead time.

• Google AdSense received Strike 1 a few days ago. The ads, apparently, aren’t the same depending on where you are reading from, so what I see here in Mexico can be different than what you see in the States or where ever else you might be. But I saw an ad for a quasi-religious group that almost made me pull the plug on this operation. Without repeating its name and accidentally give Google an excuse to hit me with it again, it is a group that serves Hollywood types that believe you have to give the organization money to learn stuff. Oh, and it was founded by a former Si-Fi writer; if you need more clues, Tom Cruise is a member. Anyway, in case anyone else noticed this, let me say that I do not endorse said group, and I will trying to see if I can’t block future ads from them.

• Mexican culture, like several European cultures, dictates that when a woman is involved in a greeting, there is cheek-to-cheek air kissing. A little awkward, but when in Rome, right? I still find myself forgetting time to time and there is either an awkward pause before I remember my manners, or an even more awkward handshake only because I forgot my manners altogether. That is when I greet a Mexican woman. What is the protocol for greeting an American woman in Mexico? I’ve seen Natalie’s male colleagues approach it either or, so I suppose it is a preference thing.

• Finally, I think a marketing genius invented the slogan, “It’s a dry heat.” This is the first or second most common marketing expression I’ve heard, with “What Happens in Vegas” being in the running as well. So in D.C., the summer is high 80s to low 90s (barring a heat wave) and humid. And it is miserable to go outside. You feel like you are getting steamed. Here, it is mid 100s to mid 110s (barring a heat wave) with just a little humidity (we are in the rainy season, after all), and it is miserable to go outside. You feel like you are getting baked. So either way, you’re cooked and better off staying inside, which, by the way, is what most people do here in the late morning through early afternoon. So much for that dry heat baloney.

I guess I am just getting a taste of what life will be like in an APO system, no more online package tracking.

And, in case you’re wondering why I am following this particular package so closely, it’s my new 3rd generation 3G Kindle. I recently sold nearly ever book I own online through bookscouter.com and am really looking forward to downloading all the free titles available online (and a few paid ones).

As many, many, commentators have pointed out, the U.S. military has more musicians than the U.S. State Department has Foreign Service Officers. Everybody knows that. Even the Secretary of Defense comments about that. And everybody finds that fact amusing and ironic.

Now, of course the Foreign Service needs more people. The staffing numbers speak for themselves.

But is it really so odd that the military should have so many musicians? I think not. Two recent bits of news have me reflecting on the value of military music.

First, Unredacted linked to the U.S. Army’s Field Manual on Army Bands. That document provides historical context for military music, like how fifes and drums were vital for communicating on the battlefield from the ancient world up to the Napoleonic Age. More importantly, it defines the military music mission in terms that an FSO should appreciate.

For example:

United States Army bands 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.

ARMY BANDS IN FULL SPECTRUM OPERATIONS 1-1.

Bands provide music for ceremonial and morale support within full spectrum operations to sustain warriors and to inspire leaders. Deployed bands are capable of reinforcing positive relations with host-nation, multinational, and joint forces. Army bands communicate through the broadcast and print media to foster support of American citizens, both while deployed and at home. Live performances in parades, concerts, and other public appearances represent the Army and our Nation while promoting national interests. Bands support the recruiting mission, provide comfort to recovering Soldiers, and contribute to a positive climate for Army families. Army bands of the 21st century are organized, trained, and equipped to conduct concurrent operations in supporting multiple objectives with targeted musical styles.

– snip –

REINFORCING NATIONAL RELATIONS

1-8. FM 3-0 stresses the importance of success in ―shaping the civil situation. Inherently capable of providing a climate for international relations, bands serve as representatives of senior commanders in multinational operations or to the host-nation population. Their ability to project receptiveness supports commanders in dialog with civic leaders. Cultural exchange, including the artistic and the social elements, benefit the United States and its interests. Participation in civic activities encourages goodwill at the core level of international relations.

FOSTERING SUPPORT

1-9. When combined with FM 3-61.1, Army bands have a direct impact on mission success in shaping perceptions, attitudes, and opinions. Capable of producing programs for television, radio, and live performance, bands reach a diversified public with a positive message. While in the community, band members are often in face-to-face contact with the citizens, thus bands work to represent the Army values off the installation.

The FM includes two success stories that involve international relations:

U.S.-Russian Relations – In 1996, the 1st Armored Division Band deployed from Bad Kreuznach, Germany, in support of Task Force Eagle in Tuzla, Bosnia. The band received a tasking to send the rock band, “Mo Better Blues,” to play specifically for a Russian unit stationed at Camp Uglijevik in the dead of winter over snow covered mountain roads … The U.S. liaison officer met the band upon arrival and showed the members to the performance venue: the mess hall. The liaison had been there for a month, but had had very little progress in ―breaking the ice with Russian cooperation … The Russians jammed about 200 soldiers into the small mess hall. Most were conscripts and did not look particularly happy to be there. The band, led by Staff Sergeant Alvin “Mo” Morris, played a list of classic rock tunes as well as some country music, and the Russians enthusiastically responded with demands for multiple encores. The U.S. liaison officer stated that the band had done more for U.S.-Russian relations in 90 minutes than he had been able to do in 30 days.

The Shanghai International Wind Band Festival – In April of 2008, the 8th U.S. Army Band was invited by China to participate in the Shanghai International Wind Band Festival. The first American military band and the first American military unit in recent history to enter the country, they performed over 5 days for live audiences of over 500,000 and televised audiences in the millions. As U.S. ambassadors, they won the prodigious cheers and applause of the Chinese audiences as they performed American music of Elvis Presley and John Williams as well as traditional marches in a concert, a parade, and a nightly military tattoo. Association between the two countries’ bands was initially reserved and withdrawn, uncertain of how to conduct mutual foreign relations. However, a positive climate was built by the third day of living and eating together when conspicuous small, impromptu Chinese and American music groups began harmonizing.

With all that expeditionary full-spectrum supporting, shaping of perceptions, cultural exchange, and fostering of relations going on, I’m surprised the military isn’t seeking even more musicians. Maybe Congress should be concerned that we have allowed a Military Music Gap to grow between us and our national adversaries?

The other bit of military music news that I have in mind is the death just last week of Bill Millin, the British Army bagpiper who played traditional Scottish quick marches as his brigade waded ashore on D-Day. It’s a bit striking to realize that only one generation ago British troops on the battlefield were preceded by a piper who was wearing a Cameron tartan kilt and was armed with only a Skean Dhu, the Highlander’s last resort knife.

Below is a photo of Millin stepping out of the landing craft, the pipes just barely visible over his left shoulder.

From the New York Times article on Millin’s death:

The young piper was approached shortly before the landings by the brigade’s commanding officer, Brig. Simon Fraser, who as the 15th Lord Lovat was the hereditary chief of the Clan Fraser and one of Scotland’s most celebrated aristocrats. Against orders from World War I that forbade playing bagpipes on the battlefield because of the high risk of attracting enemy fire, Lord Lovat, then 32, asked Private Millin to play on the beachhead to raise morale.

When Private Millin demurred, citing the regulations, he recalled later, Lord Lovat replied: “Ah, but that’s the English War Office. You and I are both Scottish, and that doesn’t apply.”

After wading ashore in waist-high water that he said caused his kilt to float, Private Millin reached the beach, then marched up and down, unarmed, playing the tunes Lord Lovat had requested, including “Highland Laddie” and “Road to the Isles.”

