Metapost

I was telling Mom a little bit about this blog last night and tried to compare it to how I imagine a person with a painting hobby might get back into painting. I feel like I just cleaned out a little room in our house and set up an easel and bought a bunch of paints and brushes. It think because this is written stories of my life on the Internet there is some sort of expectation (and I have it too) that they'll be stories of an Important and Interesting Life. But I just want to write, and I don't write in a journal. I think a blog already is a very easy forum for me. It's very inviting and I know that it will be a wonderful account of Matt's and my life for us (and friends and family if we end up moving far away). But it also gives me a place to write, an excuse to write and I know that will give me the opportunity to use my brain in a different way. It's a win win.

Customer Service

Boutique Nail & Hair on 9th and South Streets is basically the opposite of Apsara where I got my beautiful haircut yesterday. It does have some excellent qualities, for instance it is very close to my house and it is reasonably priced and they do a good pedicure. As a result, I totally go there. Nevertheless, they are not a friendly crew. When I walked in this morning no one aknowledged me at all. Luckily, I am an old hand (foot?) at pedicures, so I picked out my color and went over to sit in the one empty pedi chair. The pedicurist attending to the feet next to me turned the water on and dumped in some blue crystally stuff without making eye contact. I am trying very hard to appreciate moments like this because I imagine that doing the same thing in a different country, in a language I only just learned is going to make the memory of this morning seem like a shining example of pampered luxury. I have been feeling the same way about drivers in Philly. I am amazed how I don't get annoyed at all with their lack of manners and common courtesy because I hope, hope, hope that I will soon live in a place where the rules of the road are merely suggestions and a little ride to work is an adventure.

Generally the customer service is pretty good in Philadelphia. I think that after living in Washington, DC, my standards were extremely low when I arrived here 2 years ago, so I was thrilled by any little nicety. But I have continued to be happy with Philly customer service. I think that the big difference between the surly attitude in DC and the surly attitude in Philadelphia is that in Philly people know what they're doing. In DC people were rude and did a terrible job. In Philly people may be rude to you but you get a good pedicure or bus ride or sandwich and you believe the person behind the counter at the pharmacy has an advanced education in the field.

Sunday Routine

Over the past year, Matt and I have realized how much we like to get up early on the weekends. He has, of course, been getting up early to go for group rides for years, but it is a new concept for me. I love it because it makes the weekend days so much longer. I feel more refreshed and as though I've spent a significant amount of time away from work when I return on Mondays. When we lived in DC, I hated my job and would always begin to panic about having to return by about 2 on Sundays. I really do like the current job, but I still like to have a long, full weekend.

On Sunday mornings, we take Toby and go for a walk up to Spruce Street Espresso. And this is so nerdy, we get to walk down Clinton Street which we do as much as possible these days for luck. There are a really huge number of coffee shops in our neighborhood and I don't know why SSE became our Sunday morning destination. It is delicious, the baristas are friendly, and it is the perfect distance from the house for a nice little dog walk. They also have a poster on the wall from some sort of barista convention that was sponsored by Murky Coffee. And 1369 Coffee House is on the poster, too. I love the idea that the little coffee shops of my life are related somehow.

We are now back at the house, watching the Tour de France online. Today is the final, 21st, stage into Paris. I am sad that it is over, it's such a fun and motivating time of year. I hope that Internet connectivity (or cable teevee access) precedes us around the world so we can watch this amazing feat of strength, endurance and team work during future summers.

For the rest of the day we have planned a pedicure, an OA prep session via Skype and packing for our summer vacation. We wanted to go for a bike ride, but I just did something nasty to my back. I feel like a bit of an old lady and have actually been totally judging certain overweight coworkers who were recently telling me about lower back problems. I am confident that I am in the best shape of my life right now, but the fact remains, by back is officially thrown out. Hopefully the massage chair at the nail place will fix it up and I'll be posting photos of an afternoon ride through Fairmount Park to Ann & Walt's house this evening.

Sunny Saturday

As excited as I am to join to Foreign Service, I am totally loving my life in Philadelphia and will miss it dearly. Today I am having a bit of a day de beaute. I am getting my hair cut and colored by hair genius, Mary, at Apsara on 10th and Christian. This woman was sick of working for her old boss last year and, at the ripe old age of 26, drummed up the capital to start her own salon! It is a beautiful little spot and I have never gotten more compliments on my hair. Check out the Yelp comments - I am not the only one who loves her. I always put off getting haircuts because I dread spending a precious afternoon making conversation with a random person and spending tens of dollars on something I may not love.

For the first time in my life, I am back for my 6 week trim six weeks later and I am loving being here. It is like being in a good friend's kitchen and meeting a bunch of interesting women, plus I come out looking gorgeous. And it is less expensive than anywhere else in town, further supporting my proposed slogan: Philly, you can afford it! The other day when I made my appointment, I told Mary I wanted to be b-l-o-n-d-e, a sunkissed, beachy blondie, so we'll see what the old cheveaux looks like this afternoon.

