Happy Halloween!

Raising of Lazarus

I went into the city for church today so that I could go to the temple visitor's center with Aimee and a few other people.  I had no idea that the visitor's center was open on Sundays, but I guess it is.  Today was the last day for the art exhibit.  The theme of the exhibit the healing power of Christ.  My favorite piece was a sculpture about the raising of Lazarus from the dead.  It was beautiful.

In front of the temple

Mariya, a Russian girl that Aimee met a while ago, was there, too.  We walked around the temple talking in Russian.  She had a lot of questions about religion.  It was nice to be able to use my Russian again.

Rally to Restore Sanity and Run-Ins

I went to the Rally to Restore Sanity this morning.  I wasn't planning on going, but a friend of mine was in town for it, so I wanted to meet up with her.  It was insane!  The Rally to Restore Sanity created INSANITY on the DC metro system.  They obviously weren't prepared for the number of people going to the rally.
I walked to the metro with another friend of mine and we were shocked to see a line of people out the metro. 

Waiting at the Vienna station in a packed metro car with
masses of people waiting on the platform for the next train.

We cautiously approached, but were relieved to discover that the line was to buy tickets for the metro (we both have SmarTrip cards).  We by-passed all the people waiting in line, but were shocked to see a full train with many people still waiting on the platform.  If we had been smart, we would have turned around right then.  But we waited for another train, which actually arrived packed full!  After that, we decided to get in on the other side and go all the way out to Vienna before heading into DC.  That worked and as a result we actually had seats on the train, but something happened that caused our train to be stuck in Vienna for 20 min.  By the time the train was back at the place where we had started, over an hour had passed from the time we had first arrived.  It took another 45 min to get into DC.
The phones were down because there were so many people jammed into the mall, but somehow I managed to run into my friend!  If that hadn't happened, there is no way I would have been able to meet up with her.

This sign at the Air and Space Museum reminded me
of Uncle Sam, and a similar Russian recruitment
poster.  It made me wonder, who came up with the idea?

After the rally, we went into the Air and Space Museum for a couple hours.  Then we went out to try to find some dinner.  It was ridiculously hard to find an open restaurant on a Sat evening.  We ended up going into Georgetown and stopped at Subway so we wouldn't have to wait.  But it was fun.
Then I went to meet up with another friend to go to a Halloween dance.  There I learned that another friend was in town visiting a mutual friend of ours, and we ran into another mutual friend who is living in Winchester, VA.  What a small world!
Over all it was a really fun, but crazy day.

Immigration Law and Human Rights

I am not going to bore anyone with a description of immigration law, and I don't intend to start a heated debate about immigration law or reform.  But this has been one of the topics I've been learning about this past week.  I didn't have anything specific scheduled since Monday, so I set my own schedule.  I went to immigration court and observed some hearings, including an asylum hearing case.  At first, I felt very dumb because I don't have a background in law, but after a few hearings, I started to understand the jargon that was being used.
Despite what people may think, the government really does what it can to help immigrants, the government just has to abide by the law as it is written.
The other topic I've been learning about is human rights, but specifically with regards to Mexico.  I was able to sit in on some meetings with members of a couple different NGOs talking about human rights and the need for U.S. help in Mexico.  It was very interesting and I feel like after the past several days that I am beginning to understand the major topics of interest in Mexico, though I feel like I've only seen the tip of the ice burg.  Still, it's a start, and I don't feel overwhelmed.  Hopefully that will stay that way.
Yesterday there was a happy hour for fellow FSOs going to CJ.  Beforehand, I stopped at a Safeway to use the restroom.  It was the oddest thing.  You literally had to go far into the backroom to use the "public" restroom.  It didn't feel very public.  But, I guess I've seen stranger things.  The happy hour was good because I was able to meet three new people with whom I will be working in CJ, though they are all leaving much sooner than me.  I guess that is what happens when so many people already speak Spanish and I do not!

And the Training Begins!

I have officially been a diplomat now for three days.  Although orientation has been interesting, and at times even fun, I am glad to be done with that phase of my life.  Today I began the new phase of my life: training.
This week I have a security-oriented training.  It was really interesting, and I think the information will be helpful . . . as long as I don't become paranoid as a result! Just kidding, it's not going to make me paranoid.  In fact, I would hope that having this training would make me less paranoid because I would be better prepared to ensure my own safety and well-being overseas.
So here is what I learned: #1 Never run in a straight line, always zig zag #2 Everyone is watching you - Or is that the paranoia talking?  And my homework is to watch Burn Notice.  Just kidding.  But seriously, the information was very interesting (and if you didn't realize, both of the above things that I said I learned were jokes.  Sometimes people don't get my humor . . . :).  I'm looking forward to the rest of this training class.  I just hope that I will still remember everything I learn by the time I actually leave for post!

A Day at the Zoo

Today, Elizabeth and I went to the zoo.  My legs and feet are so tired from all the walking I've done this weekend.  But it was a lot of fun.  They had a large variety of animals, and some interesting exhibits/houses.  It seemed like they had a lot of repeat animals (meaning more than one enclosure for the same animal) but maybe that was in the hope that if you didn't see it in one, you'd see it in another.
We were lucky enough to see the feeding of a cuddle fish and nautilus as well as some large spiders.  It was interesting.  Most of the animals were out when we were at their enclosure.  Some even came out just after we arrived, so I guess we had good timing.  I was hoping that some of the animals would be a little more active, but perhaps it was too warm today for that.  Either that or they're tired of humans always staring at them . . .