With German troops raking the beach with artillery and machine-gun fire, the young piper played on as his fellow soldiers advanced through smoke and flame on the German positions, or fell on the beach. The scene provided an emotional high point in [the movie] “The Longest Day.”

So there you go. Military musicians have a long and storied history of supporting troops, fostering relations, and carrying out our national missions. So does the Foreign Service.

I say the two should join sides and lobby Congress for doubling both forces. If Congress would cut funding for just one new program like the FX-Boondoggle SuperAdvanced ÜberTactical 15thGeneration AirSuperiority fighter plane, we could have twice the diplomats and musicians, and would still have unchallenged air superiority over any other nation on earth. Who other than Boeing and Lockheed Martin could object to that?

I really needed a fix of American style bravado, slap on the back, good to see you kind of atmosphere. During an orientation to this post I met other Americans outside my co-workers who also work in Brussels. Me being my normal talk-to-everybody self wrangled an invitation to join some others for a Friday evening out. We met other Americans and some locals (and not so locals) who also know how to be rowdy.

It was so very enjoyable and has gone a long way toward making adjustment to this post easier.

My “good” camera had being on the fritz and then took a spill a back in June. It went to the local shop, sat there almost 2 months, came back unrepaired and is now out to the warranty company (thank goodness I bought the warranty for once) who just notified me they had to send it to the manufacturer. UG. So by the time I get it back, IF I get it back since it’s a Minolta which is now Sony, we’ll probably be well settled on the other side of the planet.

Here’s hoping my new point and shoot can hang with the big boys until then!

It’s August 27, and we are en route from the USDA Agricultural Research Service Sugarcane Field Station in Canal Point, Florida, to the Florida Crystals Cogeneration Facility in Okeelanta, along with officials from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and El Salvador. This visit is part of a Renewable Energy Meeting in South Florida, hosted by the Department of State and the Organization of American States, and part of the U.S.-Brazil Bilateral Memorandum of Understanding to Advance Cooperation on Biofuels. The arrangement makes possible the exchange of experiences between the U.S. and Brazil on sustainable biofuels and enables the exchange of information to several third-party countries in Central America and the Caribbean that have unique opportunities for the development and local use of biofuels.

Earlier, we had an excellent visit to the Florida Power and Light Plant, where the local team, led by Director John Gnecco, has begun the commissioning phase of the concentrated solar power (CSP) facility. Concentrated solar power uses specialized parabolic mirrors to focus sunlight on tubes conveying media that transfers heat. This fluid is raised to a temperature in excess of 700 degrees Fahrenheit, and used to create steam for power generation. The group I toured the facility with was extremely interested in Florida’s renewable energy legislation, which uses innovative ways to encourage private sector investment. The United States benefits from harnessing the abundant Florida sunshine, and all of us — including our Brazilian, Central American, and Caribbean friends — benefit from seeing renewable energy in action.

You can read more about the Renewable Energy Meeting here.

Poor baby kitty.

After meeting with Nepal’s Home Minister, the Chief Secretary, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and speaking about Nepal’s refugees from a higher level, I wanted to get a firsthand view of the situation and speak with the refugees themselves. So this morning I visited the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Transit Center.

The Transit Center was built just three years ago and has already helped prepare 35,000 Bhutanese refugees for their new lives in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and a handful of European countries. The United States is willing to consider more, as need dictates. More than 75,000 still remain in UN-managed camps in eastern Nepal.

The U.S. Government funded the Transit Center construction, and I have to say, it was money well spent. It was well constructed — and quickly, to meet the needs of the transiting refugees — and every inch of the space is being put to practical use. Training rooms, bunk-style dormitories, a cafeteria, administrative office space, a gas pump, and an on-site doctor’s office fill the compound. Refugees are taught about American money, transportation, multi-culturalism, food, and other aspects of daily life. I’m amazed at the courage of these refugees and their willingness to abandon all they have known for a completely different life in the United States. After some refugees nearly collapsed on arrival in the United States from dehydration and weakness because they were afraid they would have to pay for their strange meals and drinks, IOM focused on an orientation course on air travel. They are also instructed on how to use a boarding pass and airplane toilets, among so many other things many of us take for granted.

A small group of 30-40 people were at the Transit Center when I visited, which gave me the opportunity to speak one on one with them. (Thankfully, my Hindi has held up well enough after having lived in India!) They told me about the help they’ve been receiving from IOM and other international donors, the experiences of their families who have already resettled in America, their strong desire to work hard at any job they could find, and their fears of the unknown, particularly with regard to the cost of living in the United States and dealing with cold weather and snow. Mostly a younger group, their excitement was palpable. These people were ready to face the unfamiliar and carve out a life for themselves in a land they could barely imagine. I’m proud to welcome to them to America!

Moving along to a more current story, it’s already time for us to bid on what our next assignment will be. Bidding is the process of expressing a preference for particular assignments out of the list of jobs where second-tour officers will be needed. The second tour, like the first, is a “directed assignment” – that is, the Powers That Be make the decisions, and while they like to take our input into account, in the end they put people wherever the job requires them to go. That said, most people end up getting one of the jobs they bid high. In choosing the bids, the most important consideration is timing; 15 of our 20 choices have to fit perfectly with my departure from Denmark, give me exactly enough time for all required language and functional training, and get me to the new post right when they’ll need me. The other five can be off by a month or two. Timing was something we didn’t have to worry about at all in A-100 when bidding for the first tour; it’s kind of like going to a higher difficulty level on some fascinating puzzle. In keeping with that, there are also about three times more positions on the second-tour bid list than there were on the A-100 list.

And it is pretty fascinating. A lot of people seem to find bidding stressful and unpleasant. Personally, I find it fascinating and fun. I know wherever we end up will be a great experience, so I just find all the different possibilities to be very exciting and attractive. This would be a great job to do for two years! This one would involve a lot of travel to nearby posts in the region! This one is in such a fabulous location! This other location is totally different but also fabulous! I’d love to learn this language!

Of course I can’t speak on mid-level bidding, which is the NEXT higher difficulty level, where you have to “lobby” for the various positions you want, use networking skills, and just hope that some post somewhere shows you love. But at least as an entry-level bidder, bidding is still fun. I do very much like potentials, possibilities, decisions that are not quite made yet. Right now there are about a hundred and fifty possible futures for me, each equally real. That’s the approximate number of jobs on the list that would be possible for me in terms of timing. And that is really cool. When the picture crystallizes and exactly one of those futures becomes real, all the others will be lost, and with them, dozens of languages I might have learned, countries and cities I might have gotten to know, portfolios in which I might have become a (somewhat dilettantish) expert, people with whom I might have worked. Rather than feeling sorry for that loss, of course I will instead begin at just that time to get really excited about the one language in which I will get training (because it’s required to demonstrate a foreign-language proficiency before the second tour is up, it’s guaranteed that my next assignment will include language training), the one place where I will be working, the actual subjects I’ll get to learn about and people I’ll get to know. I love both types of anticipation.

And it helps that Bongsu and I are having no trouble at all in finding plenty of places on this list where we’d be thrilled to serve for two years. Even after the high-equity bidders (people whose first tours have been in difficult or dangerous places, and who get first choice off the bid list as a reward) have removed some of the cream of the crop, I expect we’ll easily be able to choose a top 20 out of which even if we’re assigned to one of the lower bids we’d still be very excited and happy about going there.

In Georgetown, Guyana, the U.S. Embassy’s Military Liaison Office brought together the U.S. Navy Seabees, a millitary construction unit, with Guyana’s Ministry of Amerindian Affairs. The Seabees arrived in Guyana on August 23, and have been repairing and updating the plumbing and electrical systems for the Amerindian Hostel in Georgetown, as well as providing general maintenance services. They will continue their work until their departure on September 10.

