Some of you may be wondering why you haven't heard anything more yet about my quest to become a Foreign Service Officer. That is mostly because I'm still stuck in pre-employment paperwork hell. Just because you cruise through the year-long (more or less) Foreign Service exam process, that doesn't mean that you can't spend the next 2 years waiting on case adjudication. Luckily, I'm not quite in that purgatory yet, but there's hope.
Right now I am still trying to get all my medical paperwork filled out. When I arrived in MA on September 25th, my first order of business was setting up a doctor's appointment. When you no longer live in MA, your general practitioner is in DC, and all your medical files are in Peru and you're living out of a suitcase, this becomes a really fun scenario. Needless to say, after some legwork I found a doctor's office that accepts my health insurance, is accepting new patients, and had an appointment open sometime in this century. Last Thursday I met with a nurse practitioner to begin the onslaught of examinations, x-rays, and embarrassing conversations about my medical history. This morning was my second visit, for the TB shot. With any amount of luck, my Thursday visit for a gyn exam will be my last (but I'm not incredibly hopeful).
Although that should round out all that is required on the medical checklist, I am 99.9% confident that they will ask me for follow-up information. The State Department always has in the past, and even with the Peace Corps I staid in medical clearance limbo for a year and a half.
But hey, I may get lucky and have this process go smoothly.
I joined a Yahoo group for people who have passed the FS exam, and anecdotal evidence leads me to believe that a medical clearance can take anywhere from a week to 2 months for a person with no real issues.
This Yahoo group also indicates that it takes 2-4 months for a security clearance - again, if there are no real issues. As far as I know, the security clearance process hasn't yet begun for me, but those of you who are reading this page should be aware that you may be contacted by a Diplomatic Security agent about me within the next 1-3 months. I actually don't remember whose names I used for references (mostly, they ask for contact information of people who knew you when you lived at a particular address), so just be prepared.
Otherwise, things are going swimmingly.
In the "Yippee! We're going to Mexico!" arena, Anthony and I are still in flux on that issue, too. Anthony had to take a Spanish language exam so they know his scores before submitting a language waiver for him to fulfill the post in Nogales. (Yes. It makes no sense, but that is what is required, so dammit!, that HR rep is going to hold him to it.) The exam scores have not been related to Anthony yet, but we hope to hear in the next week or so from the job assignment panel. At this point, we think we might be in Mexico in time for Thanksgiving, but we are unsure. As with all things in the government, it depends.
So we're dealing with a lot of uncertainty these days. The good news is that Maggie is becoming more social and will be less likely to bite you when you come visit in Nogales.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
More random happenings
The next cab I took in DC started off really well. The driver was friendly and engaged in a small amount of chit-chat before we settled into a comfortable silence. The silence lasted for all of five minutes before he opened with,
"Are you prepared for the coming of Jesus?"
After which I started looking for a church with a sign out front declaring that statement, thinking the question was a joke.
When I couldn't find a church in our immediate vicinity, I started to get confused. Could this guy be serious?
Was he ever.
"Are you born again?" is how he began his lecture on how Jesus loves me and wants a relationship with me; I apparently only need to believe. Otherwise, I was going to hell and my cab driver was really hopeful that he would see me in heaven.
My driver gave me all kinds of advice - from how to get into heaven to where to buy the latest Christian books, right down the street address of the Christian bookstore where he buys all his reading materials.
After far too many minutes of my sitting in uncomfortable, stunned silence and him chattering away about Jesus, we arrived at Jeff and Liz's house. His parting comment was, "I pray you believe in Jesus because I really hope to see you in heaven."
WOW. I know I'm going straight to hell just for laughing at this, but my mom told me that I should have told him off. She said that even my (Catholic) Nonnie would have told him to go f*&% himself.
I almost wish I did.
(If it weren't for this pesky feeling of respect and propriety I feel towards strangers...)
"Are you prepared for the coming of Jesus?"
After which I started looking for a church with a sign out front declaring that statement, thinking the question was a joke.
When I couldn't find a church in our immediate vicinity, I started to get confused. Could this guy be serious?
Was he ever.
"Are you born again?" is how he began his lecture on how Jesus loves me and wants a relationship with me; I apparently only need to believe. Otherwise, I was going to hell and my cab driver was really hopeful that he would see me in heaven.
My driver gave me all kinds of advice - from how to get into heaven to where to buy the latest Christian books, right down the street address of the Christian bookstore where he buys all his reading materials.
