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!

One Year Ago Today

Today is the one year anniversary of my first day as a Foreign Service Officer.

I can’t believe it’s only been a year since I first entered the Harry S. Truman Main State building and took the oath of office with my Vibrant classmates.

So many things have happened since then.

In the past year, our family packed up all our belongs and left our wonderful community in Berkeley and all our family and friends.  We moved across the country to Washington, DC and started with new jobs, school, housing – everything.

We’ve made new friends, learned about a new part of the country, learned a new language – Portuguese, lived in snow (sort of), and grown new communities. 

We’ve taken numerous plane flights, been to a few amusement parks, had many visitors.

We moved to another country on another continent in another hemisphere.  We've navigated new cultures, school systems, foods and lifestyles.

We’ve also dealt with serious illness and a far too-lengthy separation.

Yes – it’s been a year chock-full of adventures and growth experiences!

Community

Community has always been very important to me. 

I've worked to create it wherever I've lived whether consciously or not.  It's what made our wonderful neighborhood in Berkeley so fantastic.  It's what initially drew me to the Junior League and I loved being a part of "Women Building Better Communities".

With the business that K. and I created, community was at the heart of our mission statement.

Speakeasy Theaters nurtures and grows local communities by entertaining, challenging and feeding the mind, body and soul through irreverent, respectful and whimsical entertainment and tasty, local, housemade food and drink.

I knew that joining the Foreign Service would stretch many of the physical bonds of the communities I've been a part of - it can be difficult to keep those connections fluid when you're removed from so many day to day interactions.  Facebook and Skype are wonderful tools - but they're not a substitute for running into a friend at the Farmer's Market and catching up.

But I also knew that I'd become a part of a larger, worldwide community.  I'd seen examples of how the Foreign Service community reaches out to one another from all over the world - whether it's evacuations, or personal health issues, the FS community really comes together.

And then we had our most recent whirlwind hit.  The out-pouring of love and support has been tremendous!

I've had tons of offers of places to stay both in Berkeley and in DC (when I undergo radiation); my father has driven up to be with me for the surgery; my sister is coming in for the aftermath; my mother has arranged things with her work so that she can Skype my kids whenever they need.  When I started to lose it after traveling 30 hours and then having a 3 hours doctor's appointment, all I had to do was call on my dearest friend to come get me and he did - he and his partner plied me with burgers and Manhattans (my favorite cure) and a cozy bed (and then fresh eggs and coffee for breakfast).

My Vibrant colleagues have reached out from all over the world.  Their love and support makes me feel so warm and cozy!  I know that when I do my TDY at the Mothership, I'll get to hang out with some of them and that's a wonderful thing to look forward to.

The outpouring of support from the FS blogging community has been wonderful.  I've seen it in action before, but never (since I don't think of myself as a writer and since I'm fairly new to this life) felt truly worthy to be in their community.  People I've never ever met - only read about - have reached out to me with their support.  I may even get to meet some of them when I'm in DC.

And our tiny Consulate community in Recife has been amazing!  People we've barely met and have known for less than a month have been helping to take care of my family - playing with the kids, helping my husband tackle life in Brazil by himself, setting up our cell phones so we can maintain contact (thank you Viber!).  I can't be with my husband and kids, but I know they are being very well taken care of.

Even the official channels and positions who have the responsibility of making sure that the US objectives are being met and taxpayers monies are being spent appropriately are also making sure that I'm being well taken care of and that my family and I are in a good place.  It's nice to be working for such a great employer.

I head into surgery today knowing that my family and I are being taken care of and loved and supported from every possible angle.  It doesn't take the burdens away, but it definitely makes them lighter (and more fun) when they're shared by so many people!

Community is a tremendous thing.

So - what is it that I'm doing here in Brazil?

Living here in Brazil is great.  We get to live on the beach, we get to experience a different culture, we get to spend some great family time together.  It sounds like one big vacation!

But I also have a job here that I do.

Every day during the week, I go off to my job in the consular section of the American Consulate in Recife.  Once there, my primary responsibility is to adjudicate non-immigrant visas.  Huh??  What's that.  Well, a vibrant colleague has laid it all out pretty well here and here.


