You Can Call Me Al

My parents on vacation

2012-01-30T17:29:00.000-06:00

This is how they spend their vacation so far

Waterfalls!

2012-01-28T17:07:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, we went on our Consular Leadership Day to the waterfalls in the Pine Ridge Mountains. This is the first time I have really explored this unique part of Belize. As the name suggests, the area is mountainous (by Belize standards) and there are Pine trees, which you don't really see anywhere else. Unfortunately, the road in and out is awful, so most people don't get there very often.

The first view of the Five Sisters Falls from the restaurant

A closer view of the upper part of the Falls

The lowest part of the Falls - 290 steps down from where we started.

Me with the local staff. I could not do my job without them.

Karla and I climbed up the rocks a bit

1000 Foot Falls - can't even see the bottom

The Consular Section

Hooched

2012-01-22T20:26:00.001-06:00

Over the last few days, Luna had learned how to escape her kennel if I did not lock both the top and the bottom lock on the door. THIS is what happens when she can't escape - she manages to move the kennel across the room, pull down a box full of tools and then tear apart the box, spreading debris around the room. We are no longer using this kennel, but instead the hard plastic travel kennel.

Bucket List Update

2012-01-16T19:01:00.000-06:00

Now that I am down to five months, an update on the Bucket List is required:

SCUBA dive with the whale sharks (Planned for May just after the full moon)
Caracol Mayan ruins (There was a Caracol Hash planned for next weekend, which was postponed until an as yet unknown date)
Lamanai Mayan ruins (Planning to go there with my parents in two weeks)
(I should probably also make it to Altun Ha and Cahal Pech, but I won't cry if I don't go to these ruins) (no plans yet)
Visit the Toledo district (We do have a Town Hall meeting planned in Punta Gorda this spring. I may extend that and stay the weekend?)
Participate in La Ruta Maya (~~either as a paddler or~~ a support team member) (I went out on the river with some of the paddlers and determined that I will not actually be doing this as a paddler, but there is a good chance that I will be one of the support crew).
Belize zoo (Planned on doing this yesterday with my friend Kevin and his boys, but it rained, so I still haven't done it).
St. Herman's Cave (Haven't even made plans)
ATM Cave (No concrete plans yet)
Visit Cancun or other part of Mexican Riviera (No real plans, but maybe at Easter?)
Visit one more Central American country (preferably Costa Rica) (Had thought about doing this for Easter, but was told that CR is not good at Easter. An A-100 friend may visit here for Easter or we have also talked about Mexico or El Salvador).
Turn 30! (Time still moves on).

Unexpected Guest

2012-01-11T11:40:00.000-06:00

Been feeling a bit under the weather since I got back from the U.S. I had some mild stomach cramps that kept getting worse each time I would eat or drink anything. But the pain was mild and intermittent, so I figured it'd go away. Yesterday, it was a bit worse, so I finally went and saw the nurse who took me to a local doctor.

Turns out I have a parasite. If you want to gross yourself out, you can google search for images of parasites. He put me on some medication, which should clear everything up in 3 days or so. One of the many perks of living in a third world country.

The story I didn't tell

2012-01-06T22:02:00.000-06:00

I had an absolutely fantastic Christmas break home with my family. But, the trip did not start off so well. After driving an hour from Belmopan to the airport, I went to check in and realized that I had left my passports at home. Yep, the guy who issues visas and handles passports everyday left his passports (I even have TWO) in his sock drawer.

I immediately called my friend Kevin, who agreed to break into my house, grab my passport and speed toward the airport. I then spoke with the check-in guy at Continental and explained the situation to him. He told me that if I could be there with my passport by 12:20 for my 12:33 flight, he'd get me on the plane.

I decided to meet Kevin half way in Hattieville as I could drive back to the airport faster. Once I got the passport from Kevin, I drove faster than I ever have in Belize. I broke every traffic rule I know about in Belize and several that I am not entirely sure even exist in Belize. When I drove past the runway, I could see my plane still on the ground loading passengers. I made it back to the check-in counter at 12:45 - twelve minutes after the flight was supposed to take off.

I managed to get the guy I talked to before out to the check-in counter and he took pity on me. Despite the fact that I was 25 minutes later than he told me I could show up and despite the fact that they had already "closed" the flight in the computer, he let me on the flight. He even escorted me through immigration and security so I could skip the (admittedly short) line.

So, Christmas came early for me - thanks to some overly-helpful Continental employees.

And yes, I know I am an idiot for forgetting the passport.

Goals for 2012

2012-01-01T21:19:00.000-06:00

Rather than make New Year's resolutions, I prefer to set goals. Resolutions seem destined to fail, but goals are attainable (hopefully). I met all of my goals last year. Hopefully, I can do just as well in 2012.

(In no particular order)

Learn German. Starting next September, I will be a full-time German student. By the end of 2012, I want to have a decent grasp on the language.
Complete my Belize bucket list.
Watch at least two sun rises and two sunsets (an annual goal).
Tour America on the Ultimate Road Trip. The route may change, but the goal remains the same - see parts of America that I have never seen before.
Buy a house for my parents. My parents are currently living with my grandparents after losing their home this year. I have some money saved up, so I am hoping to be able to buy a house that they can then rent from me.
Go to at least two football games (at least one Husker game); five baseball games; and three concerts.
Remain a non-smoker

How'd I do?

2011-12-31T12:24:00.000-06:00

This time last year, I set out a series of goals for the year. It's now time to look and see how I did.

Quit smoking (again). I quit smoking after law school, but started social smoking this year. That expanded to regular smoking late this year. I quit again on December 22 and so far, so good.

Well, I started smoking again after I wrote this post in January. But, I quit again in May and I have smoked only 3 cigarettes since then. I consider this a win.

Travel to at least 3 central American countries (in order of preference) - Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador.

Regular readers of this blog will realize that I completed this goal as well. To recap, I had a crappy trip to Panama, a great long weekend in Guatemala, and a fun trip to Cancun.

Watch at least two sun rises and sunsets. I have had this goal every year and I usually make it. Sunsets are much easier for me to watch than sun rises.

I know that I saw well more than two sunsets. I know I saw one sunrise while i was in Guatemala. Pretty sure I saw at least one more, so I will count this one as completed.

Get an awesome second posting. This summer, I will get my bid list and get my assignment for my next post.

Frankfurt, Germany - May 2013.

Date more.

I definitely dated more in 2011 than I did in 2010. I had a couple of second and third dates, although nothing went further than that. I count this as a success.

I am compiling my list of goals for 2012 and should post them soon.

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-26T02:13:00.001-06:00

It's funny how traditions start sometimes. You don't usually mean to start a tradition, but you do something that you enjoy and everyone wants to do the same thing again the next year and in no time at all a tradition is born. What's magical about a tradition is how important it becomes to the participants.

One of my favorite family Christmas traditions is how we open up presents. I think Christmas present opening always says a lot about a family. Does everyone go at once ripping through paper as fast as they can like in A Christmas Story? Are presents opened on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Does Santa come for adults or just kids? Does Santa wrap presents?

Our tradition has always been to open up our presents from each other on Christmas Eve. I think we always did this, but it really started in earnest when we lived in Shenandoah. We would have to wait HOURS for my Dad to get off work (he usually closed the restaurant around 8 on Christmas Eve). When he got home, my little sister Katie would sort the presents.* We'd go in age order, with the youngest going first and the oldest last. We'd go round and round until all the presents were opened.

*Mom and Dad never used name tags, everyone's presents were wrapped in different wrapping paper and you never knew who had which paper until Mom told Katie when she started the sorting. Often times, Mom couldn't remember and I think she once had to open one of the gifts to remember who got what.

On year, probably about 15 years ago, my Aunt Lynda (or was it Laura) gave my Dad a joke present for his birthday. It was a VHS cassette tape of a crackling fire in a fireplace. The tape played classic Christmas songs. We all thought it was a riot, but we all wanted it next year. Each year, we'd make fun of the Yule log, but each year we all wanted that Yule Log playing while we opened gifts.

On Christmas morning, Santa would have always arrived in the night and set out our gifts. Each person had a different pile of gifts and the stocking would be full and sitting on top. Santa not only brought toys and fun stuff for us kids, but he was also a practical Santa who brought underwear, socks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other necessities. As we got older, Santa brought deodorant and razors and fancy shampoo. He always brought a calendar, a movie and a CD (now he usually goes with the iTunes gift card) . Everyone could go through their own pile when they woke-up and as the rest of the family got up, we'd show each other what we got.

Over the years, we traveled more at Christmas time - usually going to Omaha for Christmas Eve and then staying in hotel overnight. Santa continued to find us, but since he couldn't bring our stockings, he started using large gift bags covered with Sesame Street characters. Eventually, Santa decided he liked the gift bags better than the stockings and he started using them every year, even when we were at home.

This year was a bit different. Katie is engaged and this was our first year of split Christmas. She and Paul went to his family's house for Christmas Eve and came back here for Christmas Day. We threatened to open presents without her, but we didn't. When we opened presents, Katie didn't get to go first anymore (both Paul and my 7 month old 2nd cousin got to go before her). With all the moving this year, we didn't have the Yule Log video. Santa didn't come until after Christmas Dinner, but he still brought underwear and socks and he brought them in the gift bags.

Ultimately, Christmas is where my family is. The day we celebrate may change. Some traditions may die - others may start up. But, as long as I get to spend the time with my family I will be happy. Living off in Belize - away from home - makes me cherish these times together so much more.

Mom, Dad, Shelley and Katie - I love you the most. Merry Christmas. Paul - welcome to the family. So far, it seems like you will fit right in. Bob and Shannon - It was great to see you guys again and to get to meet little Lizzy. I wish our lives allowed us to see each other more often.

Merry Christmas.

Walking around naked in your living room

2011-12-22T20:22:00.000-06:00

I dropped my dogs off today at my housekeeper's house, where they will spend the Christmas holiday when I go to Arizona to spend the holiday with my family. Anytime I am in the house and the dogs are not here, I feel naked without my four-legged shadows. Every time I get up, they get up. If I go to the kitchen, they follow me. Luna even follows me in to the bathroom. So, walking around the house without them here just feels wrong.

Greatest day yet in Belize

2011-12-19T23:18:00.000-06:00

I had about as good of a Sunday as I could imagine yesterday. It all actually started two weeks ago when I decided I wanted to complete the "La Ruta Maya" - a four day canoe race across Belize. Each year, the Embassy sponsors a team, but I was going to put together a second team that only had the goal of finishing. I talked to my friend Beth and she was all gung-ho about it too. While we were still looking for a canoe, I got the chance to go out this weekend with the Embassy team and practice with them.