After far too many minutes of my sitting in uncomfortable, stunned silence and him chattering away about Jesus, we arrived at Jeff and Liz's house. His parting comment was, "I pray you believe in Jesus because I really hope to see you in heaven."
WOW. I know I'm going straight to hell just for laughing at this, but my mom told me that I should have told him off. She said that even my (Catholic) Nonnie would have told him to go f*&% himself.
I almost wish I did.
(If it weren't for this pesky feeling of respect and propriety I feel towards strangers...)
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Random Happenings
I grabbed a cab in DC the day after the taxi cab driver strike, and proceeded to be lectured for my entire ride about how Mayor Fenty and the DC government are screwing cab drivers out of livable fares. I was informed that cab drivers used to make $1.80 per mile with the zone system, but are now reduced to $1.50 with the meter system.
At one point, I attempted to intercede when he stopped for air to state that, although I don't know the particulars of the issue, I do have many friends in the metropolitan area that find the meter system to be more fair, since they better understand how the meter system works over the previous zone system. Moreover, many unscrupulous cab drivers used to charge their customers whatever they wanted, because many customers did not understand how the zone system worked.
My cab driver quickly told me that the people I was talking about clearly weren't the people of DC because I probably wasn't talking about black people, which completely offended me. Then he went on to say that I was probably only talking about the "gay people or whoever that live in Dupont Circle."
To add insult to injury, another time I tried to talk to him when he stopped to take a breath (I thought his point had been made), he interrupted me with, "Excuse me, I am talking. I am not your slave; you are not my master. I can speak." Then he went on to lecture me further about how unfair his life as a cab driver is.
Again, I am not an expert on the issues affecting cab drivers in DC, but I really dislike being treated as if I am a racist, as if all white people dislike and feel superior to people of color (I believe my cab driver was Middle Eastern, but he acted as if I hated black people), and as if I am a child who has nothing to bring to a conversation. Beyond this, as anyone who knows me understands, I don't actually like talking to my cab drivers. I have nothing against them; I just enjoy silence most of the time that I am traveling (I also don't talk to fellow passengers on planes or trains).
So, if you are a cab driver or are considering becoming a cab driver, how about acting professional? And while you're at it, stick to comments about the weather, last night's game, or just maintain a healthy silence. No one likes the soapbox you're on.
And don't even get me started on cab drivers who hit on their passengers...
At one point, I attempted to intercede when he stopped for air to state that, although I don't know the particulars of the issue, I do have many friends in the metropolitan area that find the meter system to be more fair, since they better understand how the meter system works over the previous zone system. Moreover, many unscrupulous cab drivers used to charge their customers whatever they wanted, because many customers did not understand how the zone system worked.
My cab driver quickly told me that the people I was talking about clearly weren't the people of DC because I probably wasn't talking about black people, which completely offended me. Then he went on to say that I was probably only talking about the "gay people or whoever that live in Dupont Circle."
To add insult to injury, another time I tried to talk to him when he stopped to take a breath (I thought his point had been made), he interrupted me with, "Excuse me, I am talking. I am not your slave; you are not my master. I can speak." Then he went on to lecture me further about how unfair his life as a cab driver is.
Again, I am not an expert on the issues affecting cab drivers in DC, but I really dislike being treated as if I am a racist, as if all white people dislike and feel superior to people of color (I believe my cab driver was Middle Eastern, but he acted as if I hated black people), and as if I am a child who has nothing to bring to a conversation. Beyond this, as anyone who knows me understands, I don't actually like talking to my cab drivers. I have nothing against them; I just enjoy silence most of the time that I am traveling (I also don't talk to fellow passengers on planes or trains).
So, if you are a cab driver or are considering becoming a cab driver, how about acting professional? And while you're at it, stick to comments about the weather, last night's game, or just maintain a healthy silence. No one likes the soapbox you're on.
And don't even get me started on cab drivers who hit on their passengers...
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tickled pink
I am trying to be good and tell people individually, but I am sure I will somehow manage to forget someone. I blame the lack of sleep I've had here in DC, of course, but I am posting here to correct the issue.
So the big news is that I might actually become employed! On Tuesday I took the State Department's Foreign Service Oral Assessment in Washington, DC, and I finally passed. After a grueling 10-hour day, I sat in stunned silence as the assessors shook my hand and congratulated me on my conditional job offer.
