The Great Pumpkin

OK, so we're not Charlie Brown and Lucy, and this pumpkin probably wouldn't qualify as "great" to other people, but it's great to us!

My friend Jennifer is having a pumpkin carving contest at the end of this month. Jennifer is serious about this contest, and Julio and I tend to get just a wee bit competitive. Last night while we were grocery shopping we found a pumpkin carving kit and pumpkins in the produce aisle and decided that it would be prudent to practice before the actual event.

We bought the kit and a smallish pumpkin (we live in a small apartment, after all) and broke out our mad carving skills this evening. After perusing the book of patterns so handily included in the kit, we decided on the witch cut out- it rated 2 out of 4 pumpkins (4 being the most difficult).

If you've only ever carved pumpkins the "old fashioned" way- you know, with a marker to draw the pattern and a kitchen knife- let me catch you up to speed with how the kids do it today.

First, pick a pattern. (We're already brainstorming ideas for our own pattern for the contest instead of going with a store bought one). Make a photocopy of said pattern and tape it onto your pumpkin. (The pumpkin should already be scraped out at this point. If you want, you can use the handy scraper that comes with most kits.)

Using the enclosed poker, poke along the lines of the pattern (through the paper and the top layer of pumpkin shell- is it shell or skin?).

Remove the pattern, and use the carving saws (our kit had two, one for the bigger areas and one for the smaller spaces) to carve out the pattern- connecting the dots. There is also a scraper enclosed if you want to only scrape off the top layer for that cool solid, yet semi-transparent effect.

This all sounds relatively simple, but it is time consuming and somewhat taxing on the shoulders and neck from bending over the pumpking and carving the intricate details. And wielding the carving saws isn't exactly simple, but we managed to get in a groove and carve what we think is a very acceptable first effort. We've learned some valuable lessons along the way and are looking forward to kicking some butt in the upcoming contest.

Labor Day Showers

Julio and I both flew to Texas over the Labor Day weekend to attend two baby showers- one on Saturday with my close girlfriends and one on Sunday with my church family.

Before all of the madness, I had to register. Since I have absolutely NO CLUE about any of this baby stuff, I did some reading and had decided that I was NOT going to be one of "those women"- I would be practical: no need for a nursery theme, I decided that I would just buy plain sheets for the crib, etc. However, one look at this ladybug bedding set in the store and I was smitten! Not only did I register for the bedding set, but then I went for the wall decals, the lamp shade, the baskets, etc. Then, to make it all worse, when I got home and got online to complete the registry I discovered that the bedding was going out of stock. Oh NO!!!!

So my girlfriends took the ladybug theme and ran with it on Saturday- we had ladybugs on everything, and they even managed to find the aforementioned bedding as their gift to me. The shower was fun and lovely and filled with all good, "girly" things- sweets (homemade chocolate cheesecake and these out-of-this-world petit four type things we could only call "cake balls"), shower games (guess the baby food, and the oh so popular guess the melted chocolate in the diaper), and great conversation with good friends.

Sunday's shower was incredible as well. 16 families hosted a guest list that was probably the size of a small town's phone book! When Allyson, the coordinator and "chief" hostess, asked what I was craving and how I envisioned the shower- I requested BBQ and that couples be invited. I simply could not imagine celebrating the day without my ENTIRE church family: wives, husbands, and children. We gathered at The Swingin' Door, a great BBQ joint in Richmond, TX, for just that- BBQ, Beer and Baby talk. It felt like a family reunion, which was exactly what I hoped it would be.

A Capital Capitol Fourth

This was my first Fourth of July in our nation's capitol, and what an event it was! After 3 Independence Day celebrations overseas, I was looking forward to being back in the good ol' U S of A for a change.

Julio came in town for the weekend, which was great. Friday we went down to the Mall- and the crowds on that day were already pretty insane. We had lunch at the Native American museum (the best lunch on the Mall), went to see the Star Spangled Banner exhibit at the Museum of American History and then visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It was a great afternoon, but the number of people wandering around the Mall and using the Metro confirmed that we did NOT want to be part of that on Saturday (the city of DC estimates that 500,000 people used the Metro on Saturday alone).

On Saturday we went to a friend's house in the Capitol Hill area. His building has a rooftop deck, and around 8:45 we went up to the roof in anticipation of the 9:10 Capitol Fireworks show. We were treated to, literally, 360 degrees of fireworks. We could see every small and large fireworks display in the Virginia, Maryland and DC areas- from bottle rockets set off by the neighbors to what were clearly larger community shows in other areas. It was wonderful. And then, right on schedule, the Capitol show began. While we didn't get to experience all of the music and the cannons for the 1812 Overture, it was an absolutely amazing sight.