“This construction is purely functional,” explained Navy Lt. j.g. David Cazares, who is from El Paso, Texas. “We want to make the showers, toilets, plumbing and electrical system fully functional for the building’s occupants.”

“This is really great,” said steel worker Josh Talsma, from Hazel, South Dakota. “I’ve never been to Guyana, and I love using my skills to do something good.”

You can read more about the U.S. Navy Seabees work on U.S. Embassy Georgetown’s website.

Last night on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart did a solid 10 minute segment on Glenn Beck and his ridiculous “Restoring Honor” event happening tomorrow, 8/28. The rally is being held at the Lincoln Memorial. Anything seem familiar? Oh, yes… that’s the exact date and location of Martin Luther King, Jr.’

All kinds of chaos ensued with trying to coordinate two sets of movers – one moving me and all the things I’ve collected, and another delivering my first small shipment from Abu Dhabi.

I have to say I absolutely love my apartment. It is smaller than my home in Abu Dhabi but not tiny by any stretch of the imagination. Much more in keeping with a modest home in the States. The kitchen is small, but looks to be efficient. I’ve got 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a very nice living/dining area with a great balcony. I found that I have a storage “cave” in the basement/parking garage that is about 12×12, so I even have room for Christmas things.

Apparently home burglary is a big thing here, so there are all kinds of security.

Best of all I am very close to public transport and the trip to work is easy and not too long.

His advice? Take everything that is breakable out of the boxes you might have it currently stored in so that it can be repacked, even if they are the original boxes. Thus, our myriad wedding glasses and dishes need to be repacked.

He also, as many have mentioned, reminded us to put our packed (for the trip) luggage into a closed closet, or even in the car, to keep it from going into the crate.  He also suggested putting the UAB (air shipment) into a different room, so that it could be packed by weight there, and not accidentally get mixed up with the HHE (boat shipment).

We have about 450 pounds for our air freight, and he said that the sturdy boxes they use to pack it in weigh about 12 pounds each.

This morning I saw another FS family getting packed out of our building, and saw the guys loading up the wooden crates. The crates were inside a large moving truck, and were about the size of a standard bathroom. They were lined with polyethylene and tightly packed. They were puzzling out the best way to arrange the remaining non-square bits (a bike, some skinny long things, and a weird spherical object, all of which were wrapped in 3″ of bubble and brown kraft paper) when I walked by.

For us, he estimated two crates for the boat shipment, which is not a full container. This company prefers to pack the crates on site here, and then wait until a container is available before bringing the crates to the dock to load into the container. Apparently, the usual method before was to bring a truck full of boxes to the dock to await a boat, but a lot of people were loosing their possessions to water damage and loss. At the docks, they just throw a tarp over stuff if it looks like rain.

I’ve read a couple of other blogs recently which describe moving losses, so I hope we’re not disappointed when our stuff arrives in Dhaka.

As summer winds down in Washington D.C., half the globe enjoys the last days of winter. This last week of August, our photo comes to us from the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro, where the photographer captured a group of U.S. Youth Ambassadors enjoying a moment’s break from their official duties.

Summer — at least in the northern hemisphere — is the high season for youth exchanges of every variety, with all regions of the world. Whether it’s a leadership program for Mexican youth, Americans and Norwegians meeting over soccer, Egyptians and Americans meeting over basketball, “Camp America” in rural Tajikistan, Libyan Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, Benjamin Franklin Fellows examining transatlantic issues, or teens from South Asia coming together for political change through individual transformation, youth exchanges enrich communities and “pay forward” their lessons over a lifetime. As Secretary Clinton said, “Such citizen diplomacy may start with one visiting student and his or her host family, but it ripples throughout communities in the United States and abroad. Many exchange students return home with positive impressions of America, and they go on to become leaders in their own countries.”

Nearly 27,000 international secondary school students come to the United States each year and are hosted by American families. As Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock recently remarked, host families exemplify some of our country’s greatest values — tolerance, generosity, civic engagement — and the benefits accrue to the exchange student and host family alike. Hosting is a wonderful way to share ideas, celebrate commonalities, bridge differences, challenge stereotypes, and experience a different culture.

It isn’t too early to begin thinking about next summer: information for young people is available here; for prospective host families, here. With August 2010 also marking the beginning of the UN’s “International Year of Youth,” we hope the next twelve months will see these programs, and the people-to-people ties that they establish, flourishing around the world.

In related news, the BBG released the below “Record of BBG Decisions” on August 6:

Washington, DC, August 6, 2010 – The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) met on July 30, 2010 in closed session in Washington, D.C and agreed to the following items by consensus:

Cuba Broadcasting. Governors Ashe, McCue, and Perino are requested to conduct "listening tour" of Congress regarding the future of broadcasting to Cuba during the month of August 2010 and report their observations back to the Board. Other Governors are welcome to provide background materials to support these efforts.

Use of Social Media. Governors Lynton, McCue, Meehan and Perino are requested to organize information-gathering sessions on the use of social media as a part of BBG-sponsored United States international broadcasting. These Governors will propose an agenda, speakers list and a target date for the session in November 2010 for the approval of the BBG Chairman in consultation with fellow Governors.

VOA Persian News Network (PNN). Governor Wimbush is requested to chair a working group with other Governors designated by the BBG Chairman in order to gather information concerning the current strategy and operations of PNN and to make recommendations to the Board concerning PNN’s mission and performance.

Research. Governors Ashe and Lynton are requested to co-chair a working group with other Governors to be designated by the BBG Chairman in order to gather information regarding research efforts, both within the BBG-funded entities and from external vendors, to support BBG-sponsored United States international broadcasting. The working group is requested to assess the scope and effectiveness of current research efforts and to make recommendations for improvement to the plenary Board.

Governance Committee. Governors Ashe and Mulhaupt are requested to co-chair a Governance Committee. The BBG Chairman may appoint additional Governors to participate in the Governance Committee.

Budget and Strategy Committee. Governors Wimbush and Lynton are requested to co-chair a Budget and Strategy Committee joined by Governor Meehan. The BBG Chairman may appoint additional Governors to participate in the Budget and Strategy Committee. The Board requested that the Committee focus its immediate attention to the FY 2012 budget.
BBG Staff Support for Working Groups and Committees. The BBG Staff is directed to facilitate and support the efforts of the working groups and committees formed by the Board at the request of the working group and committee chairs or the BBG Chairman.

Open Meetings. The BBG will look for opportunities to hold open meetings to the extent that it can responsibly do so while protecting the integrity of Board processes and the BBG’s statutory mandate.

WikiLeaks. By resolution, the Board authorized the Director of the Voice of America to proceed with reporting on the disclosure of classified documents available on the WikiLeaks website in a manner that is consistent with the VOA Charter and the BBG’s statutory mission, and to balance this effort with due consideration for the laws and executive orders applicable to the use, disclosure, and transmission of classified information by federal employees.

The meeting was attended by the following Governors:
Chairman Walter Isaacson
Governor Victor Ashe
Governor Susan McCue
Governor Michael Meehan
Governor Dennis Mulhaupt
Governor Dana Perino
Governor S. Enders Wimbush
Under Secretary of State Judith McHale

Governor Michael Lynton was not in attendance at the meeting.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent federal agency, supervising all U.S. government-supported, civilian international broadcasting, whose mission is to promote freedom and democracy and to enhance understanding through multi-media communication of accurate, objective, and balanced news, information, and other programming about America and the world to audiences overseas. BBG broadcasting organizations include the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa), Radio Free Asia, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Martí).