Visas in Brazil are getting a lot of press these days.  It is very exciting to be able to be a part of this process.  I get to work with some great people, I get to meet lots of wonderful Brazilians, and I get to help facilitate people's travel to the United States.

It's a great job - one that I enjoy very much and one that is helping to make a difference.  I feel very lucky to be able to do this.

Goodbyes and Barbacoa

One of the difficulties you must face when you're in the Foreign Service is saying goodbye to friends.   There are so many wonderful and interesting people and it's great getting to know them and becoming friends.  But -  someone's always leaving and heading to a new post. 

With my Vibrant class - there was a big bunch of people who left mid-summer, and then another bunch of people that are leaving at the end of this year.  We are part of that group and have spent the last few weeks saying goodbye to many of our new friends.  It's hard to say goodbye - but nice to know that nowadays with Facebook and Skype and other sorts of things, it's much easier to stay in touch.

We had a great goodbye / celebrating the end of language training dinner at Marrakesh in DC.  Loads of fun, great food, great company - and belly dancers!

We also had a nice dinner with some good friends who are off to Cape Verde.  M. is a native of Mexico and made a wonderful Barbacoa.  He was kind enough to share the recipe.  I'm looking forward to making it once we get to Brazil.

Barbacoa

Clockwise from top:

Chile, guajillo

Chile, ancho

Sesame seeds

Mexican oregano

Bay leaf

Garlic

Cloves

Marjoram

Black pepper, whole

Take all of the above ingredients and put in boiling water (enough to cover) for two minutes to soften.  Blend until fine with some of the water and some salt and strain into a pot.  Re-blend the residue with some more water and re-strain.  Repeat these steps until sauce is nice and red.  (Straining everything is an important step and helps prevent heartburn!)

Use the liquid to braise the meat (beef, pork, ribs, goat, lamb).  Add the meats - you'll want a mixture and cook at a low simmer for about 2 hours or until done.  The meat should be falling off the bone and very tender.  

One option is to pull out the meat and shred it and let it crisp in the oven - like carnitas.  You can also reduce the sauce so that it thickens.  You can also use some of the liquid to make rice and serve along with the meat.

Serve the meats and the sauce with warm tortillas, chopped onions, cilantro, limes and avocados.

Weekend in New York

We actually went to New York in July, I'm just now getting around to posting about our amazing trip.  Since the kids were at Camp Grandma and Bompa, we decided to take advantage of a free weekend and head to New York.  I hadn't been in many, many years and K. had never been.

We left Friday afternoon on the Vamoose Bus to New York.  There was a lot of traffic so we didn't get to Manhattan and checked into our hotel until around 9 or so.   We had a great recommendation from a Vibrant Colleague for a restaurant in Little Italy.  It was wonderful and at his recommendation, we had the deep fried calzone - yummy!  It was glorious to sit outside at 10:30 on a warm summer night and watch the people go by.

The next day we took one of those Hop On / Hop Off tours and explored New York.  But first we made a pilgrimage to the famous Essa Bagel.   Yummy whitefish on pumpernickel!

The Hop On / Hop Off tour is a great way to see a lot of the city in a day.  We had a great time on the open top of the double decker bus.  First we saw lower Manhattan.  And then we stopped for a rest at the Plaza and got some lunch and walked through Central Park.  After that we toured upper Manhattan finishing up at the Metropolitan Museum.  It was very crowded so we hopped a cab and headed to the new High Line Park through lower Manhattan.  It's this glorious urban park that has been built on old elevated train rails and winds through several blocks. There were lots of people promenading and several vendors selling refreshments.  I got a Latin-style popsickle - super yummy!

We then strolled through some neighborhoods stopping at one point for some great NY style pizza.  Eventually we ended up at the Staten Island ferry and from another Vibrant tip - took the free ferry to see the Statue of Liberty around sunset.  It was beautiful!

We walked up the east side of the island through different neighborhoods and got a late night snack before heading back to the hotel - we were exhausted!