Now, those of you who are reading this in Texas and Bangkok will especially appreciate what I have to say next. What probably amazed me the most was the weather. Up on the roof, I was actually a bit chilly. In JULY! It was most certainly the first time that's ever happened to me.

It was a great evening and I'm glad to have been here in DC to celebrate my first Independence Day as a member of the Foreign Service. Next year- Mexico! (I tried to upload a video of the fireworks here, but it doesn't seem to be working. Oh well!)

Friday: Jail; Monday: The Morgue; Tuesday: Crisis

Summer has hit DC, but it seems as if we've had it pretty easy compared to a lot of the country. We've had a few days in the 90s, but that's it so far. Julio will be here for the Fourth of July weekend, and we're going to a friend's house to watch the famous DC fireworks show from his rooftop balcony.

Tomorrow marks the last day of my consular training, which has occupied my time over the past 30 days. During my training I have learned about Passports and Nationality, Immigrant Visas, Non-Immigrant Visas and American Citizen Services overseas. We've had exams along the way and I'm proud to say that, out of the 100 total questions on four different exams, I only got one answer wrong (and I'm still kicking myself because I originally had the right answer and changed it!). However, the past 4 days have proved to be the most interesting.

Throughout training we've participated in role plays to practice our skills- mock interviews with clients, etc. Friday's role plays were visits to American Citizens (AmCits) who have been arrested and are in jail (we even have a jail cell at the training center to make it real). I played one of the incarcerated AmCits, and if I may say so myself, did an excellent job of portraying this woman who was off her rocker. Wait, should I be proud of this?????

Monday proved to be even more interesting- we were treated with a visit to the Morgue. Now this was the real thing, not a simulated morgue in our training center. We went to the Washington DC office of the Chief Medical Examiner where we met with the staff to learn about their mission and responsibilities. We had the opportunity to see the autopsy suite, learn about the autopsy process, and view a deceased individual. This was all to prepare us for the possibility of having to identify a deceased American overseas- so that our first visit to a morgue is not when we are in an official capacity.

Then, to top it all off, Tuesday we had the mother of all roleplays: A plane crash in our country with injured and deceased AmCits followed by a bomb/terrorist attack with even more dead and injured. We were the consular section and had to respond to the crisis, which included taking calls from concerned Americans inquiring about their family members, fielding questions and orders from the Operations Center in Washington DC, dealing with local military and police authorities, and caring for not only the injured and dead AmCits on the plane and at the bomb site, but accounting for all of the AmCits in our region (including how to eventually evacuate them all out of the country). The role play lasted a little over an hour but it felt like 5. By the end, I was frazzled, stressed out and had a headache- and this was just pretend! I now have a much greater respect for my colleagues around the world who have responded to these same types of crises in real life.

Today was tame, all in all. We had our last exam and a lecture on ethics in Consular work. Tomorrow we have a few more lectures in the morning and graduation in the afternoon- then most of my class is off to their posts. I, however, will start language training on Monday. I'll be learning Spanish in preparation for my first assignment in Matamoros, Mexico. I'll have language training through December and will leave for post in May, 2010.

That's it from now. Maybe my next post will be in Spanish!

A Few of My Favorite Things

When the movers came to my apartment in Bangkok- WAAAAAAY back in early February- I had the opportunity to separate my belongings into two groups, the HHE (Household Effects) which would automatically go into storage and my UAB (Unaccompanied Air Baggage) which would be shipped via air cargo to my apartment in DC.

I sorted carefully and put what I wanted to go in my UAB in a separate room to make things easier for the movers. However, the UAB has some weight and size limitations, so I did not get to have everything I wanted packed. Basically, the movers brought in some really big boxes and I had to quickly decide what would go in the boxes and what would be shifted over to HHE.

My UAB arrived today (over a month after I packed it) and I eagerly unpacked it to discover all the treasures that I so desperately need while training in DC.

There were some non-negotiables: the clothing and shoes that wouldn't fit in my suitcases, my guitar, computer printer, digital photo frame, and video camera to name a few (Does the rabbit corkscrew fit into this list also?). Then there were some comfort items that I thought would just make life easier here: the t-shirt quilt that I love to lie under while watching TV, my newly acquired pillow that I love so much, my teddy bear (yes, I sleep with a bear!), various clothing hangers and shoe organizers (why buy new when I have perfectly good ones already?), my "Pride and Prejudice" DVD set, and...ahem....personal care items (including 7 tubes of toothpaste, 5 sticks of deodorant, and 15 razor cartridges- not to mention to "super size" boxes of playtex).