See also:

• Senate Report on the Broadcasting Board of Governors
• Fresh Start for the Broadcasting Board of Governors from 23 November 2009
• Broadcasting Board of Governors: empty seats at the public diplomacy table from 21 July 2009

There still is some discomfort, though, associated with the transition back into western culture. Grocery stores — while one the one hand being delightful — are, on the other hand, still a bit overwhelming. I continue to be disgusted (sorry if I’m offending anyone here) by the enormous vehicles that everyone here drives. I mean, I can almost guarantee you that I am one of the only Moms at both of the kids’ schools who drives a small 4-door sedan. You gotta have the big honkin SUV, or you just don’t quite fit in, it seems. And, everytime I see an airplane, I long to get on it, and to jet off to some exotic place full of interesting people and cultural diversity. But, isn’t that snobby of me? Am I somehow better than my fellow Nashvillians for having lived outside of the country for a time? Am I more cultured or more enlightened about the world? Not a safe assumption to make, I don’t think. So, I need to just get over myself and move on.

If you’re thinking something like “this woman is confused and a bit troubled” at this point, I really couldn’t blame you. Maybe I am. In fact, I think that you’re right. I am in a state of confusion. I’m confused about what the 17 months abroad meant for our family and for me, personally. I’m confused about how we can keep our experience “alive” for our children so that it really does make a longlasting difference in terms of how they view the world. I’m confused about the town in which I live, and how I fit in, and where my skills can best be used to help folks who need my help. I suppose that all of this confusion is a natural part of transition, but it’s disconcerting, and I would rather not have to deal with it. But, oh well, that’s life.

Enough opining for one night. I’ll try to post some recent photos tomorrow. Goodnight.

I’ve found several distractions this week that have been pretty successful in keeping my mind off the big day.  The big F day.  Some of the distractions have been

- The National Museum of the American Indians (fabulous by the by – I’ll post details later)
- The Sackler and Freer Galleries (Art and Statues from the Far East and South East Asia)
- Banana Republic the likes of which you think you’d find in a govermenty-fashiony place.  Oh boy.
- Wonderfully depressing documentaries about the Middle East
- A new place to do bookbinding in Maryland
- An internship at the public library across the street
- My new kitchen aid food processor.  I. Can’t. Believe. It.  
- A renewed netflix subscription.  Ahhh.  (Like Shakespeare?  Canadian masterpiece “Slings and Arrows” will knock your socks off.  Don’t like Shakespeare?  It still will)

I also started school yesterday.  No, I’m not too old for that yet.  My program is a Masters of Library and Information Science with San Jose State University in California and its 100% online.  Being to the Middle East and back twice over the past years has made choosing an online program one of the smartest things I’ve ever done.  I have 2 semesters left and I feel a little bit like Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride (which I didn’t know was a comedy until later in life – it crushed me). 

“Is very strange. I have been in the (library school) business so long, now that it’s over, I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life.”

But, it’s not quite over and truthfully, when it is, things will just be getting started for me.  The Foreign Service has crazy amazing resources for spouses including continual training, scholarships for further education, and a lot of work opportunities.  They have libraries too!  Crazy Amazing, by the way, is actually what my Spouse Briefing handbook says across the top with heart dotted I’s “Crazy Amazing Benefits for Spouses”.

So, I’ve almost kept myself too distracted to think about tomorrow.  Almost.  

Jersey is not, for instance, as nice as Chicago, which always strikes me as a truly American city and has fantastic architecture to boot. And tasty foods. Yum. Then we were off to stay with friends in Madison, Wisconsin and Bloomington, Indiana. With a visit to University of Michigan while we were near Ann Arbor and a hotel room on the Ohio State campus in Columbus, we pretty much did the Big 10 tour.

The verdict is that all those campuses are very large and very pretty and often rather similar-looking. But in a good way.

Notable activities: in Wisconsin we went berry-picking! It was great fun. Also in the vein of rugged DIY-ism, we assisted with the process of making homemade pierogi from scratch, something I have never quite gotten around to doing (though my long experience with eating pierogi made me, I fancy, good management material for the process). Here you can see the finished product, along with some Wisconsin vodka:

And in Indiana, we hit the State Fair–I had never before been to a State Fair, and for all those who have heard the myths, yes, it’s true: they really do sell deep-fried butter and Krispy Kreme burgers (a bacon cheeseburger sandwiched between two donuts). It is pure excess and ridiculousness. But, you know, festive.

I also finally finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I am skeptical of its qualifications for the Pulitzer, but it sure was fun.

With all this suffering, it’s easy to overlook the latest tragedy in Pakistan.  The relentless rains continue to expand the flooding damage.  A quick summary to date:

• 20,000,000 people directly impacted (10% of the population)
• Over 1,600 dead
• 4,000,000 people homeless
• 8,000,000 people requiring urgent assistance and medical care
• 3,500,000 children in danger of contracting water and insect borne disease
• Over 1,600,00 acres of crops destroyed
• Over 200,000 livestock dead

Here’s a good map from the Guardian that shows how widespread the flooding has become (click to see it larger):

Photographs at the New York Times and the BBC underscore the suffering.  With the rains continuing to come down in Sindh Province, this is not going to be a short-term fix.  We’re talking years to recover and the aid has been coming up short.

As I just begin the preparations to spend a year in Lahore (already feeling very pessimistic about the prospects for picking up even rudimentary Urdu), I’m feeling particularly drawn to try to help.  There are a number of organizations that will ensure donations get to the people in need:  UNICEF, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, CARE, Doctors Without Borders, and OXFAM, among others.

Although these are all great organizations, I was particularly happy to see Secretary Clinton launch a new State Department program to raise funds for our relief effort.  This is where we’re sending our money.  If you want a quick way to give just a small amount, they’ve made it incredibly easy.  For a quick way to give $10, simply TEXT “FLOOD” to 27722 from your mobile phone. If you’re interested in giving more via credit card, just click the button below and fill out the online form (it took 5 minutes, max).

Hope you can help.

Enter The Great Game: Afghanistan, an epic 3-part play (nine hours total) from the UK’s Tricycle Theatre, which explores the “culture and history of Afghanistan since Western involvement in 1842 to the present day.” This play begins its US tour in Washington, DC, next month. It then goes to Minneapolis, San Francisco, and New York. (Why no Los Angeles date? SF does not count.) Interestingly, and perhaps not surprisingly, the US tour is sponsored by the British Council in an example of cultural diplomacy.

As part of the DC engagement, the British Council is supporting Experience Afghanistan, a “two-week long festival” of art exhibits and cultural exhibits. Also included is a discussion with Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, and a symposium with Cynthia Schneider, Christina Lamb, Spozhmai Maiwandi, Azita Ranjbar, Mariam Atash Nawabi, and others.

Even without the recommendation of the UK’s military commander, General Sir David Richards, Chief of the General Staff of the UK Ministry of Defence, that anyone in the Pentagon and working with Afghanistan see the play, I plan on attending. General Richard said,

I found The Great Game a fascinating, entertaining and historically accurate account of Britain’s and latterly the wider International Community’s involvement – good and bad – in Afghanistan since the 1840s. Nothing learnt in the classroom will have the same subliminal effect as this.