The next morning we headed back to DC and more Portuguese studying!  It was a whirlwind, but loads of fun.

Flags of the World - in Food!

A friend and Vibrant Colleague of mine recently sent me a link to the results of the Sydney International Food Festival.  They had an extraordinary competition that required people to make the country flags using traditional foods from the country.  The results are amazing - great food styling and creativity.


Here's the Brazilian Flag - banana leaf, limes, pineapple and passion fruit.

Here's the link for the rest of the flags - check them out!

Blogs I love

There are a lot of blogs out there and some are really awesome.

I've mentioned some of my favorite Foreign Service blogs.  And I also have a list on the left side of the blogs of my Vibrant Colleagues.

But there are a lot of other blogs out there that are not about the Foreign Service (imagine that!) and are just amazing.

I recently found about about a blog that I found to be hysterically funny - I was laughing so hard I cried!  It's called The Bloggess and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Then there are the food blogs like Smitten Kitchen and 101 Cookbooks - they have great recipes and pictures.  I just made the Easy Little Bread recipe and it truly was easy and lovely and the kids adored it.

The wonderful David Lebovitz blog about chocolate, food and living in Paris is a favorite of mine.  I got to work with David for a minute when I did my CCA extern-ship at Chez Panisse back in the early 1990's.  He is the nicest guy!!!

And now I have a new favorite.  One of my favorite writers (and full disclosure - good friend),  has started a new project.  It's called The Urbane Grandmother and it is a tremendous guide for what to do in San Francisco with kids.  But it's not your typical "go to this park" kind of kid guide.  It's basically an adult guide to San Francisco that shows you the ways you can include your young friends in the wonderful activities you love to do.  Things like the best place to get a cuppa tea and who makes the best focaccia.  And she would know - after all - she is also the Culinary Muse and her Art of Tasting Chocolate thoughts are unbelievable.

Fourth of July - DC Style

Before we joined the Foreign Service, we lived on one of the greatest blocks in Berkeley.  Our street had an amazing sense of community and it was best exemplified by our annual block party on the Fourth of July.

Each year on the Fourth of July, we'd close the street.  The barricades and permit came from the city, but the decorated signs announcing the party were done by the neighborhood kids.  They'd gather to make the signs and then we'd load the barricades on a wagon and troop to the ends of our block to officially close the street.

At that point, all the neighbors would bring their BBQs to their front yards and start the grills up.  We'd move our lawn furniture into the street and erect tents and tables for the communal food.  At some point, the Scrabble crew would start playing their game, the kids would fill water balloons and music would begin playing.  Some year's we'd have a band and do the Electric Slide in the middle of the street.

We'd always have a parade.  The kids (and some adults), would decorate their bikes, scooters, hats - whatever, and ride down the street playing kazoos.  One year we even had a City Councilmember attend!

We'd also have a neighborhood Egg Toss.  It was a contribution the very first year by a neighbor whom I'll call "Egg Toss Man" and was such fun that it became a yearly tradition growing larger each year.  Eventually we had to have a smaller version for the under 10 set.

So this year I was a little concerned about the Fourth of July.  We wouldn't be with our fabulous neighbors.  And the kids would be away at Camp Grandma and Bompa.

But luckily we had a friend from California come to visit and a Vibrant Colleague invited us to her neighborhood party.  They have a wonderful annual event that gets capped off with a visit to the rooftop of their local school to watch the fireworks over the Capital.  Pretty amazing!

It wasn't Berkeley - but it was pretty spectacular!

Thunderstorms and Rainbows

We have a lot of thunderstorms here in Virginia.  It seems like every night (and sometimes in the afternoon), the clouds roll in and then the thunder and lightning and rain starts.  I just love it!  Coming from California I'm used to cold rain - which is also quite wonderful.  But this warm, balmy rain is absolutely glorious!  It always makes me feel like I'm in some tropical paradise on vacation.

Of course, when the clouds roll in the afternoon, it means the end of pool time - which can be a real drag.  The rule is that if there's thunder, it's out of the pool for 30 minutes.  If there's lightning - it's 60 minutes.  Either way, it usually means the end of swimming for the day.