This is how you hold a paddle, right?

We were taking a "short" trip from Spanish Lookout Bridge to Valley of Peace Bridge. I'll be perfectly honest. Within three minutes of going down the river, I knew I didn't want to do this anymore and I was just hoping to get out of it without embarrassing myself or hurting myself too badly. The two locals guys - Macario and Jose - were monsters on that river. Macario just did not stop paddling. It was so intimidating to watch him because I just couldn't do it.

You can't tell from the picture, but I already want to stop.

As we went down the river I settled into a pattern, I would paddle thirty strokes and then take thirty strokes off. Unfortunately, this plan did not work as well as I wanted. I kept losing my balance in the boat. We almost capsized about every five minutes. And not when the water was rough or anything - just me losing my balance. Anytime we got to some rapids (nothing more than a Class II), I would stop paddling and just make sure I didn't dump us in the river.

As little as I paddled (probably about 1/3 as much as the other two guys), my arms still got extremely sore. I don't think my triceps had gotten such a workout in years. My sore arms wasn't actually the worst part, it was my legs. This canoe is not built for someone my size. I couldn't sit with my feet planted on the floor because the canoe wasn't deep enough. I couldn't comfortably put my feet out in front of me and still paddle (I also had no balance in this position), so I ended up sitting cross-legged (or Indian style as we said when I was a kid). The problem with this is that my right knee kept rubbing up against the side of the boat and my legs still cramped up.

Despite the uncomfortable and strenuous ride, it is one of the coolest things I have done in Belize. I felt like I was in the "real" Belize. The river, surrounded by jungle, cuts a fine path through the country with views you don't see from the road. We saw several dozen iguanas high up in the trees. These large lizards looked like they weighed about 20 pounds and were 2-3 feet long. If we got too close, they would dive into the river for protection. Also up in the trees were howler monkeys, egrets, herons, and another dozen birds I couldn't name. It was a fantastic day on the river. I couldn't have asked for anything better (except maybe for a boat with a motor).

As great as canoeing on the river was, that wasn't the highlight of my day. That afternoon, I drove down to San Ignacio for a poker tournament at the casino there. This was the first poker tournament that the casino had ever hosted and they were broadcasting it live on one of the local Belize channels. (Note: if you don't want to read about poker, just skip to the last paragraph).

The tournament was horribly run - not only had the casino never hosted a tournament before, but they don't normally have poker, so the dealers don't know how to deal poker. (The primary job qualification for their dealers appears to be a cute young girl). Moreover, I don't think that the people running the tournament had ever played in a poker tournament before. The tournament started 90 minutes late and took horribly long breaks every time one person had to switch tables. The dealers couldn't catch the chips and one (admittedly complicated) three way all-in hand took over 15 minutes to settle. The blinds went up super fast - started with only 3000 in chips and 40 minutes in, the big blind was 400 and kept doubling.

Despite the mess and confusion, I played really well and got really lucky. I made an early all-in where I tripled up. As the blinds went up, I won enough hands to stay in the game and everyone else kept dropping by the wayside. When we got down to the final table, I started to think I could actually make the money (top 3). I was around 4th or 5th in chips to start and many of the players could barely make a single bet. After one round, no one had been knocked out with several people winning their all-in bets. I knocked out one guy with AK suited. Then, a few hands later, I had KQ spades vs. 10-10 and A-8. The flop came J-9-4 rainbow. A 10 came on the turn to make me the winner with a straight and chip leader.

With six players left, I started playing a few more hands trying to steal the blinds and antes. The blinds were so big that just winning the blinds was worth 5% of the total chips in the table. We traded chips for a while when there were four players. I stole some more blinds, but tried to avoid hands where someone already called. Finally, the other three players got involved in a big hand with two all-ins. One guy was knocked out and suddenly I was in the money with the guy in third crippled.

After a few hands where no one called and the big blind won the hand, I was on the button with K-4. The blinds were 10,000 and 20,000 but the guy in the big blind spot was all-in with 13,000. I called 20,000, as did the small blind. Flop was J-J-2 and both me and the small blind checked. K came on the turn giving me two pair. Small blind checked and I checked behind so that we had a better chance to knock out the big blind. The river came 8 and the small blind bet 25,000, which I called. He flipped over a 9-2 and I won the pot. I wasn't trying to trap him, but it worked out well. Were were heads up and I had a 4-1 chip lead.

Throughout all of this, the TV crew is trying to broadcast all of this. They apparently spent five minutes debating my nationality (no one asked for a while). I kept hearing calls of "Mr. Al with the cheap lead. He is playing a strong game." Besides the TV crew, there were about 40 people hovering around us watching the game. Since almost every hand was an all-in, it was actually pretty exciting to watch (unlike regular poker which can be as dull as watching paint dry). There was a definite buzz in the air and it was really a lot of fun.

When we got to heads-up, they did interviews with us to put it on TV. I sent friends texts letting them know that I was playing on TV.

The cash is on the table

Finally, we were heads up and on the very first hand, I see A-7 off suit. Any Ace is a great hand heads-up, so I raise him all-in. He immediately calls with pocket kings. I got an Ace on the flop and another on the turn to win with trip aces. It was all over and I had won. I got a ~~fancy~~ trophy and, more importantly, cash. With a buy-in of US$100 and 45 players (plus several buy-ins), top prize was just over US$3,500. This was, by far, my biggest cash in a poker tournament, although I have won three other larger tournaments (two online and one live).

All-in-all, a pretty good and long day.

Slow Tornado

2011-12-16T23:44:00.000-06:00

Tonight we had our annual Christmas party at the Ambassador's house. I have previously stated that we have a really great Ambassador in Belize, but seeing him dance "Slow Tornado" with some of the local staff just proved how great he is. This song is by far the most popular Belizean song since I have been here. It is played at every club and every party and is quintessentially Belize.

One of the other great songs here in Belize is Supa G's Lay di Pipe. No where near as popular, but this video is just plain awesome.

The Belize Bucket List

2011-12-14T16:50:00.001-06:00

I leave Belize 6 months from today. It takes a few minutes for that idea to sink in. I still remember seeing the Belize flag and hearing my name called just under two years ago at Flag Day. My knees were shaking so bad that I stumbled into the wall as I was climbing the steps back to my seat. Yet, despite how vivid that memory is, my time here is over 75% complete. That thought freaks me out a little bit as well because I haven't done everything I wanted to do yet.

So, in order to make sure I don't miss anything I want to do because the time runs out, here is a list of the things I need to do before I leave Belize. These are in no particular order:

SCUBA dive with the whale sharks
Caracol Mayan ruins
Lamanai Mayan ruins
(I should probably also make it to Altun Ha and Cahal Pech, but I won't cry if I don't go to these ruins)
Visit the Toledo district
Participate in La Ruta Maya (~~either as a paddler or~~ a support team member)
Belize zoo (can't believe I haven't done this yet)
St. Herman's Cave
ATM Cave
Visit Cancun or other part of Mexican Riviera
Visit one more Central American country (preferably Costa Rica)
Turn 30!

There are a few more things that I am surely forgetting right now, but hopefully I can get all of this done in the next six months.

Red Dress Run

2011-11-27T16:19:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things about living in Belize is our very active group of Hashers. For anyone who doesn't know what the Hash is, the full name is the Hash House Harriers. We bill ourselves as a "drinking club with a running problem." The group started as a bunch of British soldiers in Malaysia who would go running after long weekends spent drinking. Rather than any set trail, each event has a new trail set by the hare. Those who find the end are rewarded with beer.

The Belize Hash has been fairly active for around 3 years or so. Most of my friends are hashers and it provides us with a regular excuse to get together on the weekend and participate in a bit of exercise and day drinking. Many of the traditions of Hash are quite silly, including Hash names, songs, charges, and ridiculous rules (such as if you wear new shoes to a hash, you must drink a beer out of the shoe). But the more people get into the ridiculous traditions, the more fun everyone has..

One of the more ridiculous traditions is the red dress run. Hash lore states that a hasher invited a girl to a hash in San Diego (or San Francisco) without explaining what the hash was. She arrived in a red dress and high heels. Despite the ridicule received from the hashers, she went on the run anyway. The following week, several hashers showed up in red dresses and a tradition was born. Each year, most hashes will host a Red Dress Run for charity. Last year's Red Dress Run was one of my favorite events of the year, with over 80 people in attendance and at least 50 wearing red dresses.

Due to a variety of reasons, this year's event wasn't nearly as well attended and there were a lot fewer dresses. (I blame this on the fact that the flyer this year said that dresses were not required). It's too bad that more people didn't show up, because the event was done much better this year. We had a DJ, tons of food for the cookout and the location was great (although tables and chairs would have been nice).

Tilapia Taco and Visa Molestor (yes, I have an awful hash name)

The Pasquale's chef with her two best customers, Vespam and Visa Molestor.

All the dresses for the Red Dress Run

The Great Pretzel Shortage of 2011

2011-11-23T17:40:00.000-06:00

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, I decided I would make chocolate covered pretzels to take with me to the two dinners I am going to tomorrow. I get the chocolate chips, I get the sprinkles and can't find pretzels at my normal store. Then, I can't find pretzels at stores number 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7. I even called my friend Margarita for suggestions and she was gonna have her friend check in Spanish Lookout, but there weren't any there either. For some reason, there just aren't any pretzels in Belize right now. It is reminiscent of my struggle to find mini-marshmallows last year at Thanksgiving.

The (almost) perfect week

2011-11-23T08:07:00.000-06:00

Being the Embassy Duty Officer is not fun. Forced to carry a cell phone around with you wherever you go, your day can be ruined with quickest of rings. Every time the phone rings, you worry that someone died (the worst calls), someone was arrested (also bad), someone is crazy (happens way too often), someone is sick or lost their passport, or just wants to say hi (seriously, that one has happened to me). Every time the phone rings, your heart jumps in your chest.

That is why a week with no phone calls is the dream. A perfect week. And just like with baseball's perfect game, there are rules that apply to the perfect week.

Rule number 1 - you cannot get excited about the possibility of a perfect week until the weekend is over (past the 6th inning). Sure, it is nice to not get any calls on Wednesday or Thursday, but until you make it through the weekend, don't get excited.

Rule number 2 - you cannot talk about the perfect week. Ever see the late innings of a perfect game in baseball. No one sits anywhere near the pitcher. No one will talk to him for fear of jinxing him. This rule actually tripped me up the last time I got close. I made it to Tuesday with no calls and then got slammed Tuesday night with four calls. I not only blew the perfect game, but also the no hitter and even lost the game that week.