Stingrays have kind of creepy eyes

Inside the Amazon Rainforest!

A gorilla mother and her baby shun the human crowd

A happy iguana sleeps

The bird enclosure allowed us to get really close to birds,
these ones were closer, but walked away before the
picture was taken, of course.

This bird was very territorial, it made noises whenever
anyone was near its rock

Monument Tour

Lincoln's two hands represent compassion (the open hand)
and strength (the fist)

Today Elizabeth and I went on a tour of the monuments with a few other of my fellow FSOs.  We had a real ranger taking us on the tour, so that was great.  She had a lot of information that I had never heard before.  I had NO idea there was a cave underneath the Lincoln Memorial!  There was more too it than that, of course, but it was good.  And once again my legs and feet are tired from walking so much.
On our tour we visited the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean Memorial, and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.  Afterward, Lizzy and I went to the World War II Memorial since that wasn't here when we came as children.

The spot at the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther
King Jr. gave his speech

Vietnam War Memorial

This is part of the Vietnam Memorial that
is in memory of the women who gave
their support in whatever capacity

The Korean War Memorial, you can see the
reflection of the soldiers marching through
the rice

FDR Memorial, this sculpture depicts the state of the nation
during FDR's second term of office.  These men are
waiting in a bread line

WWII Memorial, the pillar for North Dakota

The Washington Monument as visible from
the WWII Memorial.  You can see the capitol
to the left, and the flags around the base.

Then we met up with most of the group at Chevy's in Ballston.  They have excellent food there.  It was great.  The day was long, but it was fun, and I'm glad Lizzy got to see the monuments while she was here.  That is really a must for any visit to DC.

The Future and the Past

I was planning on trying to write this morning before Lizzy and I left for the National Mall, but it didn't work out. Hopefully this will work now to upload pictures.

Welcome to Flag Day!

Yesterday was an interesting day.  I have to admit that I was not expecting the post that I was given.  That is mainly because I was notified of training that was to begin after A-100 before Flag Day.  The information I was sent for that training said there were only a few posts that were required to have that training.  Of the listed posts, the only one on our bid list was Yemen.  So, I thought, this must mean I'm going to Yemen.
Friday came, I was sitting with my class, listening to the posts.  Yemen was called, and I learned I was NOT going there.  Instead, after a while, one of the Ciudad Juarez posts was called, and I was stunned to hear my name called afterward. 

Me after flag day holding my Mexican Flag

That's right, I'm going to Ciudad Juarez, a city in Mexico on the border with El Paso, Texas.  That means I will be learning Spanish!  I've had several different reactions from people that I've told.  Some are excited for me, others say, "Isn't that dangerous?" and one of my best friends told me that she was terrified for me to go there.  I don't know how to reassure anyone, but I feel like I will be safe there.  And it will be really easy for anyone to come visit me!  If you don't feel safe in Juarez (though I hear I will most likely have a 3-bedroom house for people to stay in . . .) then El Paso is really close.  I just wouldn't be able to provide free housing accommodations during your stay.  I will be in DC for a while still, since I need to learn Spanish, and I'll only be in Juarez for two years.
Then today, Lizzy and I went in to DC (that was a pain since stations on the metro have been closed) to go to the National Museum of Natural History.  That was really interesting.  There were only two and a half floors, but it took all day to go through it.  They had a 3D Imax movie that was interesting, exhibits on the beginning of the world, dinosaurs, Ice Age, mammals, ocean, gems & minerals (including a display of the Hope Diamond), etc.  It was really interesting, but it sure made my feet hurt!

Elizabeth's first metro ride

Museum of Natural History

An early human offers me a piece of meat . . .

A spider monkey skeleton looks eerily like a small human

Flag Day!

Guess where I'm going!

I'll leave it at that for now as my file upload won't work right now, and hopefully I can write more tomorrow.

Almost there!

This week has been an interesting one, designed to try to keep our minds off of the impending Flag Day.  To a certain extent, they have succeeded, but they may only be true with the third of my classmates who are in my same rotation.  Tomorrow, for me, is the day when we actually talk about the logistics of Flag Day.  For a third that session fell on Tuesday, the other third had it today.  I can only imagine how much that led them to focus solely on Friday.
For me, the anticipation is there.  But at the same time, it is tempered by an event that has basically told me where I am going.  Nothing is ever sure in the Foreign Service because things can change up to the last minute, but if I am right, I will let you know on Friday.  Until then!!

It's About Time!

So, I finally got my UAB shipment today.  There were two large boxes that contained about 250 lbs of various things.  It didn't take long to unpack, with the exception of the mess that some of Gizmo's stuff made (litter spilled out of the container it was in and got over/in everything in that box.  Luckily, it was in a smaller box inside the large box, so it was only one medium sized box that was messy rather than half of my stuff.
It is weird to have so many clothes know.  When I started to unpack, I thought to myself, why did I want all these clothes?  Over the past three weeks, I've gotten used to wearing what I have.

My UAB

But I learned one thing that is important to have in UAB: HANGERS!  That's right, hangers.  I don't want to have to buy hangers every move, so if I just pack some in my UAB, then I'll be set.
I also did some massive shopping today, including grocery shopping, and other necessities.
Finally, several of my fellow 156thers got together for a game night.  We played Apples to Apples, Mad Gab (though some played a German card game during that time), and then Cranium.  It was a lot of fun.
Now I am ready to get some sleep.  On a side note, Friday I find out where I am going!