And this, of course, is where it gets interesting. No formal offer of a position has been made to me, but it could happen in the next few months. I must submit paperwork for a medical clearance, go through the security clearance process, and endure a suitability review before my name gets placed on the list of potential hires for the State Department. That list is, of course, dynamic, as new names get added or deleted. Since I have such a long history with the State Department (2 internships and my previous employment as a Special Agent, with the latest association being my internship at the U.S. Embassy Lima from February to May of this year), I believe the security and medical clearances should go smoothly. It is my (limited) understanding that the suitability review is merely a review of the entire application package, including any information that may have been uncovered during the clearance processes, so I don't really see any issues there. The final hurdle will be completely out of my control and is entirely dependent on funding and the location of my name on the list of potential hires.
The placement of my name on this list depends upon my oral assessment score, which I believe is pretty competitive. I can boost that score by scheduling a phone interview with the Foreign Service Institute to gauge my Spanish language skills. If I pass the examination, then I get a .17 boost to my oral assessment score (scores are based on a 7-point scale) and thus move higher on the list of potential hires.
One of the things in my favor is that earlier this year Congress approved an increase in funding for the hiring of Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) (both at the State Department and USAID). This means that in the coming fiscal year (starts October 1st) they should have the ability to hire more people off the list than they have in previous years. Bonus!
If everything goes forward with a formal job offer, I will be a Public Diplomacy FSO. This essentially means that I will be the public face of the State Department, interacting with host country nationals on a daily basis. You can read more about it on the State Department's website.
For those of you who wonder where I will be in the upcoming months or year, I can't say anything for certain, but if everything goes as planned (which nothing ever does), my life will look like this:
So the big news is that I might actually become employed! On Tuesday I took the State Department's Foreign Service Oral Assessment in Washington, DC, and I finally passed. After a grueling 10-hour day, I sat in stunned silence as the assessors shook my hand and congratulated me on my conditional job offer.
And this, of course, is where it gets interesting. No formal offer of a position has been made to me, but it could happen in the next few months. I must submit paperwork for a medical clearance, go through the security clearance process, and endure a suitability review before my name gets placed on the list of potential hires for the State Department. That list is, of course, dynamic, as new names get added or deleted. Since I have such a long history with the State Department (2 internships and my previous employment as a Special Agent, with the latest association being my internship at the U.S. Embassy Lima from February to May of this year), I believe the security and medical clearances should go smoothly. It is my (limited) understanding that the suitability review is merely a review of the entire application package, including any information that may have been uncovered during the clearance processes, so I don't really see any issues there. The final hurdle will be completely out of my control and is entirely dependent on funding and the location of my name on the list of potential hires.
The placement of my name on this list depends upon my oral assessment score, which I believe is pretty competitive. I can boost that score by scheduling a phone interview with the Foreign Service Institute to gauge my Spanish language skills. If I pass the examination, then I get a .17 boost to my oral assessment score (scores are based on a 7-point scale) and thus move higher on the list of potential hires.
One of the things in my favor is that earlier this year Congress approved an increase in funding for the hiring of Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) (both at the State Department and USAID). This means that in the coming fiscal year (starts October 1st) they should have the ability to hire more people off the list than they have in previous years. Bonus!
If everything goes forward with a formal job offer, I will be a Public Diplomacy FSO. This essentially means that I will be the public face of the State Department, interacting with host country nationals on a daily basis. You can read more about it on the State Department's website.
For those of you who wonder where I will be in the upcoming months or year, I can't say anything for certain, but if everything goes as planned (which nothing ever does), my life will look like this:
- Massachusetts, 1 month
- Mexico, 3-8 months
- Washington, DC (for training), 3 months - 1 year
- Unknown worldwide post, 2 years
- Unknown worldwide post, 2 more years
It is practically guaranteed that my first 2 assignments will be in the Consular section because that section always needs the most bodies. I also signed a binding contract on Tuesday that states that I understand that I may have little to no input on my first 2 assignments. So, it looks to me like I am going to become very good friends with uncertainty.
By no means does this mean that I have stopped the job application process. Over the next few months, I will continue to send out application packets to a host of federal government jobs. After all, I have only heard positive news from ONE of my top three dream jobs (of the moment)! And a girl likes to have options...
Saturday, September 12, 2009
And craziness settles in
Within the past couple of hours, there has been a monumental shift in the game plan for moving to Mexico.
Originally, the plan was to spend the month of October squeezing in the last of the trips we wanted to make, packing up our stuff, and shaking our booties at our despedida. NOW we have rethought that plan because we remember how expensive it was for us to move from DC to Lima a little over a year ago. Moreover, the new legislation passed to grant State Department benefits to domestic partners doesn't cover committed heterosexual couples (see earlier post). So we are facing quite a few unexpected expenses, on top of the ones we expected to move our pets from aca to alla.