It is crucial that all of us who work out there, or have responsibility in any way for our nation’s policies in the region, have a more nuanced understanding of the historical background that got us to this point. I am glad that when it has finished its current run in London, it will be touring America. I hope plenty of people in Washington take time to see it.

According to the British Council, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and General Stanley McChrystal were interviewed for the play. McChrystal was interviewed two days before he resigned.

Information Operations (IO), as currently practiced by the U.S. Military, encompass a broad range of capabilities designed to inform, influence, persuade, or deceive target audiences, and a collection of technical capabilities focused on impacting systems for storing or transmitting information. Formally, IO capabilities include Psychological Operations, Electronic Warfare,Computer Network Operations, Operations Security, and Military Deception. The relationships between the IO capabilities and other activities including conventional military operations, related and supporting capabilities, and strategic communication are not always well understood, nor are they optimally organized for specific undertakings. This class explores these relationships and presents clear definitions for all the elements as they appear in the formal doctrine, and as they function in practice. The implications of the different approaches are discussed in depth.

You will benefit by enhancing your understanding of the:

• History and evolution of IO and its component capabilities.
• Practice and the potential of IO capabilities.
• Ways to organize IO and how these impact relationships between capabilities and operational effectiveness.
• Power of information for influence in pursuit of campaign objectives.
• Efforts related to IO, such as public affairs, strategic communication, and public diplomacy.

The course outline and online registration is available here.

Chris Paul is Full Social Scientist at the RAND Corporation, frequent contributor to MountainRunner, colleague, and author of the textbook Information Operations: Doctrine and Practice.

In a recent Huffington Post article, 17-year old Maad Sharaf shares his thoughts about how a year abroad in the United States through the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program has changed his life. Originally from Aden in the Republic of Yemen, Sharaf came to Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, where he quickly learned that the image he had gotten about the United States, based mainly on media coverage in Yemen, did not correspond to reality:

“I thought America was all about huge buildings, exciting places, drunken people everywhere and going to war with every country. That was what we saw every day on television and in American movies. Unfortunately, we never saw the nice things about it or the very respectful people.”

Sharaf also had to learn that many Americans had negative images of Yemen and the Muslim world in general that they, too, ascribed to the media. When realizing this, he felt he had to become active:

“It was then that I decided I was responsible for teaching the American people in my community who we (Muslims) are as real people, and showing them that we are not the bad people they see in the news. I felt like I was not only representing Yemen, but also the Middle East and all the Islamic countries in the world.”

As Sharaf explains, he never got over the culture shock entirely but nevertheless considers his travel to the U.S. to have changed his life for the better. He discovered “that the best way to reflect a good image of your country, your family and your religion to people who don’t have any idea about where you are coming from is to be who you really are, wherever you are.”

Simon is also doing well. We had a fairly normal day today. He slept in this morning – we had to wake him at 7 to feed him before we left. He’s up on his knees rocking, sometimes up on his hands, sometimes up on his elbows. Sometimes the front of his body isn’t up at all. He’s sitting really well now. Although grocery carts are still a challenge. He sometimes falls over onto his face. He’s not a fan of that.

Johnathan (this is what he goes by at the Embassy, apparently it’s becoming natural for me) is still working away. He often comes home with interesting, funny, and heart breaking stories about his interviews. Since we got here we’ve had a couple of American deaths (John’s not dealing with those yet) and near deaths. It’s always hard to hear stories like this. I don’t envy the Officers doing American Citizen Services. John will do that before he leaves – he’ll probably start next year some time. He went and saw Inception the other night with a friend. He says it’s amazing. I’ll see it some day.

I’m still trying to figure out school. I need to check with DBU (Dallas Baptist University) to figure out how many credits I can transfer in before I start at Ecclessia. If I get my butt moving I can probably start in September – probably not though. I’d have to register for that by the end of next week. Hm. I might be able to pull that off. I also need to fill out FAFSA but have had a hard time with that because I can’t find our tax papers and figure out how much I made separately from John. My Spanish classes at the Embassy are going well. We’re being taught a ton and I’m not remembering to study at home. I so need to do that.

I’m going out tonight to see a Ryan Reyolds film from 2008 with a friend (she saw Inception with her hubby two weeks ago). Why am I seeing a 2008 film? Because it’s playing in the VIP theater (reclining leather seats with drink and food service in the theater – even a little button to call the attendants. It’s not quite as awesome as the Love Sac theater in Dallas because there are no blankets. It’s really close though.) and my girlfriend and I want to go out. Her hubby’s away, and I’m burnt out.

I need to update photos on flickr and facebook. It’s been a while, and I have plenty to add. We’ll see when I actually get to that. Who knew that sending my child away for close to nine hours a day would actually make me busier than I was this summer. Well…all the school age moms did, but I didn’t!

Sorry to those of you who also follow the Holla Flickr photostream. We used to post to Flickr simultaneously with publishing here to avoid reruns. I don’t really remember why we thought that was important.

But I get that deer-in-the-headlight look every time someone says “I read in your blog…” Wait? You mean not only were you aware it exists but you wasted your time by reading it?

I’ve said it before, and it is worth repeating, but I like writing for a faceless audience much more than writing for my friends, family, neighbors and colleagues. In short, I like to write without really having any accountability.

Which creates some interesting scenarios now that I am living amidst some of my readers (I use that term loosely, more like, people who know I have a blog and have stopped by on occasions probably to make sure I didn’t reveal too much about them). It also makes it a little harder to write some of theses postings, such as when I might have bemoaned a favorite topic of conversation, or when I advertised to anyone who would listen that my culture adaptation process finds me in the dumps on occasions. I mean, I don’t need people looking at me like I’m broken or something.

I don’t make it a point to tell people here that I blog – quite the opposite, actually. But alas, I know some people here do know, and I can only assume others have caught wind of it. It’s my own personal policy to not include names or pictures of anyone else to let them enjoy their privacy, but I can’t help but wonder if knowledge about my blog and fear that something might get said on it might cause some to behave slightly different when I’m around.

Many of you have been doing this longer than me: writing about your life in the foreign service. Do you let others know about it? What kind of reception do you get? Do you find yourselves holding back because you don’t want to offend colleagues? I’d be very interested to here some of your tales about blogging about life abroad while the relatively small American communities we live in are both readers and players.

Swaziland is taking groundbreaking steps to fight HIV/AIDS in the country. Swaziland is one of the countries hardest hit by the HIV pandemic, so a bold approach is needed to stop the spread of the virus. As part of the country’s national health strategy, the Government of Swaziland has embraced male circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy. Studies have shown that circumcision reduces a man’s risk of getting HIV by 60 percent. Swaziland was the first country to step forward and pledge to circumcise 80 percent of Swazi men to help prevent the spread of HIV. This bold commitment was the result of strong support from the highest levels of the Swazi Government.

Last week, I was pleased to have the opportunity to join the Honorable Minister of Health, Benedict Xaba, for a visit to the Mankayane Hospital to observe efforts currently underway as part of the “Back to School Campaign.” The campaign aims to circumcise more than 5,000 boys and young men within a three-week period. It uses the school holiday period as an opportunity to educate school-aged males, their parents or guardians, and their teachers about the procedure.

At the hospital, the United States supported the Government of Swaziland and the country’s health system by helping to renovate a minor surgical procedure theatre so that it could more effectively provide safe services. I was pleased that the hospital was able to take advantage of this existing structure to support the campaign. And we saw that the theatre was already being put to good use as part of the Government of Swaziland’s male circumcision program.

