There's No Place Like Home

This is what I got when I got home.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family!

And I'm so happy to be home!

What I did when I was away / at the Mothership / on bridge

One of the wonderful things about my job with the State Department is how supportive they are.  Most other jobs -  if you had to be gone for 9 weeks -  you’d just be out of luck.  You’d use up all your sick and vacation time and then you’d really be in a bind.

But – not only did the wonderful MED Foreign Programs facilitate my returning to the US for treatment, they also facilitated my doctor’s appointments in DC.  And since my treatment (after surgery) was in DC, I was able to work when I wasn’t getting treatment.

The folks at MED are very supportive of people working while on Medical Leave if they feel up to it.  It helps you stay connected, stay involved, and it also can preserve some of your precious leave.

My CDO (Career Development Officer), helped me find a bridge assignment – it’s what they call temporary assignments that are between two other assignments.  He found me a spot in the Bureau of Consular Affairs.

What is that you ask?

The mission of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is to protect the lives and interests of American citizens abroad and to strengthen the security of United States borders through the vigilant adjudication of visas and passports. CA contributes significantly to the USG goal of promoting international exchange and understanding. Our vision is to help American citizens engage the world. The Bureau issues the travel documents that allow Americans to travel the globe and lawful immigrants and visitors to travel to America and provides essential cycle of life services to American citizens overseas.

There is a really good website http://travel.state.gov/ that has tons of information.  It’s the first place you should go when you’re thinking of travelling internationally. 

I got to work in the Crisis Management section helping the folks who help you when there’s a crisis overseas.  Here’s some more information about what that can entail:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/emergencies/emergencies_1212.html

One of the best ways you can help take care of yourself is by enrolling in the STEP (Smart Traveller Enrollment Program). http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/registration/registration_4789.html   By enrolling in STEP, you get all the travel alerts and updates – really important information – especially in a crisis.

There are a lot of people working really hard to make sure that US citizens have the freedom to travel the world, and the information and support to stay as safe as possible.  I wish more people out there knew how many folks there are watching out for them when they’re overseas.  It’s like having a whole set of aunties and uncles who just want to make sure you have a nice time and are safe.  It’s a good feeling.

Good Friends

I’ve written before about what a great community I have.

All of our new friends in Brazil have been amazing to my family. And the whole time I was in Berkeley I was surrounded by friends and family who kept me company and watched out for me and helped me. 

It hasn’t stopped since I arrived in DC.

I don’t know nearly as many people in DC as I do in Berkeley, but the few that are here have been tremendous.

Some of my Vibrant Colleagues were still here for training when I arrived.  Since I moved into the building where they’d been living for quite a while, they made sure to show me around and pass on any tips.  And in the finest Foreign Service tradition, they also gifted me with many of their extra food products when they headed off to post.

Other Vibrant Colleagues have been here working at the Mothership.  Some have had me to their homes for dinner and I got to play with their kids.  Not the same as playing with my kids – but so nice to be around a family!  And others have made sure I didn’t get to lonely in my apartment – meeting me for dinner and lunch several times – and even showing me some cool knitting stores!

My Vibrant Colleagues who are in Brazil even got together and sent me some wonderful flowers to brighten up my cookie cutter government housing!

I’ve also been very lucky in that one of my best friends from college lives in the area.  She and her husband have taken such good care of me!  They took me shopping so that I could get set up, we went to their place on the Shore one weekend, they’ve introduced me to a great neighborhood in Alexandria and a wonderful restaurant.  They took me to Howard University where I got to see DC’s own Afro-Blue perform and then to the Jefferson Memorial at night - beautiful!!

I will be so happy to get home to my family, but it’s been a wonderful silver lining to spend such great times with good friends!

The Hardest Part

With all that’s been going on, people often comment on how hard it all must be – the surgeries, the radiation, the multiple doctors.

But that’s not what’s hard.  And not to minimize anyone else’s experience.  But I do surgery well.  And thus far, the radiation treatments haven’t been horrible.  The doctors are all very nice and very helpful.

What’s hard is being away from my family.

I have never been away this long from my family – ever.

By the time I get home, I will have been gone 9 weeks:  3 weeks for surgeries, 3 weeks for recovery and 3 weeks for radiation.

I will have been away from my family in Brazil longer (9 weeks) than we were together in Brazil (4 weeks).

We had only been in Brazil for a month when I had to leave.  We were just beginning to get settled and were still living out of suitcases.  We’re still living out of suitcases since stuff can take a long time to get to Brazil.  And of course I’m living out of suitcases as I’ve been here and there.

But all that is doable as well.

It’s been hard on me and it’s been hard on them.  K. has to cope with being a single parent (which is insanely difficult), while being in a foreign country, with a new language, and the emotions of kids who are missing their mom - not to mention his own feelings.  I get to deal with all this health stuff all alone - without my family near me.

The worst part is when one of us has had a hard day.  I can’t pull my kids on my lap and hold them while I listen to all their thoughts and fears.  I can’t give my husband a hug when it all becomes too much for him.  And they can’t hug me when I get scared.

I do have something to hug though:

The kids brought these back for us when they went to Camp Grandma and Bompa last year.  So we’d have something to hug the next time they went.  I’ve been putting them to good use.