Rule number 3 - the opponent doesn't matter. Achieving a perfect game (week) is hard no matter the opponent. A major league pitcher playing against a high school team would not regularly achieve a perfect game. So, it doesn't matter that this is about as slow as tourism season gets in Belize. Achieving a perfect week would still be an amazing accomplishment.

So, I followed all of the rules this week. I even thought I was going to lose the perfect week last night when the phone rang. It was a wrong number (similar to a fielder making a great catch to take away a hit). Then, this morning, at 745 - a mere 15 minutes before my time as duty officer is over, I got a call from a woman who needed information about doctors in Belize. I felt like that Detroit pitcher who got the 27th batter to hit a ground ball, saw the throw to first beat the runner, and watched in disbelief as the umpire called him safe. I knew I had my perfect week and had it snatched away from me at the last possible moment.

Learning to be a man

2011-11-21T21:22:00.000-06:00

There are things that every man should know -

how to change a tire
how to tie a tie
what the infield fly rule is
how to grill a steak
Cast a fishing rod
drive a stick shift (I still struggle with this one)
how to play poker
how to build a fire
who Walter Payton is

Tonight, I got to cross one more off the list. I cranked up Journey on my iPad and changed the battery in my car. It only took me an hour and the assistance of one friend. Turns out once we had a flash light and the proper tool (socket wrench), it was pretty easy.

Rough week

2011-11-20T15:57:00.000-06:00

I had kind of a rough week this past. Nothing super bad and, as my sister was in town, I had fun this week too, but a lot of little things went badly.

On Monday, I left the back door open to the porch. I wanted the dogs to be able to get a little fresh air while I was at work. Luna decided that getting onto the porch was not enough so she chewed through the screen and hobbled out the back. I got a call from the Ambassador's wife that she was out and spent half my lunch unsuccessfully looking for her around the housing compound. It wasn't until I was driving back to work after lunch that I spotted her hiding under a bush at the RSO's house.

Then starting Monday, Luna decided that she needs to whine loudly in the middle of the night for no reason. Plus my stomach was upset and I ended up taking a sick day on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I made it back to work and left Luna and Bailey at home. Luna, unable to get to the screen door, decided to try to chew through the front door. Yep, CHEW through the DOOR. Moreover, the check engine light came on in my car when Shelley was driving back from SCUBA diving.

In order to prevent Luna from chewing holes in my house when I am at work, I decided to kennel train her. She had responded to this by pooping in her kennel almost everytime she goes in there. Since the kennel is a wire kennel, this has required me to clean poop off the floor several times this week.

Finally, when I took the car in to get fixed on Friday, they told me I needed a new battery. They didn't have any in stock though and I was going to have to buy a US$180 battery. Since I had not had any battery issues, I thought it would be fine to wait a few days to find a better deal. No such luck. Car wouldn't start on Friday night and then Saturday was a national holiday, so there is no where open to buy a new battery until Monday.

Her name is Luna

2011-11-08T22:13:00.000-06:00

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I decided to name her Luna.

Meet ????

2011-11-07T22:21:00.001-06:00

Here is a picture of the puppy I rescued. I am looking for name ideas - please put them in the comments.

Forgot to mention - the puppy is a girl. On the ride back to Belmopan, when I was more worried about whether she would survive than whether she was a girl or a boy, I had a great boy name picked out. One of the children injured in the accident was named Gibson. I thought it was a great dog name - no offense to Gibson the human - and would be a good tribute to how I got her, but I already have one dog with a pseudo cross-gender name (Bailey is a male dog) that I've decided I can't go with Gibson.

Welcome Home

2011-11-06T22:41:00.000-06:00

I had a great trip to DC this last week. I got to see good friends, the weather was great (crisp but not cold), the food was amazing and (surprisingly) the training was really useful. But with all of that, the most interesting thing of the week happened on the way home from the airport.

Right after we passed Hattieville, we came across a van overturned on the side of the road. There were several a half dozen children and several adults standing around. They all looked American and it looked like people might be hurt, so I had the driver stop and I got out to help. The driver had been coming down the road and swerved to miss a dog. When he got onto the shoulder, he flipped the van onto his right side.

I made sure that the ambulance had been called. Two of the kids had cuts that may have required stitches, but nothing serious. Lots of scared parents and kids. They had spent the past week on a family mission trip near Dangriga. They were on their way to the airport to go home when the dog ran out in front of them. As the police and ambulance arrived, I made sure they had contact information for the Embassy and the airlines (they were likely to miss their flight).

As I made my way back to the car, I saw something on the shoulder about 100 yards up the road. When I got there, I saw the dog that had presumably run out in front. She was hurt pretty badly. He back legs were injured and she was trying to drag herself down the road. When I got near she just laid down on her side. I didn't know what to do - Belize doesn't have animal control. The police officer laughed at me when I asked if they could do anything. The dog wasn't dead, but she would die if I left her there.

I decided to load her into the back of the Embassy SUV (there was some cardboard in the back). We brought her back to Belmopan and then I took her to a local vet. He is going to keep her overnight for observation. He said if she lasts the night, she will likely survive. If she survives, I will either adopt her or find her a home. I wasn't planning on getting another dog, but I couldn't just leave on the road.

What I am looking forward to in DC

2011-10-28T19:29:00.000-06:00

Next week, I am headed to DC for training. I haven't been to the U.S. since February, making this the longest I have ever been outside the U.S. Here are definitely a few things that I am looking forward to in DC.

Friends - I will get to see friends from high school, college, possibly law school, work in DC, and people from Belize. A lot of people to fit into a short week.
Halloween - Even though Saturday will be the big night out, it should be fun going out to a bar on Monday.
Bars, Pubs, Happy Hours - Drinking a beer that is not Belikin will be such a delight.
Food - Steak, Roast beef, Ray's Hell Burgers, Five Guys, Pot Bellys, yummm
Chilly weather - Hope the snow that is supposed to hit DC this weekend is gone by the time I get there Sunday night, but crisp fall weather will be pleasant.

Fun with kids

2011-10-24T20:03:00.000-06:00

Spent this past weekend in Hopkins celebrating my friend Kevin's birthday. There were about twenty of us who went down there, including seven kids ages 1.5-10.

Who done it?

2011-10-20T19:50:00.000-06:00

When I joined the foreign service, I assumed that I would spend much of my time attending fancy foreign dinners. I had images of downing vodka in Moscow with toast after toast following the signing of an important treaty (note - much of my images of diplomats may come directly from Tom Clancy novels). During my time in Belize, I have been to a grand total of two representational events which were not thrown by our Embassy. I attended the Lebanese Day celebration my first month here and the Brazil Independence Day celebration. Neither of these involved fancy sit-down dinners with multiple forks. Last night I finally got my fancy dinner. It wasn't a celebration of a fancy treaty, a major holiday, or the birthday of an Ambassador. No, it was a murder mystery dinner hosted by Margarita and Emile.

The theme of the night was an island wedding gone awry when the bride is murdered. I played Michael Cavanaugh, an international croquet champion and gigolo who has a preference for rich women in their 70s and 80s with one foot in the grave. Joining us for the evening were the groom, his father, the wedding planner and her ex-husband lounge singer, the bride's hippie half-sister, the groom's secret half-sister and the groom's ex-girlfriend. Despite the incredible hokiness of the game, we had a lot of fun with it.

In addition, the food and the decor were fantastic. We had five or six courses, champagne, wine, and all the fancy forks you can imagine. Margarita went all out with her decorations. She even went so far as to have a "rehearsal dinner" with her kids the night before. I would happily let Margarita organize any party I would ever host or attend.

The dinner table. How amazing is this?

Check out the wine bucket on the left. It is an ice sculpture with flowers frozen into the ice.
It took her 4 days to make this.

Dean Cash and his awesome lounge singer mustache.

The second course - lobster and fruit salad served in a coconut half.

The wedding cake - she even had a bride/groom wedding topper next to the cake.

Turns out that the ex-girlfriend (and beauty queen) did it!

Guat's Up Dude?

2011-10-10T21:22:00.000-06:00

Last October, my friend Chris from A-100 came to visit me in Belize. This weekend, I got to make the return trip. All in all, it was just about a perfect trip - the complete opposite of my disastrous vacation in Panama.

Chris with US Embassy

I arrived on Friday afternoon and after Chris picked me up, we headed to the Embassy for a quick tour. The US Embassy in Guatemala is located in a fairly central part of town. The building is a 3 story concrete office building straight out of the 1970s. Compared to our Embassy in Belmopan, there is a lot less green space. All of the offices seemed fuller and a bit more cramped - given how many people work there compared to Belmopan, it should be no surprise. Despite being 3 pm on a Friday, the Embassy was actually closed. Everyone works 9 hour days Monday through Thursday and gets a half day on Friday. I wouldn't mind adopting that in Belize.

Three volcanoes outside Guatemala City
(note the middle one is smoking)

Chris's apartment in Guatemala is amazing. Guatemala does not have a housing pool like most posts. Instead, the officers are allotted a specific amount of funds and have to go find their own place. Chris did pretty good in finding this place. He has a view of three different volcanoes from his balcony, a roof top pool, two living rooms, an amazing kitchen, maid's quarters, and a jacuzzi in his bathroom.
After a few beers on his balcony, Chris's girlfriend, Monica, joined us for dinner. We went to a local steak house and our dinner was delicious. The next morning, Monica made us a traditional Guatemalan breakfast with plantains, eggs, beans, and guacamole. It was delicious.

Overlooking Antigua

After breakfast, we headed to Antigua. Antigua is actually "Antigua Guatemala" or "Old Guatemala." It was the capital of much of Central America during Spanish Colonial times. An earthquake destroyed much of the capital, so the Spanish moved it to the current Guatemala City. Only about 45 minutes from Guatemala City, the quaint town is a great get-away from the hustle and bustle that is Guatemala City. The town is surrounded by the mountains and has a nice little town center. There are lots of shops, restaurants, and bars. It really is a great place to spend a leisurely afternoon or a nice weekend.

The highlight of my weekend was Saturday night. Two months ago, when Chris and I planned this trip, I mentioned to Chris that I would like to be able to watch the Nebraska-Ohio State game. Chris is also a college football fan, so he understood. We went to watch the game at pretty big sports bar, where we had the largest plate of nachos I have ever seen. The first half of the game I was miserable. The Huskers were playing awful. The game was conspiring to ruin my weekend. THEN, the Huskers started turning it around. When Taylor Martinez scored in the 3rd quarter, I jumped up and yelled, forgetting I was in a bar full of Guatemalans who couldn't care less about this game. After the next TD, I didn't care who stared at me. By the time, Nebraska scored the winning TD, several Guatemalans were cheering on Nebraska with me. I know that I am way too emotionally attached to a football team, but this comeback really made the weekend better.