And then there's the rest of the shipment. These items clearly show that, while I was functioning at a fairly high level in my last few weeks in Bangkok, I was most certainly affected by the stress that naturally comes when quitting one's job and moving halfway around the world to start a new life and new career. These items include: two beach towels, a new set of twelve cloth napkins I purchased in December, one calculator, one flashlight, pens and pencils in their ceramic holder, my AMCHAM coffee mug (my former boss would be so proud!), my giant yellow SU plastic cup, an insulated wine carrier, and three bamboo coasters.

Now, for those of you who don't already know, my apartment is a studio. It's basically a hotel room with a kitchen, and not a terribly large hotel room at that. It was starting to feel small before my UAB arrived. I have no idea where I am going to put all of these "essential items" now.

The good news is that I get to start over when leaving DC and moving to wherever the government sends me. I'll have the opportunity to pack another UAB then, and hopefully will have learned from this one. I am confident that I will be able to foresee my needs at post and pack my UAB accordingly. By that I mean I'll be sure to pack plenty of chocolate, Diet Coke and, of course, my beloved teddy bear.

A Stranger in a Strange Land

Today is my first day of training in DC- and there is 3 inches of snow on the ground! The federal government is working on a 2 hour delay, so my colleagues and I are scrambling to figure out what to do. Let me start at the beginning:

I arrived in DC yesterday afternoon and checked into my apartment around 3:30. I'm staying in corporate housing and the government is billed directly, so I don't have to worry about paying the bill or getting reimbursed for my housing costs. It seems like there are about 30 of us in my class who are staying here (the class is about 90 people, so we're a good portion of the group).

There was a welcome reception last night, so those of us here met in the lobby and took the metro together. It was fun to meet some fellow students and some of the people in our welcome committee- they have finished their training and are heading out to various corners of the world. We were given the address to check in the morning to see if the government would be closed or not.

I left the party somewhat early concerned about the snow and how I was going to get back to the apartment. I found a fellow classmate and we came back together. I unpacked, starting making a mental list of what I need to buy, and fell asleep on my murphy bed (yes, an actual murphy bed!).

I woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow on my balcony and the notice of the two hour delay. We were scheduled to leave the lobby on a shuttle at 7:30, so everyone was there. However, as a group we decided that even if we got to the building on time, since we don't have badges yet we are subject to other people's schedules to even get in the building and to begin our training. As a group we decided to meet back at 9am and shuttle together then. I think many of us are secretly hoping that the government will announce that it has closed by then!

Here's the really funny part. Apparently a few weeks ago President Obama made fun of the government's inclination to close when there is snow on the ground- remarking that it would never happen in Chicago! Hmmmm...

More to come soon, I'm sure!

Bangkok-The Final Days (Part 2- The Dedication)

I recently made another dedication to AMCHAM's Adopt-a-School program, and they were able to schedule the dedication so that I could be there before leaving town.

This school was in Saraburi, about an hour and a half drive outside of Bangkok. Two friends and I gave money to build a new playground. We arrived at the school and were greeted by the children, as usual. We went through all the ceremonial stuff- speeches, presentations, etc. Then, I asked if we could take a picture on the playground, so we walked over there and all the adults got in a big group to take the picture- while the kids stood on the side and watched. Well, a picture on a playground with no children just seems depressing, so I called the kids onto the playground. They hesitated for a moment, then all ran onto the playground with such force, it was amazing. I later found out that the playground had been finished for about a week and the kids weren't allowed to play on it, so they had to sit in school all day long and just LOOK at it. Talk about torture!

We took pictures, played on the playground, and they practiced their english. The practice went something like this. Liz: Hello! 25 Children: Hello! Liz: What is your name? 25 children, one by one: My name is *insert really long unpronouncable Thai name here*! Liz: My name is Liz! 25 children: LIZ! Liz: How old are you? 25 children, all at the same time: I am ten years old! Now, I can promise you that about 5 of them were probably 10, and I'm sure the rest were anywhere from 6-12 years old. It was cute.

One child decided that they wanted my autograph, so then they all desperately wanted it. I was signing my name on scraps of paper, on hands- anywhere. Then, when I started to walk across the school yard to go to the restroom, about 20 kids decided they would walk with me, wait for me while I, ahem, did my business, escort me to the sink, turn on the water, hand me the soap, turn off the water, then walk me across the school yard again. It was simultaneously hilarious and exhausting.

I now know how Angelina Jolie must feel!

We finally pulled ourselves away from the children long enough to get on the van. One little girl was sobbing, so we asked what was wrong, and she was sad because she didn't get an autograph. Wow. So we signed something for her.

It was a great day, and although it was fun to feel like a rock star, I am glad that this is not something that I would have to live with on a regular basis. They can keep their fame, as far as I'm concerned! I'll just take the free clothes that come along with it...