One night I was fortunate to be at a rooftop party celebrating a Vibrant colleague's 30th birthday.  There was a thunderstorm off in the distance and it was like being in a movie watching the clouds periodically light up from the lightning.  The storm was far enough away so we didn't have to leave the rooftop.  The other amazing thing about that party was that it was the first rooftop party I've ever been to where we didn't end up shivering back in the apartment.  I guess that's one of the big differences from the Bay Area where each night, the fog rolls in and the sweaters come out.

Two nights ago, the thunderstorm was incredibly loud and right overhead.  It was as though we were inside the orchestra during the Brandenburg Concerto.  The lightning was flashing constantly and the rain was just pouring down.  It frightened the kids, but K. and I stood on the balcony and just watched it all (of course after we got the kids calmed down).

Last night, the rains came early and we had a double rainbow.  Just beautiful!

Thank You For Your Service!

This message recently went out on some of the Foreign Service boards:

My husband is a Marine Corps reservist who just finished Command and Staff College at Quantico. One of his teachers sent the following email around, from a colleague in Afghanistan:

Marines in need of contact and support. These Marines are deployed in AFGH with no next of Kin or family/friends corresponding with them or able to afford packages.

Send by priority mail flat rate boxes you can obtain at Post Office or on-line. You also need to attach a customs form. Special rates for military  packages are around $12.00 large box. On customs form just list magazines, food, estimate value at $12.00, otherwise if list valuable contents they will be stolen, Boot socks (Merino) are needed as they go through a few pair a week on patrol, baby wipes, jerky, cigarettes, dip, chew, candy (It reaches 120-130 degrees in summer so some will melt, This is also the sandstorm season for 120 days in South so face masks, scarfs are used. magazines, books, underwear, bug spray, sunscreen,. Winter in goes down to near 0 so gloves, hats, socks, hand warmers etc. All packages are X-rayed.

Among all the other ways they serve, marines staff the Post One at most Embassies and Consulates - they keep us and the work we do safe.   So of course we have a special place in our hearts for them.  When this email went out, my Vibrant colleagues organized some care packages for the folks who are out there serving their country.

My kids made some pictures to go in the packages

 In case you don't have fluency reading level in 1st grade writing it reads:

Thank you for all the srvs (service) you give us!!!!!!!!!

And

If you'd like to put together your own care packages to send - just click here.

Swearing-In

Today the members of the Vibrant 160th got sworn in.

I do solemnly swear

That I will support and defend

The Constitution of the United States

Against all enemies foreign and domestic,

That I will bear true faith

and allegiance to the same,

That I take this obligation freely,

Without any mental reservation

or purpose of evasion,

and that I will well and faithfully

Discharge the duties of the Office

on which I am about to enter,

So help me God.

Pretty powerful stuff.

We've completed six weeks of orientation where we were introduced to the profession of diplomacy, among other things, by some pretty wonderful and skillful coordinators.  On Monday we will head off on our separate ways getting additional trainings and preparing for posts all over the world.

And it's also Foreign Affairs Day - very serendipitous.

Congratulations to my colleagues in the Vibrant 160th!

Not the Woods - we went to Camp!

There is a legendary part of A-100 class that's been called "the Woods" because it's held off site at a place called - you guessed it - the Woods.

Unfortunately, the Woods closed this year - so our class got to go to Camp!

2 nights in West Virginia at a Training Camp.  It was great!   It was an opportunity for us all to get out of our business suits and into some more relaxed clothes and have team building and leadership exercises.   We had our version of the infamous Follies (flag-day, flag-day . . ., hula skirts, egs-tc.).  We had karaoke, dancing, foosball, pool, etc. at the Liberty Lounge.  And I had what's been my biggest cultural experience thus far - who knew that pudding was a mainstay on the salad bar???  I had thought it was a big vat of mayonnaise!

Our vibrant coordinators planned a great off-site for us.  We went into the experience a great group and we came out with better and tighter bonds and more trust in ourselves and each other.  I am so incredibly lucky to be part of this class!