Celebratory shot after Nebraska's win

The other major revelation of the weekend came when the bar played the classic Richie Valens' hit "La Bamba." I have always known the chorus of that song to be, "La la la la la bamba." I was singing along when Monica called me out. She insisted that the words were "para bailar la bamba." I called bullshit and we playfully argued about it the rest of the night. The song was even played at another bar that night and I still heard the lyrics my way. It wasn't until the next day when I looked up the lyrics online that I was convinced. This is truly mind-blowing.

Sunday morning, we drove through the mountains to Lake Atitlan. Lake Atitlan is formed by a volcanic crater and is surrounded by three volcanoes. The lake is gorgeous and the surrounding cliffs are majestic. Our hotel was fantastic. They had a botanical garden and an aviary. There was an infinity jacuzzi and TWO helipads. The nearby town of Panajachel was a fun little town. Nearby, there were a variety of adventure sports - SCUBA in the lake, kayaking, zip lines, hiking. If I were to come back to Guatemala, I could see spending several days in the area.

My favorite photo of the weekend - Antigua

Check out Chris's chicken bus t-shirt. After spotting it in Antigua, we made fun of the shirt all night.
So when we saw it in Panajachel, Chris had to buy it.

The view from our pool at Lake Atitlan

One of the Macaws in the aviary. These guys were nasty.
They would screech at me if I came near and raise their talons at me.

This waterfall was right off the road.

National TV

2011-10-06T13:57:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday, and again this morning, I started my day off by appearing live on national TV and radio to promote the Diversity Visa Lottery. It sounds so much cooler to call it national TV than to point out that as Belize only has a population of 300,000, I likely reached no more than 15,000 total people. Still, it is nice to get out of the office and being on TV (and simulcast on the radio) is fun.

(If you happen to be a non-U.S. Citizen reader and are interested in immigrating to the U.S., you can go to http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ to register).

Congratulations Katie

2011-10-02T16:45:00.002-06:00

I've been looking forward to October 1 for weeks now. It was jam-packed. Nebraska's first Big Ten game against the Wisconsin Badgers - possibly the biggest game of the year. The first ever Scavenger Hash, which I was "setting." Rotary's annual Wine and Cheese fundraiser, one of the biggest social events of the year in Belmopan. It was my little sister's 25th birthday. And last week, the St. Louis Cardinals had completed a miracle comeback to win the wild card and would start the MLB post season on Saturday.

So, I had been looking forward to this day for a while. But though some of the things I was looking forward to were awesome (the Scavenger Hash) and some were not (the Huskers game), the biggest news came from my little sister. At just after midnight on her 25th birthday, her boyfriend Paul proposed to her and she said yes.

Congratulations Katie and Paul

Katie and Paul in San Pedro

Funeral of George Price

2011-09-26T10:19:00.003-06:00

Last Monday, the primary founding father of Belize, George Price, passed away at the age of 92. Although I knew George Price was the "George Washington of Belize", I had never really looked into the history. According to one of the local papers, Price became active in politics in the 1950s following a devaluation of the currency. In 1956, he was elected mayor of Belize City. In 1961, he was mayor when Hurricane Hattie devastated Belize City. George Price was the first to advocate for moving the capital to the center of the country, what we now call Belmopan.

Price was one of the founders of the People United Party, which was the driving force behind independence and is currently the opposition party to the United Democratic Party. Price and other independence minded individuals began calling the country Belize (as opposed to British Honduras) in the 1970s. Although the British did not appear to oppose independence for Belize, the main opposition came from Guatemala, which maintains a territorial claim over the country. In 1981, the British formally agreed to a defense guarantee and independence was granted on September 21, 1981. Price served as the first Prime Minister until 1984, when the PUP lost to the UDP in the elections. Price was not done, however, as he was elected to serve as Prime Minister again from 1989 to 1994.

Price never married and had no children. I've heard and read that he was never known to have a romantic partner. Price was a strong believer in Catholicism and even attended seminary as a young man. He never owned a car or had a regular driver and was known to walk everywhere even late into his life.

The accomplishment that I personally find the most amazing is one that is hardly written about. In the history of colonialism, it is often easy to keep the people united when they are fighting for a common goal. What is infinitely more difficult is to keep those factions united once independence begins. Few who have never lived in Belize would realize how multi-cultural this country is. In a country with only 300,000 people, there are significant Creole (Kriol), Mestizo, Mayan, Menonite, Garifuna, Chinese, and Caucasian, as well as other ethnic groups. Yet this country remained united throughout its history and there is little dissension today. That is truly remarkable and is a testament to the leadership of George Price and others.

Today was declared a national holiday for the state funeral. I am watching the funeral from home and I am struck by two things. First, I know and recognize a lot of people appearing on TV. I often forget how prominent my friends and acquaintances are in Belize. Second, there is way more white in the crowd than I would usually see at a funeral in the U.S. Many of the women are wearing black, but most of the men and some of the women are wearing white shirts with black pants. I think this is due to the weather more than anything. It is hot out there and anyone wearing a suit jacket has got to be suffering in the heat. So, instead of seeing black jackets, we are seeing the white shirt. I should also note that men often wear a white guayabera in formal situations in Belize.

New People and other stuff

2011-09-24T15:18:00.001-06:00

Lots of new people have arrived at the Embassy in the past month. All told, I think close to half of all the Americans at Post have arrived within the last month. Lots of new kids too. Hard to remember who belongs to who, but I am starting to figure it out.

September is a very holiday-friendly month in Belize. For Labor Day, I went up to Cancun. Then, for the Battle of St. George's Caye, I went to Hopkins. Then Wednesday, September 21, was the 30th anniversary of Belize Independence.

Sadly, George Price, the first Prime Minister of Belize and one of the driving forces behind Belize independence died on Sunday. On Monday, Belize is having a state funeral - the first in its history. They declared the day to be a national holiday, which means I will get one more day off this month.

On Thursday, I will be going back on national TV and radio to promote to Diversity Visa Lottery. Last year, it was possible to listen over the internet. I will try to post a link and time later this week if I can.

Cancun!

2011-09-18T17:01:00.001-06:00

Sam, Betsy and Kris in high school

If it seems like I have disappeared for most of the month, it's because one of my best friends from high school has spent the past two weeks hanging out here. Sam and I have known each other since junior high and became good friends in high school when he started working at my Dad's restaurant. He had a pool table in a detachable garage and many of my high school memories take place in that garage. Despite the fact that almost all of my friends from high school live in different places, we have remained close. So, a few months back, I started talking to Sam about visiting me here in Belize and he managed to get two weeks off work and a cheap flight to Cancun.

My original plan was to drive to Chetumal on Friday, stay overnight, and then drive the rest of the way to Cancun on Saturday. On Thursday, however, I got a call from my sister Shelley. She had been scheduled for her first ever overnight trip to Cancun (she is flight attendant) for Friday. So, I decided to drive all the way up on Friday and stay with Shelley. It was great to see Shelley, even though she got in late at night and had to leave early the next morning.

View from Shelley's hotel.

Cancun is awesome. Really, really, awesome. The beach is utterly fantastic. The hotels are gorgeous, the food was fabulous. The clubs were rocking. I loved Cancun. The main tourist area is called the hotel zone and it is a long thin stretch of land, shaped like a 7, that juts off the mainland. The Caribbean is open on one side and a lagoon is enclosed on the other side. Luxury resorts line the Caribbean side for miles. The lagoon side tends to feature restaurants, malls, shops, clubs, etc.

People kept asking me how Cancun compares to Belize. The simple answer is that it doesn't. Some of the resorts in San Pedro are nice, but nothing compares to the luxury of Cancun. The beaches are nicer in Cancun, the ocean is nicer (I like having some waves). The food is better. The shopping is way better (although I didn't buy much).

Sam and Yiselle (she had just changed after shift)

After spending Saturday morning at the beach, I drove to the airport to pick up Sam. Given that it was the first day of college football, we then went to lunch at Hooters. This way, I could watch the Nebraska game and Sam could watch the Hooters girls. We sat by the kitchen so we I could watch the game we I wanted. This had the added bonus of being where the waitresses hung out when they weren't serving their tables. One of the waitresses, Yiselle (pronounced Giselle) decided to hang out and flirt with us. Her English was limited to the Hooters menu and our Spanish was limited to four years of high school Spanish over a decade ago (officially, I am 0+). But, we Sam made do. The hardest part was that she asked us to translate the Hooters slogan on the back of every t-shirt, "Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined." We were not successful.

We made our way back to the hotel to enjoy the beach and pool before it got dark. Unfortunately, Sam decided to leave his glasses on when he went into the sea. The Caribbean did not like his decision and decided to take them off for him. So, surrounded by beautiful scenery and beautiful women, Sam can't see anything more than three feet in front of his face. He spent the rest of the weekend surreptitiously asking me if a nearby girl was as hot as her blurry figure made him think she was.

We had a fantastic night out on Saturday. We started at Senor Frogs, a restaurant bar, where the food is okay, the drinks are overpriced, but the atmosphere is fantastic. This place is what Margaritaville would like to be, if it weren't a corporate chain worried about of offending customers. They even have a water slide that goes into the lagoon.

Sam, the Vegas inspired club area

After dinner, we headed to the club area. We ended up getting free cover to this one club. We hadn't planned to stay too long, but two girls were seated by us and we ended up spending the evening talking to them. As the night wore on, the place filled up pretty quickly. The people watching opportunities were fantastic. The people watching was fantastic and the music was great (over the last two years, I have noticed that I have started to like club music. Not sure if this is due to a change in club music or a change in my tastes).

Me, Sam (no glasses) and Elyce

At one point in the night, I had mentioned that every time I stayed in Mexico, I had gone to a Mexican Strip Club. Moreover, Sam and I had talked about finding a club until he lost his glasses. The girls we were talking with thought going to a club was a fantastic idea. So, around 2 am, we hopped into a cab and he took us to the shady part of town. This club was much nicer than either of the ones I had gone to in Chetumal. It was very much an American-style strip club. A lot more dancers, better looking dancers, but a lot more expensive too. We eventually made our way back to our hotels around 530 in the morning.