During the visit, I was incredibly impressed by the many brave young men who had come to the hospital to fight for a future for Swaziland that is free of HIV. Sixteen-year-old Mancoba shared his story. He said that he was circumcised because he wanted to protect himself and his future wife from infection. He encouraged other men to be circumcised.

To support men like Mancoba who want to help protect themselves and their loved ones from HIV, Swaziland will accelerate male circumcision efforts in the coming months under the Accelerated Saturation Initiative. This Initiative will help speed efforts to prevent HIV infections. Services are anticipated to begin at full-scale in December 2010 and last for 12 months. Approximately 50 full-time male circumcision service delivery teams will provide services every day so that Swaziland can reach its target of 160,000 male circumcisions. This will require a lot of hard work, and a new way of doing business together across all sectors of government. The United States is pleased to be supporting the leadership of the Government of Swaziland and men like Mancoba in this effort. We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with the Government and the people of Swaziland in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Together, we can turn the tide of Swaziland’s HIV/AIDS epidemic.

On August 26, 2010, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale will be speaking at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas conference on “Argentina: Economic and Political Perspectives” in Buenos Aires. Her visit to Argentina is part of a week-long trip to the Southern Cone — Argentina, Uruguay and Chile — where she will meet with government officials, top media figures, social media entrepreneurs, business leaders and students.

As both Argentina and Chile mark 200 years since independence — a year-long bicentennial celebration — and Uruguay celebrates its Independence Day this week, Under Secretary McHale’s visit is a timely one. She joins Secretary Clinton in congratulating and recognizing the long history of bilateral cooperation between our countries.

At the Americas Society/Council of the Americas conference, Under Secretary McHale will give remarks before the academic, political and media community in Argentina as well as around the world via a live webcast. The conference features prominent public and private sector officials including Argentine Minister of the Economy, Amado Boudou; Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hector Timerman; President of Citi Argentina, Juan Bruchou and many others. Tune in to the English and Spanish livestreams at http://www.as-coa.org/argentina2010/ beginning at 7:30 a.m. EDT (or 8:30 a.m. Argentina time). Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at hashtag #ascoa.

We look forward to having you join us!

It was ten years ago that the short (a little over a year) run of the online magazine Space Policy Digest (which I created and edited) came to an end.  Its associated discussion board would last a while longer.

The idea for Space Policy Digest grew out of the old Houston Chronicle space discussion board.  At a time when I was working on NASA space projects, I wanted to build a publication where people could write about the issues of space development at a length greater than a blog comment (although at the time, blogs didn’t yet exist).  As I wrote at the time:

Policy isn’t just “how much money should NASA get and how should they spend it?” It’s the question of NASA’s role (or existence), how do we fly these new launch (and landing) vehicles, how do we govern a moon settlement, how do we tax products built on a space station and a million other questions.

Space Policy Digest will look at all these questions and more. We’ll point out problems and propose answers. Not all those answers will agree (nobody said this space policy thing is easy).

I may have an ax to grind, but SPD doesn’t. Regular columnists come from different parts of the spectrum of space discussion, and where there are holes in the spectrum, we’ll search out additional contributors. We are always open to a well written guest column or article.

Contributors to Space Policy Digest included U.S. Senators (Bob Graham), professional space commentators and NASA veterans (Jim Oberg) and space entrepreneurs (Robert Bigelow).  Commenters on the discussion board ranged from active NASA and contractor employees to “Rocket Boy” Homer Hickam. 

What’s interesting in rereading them now (and the run is available at the archives’ Wayback Machine at http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://spacepolicy.org) is how the issues have changed less than one might think.  I wrote then:

If the government needs crewed, civilian access to space (the military’s need for space access, much as their role in aviation, is a separate issue) it should buy it. Again, there’s a precedent in aviation. Except for a short, disastrously unsuccessful, period when the Army was given the role, the mail has been flown by civilian carriers. The Air Mail contracts in the early part of the 20th Century were the subsidy that helped the fledgling airlines break even when there was little market for passenger flights. Eventually passengers were carried on mail flights, and finally the passenger traffic exceeded mail revenue. The need by airlines to serve the increasing passenger load led United to ask Boeing to build the 247, and TWA to ask Donald Douglas to build what became the DC-3, the airplane that made carrying passengers alone profitable and common.

In the same way, an “air mail” contract for crewed space services, bringing people and supplies into space, would jump start the first spacelines in this country. At first, the government might be the only customer, but the idea that spare seats would be rented to tourists is the next logical step. With the government subsidy, these seats would be pricey, but not fiscally impossible for someone rich enough or motivated enough, much as was the case with early airline fares. As demand increased, the spacelines would find ways to carry more passengers, and so the pattern would repeat.

This is the same debate going on today between supporters of the President’s plan for NASA and that being proposed by members of Congress.  Do we buy access to orbit from companies like SpaceX, Orbital and Boeing, or build Orion and Aries?

Life is interesting.  It takes many twists and turns.  Space Policy Digest was one such twist and turn in my life, and one I look back at fondly and proudly.

My dearest girlfriend and college roommate lent me four guest passes so the kids and I could enjoy the day in Monterey. And with almost 80 degree weather and no crowds, we sure did.

It’s been at least a dozen years since I’ve been to the aquarium. In fact, if I remember correctly, the last time I was there was when Matt and I visited old family friends in Monterey way back in November, 1997. My how it’s changed.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a virtual paradise for young kids. We spent four hours there, yet had we been able to watch any feedings or caught any shows, we could have easily stayed another few hours. We walked through all of the exhibits, touched everything we could have touched, and visited every bathroom on every level.

Photos taken today … approx 150

Number of meltdowns … less than a handful

Total money spent at the aquarium … $2.40*

A great day was had by … most all

L: The girls touching a bat ray
M – R: Touching the star fish

Sheridan wasn’t tall enough to look through the telescopes the “right” way,
so she decided on her own way … which as you can see, is backwards.

Grady enjoyed hanging in his seat … and I enjoyed when he finally fell asleep

Some of my favorites

A fun attempt to take our own photos

“The United States is deeply concerned by reports of the mass rape of women and children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) — an armed, illegal rebel group that has terrorized eastern Congo for over a decade — and elements of the Mai Mai, community-based militia groups in eastern Congo. This horrific attack is yet another example of how sexual violence undermines efforts to achieve and maintain stability in areas torn by conflict but striving for peace.

“The United States has repeatedly condemned the epidemic of sexual violence in conflict zones around the world, and we will continue to speak out on this issue for those who cannot speak for themselves. Less than a year ago, I presided over the UN Security Council session where Resolution 1888 (2009) was unanimously adopted, underscoring the importance of preventing and responding to sexual violence as a tactic of war against civilians. Now the international community must build on this action with specific steps to protect local populations against sexual and gender-based violence and bring to justice those who commit such atrocities.

“Sexual violence harms more than its immediate victims. It denies and destroys our common dignity, it shreds the fabric that weaves us together as humans, it endangers families and communities, it erodes social and political stability, and it undermines economic progress. These travesties, committed with impunity against innocent civilians who play no role in armed conflict, hold us all back.

“When I visited the DRC last year, I learned an old proverb — ‘No matter how long the night, the day is sure to come.’ In the depths of this dark night of suffering and pain, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. The United States will do everything we can to work with the UN and the DRC government to hold the perpetrators of these acts accountable, and to create a safe environment for women, girls, and all civilians living in the eastern Congo.”

You can also read Secretary’s remarks on state.gov.

