Welcome Dinner and First Day

I am exhausted.  In fact, I feel like I could fall asleep as I am sitting here typing this.  Maybe that's a signal that I should just go to bed.  Especially since I don't have internet access to post this tonight, but I want to get my actual feelings down before turning in.

Welcome basket from my sponsor.  It had this
amazing smoked garlic mozzarella cheese
dip.  Just thinking about it is making we want
some more.

Today was a very long day.  But it started with a long night.  I want to return to yesterday.  Yesterday, after my last post, I went to my sponsor's house for dinner.  There were a few other FSOs there.  We talked and then ate and then talked somemore.  It was nice to get out rather than being stuck in my house all night alone, but we stayed later than I probably should have.
When I got home, I went through the process of unlocking the first gate, and the second gate, and finally the front door.  To my surprise and dismay, I could not find a key to match the bottom lock of my front door.  There was no other way for me to get in.  I didn't have the garage door opener.  I couldn't get into the back yard because my house is connected to both of my neighbors.  I didn't know what to do because I also didn't have a phone.  Even if I did have a phone, I had no numbers to call.
Luckily, I know my next door neighbor back from A-100 and I knew he was up because we had driven together to the dinner.  I went over there, and he tried to help me.  He couldn't find a key either, but his backyard connects to my backyard.  The walls separating our yards are covered in razor wire and barbed wire.  It didn't look promising.  If we had a ladder, we could have climbed over safely.  But there was no ladder.  Instead, my neighbor used a portable table that he had to climb on and  very careful hoist himself over the barbed wire and into my backyard.  From there he tried my back door (after opening the metal gate covering it), but the sliding door was locked from the inside.  He went around, and thankfully was able to get in to the garage.  From there I was able to get in to my house.  Though I was a little worried there because I had locked the bottom lock there, too, and there was no key hole.  But I was able to get it unlocked, and from there in to my house.  I learned my lesson well, though.  I am not locking at handles of doors anymore.

Gizmo was adventurous and went out into the
backyard, but quickly decided he wanted
back in when he saw that I had left.

When I got in, I started getting ready for bed.  I hadn't seen Gizmo, so I called out to him.  I heard him faintly meowing, but I couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from.  I started searching in cupboards and behind every closed door to make sure he didn't get himself into somewhere he shouldn't have.  Nothing.  I started to worry that he was buried under the mountain of stuff I had brought in from my car.  Nothing.  After about 25 minutes of searching and researching, worrying that there was some hole that I couldn't find that he had fallen into, or crawled into without being able to get out.  Finally, I thought, "He did NOT try to go under the couch, did he?"  Sure enough, I saw his little blue leash sticking out from under the living room couch.  He had crawled under there and gotten stuck.  I pulled him out, laughing, and we went to bed.
This morning, I woke up at 5am.  I must still be on DC time.  It was annoying because I was exhausted (still am).  I got breakfast, and other than that kept going up and down the stairs.  I guess there is one major benefit to having a large house with a second story . . . I think it will help Gizmo to lose weight running up and down those stairs after me.
My first day at work was long.  It was mainly administrative things, meeting with people and getting some things taken care of.  I needed to go down to Mexican immigration to check in as a diplomat in the country.  One of my colleagues who arrived last week came along.  We took an armored vehicle with a driver.  That was fairly easy and painless for me.  I just filled out a card, they stamped my passport and gave it back to me.  Next I needed to get some pictures taken for my id card.  Now, an up-armored SUV is much taller than a normal SUV which is still generally too tall for me, so it was quite a chore getting in and out of that vehicle.  At the photo studio, the ground was grooved.  Because of that and the long jump from the vehicle, I ended up twisting my foot.  I didn't think it did anything at the time, but now my ankle is a little sore.  It's not swollen or anything, so I don't think it is a sprain, but it is tender.  The driver was so worried about me.  When we got back to the consulate, he checked to make sure everything was alright with me.  It was nice.
It was also interesting to watch how the driver drove.  He was ready at a moments notice to put the car in reverse and get us out of a bad situation.  He also made sure there was a way out, even when stopped at a light.  I felt really safe in that car, and not just because it was bullet proof.
After work, I did a little unpacking.  And that brings us up to now.  I would like to get the rest of my stuff unpacked, but I got the most important things unpacked, aka my clothes.  The rest is all stuff that I don't need for tomorrow.
As you can probably tell, the adventure has truly begun!  I wonder what tomorrow will bring!