Obligatory shot of my feet at the pool

On Sunday, we woke up late, ate some lunch and then spent the afternoon at the beach and pool. I got a bit burnt by the pool. Sam halfheartedly combed the beach for his lost glasses. It was a beautiful and relaxed afternoon. This is why Cancun exists. We ate delicious tacos at a relaxed Mexican restaurant off the main strip. There was a mariachi band. We made it an early night as we were getting up early to drive back to Belize.

I had so much fun in Cancun, that I have decided to celebrate my 30th birthday there next spring. I've invited friends and family from Belize and the US to join me for a long weekend there. Should be fun.

Meeting people on the road less traveled

2011-08-31T17:39:00.003-06:00

I was thinking about the famed Robert Frost poem, The Road Not Taken, today. The final three lines have always spoken to me.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I -
I took the road less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

When you take the less traveled road, you get to see and do things that most people don't. The less traveled road has always seemed more adventurous, more fun, more spirited, more daring. Frankly, I have thought of the road less traveled as distinctly the better road (which, when you think about it, is counter-intuitive).

The biggest downside of the less traveled road has always been that it is, by definition, the lonelier road. But, I no longer think that is necessarily true. My road has gone from Omaha to Shenandoah to Kirksville to St. Louis to Washington DC to Belize, with several detours to Europe. No one has made this entire journey with me, but I have never really been walking alone. Each leg of the journey has simply had different companions. Meeting these new companions is the best part of the journey. So, I shall continue to take the road less traveled by.

Acting

2011-08-26T17:03:00.000-06:00

Work for the last few weeks has been a bit busier than usual. In addition to my regular dosage of non-immigrant and immigrant interviews, I have also been acting Consular Chief. My supervisor has been on three weeks training and she asked me to fill in while she was gone.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't really expect to have to do all that much. A lot of the job is long-term planning and staffing decisions. Since, by definition, long-term decisions don't usually need to be made all that time, I figured I'd attend a few more meetings, sign a few more forms and just make sure the place didn't go to shit. I figured I could handle that.

Turns out there is a lot more to the job* than I expected. There was a lot of preparation that went into Tropical Storm Harvey. Although it didn't really turn into anything, we had to prepare for the fact that it might hit as a hurricane. That meant a ~~warden message~~ Emergency Message from the US Embassy about the storm, Emergency Action Committee meeting and other issues.

I definitely did NOT expect to hire anyone while I was acting consular chief. Our biometrics coordinator position had been vacant for over a year and then I had to interview someone for the position the first week. We had also requested a State Department intern for the Spring. Because of the long clearance processes, we had to make the decision now. I got to sift through dozens of applications and resumes, pick out a few good candidates (in truth, they were all good candidates), conduct phone interviews, and then select a primary and alternate. Given the fact that I had never hired anyone in my life, it was a strange experience. It was honestly difficult to choose. Three of the four candidates seemed like they would be good fits and there was nothing quantitatively to exclude one over the other. In the end, I went with the one who seemed liked she would fit in the best.

The last big issue I had to deal with involved implementing our new public operating hours which starts next week. Logisitically, I had to figure out how many appts. to schedule at what times. Plus, we have been trying to promote it to current applicants.

There were, as I expected, more meetings, more forms to sign, and unusual cases to deal with. But, I enjoyed the work. I got a few ideas of how I would approach this job if I did it full-time. It will look good on my EER.

* By job, I mean the job of Acting Consular Chief, as opposed to the Consular Chief job. I knew the Consular Chief did a lot, I just didn't think all that much would occur during the three weeks I was at the helm.

Katie and Paul

2011-08-25T22:16:00.000-06:00

My sister and her boyfriend were here last week. I swear they did more in a week than I have done in 14 months. We had a blast out in San Pedro and then they spent the rest of the week doing more in three days that I think I have done in months. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures because my sister lost her camera and then used mine all week.

On Saturday, Tropical Storm Harvey made its way to Belize. Although we spent all week preparing for a possible hurricane, Harvey turned out to be a pretty weak storm. It rained a bit throughout the morning, then really, really hard for 30 minutes. Just after the storm, we still had the Hash. We thought it was gonna pour on us, but ended up being great weather. Plus, it was pretty fun to fun to hash through all the puddles. That night, I hosted a party at my house. We had a great time, but I swear I am still recovering.

My sneaky dog

2011-08-16T18:57:00.000-06:00

Bailey always appears to be a good dog. He never gets up on the furniture, unless he is called up there. Or at least he doesn't when I am home. Since my sister had my car today, he couldn't hear me when I came into the house. Guess who was sitting on the couch with a guilty grin on his face?

Sharks and shitty hotels

2011-08-15T20:21:00.000-06:00

My sister Katie and her boyfriend Paul came into Belize on Friday last week. As soon as I picked them up from the airport, we headed out to San Pedro for a weekend at the beach.

Our hotel was a complete disaster. My sister found it online and it shouldn't have been so bad, but it was just awful. We should have known it was bad when our cab driver didn't know where the hotel was. When we finally found it (we had driven right past it, but there was no sign), the pool was cordoned off and 1/4 full. We only agreed to stay there because they said the pool would be filled later that afternoon (it wasn't). Filling the pool ruined our water pressure and we still didn't have water after we got back from snorkeling the next day. We finally gave up and switched hotels. If you are coming to San Pedro, I do not recommend the Tides Beach Resort.

What wasn't a disaster was our snorkeling trip. I had previously used the snorkel guide Lil' Alphonse and I made sure we used him again. While almost every snorkel trip takes you to the same two spots (Hol Chan and Shark-Ray alley), Lil Alphonse does more than just drive the boat. In Hol Chan, you swim just above the reef and thousands of fish are visible. As you swim along, Lil Alphonse points out the fish and then tells you what kind of fish it is. He knows so much about these fish that he can tell you whether it is young or old, male or female, whether it can change colors and what colors it can change into. Now, I will be the first to admit that I have no idea if he is telling us the truth, but he sure sounds like he knows what is talking about (which is what is really important with a tour guide).

Amazingly, shark-ray Alley is even more amazing than Hol Chan. Although the spot is nothing more than a sandy area, dozens of sharks and sting rays hang out there. (I am sure it has almost everything to do with all the guides chumming the water and feeding the sharks and rays). The sharks are all nurse sharks and the highlight is Alphonse diving down and pulling one of the sharks up to the surface. Then, he will let you pet or even hold the shark. It is so awesome to hold a shark. The skin is a weird texture. Almost like the dimpled texture of an artificial basketball.

The rest of the trip was pretty awesome as well. The band that I really like was playing at Fidos. The food, as always, was amazing. The nachos at the Sunset Grill were to die for. The lobster, shrimp and fish were all fantastic. I did two pretty cool dives on Sunday morning and I got to hang out with my sister and her boyfriend.

(Note: my sister brought a disposable water camera - so we will have pictures of me holding the shark once she gets it developed).

Poker Night

2011-08-07T16:15:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, the Main Event of the World Series of Poker was shown live* on ESPN. I love poker and watched way too much of the coverage. Starting with the second to last day, they started showing a player from Belize named Badih Bounahra. Despite his short stack, he kept inching closer and closer to the final table, which will be played in November.

As the tournament wore on, the announcers starting talking about the man from Belize. They said he owned a poker room in Belize City. I thought that was impossible because I didn't think there was a poker room in Belize. Considering that they also called Belize City the capital of Belize, I figured the announcers just had bad information. Turns out they were right and I was wrong.

Ever since I learned there was a poker room at the Princess Casino in Belize City, I have wanted to make a trip up there. The Princess has a less than stellar reputation and despite having the only movie theater in the country (currently showing Transformers 2), one of two bowling alleys in Belize, and a casino, I had somehow never made it there. I sought to fix this oversight last night and headed up to Belize City.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the poker room. They had quality tables,regulation chips, and professional dealers in a room separate from the rest of the casino. Most of the players were polite and knew what they were doing. (There was one guy who never stopped talking and bet big into almost every pot. He won several big hands, but ended up losing approximately US$800, so despite his obnoxious personality, I was glad he was there). The rake is absurdly high, 5% up to $25. (Normally, the rake is capped around $4).

I started the night off hot with pocket kings on my first hand and I won the first three pots at the table. Within 30 minutes I had pocket kings again and I was up $75 quickly (with an initial bankroll of $100). From there, things turned sour with a run of bad cards. Twice the boorish guy beat me on the river and I was down $200. With my last $100, I quickly tripled up to get back to even and won a few more big pots to end up ahead by $250 for the night. Not too shabby for a Saturday night.

Staying connected

2011-08-01T23:23:00.000-06:00

About a week ago, I saw the following status from one of my A-100 classmates:

talking to grandma in falls church via skype, watching the daily show online, listening to WBEZ streaming complete with local traffic updates: sometimes i'm not sure we're living the foreign service as it was intended. (the internet is amazing.)

It really is amazing how connected I can stay despite living so far from family and friends. And it is not just facebook, skype, and e-mail. Netflix, Hulu, online newspapers, and internet radio all make it like I haven't even left the United States. This isn't necessarily a good thing.

Compare this to just twelve years ago when I went to Italy and I wrote letters to friends and family practically every day. The fact that communication took time was important. It helped me develop friends and learn to solve my own problems. I truly became immersed in Italy on this trip, something I haven't done on any trip abroad since (although the definition of an immersion has probably changed as well since most host families probably also use facebook).

The point of this post, however, isn't to talk about the changes in living abroad, but how to take advantage of staying connected to the United States (if that is what you want). Below is a list of the most important technological devices/products/services that I have found to stay connected.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) - whether you are living under an oppresive regime or just want to keep up with the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy, no service is more important than a VPN. (Do people still watch Grey's Anatomy). The VPN establishes a secure connection between your computer and a server in the U.S. (or U.K. or where ever you want) and then tells the rest of the world that you are in that location. Many American websites, including Netflix, Pandora, Hulu, etc. have restrictions on allowing access to the content outside the U.S. This allows you to still watch your favorite movie or TV show while abroad.

There are dozens of commercial VPNs out there, but I have had great success with StrongVPN. They have a variety of options which should be able to suit your needs and only costs about US$55 per year. StrongVPN can be used by multiple computers or devices, but only one can be logged in at a time.
In order to have multiple devices logged in at once, I purchased a separate router from Sabai Technology. This specific router is designed to work with your StrongVPN account and will broadcast a wireless VPN connected signal. Although the router is a bit pricey at $140, they have fantastic customer service if you need help setting up (you probably will).