To explain in more excruciating detail, Anthony's orders for the new post have yet to be cut. This means that we cannot plan anything. And I mean ANYTHING. We can't schedule the date for our pack-out, have HR purchase Anthony's airline tickets, nothing. In terms of my plans, this means that we can also not purchase my airline tickets yet either, because the entry point for all Foreign Service employees serving in Nogales, Mexico, is Tucson. Since Tucson is an hour drive from the consulate, and a government employee must be sent to pick us up at the airport, I have to wait to coordinate my airline arrival with Anthony's (Bubba, our Jeep, will not ship until several months after we arrive). Yet, the longer I wait, the higher the prices get.
SO.
We have decided that the best option is that I will leave Lima on Friday - as in this Friday, September 18th - as was already planned. I will fly into DC, meet up with old friends and colleagues, take the Foreign Service Oral Exam, have a little fun with my doctors and dentist, and then fly to MA. Instead of showing up in Boston for my 6AM flight back to Lima on October 3rd, I will stay in MA until we can figure out a good time for me to meet up with Anthony in Tucson.
All I can say at the moment is that I am incredibly stressed out. So I just sent Anthony to the store to buy me some beer. Because, goddammit, I need one.
Originally, the plan was to spend the month of October squeezing in the last of the trips we wanted to make, packing up our stuff, and shaking our booties at our despedida. NOW we have rethought that plan because we remember how expensive it was for us to move from DC to Lima a little over a year ago. Moreover, the new legislation passed to grant State Department benefits to domestic partners doesn't cover committed heterosexual couples (see earlier post). So we are facing quite a few unexpected expenses, on top of the ones we expected to move our pets from aca to alla.
To explain in more excruciating detail, Anthony's orders for the new post have yet to be cut. This means that we cannot plan anything. And I mean ANYTHING. We can't schedule the date for our pack-out, have HR purchase Anthony's airline tickets, nothing. In terms of my plans, this means that we can also not purchase my airline tickets yet either, because the entry point for all Foreign Service employees serving in Nogales, Mexico, is Tucson. Since Tucson is an hour drive from the consulate, and a government employee must be sent to pick us up at the airport, I have to wait to coordinate my airline arrival with Anthony's (Bubba, our Jeep, will not ship until several months after we arrive). Yet, the longer I wait, the higher the prices get.
SO.
We have decided that the best option is that I will leave Lima on Friday - as in this Friday, September 18th - as was already planned. I will fly into DC, meet up with old friends and colleagues, take the Foreign Service Oral Exam, have a little fun with my doctors and dentist, and then fly to MA. Instead of showing up in Boston for my 6AM flight back to Lima on October 3rd, I will stay in MA until we can figure out a good time for me to meet up with Anthony in Tucson.
All I can say at the moment is that I am incredibly stressed out. So I just sent Anthony to the store to buy me some beer. Because, goddammit, I need one.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
An off day at Caritas Felices
Yesterday I was at Caritas Felices with the group with which I volunteer, DB Peru, and I was reminded of why it is so difficult to combat the poverty endemic to this country. Every time we go there, the staff of Caritas has overtaken the school building with trash or any other manner of things, which we must then move or take care of before we can even begin work. They show no pride of ownership.
I have a story. One of our volunteers, who is visiting from New Zealand, is staying at the home and working with our contractor to finish grouting the tile floors, installing the toilets, and wiring the electric. While he's been there, the staff refused to allow them to work for several days because they were working on another project and were using the school building for storage. Then, when they finally got into the building, one of the things they had to remove was a bucket of piss. That's right, a heavy, full, sloshy bucket of PISS. Because here in Peru, pissing in a bucket when there are plenty of functioning bathrooms available is apparently acceptable.
When we were there yesterday, there was less junk in the classrooms and toilets than there was last week, but they had moved all the little girls' beds into the classrooms because they were installing new flooring in the girls' room and painting the walls - a project that clearly took priority over the completion of the school.
We also had to replace US$1,000 of materials that had magically walked off of the grounds or been broken beyond repair. Moreover, a staff member had backed the home's van up into the school and broke one of the windows, which isn't likely to be fixed (DB Peru cannot afford it anymore and the Caritas staff don't seem to care). And of course, the whole place was FILTHY.