Matt and I are headed to Cape Cod on Thursday morning! We are both absolutely counting down the days until Jim Hughes-made cocktails and lobster dinner and meltaways and puzzles (crossword and jigsaw) and great conversation and the National Seashore. I had never been to the Cape before last summer. Well, except for that one afternoon in 2005 when we brought an absolutely green, hungover Steve with us. The three of us sad in the overcast sea air on a jetty at the end of the beach. And, this was such a tragic afternoon, Matt was on the phone with Casey's former owners and all three of them were just crying about this horrible decision we had to make. My god, that dog was so well loved. So anyway, that terrible afternoon only counts as having been to the Cape because my favorite bar tender Jim Hughes introduced me to his delish Bloody Mary Mix. In all other ways I had never been before and was really astounded by the beauty of the National Seashore area out by Wellfleet. I am very excited to reprise our bike ride and I hear that sister-in-law Sarah at least will be joining us this year.

So, I am now sitting in foils in Apsara, drinking a tiny Corona. This is the life!

Thoughts and explanations

Matt has applied to be a Foreign Service Generalist, specifically a Consular Officer which means that he would be working at US Embassies and Consulates interviewing foreign visa applicants and helping out American citizens living or traveling abroad. I think it will be a perfect match - his experience as a Public Defender here in Philadelphia has really taught him enormous lessons about judging character and thinking on his feet and maneuvering as nimbly as possible through a hulking bureaucracy. He is too modest to fully admit to how good he is at his current job, but I can see that he agrees that there is no better training for the job he wants. Right now, all that stands between us and this new adventure is the Oral Assessment and that is no small challenge. It is a full day of exercises designed to give the candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their possession of the State Department's 13 Dimensions. (Dun, dun, dun!) We are preparing like mad and at the end of the day I have to admit that this is pretty much out of my control. I am not going to take the test, Matt's the one who has to pass it. This is simultaneously a huge relief and totally panic-inducing.

Why aren't I applying too, you may ask. This is a good question. Of course, American expats need Nurse Practitioners, and there is an application on the State Department website specifically for NPs . Unfortunately, each FSO has to commit to "world-wide availability" and while I want to travel the world, I only want to do it with Matt. If I were an FSO as well, we'd be known as a "tandem couple" and our employment options would be limited because we could only go to posts where they were looking for a Consular Officer and a Health Practitioner Specialist at the same time. Many tandem couples end up long-distance for long periods of time and I do not want that! Maybe, as we get further into this, I'll realize that we really can both work for State and stay together, but after a huge amount of preliminary research, it seems like the best thing to do is to have Matt work for them and I'll try to work in the local economy or at the embassy as an Eligible Family Member (EFM). I don't know if I can be an Eligible Family Nurse (Practitioner), I might be an Eligible Family Administrative Assistant. This is honestly okay with me. I am confident that the life we'll have not just traveling the world but living in different countries for 2-4 years at a time, working for the US Government (cue swelling patriotic music), will be equally or more rewarding than a long and successful career as an NP would be.

But how will you afford it? You are, of course, too polite to ask, but I know you're wondering and we did too. It seems impossible to remove my income from the picture and still end up retired in any kind of comfort. But, remember, thousands of families have done this for decades and many of them have children. We have always gloated that the money other people divert to the college fund goes right into our retirement and travel accounts. But the FS really does make life easier financially. Whenever we are abroad, approximately two-thirds of Matt's career, our housing will be paid for. Much of our travel and all of our moving expenses (including transporting the Tobe-dog) will be taken care of. Also, Matt and I are really excited for so called hardship posts. These are places like Nairobi, Kenya

or Jakarta, Indonesia

where the cost of living is low and we'd be paid a bonus because they're hot/dangerous/have less than optimal health care facilities.

So, where will you go? As I mentioned before, we agree to worldwide availability. So, we could be headed anywhere: Ulan Bator, Mongolia

or St. Petersburg, Russia

or Lima, Peru

or Toronto, Canada

I have read repeatedly that the Career Development Officers (CDO) at State pride themselves on helping FSOs and their families design a career in places they are excited to serve. I am sure I will have much, much more to say on this topic in the future. Right now I am excited about seeing the whole world and open to everything. Our first two posts will be two years each, after that we get to stay put for longer stretches (up to four years, I think), and most people come back to DC for training between posts and for tours at Main State.

Embarking

It is 8:47 on a Saturday morning and I am sitting on my second floor deck beginning a blog. I am sitting on my grandmother's floral print chaise lounge cushion amidst my grandparents' old porch furniture, our thriving tomato plants and my very hairy dog, Toby. This seems like a perfect setting for my first post: I am sitting in the house I bought with my best friend, my husband the month that we got married two years ago. This space in our house is furnished with wrought iron furniture, given to us by my paternal grandparents when they downsized, so it's got some history, and it lived with them for much of a 60+ year marriage. And I am surrounded by plants and a dog that Matt and I are taking very good care of, if I do say so myself. I am starting this blog this morning with a sense of adventure and anticipation that I can hardly contain, because Matt, my amazing husband, and Toby, our trusty dog, and I are applying to join the US Foreign Service. Matt took the written exam on my birthday, February 10th, and was among the 20% who passed. He wrote follow-up essays and prepared a very specific resume and found out in May that he was invited to the final test. Matt is scheduled to take his Oral Assessment (OA) in Washington, DC on September 10th. I am so proud of him for getting this far in such a competitive process and understand that many diplomats don't pass the OA the first time around, but I am hoping that we'll be in the 3% of applicants that make the grade and this time next year, my header image won't be of Philadelphia anymore.