Magic Jack - Some people swear by Skype, but I personally prefer Magic Jack. This awesome device lets me have a US phone number and call anywhere in the US for free using a real telephone. I plug the telephone into the computer and voila! The reason I prefer Magic Jack is I find it easier to call family on their cell phones than arrange for skype dates. For only $20 a year, it is a great deal. I haven't really looked into calling non-US numbers yet on Magic Jack. I know it's possible, but not sure of the costs.
XBox 360, Wii, or PS3 - If you are a gaming enthusiast, then you probably already have one of these systems. If you do, you can generally connect it to the internet and use it to stream Netflix and other programs. I have used Xbox and while I would recommend it over nothing at all, I am not in love with their service and the inability to pay with a credit card that bills a DPO or APO address.
Roku - What I would recommend is the Roku. This tiny device fits into the palm of your hand and connects your TV to the internet via its various channels. The five key channels are Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, Amazon Instant Video, and MLBTV. I have not had the Roku long, but it already is going to surpass the XBox for streaming to my TV.
Netflix - If you haven't heard, Netflix now offers streaming video and TV shows. The movie selection is quite limited, the TV show collection is quite extensive. For $7.99 per month, it is totally worth it. I, personally, like to also get the DVDs through the mail as it allows me to see some movies quicker. Given that there is no way to rent movies in Belize, it is worth the extra expense for the extra options.
Hulu Plus - Almost all currently running TV shows and many older ones. You can get the most recent TV show episodes for free on your computer through regular Hulu. Hulu Plus expands the inventory and allows you to stream to your TV. (I haven't tried this yet).
Pandora - It's awesome.

So, as you can see it's like I hardly left at all.

Hurricane exercise

2011-07-29T18:47:00.000-06:00

We had a hurricane hit Belize today - more accurately, we pretended to have a hurricane hit Belize today in order to prepare for such a crisis. The exercise was put together by the crisis management team in DC. They put together a crisis exercise and then simulate phone calls and e-mails from the public, the department, the press and Members of Congress. We work on inputting the information into the Crisis Task Force software, develop talking points and generally get an idea for how chaotic such a situation can be.

I actually had it a little bit easy this morning. I was on Congressional and media duty so I got all the phone calls from Congressional staffers and the press. All my callers were calm and collected. Other people in the section were getting calls from friends and family, as well as American citizens affected by the hurricane. The callers really get into their roles and really amp up the stress level when someone is yelling at you or crying or doesn't speak English.

Although the exercise was useful and went pretty well overall, I really don't want a large scale disaster to hit us while I am here. We'd figure it out, but it'd be messy.

Rejuvenation

2011-07-24T21:54:00.000-06:00

It is not often you feel rejuvenated the day after staying out to until five in the morning closing down bars in a Mexican (southern) border town. But after a pretty rough few weeks at work, a trip to Chetumal really soothed the soul. Highlights of the weekend include:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II - Loved it. It followed the book fairly closely and I didn't mind the changes. My favorite addition was the line from Prof. McGonagall, "It's good to see you Potter." The look on her face says everything and sums up the emotional connection we all have with the story.
Dr. Pepper - They don't sell it in Belize and they don't sell it in Mexico, but we found a random case on the shelf at the grocery store which I had to buy. I was so excited that I almost didn't cringe when I realized I paid US$12 for the case.
Pirate bar - a bar shaped like a pirate ship. Enough said.
Road beers - we walked the two-mile stretch of bars and restaurants along the sea and soon realized that it was more enjoyable with a can of Sol bought from a drive-thru beer store.
Gaudy belt buckles - several outdoor stands were selling belts with jeweled belt buckles. Common designs included jeweled dollar signs, jeweled marijuana leaves, and jeweled guns. These things were so awful that I think even Mexican gangsters would only wear them ironically. Some of the best designs had spinners in the buckle like the rims on cars that were popular 5 years ago (are those still popular now?) We saw these several times when we were sober, but we couldn't find them after we had been drinking or else purchases would have been made.
Closing down the Mexican strip club. Around 3, we decided that we couldn't go home without trying to improve on my previous experience in a Mexican strip club. Our first attempt got lost in translation. We didn't know the word for strip club, so our best Spanish speaker asked the taxi driver to take us to the "bar for women without clothes." The club was rocking, but we soon realized it wasn't what we were looking for as no one was taking their clothes off and most of the women in the club were really men in drag. Our next cabby understood us better and took us to a different club. Absolutely everything was better about this club than the one in April. After two dancers, the turned on the house lights and closed down the club.
Wal-Mart. I should not get this excited about a store but can't help myself. Between the internet and what is available in Belize, I can get almost anything I want. But with internet shopping and small stores, you lose the ability to browse. Plus, the produce is so much better in Mexico.
Tacos

This weekend was just what I needed.

Update

2011-07-22T18:50:00.000-06:00

So, the past couple of weeks have been rough at work. Starting at the beginning of July, I rotated back to the visa section. The transition hasn't exactly been smooth. I am not going to air all my grievances out here because (a) it would be unprofessional, (b) it wouldn't accomplish anything, and (c) I don't know who at the Embassy reads this.

What bothers me the most about this is not the situation itself, but how it has been effecting me. I have been finding myself increasingly frustrated about issues that don't really matter. I am becoming petty and complaining about things that would normally roll off my back. I have honestly prided myself in the past on ignoring office politics and just doing my job, but I can't seem to find that inner peace here. Moreover, it has nothing to do with the job. I still really enjoy almost every part of my job.

Going forward, I am striving to just focus on the job and let the other issues resolve themselves. I need to refrain from continually trying to find solutions for problems when it is not my job to solve it. Let's call it a mid-year's resolution.

Today, I also found out where several friends are getting posted for their second tour. I have one good friend going to Kathmandu, Nepal. In fact, two people from my A-100 class will be there after one person from my class did her first tour there. Imagine knowing 3 people who are living or will live in Kathmandu! Others are headed for China, India, Pakistan (followed by The Hague) and Mexico.

The second group of summer bidders got their bid list yesterday. Glancing through it, I had a bit of bid list envy as several fantastic posts jumped out at me, such as Croatia, Krakow, Poland, Maputo, Mozambique and many repeats from my list. Two people will be joining me in Franfurt for Consular positions. Considering that I will likely spend almost 3 years with these people (9 months in training and 2 years in Germany), I am hoping we get along.

Finally, I am headed to see Harry Potter in Mexico tomorrow. I still can't believe I have to drive 3 hours and cross an international border to see a movie, but such is (my) life. We're staying the night in Chetumal to get some good food and do some shopping.

Happy Birthday Jack

2011-07-18T23:11:00.000-06:00

Today was the Deputy Chief of Mission's birthday. One of the great things about being at such a small post is that I consider Jack and his wife Linda to be friends. We hang out in the same group. Jack, aka "Up the Cric" is an avid hasher. I've been to dinner at their house and they came to my birthday BBQ. So, this weekend I headed down with a group of friends to celebrate Jack's 65th birthday.

The birthday party was being held at Villa Verano in the resort village of Hopkins. This Villa was absolutely fantastic. It was three floors of luxurious living. Marble and granite every where. Ornate hardwood tables. Fancy showers, monogrammed towels, and ornate sinks in the bathrooms. A fantastic pool on the beach. I do not say this lightly when I say that Villa Verano is the nicest place I have ever stayed.* We had a fantastic weekend eating great food and relaxing by the pool.

Beth and Kevin on the rooftop

The pool and the beach

My shower and bathtub - I love the granite on the back

The coolest fan ever. These blades rotated around as if on a spit
which was controlled by a bicycle chain.

The downstairs great room with view of the pool

The other view of the great room

The downstairs kitchen (about half the size of the upstairs kitchen).

*The villa wasn't all that expensive either. For ten total rooms, we paid BZ$3,000 or US$1,500. That broke down to $150 per room. We had 20 adults and 6 kids and could easily have fit in quite a few more in.

My weekend

2011-07-15T23:22:00.002-06:00

I am headed here for the weekend to celebrate the DCM's birthday. I should have pictures and a post on Sunday.

Things I'm looking forward to in Germany

2011-07-09T23:08:00.000-06:00

As you can probably imagine, I have spent quite a bit of time thinking/reading/talking/obsessing about my second tour. Several of my good friends and classmates have gotten their assignments as well - they are headed to Rio de Janiero, Managua, Tokyo, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala City, Jerusalem, Prague, Paris, Bangkok, Albania, and many others. I found out the officer going to Berlin came from Haiti and the officer going to Prague came from Saudi Arabia. In all honesty, they deserved those posts more than I did. Still don't know who got Rome or Budapest, but I can tell you that they earned it.

But I have spent most of the past five days dreaming about my future life in Germany. I honestly didn't know much about Frankfurt other than it was in Germany and that it had a big airport. But after a bit more research, here are a list of 10 things I am looking forward to in Frankurt

The food - Sausages, Schnitzel and Sauerkraut. Plus, Frankfurt will have many more options that Belize lacks. I will not miss rice and beans (although I don't eat it that often here).
The beer - German beer, enough said.
The traveling - Germany is in the heart of Europe and Frankfurt is in the heart of Germany. The trains can take you anywhere in Europe and the planes can take you direct to anywhere in the world. There is also Ryan Air airport near the city.
Family - My family hosted a German exchange student my senior year in high school. I will definitely get the opportunity to see him and to speak to him in his native German. Plus, I will be relatively close to my host sister Marta in Torino and my host family in Esenta.
Promptness - Germans are stereotypically on time and do not like tardiness. I will prefer "German Time" over "Belize Time."
Living in a city again - although I am a small town boy from Iowa, I kind of liked living in the city and welcome the opportunity to having standard big city options again.
Concerts - Every major American band that tours Europe always seems to stop in Frankfurt. My friend Kevin, who used to work in the music industry, said one of the largest music festivals in the world is in Frankfurt each year.
Octoberfest in Munich - I've always wanted to go and now I will.
The Bundesliga and Champions League - I will happily start following German soccer (football). I will not root for Bayern Munich, rather I will support whatever is the main local Frankfurt team.
The autobahn - even though I have little to no desire to drive as fast as I can, I will enjoy smooth roads after another year in Belize.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

2011-07-06T19:53:00.000-06:00

I finally got my second assignment today... and the winner is....

Frankfurt, Germany in May 2013 to be the political officer at the consulate there. I am super excited. Frankfurt was #7 on my bid list. My completely tentative schedule is leave Belize in July 2012, start training in August and arrive in Germany in May 2013. I am excited to learn German (but scared to death to take 9 months of full-time German).

And the best part? You can fly direct from Frankfurt to practically anywhere in the world (plus Germany's awesome train system). That means I can do lots of traveling and host lots of visitors.