“The United States is deeply concerned by reports of the mass rape of women and children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) — an armed, illegal rebel group that has terrorized eastern Congo for over a decade — and elements of the Mai Mai, community-based militia groups in eastern Congo. This horrific attack is yet another example of how sexual violence undermines efforts to achieve and maintain stability in areas torn by conflict but striving for peace.

“The United States has repeatedly condemned the epidemic of sexual violence in conflict zones around the world, and we will continue to speak out on this issue for those who cannot speak for themselves. Less than a year ago, I presided over the UN Security Council session where Resolution 1888 (2009) was unanimously adopted, underscoring the importance of preventing and responding to sexual violence as a tactic of war against civilians. Now the international community must build on this action with specific steps to protect local populations against sexual and gender-based violence and bring to justice those who commit such atrocities.

“Sexual violence harms more than its immediate victims. It denies and destroys our common dignity, it shreds the fabric that weaves us together as humans, it endangers families and communities, it erodes social and political stability, and it undermines economic progress. These travesties, committed with impunity against innocent civilians who play no role in armed conflict, hold us all back.

“When I visited the DRC last year, I learned an old proverb — ‘No matter how long the night, the day is sure to come.’ In the depths of this dark night of suffering and pain, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. The United States will do everything we can to work with the UN and the DRC government to hold the perpetrators of these acts accountable, and to create a safe environment for women, girls, and all civilians living in the eastern Congo.”

You can also read Secretary’s remarks on state.gov.

The portfolio includes passports, births, deaths, arrests, domestic disputes, abducted children, taxes, social security, voting, and scores of other issues. We deal with urgent matters whenever they come up and schedule appointments for more routine issues.

While I’m on the line adjudicating visa cases in the morning, I usually need to step out every half-hour or so to deal with an ACS case. Most of the routine cases involve passport applications and certificates of birth abroad. There are a series of complex rules to determine citizenship and they all come in to play over the course of a month or two. We get newborns, but also parents who want to get a birth certificate and passport for their 17-year-olds. The process often requires a review of stacks of old papers to establish birthdates, marriage dates, military service dates, employment dates, school attendance dates, etc. Sometimes the puzzle gets very complicated.

When Americans find themselves under arrest, it falls on the ACS officer to ensure they are getting fair treatment. I made my first prison visit a couple weeks ago, meeting with three inmates back-to-back. Although this is Canada, prison is still prison. I’ve been to a few in the U.S. visiting pro bono clients. I had the same visceral reaction to hearing the metal doors clang shut behind me after entering. There’s no such thing as easy time. Even in Canada.

Every day, vulnerable populations are exploited in every country in the world, including the United States and one of the most endangered groups of people is children. From the young girl being turned out in a truck stop or a brothel; to the boy on the streets caught up in a begging or prostitution ring; to the kids working in the fields; to the child domestic servant who never gets to leave the house and lives in the fear of the knock on the door at night — children in the United States and around the world are vulnerable to exploitation and suffer greatly from the heinous crime of human trafficking.

On Monday, August 23, I was fortunate to meet with some of the very professionals, including victim service providers and district attorneys, who work each and every day to keep kids in America safe from all forms of exploitation. Check out the speech here. This was an important day to reflect on activities to protect the most vulnerable as August 23 is the United Nations’ International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. Click here to read Ambassador Susan Rice’s statement.

As we look to “lead by example” in the fight against modern slavery on the global stage, the United States is also working very hard here at home to protect victims, prevent the crime in the first place, and prosecute the traffickers who dare to hold others in bondage. Just in the last week, the State of Illinois implemented a stronger law to prosecute pimps and give children a safe haven, while law enforcement spearheaded a wide swath of arrests in Oregon, Chicago, and Houston.

Through its “whole of government” approach, the Obama Administration is committed to combating all forms of modern slavery. We are working to develop and support promising practices that can hasten the journey from victim to survivor. Experience has shown that when there is support, there is success.

Go to www.state.gov/g/tip to find out ways in which you can join us on that journey to freedom. Learn more via Twitter and Facebook.

Seeing my friend was great – we hung out in Brooklyn and ate a lot, talked a lot, walked a lot and drank a lot. On my last trip to NY I had only done the touristy Manhattan things, and it was great to see what else there is to NY and why so many people love it. I do not, however, truly understand the “hipster” thing. It’s beyond me. Haha.

We ate brunch at “5 Leaves“, which is apparently the restaurant that Heath Ledger started building before he died and that his father finished after he passed away. My breakfast was yummy – the fruit and nut bread reminded me a lot of the amazing bread I used to get in Germany.

Actually, the whole neighborhood reminded me a lot of Germany, which is probably because it was actually a Polish district! Lots of corner stores, pierogi shops and dirty streets, but full of character.

This image of “old worldly ness” was shattered by the introduction of Pop Culture – anyone seen “Top Chef New York”? I have now seen the building the chefs lived in.

We also came upon this…

If you think 1,370 is a lot, think again. We followed the faces up to 1,800 – and then we turned one way and the faces continued another.

After wandering Brooklyn, we decided to try Soho so that my friend could show me NYU and the fashion world that she belongs to and I am fortunately ignorant of. Haha. Upon exiting the Subway, I was reminded of just why I remembered hating! NY the last time I was there. The People! The Crowds! It was loud, dirty, claustrophobic and apparently full of Bed Bugs (who knew?). We wandered for a bit and then retreated to Brooklyn and a bottle of Cupcake Wine (which was really, really good. If you ever see it, do yourself a favor and try it.)

The next day we did the one touristy thing I really wanted to do – go to the Met! As I said, the last time I was in NY I did all the touristy things with my family. The one thing we didn’t do was the Met. If you know my family you’ll understand – aside from my Dad and I, the rest Do. Not. Do. Museums. At least not when they were under the age of 10. Haha. I blame them for keeping me from the amazingness that is the Met. I was in love! I had about two hours, and I made the most of it. Granted, it was crowded, maze like and a tad expensive, but who cares. Next time I’m in NY I’m going to be outside the Met before it opens so that I can enjoy it with slightly fewer crowds. In any case, it was awesome. And they let you take pictures.

The Tiffany Windows were some of my favorite things in the museum. I grew up with a poster of “A View of Oyster Bay” on our family room wall, so image my delight when I got to see it in person!

Now, I have to admit, one of the main reasons that I wanted to visit the Met was so that I could see this room, and it didn’t disappoint.

Why, was I so interested in this particular room? Was it for the Egyptian artifacts? No.

The amazing contrast provided by the wall of windows? No, although that was really very cool.

The 19th century graffiti was pretty cool too, but that wasn’t it either.

No. It was because I have seen this room a thousand times in my favorite movie of all time, “When Harry Met Sally”. I can see Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal saying “Waiter! There’s too much Pepper in my Poppycosh!” in my head right now, and it gave me a bit of a thrill to stand in the same place as them when they were filming. Haha. I am a nerd.

The rest of the museum was great. We made sure to visit the Asian Artifacts so I could see the five things they had from Cambodia. Haha. The exhibit at the Freer-Sackler that is going to be at the Getty in Feb was way better.

Overall, my weekend was great. Unfortunately, I came home with a cold! Blah. So now here I am, too sick (and contagious! – I got this from someone in NY, for sure) to be in public, and unable to rest (or lay down!). I have had more cups of tea than I can count, and I have spent my day reading novels, making Khmer flash cards (say this: “hay-tah-rejena-sumpoan” – its my new favorite – it means infrastructure!) and watching “Extreme Khmer” videos courtesy of a professor at the University of Wisconsin. Why they have a South East Asian Studies Institute there is beyond me, but go them! The videos are great – the teacher speaks Khmer like a gringo, so I can understand him! Haha. If you want to know what I sound like these days, watch one of his videos (one where he is doing most of the talking). If I am talking about a subject I have the vocabulary for, I can speak about at his speed, although with less intonation and more pauses when I lose my train of thought. But its something. Three more weeks and counting.