I am trying to remain positive about this project, but it is difficult. DB Peru has been trying to build this school for 2 years now, with little to no support from the staff of Caritas Felices. I can't tell you how much money has gone into the project, but I can tell you it is costing more than it's worth because tools, materials, and anything not bolted down or locked up routinely becomes victim to the five-fingered discount. The contractor is so fed up with the stealing (some things that have walked include some of his tools, which the home has not bothered to replace) that we have to beg him to complete the job. And, at the end of the day, I have very little hope that Caritas will actually hire a teacher. Instead, the school will just become a series of 4 rooms that will be used as a general dumping ground (kind of like they are right now).
The sad thing is that the girls who live at Caritas Felices will be the real losers. The home is supposed to offer specialized care and services to girls who are victims of sexual abuse and removed from their families by the court system, but it is failing miserably to achieve any discipline or routine. Many of the volunteers who cycle through the home are there because they care about these girls and want them to have a stable, loving home, but... BUT. It is a wonderful idea, but the follow through is really lacking.
Being really honest here, I have to admit that it is very, very disappointing.
I have a story. One of our volunteers, who is visiting from New Zealand, is staying at the home and working with our contractor to finish grouting the tile floors, installing the toilets, and wiring the electric. While he's been there, the staff refused to allow them to work for several days because they were working on another project and were using the school building for storage. Then, when they finally got into the building, one of the things they had to remove was a bucket of piss. That's right, a heavy, full, sloshy bucket of PISS. Because here in Peru, pissing in a bucket when there are plenty of functioning bathrooms available is apparently acceptable.
When we were there yesterday, there was less junk in the classrooms and toilets than there was last week, but they had moved all the little girls' beds into the classrooms because they were installing new flooring in the girls' room and painting the walls - a project that clearly took priority over the completion of the school.
We also had to replace US$1,000 of materials that had magically walked off of the grounds or been broken beyond repair. Moreover, a staff member had backed the home's van up into the school and broke one of the windows, which isn't likely to be fixed (DB Peru cannot afford it anymore and the Caritas staff don't seem to care). And of course, the whole place was FILTHY.
I am trying to remain positive about this project, but it is difficult. DB Peru has been trying to build this school for 2 years now, with little to no support from the staff of Caritas Felices. I can't tell you how much money has gone into the project, but I can tell you it is costing more than it's worth because tools, materials, and anything not bolted down or locked up routinely becomes victim to the five-fingered discount. The contractor is so fed up with the stealing (some things that have walked include some of his tools, which the home has not bothered to replace) that we have to beg him to complete the job. And, at the end of the day, I have very little hope that Caritas will actually hire a teacher. Instead, the school will just become a series of 4 rooms that will be used as a general dumping ground (kind of like they are right now).
The sad thing is that the girls who live at Caritas Felices will be the real losers. The home is supposed to offer specialized care and services to girls who are victims of sexual abuse and removed from their families by the court system, but it is failing miserably to achieve any discipline or routine. Many of the volunteers who cycle through the home are there because they care about these girls and want them to have a stable, loving home, but... BUT. It is a wonderful idea, but the follow through is really lacking.
Being really honest here, I have to admit that it is very, very disappointing.
Bad news for the non-gays
A month or two ago, I learned that in October, new legislation would be going into effect that would change my status at the Department of State from a member of household (MOH) to an eligible family member (EFM). This was essentially supposed to be legislation for same-sex couples, which entitles the partner of a Foreign Service employee to certain benefits, like home leave (that the State Department pays for), airline tickets between posts, and generally anything else that legal spouses are entitled to, except for health insurance. This was great news for us because we've gone into quite a bit of debt with all the hidden costs you must pay to be a Foreign Service family and live around the world.
Of course, we learned yesterday that the wording that included committed but not married heterosexual couples was taken out of the legislation. So now I have to figure out an inexpensive way to get to Nogales in 7 weeks. Or, just get married here in Peru so I can become an EFM, which apparently requires the signature and seal of every last politican in this godforsaken country and takes an average of 3 months to carry out - which is 5 weeks over the time we've got allotted us. So mom, I guess you can actually be a witness to our wedding, when it takes place on the eve of never.
Argh!
Of course, we learned yesterday that the wording that included committed but not married heterosexual couples was taken out of the legislation. So now I have to figure out an inexpensive way to get to Nogales in 7 weeks. Or, just get married here in Peru so I can become an EFM, which apparently requires the signature and seal of every last politican in this godforsaken country and takes an average of 3 months to carry out - which is 5 weeks over the time we've got allotted us. So mom, I guess you can actually be a witness to our wedding, when it takes place on the eve of never.
Argh!
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