Ultimate Road Trip

2011-07-05T18:13:00.001-06:00

Even though I STILL don't have my assignment (it's been a WHOLE WEEK), I did spend some time this past weekend thinking about how I will spend my home leave. I may have mentioned before that I plan to take an awesome road trip around America. During this trip, I have several goals:

Get from Phoenix (home leave spot) to DC for training.
Visit as many of the states I have never been too, specifically Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

This will cut in half the remaining states until I hit all 50 (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Mississippi, and Alaska remain).

Visit as many family and friends who live on/near the route - including seeing the new kids of two of my cousins.
See as much of "Americana" as I can in a month, including Alcatraz and Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, Starbucks and Pike Place in Seattle, the majestic Rockies, Mt. Rushmore, the Mall of America, Lake Michigan, the rust belt in Detroit and/or Cleveland, and even Niagara Falls. Plus, all the small towns of America in between.
Catch as many baseball games as I can in as many ballparks as I can.

As you can see below, the itinerary starts in Phoenix, down to San Diego, up the coast of Cali, and on to Portland and Seattle. Then, I start across America with a few big driving days to Mt. Rushmore. The current route skips past North Dakota, but takes me up to Minnesota, down through Wisconsin and into Chicago. From Chicago to Detroit, then up through Canada (I've never been) and over to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Finally, down to DC

If anyone has suggestions for places to see, stay, eat, etc that is on or near the route, leave a comment. Much of this trip is to places I have never been to. I currently plan it for about 3 weeks, but may lengthen/shorten it depending on how much home leave I get.

99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

2011-07-03T13:45:00.001-06:00

99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall...
99 Bottles of Beer...
You take one down...
Pass it around...
98 Bottles of Beer on the Wall...

Before

Almost done

All a part of the job

2011-06-28T20:31:00.000-06:00

I've had a sad case this past week. This 18 year old American citizen moved to Belize when he was 9 or 10 with his adopted family. After a falling out with his adopted mother, he has basically been on his own since he was 14 or 15. He recently found some of his biological siblings and has arranged to move in with a sister back in the States.

As we were preparing all the paperwork, he asked me how he flies - what does he do at the airport, etc. I spent ten minutes talking to him about how to go through an airport and then wrote down instructions for him. I feel so bad for this kid - no one should have to go through what he has gone through. And kids ask their parents what to do in an airport, not me.

The worst part about all of this is that he is getting his hopes up that all of his problems will go away when he gets together with his biological family, but the odds of that seem small to me. This is definitely one of those times when I am glad that I can help, but I wish I could do more.

Panama Pictures

2011-06-26T18:10:00.000-06:00

Casca Viejo - the old part of Panama City

Shelley ran into a bunch of pigeons and then got scared

Panama City has a fantastic skyline with more sky scrapers than most US cities

The view from my friend Alison's apartment.

Miraflores locks at the Panama Canal

The locks in operation

I am not kidding you when I say that this ice cream was the highlight of the trip.

This picture was taken during the 1/2 hour I spent at the beach during my WEEK in Panama. Yes, it is raining.

This is the back of my knee after I was stung by the fire coral.

Shelley and I at the 4th of July celebration on Friday night.
(Note that I am smiling because I am no longer in Panama)

My awesome bid list

2011-06-18T19:40:00.000-06:00

While my vacation in Panama sucked (see yesterday's post), I did get the bid list just before I left. I honestly could not have asked for a better list for what I want in my second tour. Second tour bidding is different from the first tour, so I will give you a brief run-down. All told, there are approximately 300 open positions. All first-tour officers departing their post in May, June, or July 2012 will bid on this list. Each officer must submit a list of 30 posts, ranked numerically.

I can't just pick the 30 best places, I have certain requirements I must meet. For example, all officers must speak a second language by the end of their second tour. As I am still on language probation, I MUST bid on positions that are language designated. So, say good bye to London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canberra, and Dublin. All officers must spend at least one year in consular, so those officers who did political, econ, PD, or management on the first tour must only bid on consular jobs. If you were in a non-hardship post (10% differential or less), half your bids must be at hardship posts (15% or greater). If you've served your consular tour, then you must bid on at least 6 'in-cone' positions. You cannot be in training for more than 78 total weeks for your first two tours (this generally means if you got a full language course before your first tour, you won't get one before your second tour). For me, I am required to bid on any language designated position in any job with at least 6 consular bids; I have no restrictions on hardship or training time.

Despite all the above restrictions, the real challenge is figuring out the timing. I have to look at the time that I will leave post (somewhere between June 1 and June 30, 2012), add my home leave (between 1 month and 6 weeks), functional training such as pol/econ or public diplomacy training (anywhere from 0 weeks for consular jobs to 12 weeks for GSO jobs), and language training (between 24 weeks for world languages and 36 weeks for German and 'super-hard' languages like Mandarin) and then calculate which month I can arrive. If I can arrive the exact month that the position is vacant than it is a 'valid bid.' If I can arrive one month after the position opens or finish training two months before it opens, then it is an 'imperfect bid.' If the timing doesn't work, then it is an invalid bid. I must submit 30 bids, at least 22 must be 'valid' and up to 8 can be 'imperfect.' I cannot submit any 'invalid' bids. Fewer than 100 of the almost 300 bids are 'valid' or 'imperfect.' So, goodbye Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Slovenia, Madrid, Havana, Mexico City, Bogota, Caracas, and Athens.

Here is where I got really 'lucky' on my bid list. I prefer to learn a more unique language rather than one which is used in lots of countries. So, I would rather not learn Spanish, French, Russian, or Arabic, which are used in dozens of countries. Lots of other officers feel differently about this and want to learn these languages, but I like the idea of the more boutique languages. So, when the list went from 300 jobs to less than 100 possibilities due to the timing issues, I was ecstatic to see that many of the posts that were eliminated were the posts I didn't really want to go to anyway.

So, where did I want to go? You may recall my ranking of all the posts I did a few months back. Five of my top seven posts made it on to my bid list as valid or imperfect bids. I would like to go to Europe for my next post, but honestly didn't consider it likely. Now, almost half of my bids will be in EUR. While I still doubt I will be able to get my top choice (revealed below), I've seen how hard it can be to make a desired post a valid bid. So, even if someone with higher equity WANTS to go where I want to go, he or she may not be able to make it work with all of the timing and other restrictions.

My list isn't due until a week from Monday, but here is my unofficial top 30. After seeing this list, you will now see why I think it is so awesome. I have bids to every region except SCA and jobs in every cone but management.

Rome
Budapest
Prague
Berlin
Prague (different job)
Rio
Frankfurt
Oslo
Bangkok
Rio
Paris
Sao Paolo
Bucharest
Ankara
Warsaw
Tirana, Albania
Warsaw
Phenom Penh, Cambodia
Tel Aviv
Vilnius, Lithuania
Tirana (different job)
Beijing
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Shanghai
Seoul
Brasilia
Nairobi
Bangkok (different job)
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (formerly Saigon)
Hanoi, Vietnam

Pretty awesome list, huh?

Pana-blah

2011-06-17T19:06:00.000-06:00

I should have realized this was not going to be a good vacation when my flip-flop broke on me as I was headed into the airport. As it turned out, this was just one of the many things to go wrong on this vacation. The vacation did have some highlights - I got to see two movies and won $90 in two casino visits, for example - but overall the trip was a bust.

There isn't much to see or do in Panama City. The canal is obviously the big attraction. I have to admit it was pretty awesome, but we were there at a time when only a few small boats were going through the locks. There was also a cool museum on the Canal (not the one at the Canal but in the old town). Other than the Canal, there was Casca Viejo, which was the old Spanish part of town, where we got roped into a tour by an old Panamanian. Everything else was just sky scrapers, malls and roads. No beaches, no real walkable shopping areas (besides the malls). We spent 2 1/2 days in Panama City and could have seen everything in 1. Personally, I enjoyed seeing civilization again after the last few months in Belize, but I know my sister was not enjoying it as much as me.

On Sunday afternoon, we headed to Bocas del Toro. I had been told by one friend that Bocas was "Belize in Panama." My little sister absolutely loved the place when she visited during her semester abroad in Costa Rica. I have to admit, under other circumstances, this could have been an enjoyable trip. Bocas is a cute little town on the edge of an island. Many of the restaurants, shops and hotels are literally built over the water (they are clearly not worried about hurricanes there). Unfortunately, there is no beach anywhere in town. You either have to take a bus, a taxi, or a water taxi to get to the beach.

A few highlights (and many lowlights) of the trip:

It rained every day - literally every day.
SCUBA diving was pretty awesome, even though visibility was pretty low. I spotted a shark 8 feet from me like only two minutes after we went down. The diving wasn't as good as Belize, but it was still nice to be under water again. I did get a blister on my big toe from the fins.
Our second full day, we planned to take one of the snorkel beach trips. There were enough guests to split us into two boats and we got the shitty boat. The other boat was full of people our age, including these three cute British girls. Our boat was full of old people who were no fun. They had a guide who managed to coax the dolphins to jump out of the water; our guide let us bake in the hot sun while waiting for us to point out the fins to him.
When we got to the first snorkel spot, our guide said we could just jump right in - it was deep enough. I was hot (from waiting for the dolphins) so I jumped right in, pulling my legs up in case it wasn't as deep as he said. I immediately landed on some coral on the back of my knee. It hurt like hell, but I figured it was just a scratch, so I snorkeled around for a while. When I got out, I was bleeding on the back of my knee and the stinging pain had not gone away. According to one of the girls on the boat who has dived a lot, she said it looked like "fire coral." (According to wikipedia, fire coral looks just like coral, but is related to jelly fish, hence the massive pain). And the boat guide did not have a first aid kit or anything.
By the time we made it to the beach (after 4 1/2 days in Panama), it started to rain. We still went into the water where large waves were crashing in the rain. It had been so long since I've been anywhere near real waves. Belize has almost no waves due to the barrier reef. So, I had to go out and play in the surf despite the rain and the pain in my leg. Right was I was about to get out, I got caught by a large wave, flipped about in the water and slammed my left shoulder into the ground. I thought for a moment, I might have dislocated my shoulder or broken my arm, but I think I just bruised it badly.
That night I became feverish and my body was sore all over. I was shivering and then clammy. I don't think I slept more than 4 hours. I spent almost the whole day in the hotel room, feeling miserable. My sister headed to starfish beach, where she had a beautiful day at the beach with no rain.
That night, after a huge storm, I managed to make it out to dinner with my sister and some American girl she had met that day at the beach. I went home after dinner and they went out. After falling asleep at 1030, I woke up around 2 and she wasn't home. I was surprised but not worried and went back to sleep. At 530, I woke up again and she still wasn't there. I began to worry, but didn't think there was anything I could do then. By 730, I was really worried. At 830, I asked the front desk clerk to call the hospital and police to make sure she wasn't injured or arrested. She misunderstood me and called the police to report a missing person. The arrived quickly and I explained the situation and showed them a photo, etc. About 30 minutes after they left, she came back to the hotel. When she arrived at the hotel during the night, the door was locked and she couldn't get in, so she crashed at the hostel of the friend.
Thursday we returned to Panama City (and I got to see X-Men: First Class). We got up at 430 this morning for our early flight and the trip was mercifully over. (It was raining in Panama this morning)
The blister on my toe got infected, probably from all the dirt and sand. I am now taking anti-biotics for the infection. The fire coral sting has never really stopped hurting, but has been worse today than before. As it is on the back of the knee, it hurts whenever I extend or flex the knee. So, on the bright side, it only hurts if I stand, sit, or walk.