During cool weather, we would go to the main Oakwood to play and meet people. It gave us a change of venue and offered a better opportunity to make friends. That carried through until summer, when their pool was warmer than ours, so again we went. Until this week, we hadn’t gone over to the main Oakwood for a while. Most of our friends had left for post, and our pool had warmed up. The starvation for information during our first months here had waned or been fulfilled, so the yearning to make friends and get information wasn’t the factor it had previously been.

While we enjoyed playing (while trying to avoid construction areas), we did get to see one thing the other Oakwood had which we had very much missed… our good friend Victor.

I sold the old Bugaboo and got about 80% of the cost back.  Hooray!

Then I bought a Phil and Ted Sport.  It is really awesome because it fits both kids without being a wide load.  It looks like this:

• The Mini-Cooper Clubman retains its value better than any vehicle on the market.  Meaning: if we buy one we should be able to sell it close to what we bought it for in nine months.  
• It is amazing on gas
• If we decide to change our mind and ship it to Belgium it shouldn’t be too difficult to have it meet European regulations since it was born in England.  
• Its really cool

OK, so the second paycheck would be earned through putting in hours at the Consulate, and I’d have to pass all sorts of tests, but whether I like it or not, I’m a diplomat. (And, yes, I know the feeling is mutual. Like it or not Americans, I’m representing you and your image down here. I apologize in advance for any lasting repercussions.)

EFMs are kind of like First Ladies in that way. We didn’t really sign up for this job when we married our spouses, and the government didn’t really get too much of a say in picking ideal EFMs to accompany their Formally Selected Officials (FSOs). The only screening they did on me was a background check and a medical test. Essentially, the only requirement to being an EFM is not getting into too much trouble and being disease free. (And who knows, they might not even care that much about those two criteria either. Anyone know of any potential EFM being rejected for medical reasons?)

Also like the First Ladies, how we fulfill our role is entirely dependent on our own ambitions. We can be Hillary Clintons and be - perhaps – too involved, or we could be Laura Bushs lead and be essentially out of sight.

That said, I’m not locking myself in the house and never making public appearances. And when I do go out, I am representing how Americans behave. And I stick out a bit, too, given that I have paler skin than most of the native Hermosillians, and that I also probably have a general look of confusion.

Some of us are better at this job than others. Take Novakistan (formerly Minnesota Gal) for instance. She does us proud in her job as a diplomat. These two stories – this one written by her, and this one written by her friend who was visiting – are some of the best things I’ve read from fellow foreign service spouses since I entered the fold. If you have time, you definitely need to read these pieces. If you don’t, then stop reading this one and go check them out instead.

I don’t have the language skills, yet, to be able to be that involved, but I did get to practice a little this past weekend doing some Beach Diplomacy.

There are two beaches near here – San Carlos and Bahia de Kino. From the best that I can tell, Kino seems to be more of the locals’ beach whereas San Carlos is more “vacationy.” While at Kino this past weekend, we – Natalie, one of her colleagues, and I – had a Frisbee with us. It wasn’t the most effective toy with the wind making it difficult to throw, and when it went into the water, it sunk making it hard to retrieve. In short, it was a crappy Frisbee.

Near by, there were two young boys (both 6-9ish) playing in the sand. I think they were digging, but they didn’t have any tools. They also didn’t have any bathing suits and were just wearing their underwear instead. Natalie’s colleague invited them into our game of throwing the Frisbee and looking for it in the Gulf after we inevitably missed it. They were loving it.

They left eventually, and we were getting ready to go our hut when a young girl (9-12ish) walked up to me – I was holding the crappy Frisbee – with a JuMex box in her hand and said “Hi,” in English. A bit relieved that she spoke some English, I decided to test it. “Do you want to throw?” “Yeah,” and then she handed her juice box to some and threw the Frisbee to Natalie’s colleague. She threw a few more times before she started getting bored, or distracted, and then her little sister came over and we played with her some.

She was fascinating, and I’d love to have had more time to talk with her. But I did learn that she was born in Phoenix while her parents and older sister were born in Mexico, and that she had (or still does?) attended school in Tuscan. Her English was incredible, probably even better than some of her American contemporaries. But she also said it was her job to teach her parents and her sister English, too. Like I said, I would have loved to hear more of her story.

But the game ended and we went our separate ways. I’d like to think that the parents were watching and were thinking that those Americans aren’t that bad after all. And I’d like to think that as those children get older, they’ll remember playing with some Americans on the beach, and that we didn’t have fangs or fences.

You’ll never find me serving the United States in a Consulate or Embassy, but I’m just find deploying a little Beach Diplomacy here and there.

The U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe welcomed young American artist Eric Telfort for a three-week State Department Visual Arts Initiative (VAI) program in August. Our Public Affairs Office staff organized a well-attended series of local artist and youth workshops, along with an exhibition of Mr. Telfort’s paintings at the Bulawayo Gallery, located in the second-largest city in Zimbabwe. The gallery is a hub for artists in this dynamic, outspoken city that is a stronghold for the MDC opposition political party in Zimbabwe. The Bulawayo Gallery attracts many prominent artists and large audiences, but Eric’s program there was the first American art program in many years. It was a milestone for U.S. cultural programming and outreach, which brought some interesting challenges.

Zimbabwean immigration officials delayed clearing Mr. Telfort’s paintings and material for several days, relenting only after some negotiations and an Embassy-written guarantee that the art would go back to the United States. One reason that this exhibit came under especially close scrutiny from government officials was that in March, Zimbabwean artist Owen Maseko’s exhibit at the same gallery was shut down by the national government. Mr. Maseko’s work depicts the government-sponsored ethnic cleansings that took place in Bulawayo in the 1980′s. His paintings are bold, political works, and the exhibit led to his arrest and detention. The gallery director was forced to close the exhibit — but, rather than replace it with another exhibit, he took the daring step of covering the gallery’s street-level windows with newspaper for the duration of the planned exhibition time. In that way, all passersby knew that there was something inside that they were forbidden by the government to see.

In this context of artistic repression, the VAI program was especially successful in bringing together this American artist and his Zimbabwean peers to discuss the artist’s visual language for expressing the human condition. Telfort’s work, entitled “When I Was 6,” is a look into the personal stories of the artist’s childhood in “Little Haiti” (Miami, FL) and provides a visually compelling U.S. cultural experience. Through the work, Telfort has his audience think about the cultural, social, and political issues that surround life for a child growing up in a low-income American neighborhood. His Zimbabwean audiences identified with Telfort’s themes of childhood, poverty, and diversity, and came away with a better understanding of the African-American cultural experience.

In other news, Two Crabs found today’s Dear Abby way over in Manama (not too far from us, in Bahrain, an island off the coast of Saudi Arabia, where my dear friend Jen is also posted. (Hi Jen!)). Go read Dear Abby’s response to a guy who wants to join the Foreign Service but has unhappy in-laws because of his decision. And then read Two Crabs’ response to Dear Abby’s response.

And now, to celebrate someone’s stellar performance on today’s spelling test, I am off to prepare celebratory cheese quesadillas, the young scholar’s favorite food. (Anyone have a spare tortilla press they want to send my way? Because tortillas here are crazy-expensive.)

copyright Donna S Gorman

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.