The one really good thing about the trip is that my bid list, which I got just before leaving, is amazing. I don't want to spoil the bid list post with the horrible vacation, so I will blog about that later. Let's just say that the list is so awesome that Paris doesn't even make the top 10!

An update on Chantrix, bidding and other things.

2011-06-08T15:03:00.000-06:00

I've been on the medicine for a week. I've advanced past the first week starter kit (smaller doses to make sure you don't go psychotic and kill someone, which has apparently happened in the past) and I am now on the regular regiment. I was surprised to see that the small pills were no longer white, but a soft shade of blue. As I took my medicine this morning before work, I was really hoping that they hadn't accidentally put in the wrong small, blue pill.

Although the pill has a number of scary side effects in rare cases, I have been relatively side effect free. No weird, vivid dreams. That's not entirely true - I normally have fairly vivid dreams, but I have not noticed any uptick in either the vividity or the strangeness of subject matter in my dreams. No psychotic episodes. No nausea or diarrhea. The only side effect I have noticed is that I get hunger pangs when I should not be hungry. Like right now - I just finished lunch 30 minutes ago, but I feel hungry.

In terms of the stated purpose of the medicine, it is definitely working, but not in the way I expected. Everyone who I have talked to who has taken this medicine has told me by the end of the first week, when it is time to quit, they don't really want a cigarette anymore. So, I fully expected my cravings to go away, but they haven't. I still have all the same cravings - after a meal, in the morning, when I get home from work, when I am drinking. The difference is that smoking a cigarette doesn't satisfy this craving in any way. Smoking a cigarette is just not enjoyable.

For someone who has never smoked, this can be hard to understand. As far as you are concerned, they probably just smell gross and cost too much money. But for a smoker, cigarettes are relaxing. A cigarette would calm me down when I was really stressed out. It would settle your stomach after a big meal (seriously). It would give you something to do when you were waiting or bored or at a party where you didn't know anyone (this is honestly my favorite time to smoke). Much of this is purely psychological, but as I have learned this week, it is partly physical too.

Imagine if you will, being stuck in the middle of the proverbial desert, when an oasis appears in front of you. You reach the oasis and immediately begin to gulp down water. Now, all of your experience in life has taught you that when you are thirsty and drink water, the thirst goes away. But with this medicine, the thirst does not go away. Your thirst remains forever unquenched. You could continue to drink in order to satisfy your unquenchable thirst, or you can give up drinking the useless water. About half way through this past week, I didn't want to quit smoking, I wanted to quit Chantrix.

The worst part about this medicine will be my inability to enjoy my final cigarette. There is something I find pleasureable in enjoying what I know will be my final cigarette. Smoking the final cigarette, but not actually enjoying it will be disappointing. But, knowing that I won't enjoy a backslide cigarette should definitely help going forward.

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I leave for Panama tomorrow and I should be more excited than I actually am. Between the quitting smoking, the upcoming bid list and the fact that the only guide book I have that covers Panama doesn't provide much info, I haven't really planned at all. As of now, I plan to meet my sister at the airport tomorrow night and then we will stay at one of my A-100 friend's apartment. We will spend Friday and Saturday in Panama City. Our tentative plan is to then take a flight to Bocas Del Toro (near the Costa Rican border) and then work our way back down the isthmus. This itinerary is completely subject to change.

Pictures and stories will be posted when I get back

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On Monday, I got an e-mail from my Career Development Officer, letting us know we'd be getting the bid list this week. The instructions were to come out Tuesday and the actual list tomorrow. Bidding for your second tour is a bit different than the first tour. As you recall, on the first bid list we had just over 100 posts and we ranked each 'high', 'medium', or 'low.' We then listed three preferences and the CDOs worked their magic.

For the second tour, I will get a list with about 200 jobs on it. I have to rank, in numerical order, my top 30 bids. I will also write a line or so about each of my bids explaining my rationale. Since I am still on language probation, I will have to bid on only language designated positions. This means no London, Singapore, or Wellington in my future. Since I have already done a consular tour, I can bid on any job, but my colleagues who did non-consular tours must bid only on consular tours for this tour. As part of a new requirement, I do have to make at least 6 in-cone (Consular) bids.

The big hang-up on second tour bidding is timing. Each position has an estimated time of arrival and required training. If your expected date of arrival (based on when you leave, amount of home leave, and what training you need) doesn't fit with the position, then you can't bid it. There is some leeway built into this. For example, my expected departure month is June 2012, which can be the beginning or end of the month. I can then take between 20-30 work days of home leave. This means that I could start training as early as July 1 or as late as August 15. Plus, not all of my bids have to fit perfect timing. I am allowed 8 imperfect bids, which allow me to finish training two months early or one month late.

Before the last bidding cycle, they did all six months of summer or winter bidders together. This meant that there was a strong chance that your dream post could be on your bid list, but even with all the leeway, you still couldn't make it work. Now, they split each bidding cycle into two tranches. Everyone who is bidding with me is expected to leave their post between May and July 2012, which means that almost all of the bids should be able to work out one way or the other.

One of the other differences in second tour bidding is equity. For equity, they combine your hardship differential and your danger differential to give you an equity score of between 0% and 70%. They try to assign those with the higher equity to their posts before those with lower equities. Those who have a 20% equity or higher will have all their posts assigned first. Those posts are then removed from the bid list and those with 0%-15% turn in their bid lists. Belmopan, at 20%, just makes the cut into the first group. While I may not get my first choice if someone from Nigeria wants the same post, I will get my choice ahead of those with lower equity.

My final bid list is due on June 27, so I will have just over a week back from vacation to finalize it. The lower equity individuals are due on July 13, so I should have my next posting sometime in early July!

Bid List #2

2011-06-06T23:07:00.000-06:00

My bid list for my second post comes out this week. Most likely on Thursday - the same day I leave for a week vacation in Panama. God knows that I will be SCUBA diving in the Pacific and thinking "Vilnius" or "Rio"?

Quitting

2011-06-01T19:20:00.000-06:00

I smoked my first cigarette when I was 13 years old. Although I had moved from Omaha when I was 11, I was back visiting Tyler, my best friend from elementary school. From 1st through 5th grades, Tyler and I were inseparable. With Tyler, there was always an adventure to be had. Riding our bikes across town - outside the zone set by our parents. Discovering the sewer tunnels that ran under the city. Ducking into the pawnshop to buy Chinese flying stars. Sneaking out of his house (and later my house) to go see girls after curfew. As a young kid, Tyler was just cool.

It should come as no surprise, then, that I smoked my first cigarette at Tyler's house. (A couple years later I drank my first beer there, too). We were standing in the back of his house over by some bushes where a few years earlier we had gotten in trouble for playing with matches. In my memory, Timmy and Brent were there too, but that may be wrong. The cigarette was a Marlboro Red. Is there anyone out there whose first cigarette wasn't a Marlboro Red? I am sure I coughed my lungs out, but I still remember getting that light-headed nicotine high. I felt cool.

I didn't start smoking two packs a day or anything, but I would smoke occasionally over the next few years. When I was a freshman in high school, my family hosted Marta - an exchange student from Italy who smoked. We bonded by smoking late night cigarettes and talking away the hours. I still remember one night when my Mom, who was an early riser, woke up while Marta was still in my basement room. We freaked out that she would think we were doing something other than smoking if we were caught. We stayed quiet until we could hear my Mom go to take a shower and Marta could sneak into her room.

I started smoking regularly when I was 16 and moved to Italy as a high school exchange student. Most of my Italian friends smoked. It was legal for me to buy cigarettes. I attempted to hide it from my host family, but I assume they knew. This was the first time in my life when I smoked every day, but it would not be the last. I quit when I went back home, so I could play football, but once the season was over, I began to smoke regularly again.

Somehow, I managed to request and receive a smoking room during my freshman year in college. This amazes me now that a state college allowed smoking rooms (it was the last year). This was probably my favorite time as a smoker. Our room quickly became the room for people to hang out in. There were times that I would come home and my room would be packed despite the fact that neither Paul nor I was there. A few times, our guests even went so far as to clean our room. (It was disgusting). Because our SA refused to come into the room, we could drink in there too. By this time, I had a pack-a-day habit.

I did manage to quit my last semester in college. I cut back at first and then quit entirely after my 22nd birthday. After college, I moved back home and started working at the local grocery store. After about six months at home, I was planning to move to Italy to work as a tour guide. On the day I was leaving, my friend Sam dropped me off at the airport. I was flying stand-by (my sister is a flight attendant) and I didn't get on the flight. I didn't have a cell phone and neither did Sam. I couldn't get a hold of anyone on the phone (at the time, I still knew people's phone numbers). In my imminent frustration (the least of which was not getting to Italy in time for an interview I had set up), I bought a pack of cigarettes. Although I only smoked two cigarettes, the pack was in my pocket when I got to Italy and I became a smoker again.

After I left Italy, I started law school. Like it was in college, I made most of my friends through smoking. I quickly made friends with Toni, Matt, Lauren, and Tim smoking in between classes. These people became my best friends through law school. Others in our class knew us as the smoking group. Rightly or wrongly, smoking defined me at that time. Plus, smoking was great for studying. As I got to the end of my third year, I knew I wanted to quit, but I knew I would have to wait until after the bar exam. I finished the bar exam on July 30 and smoked my last cigarette on August 1.

Following the bar exam, I soon moved to DC. In DC, I was a non-smoker. I was helped by not having friends who smoked. The bars in DC were smoke-free and I rarely went out to smoky bars in Virginia. Once the nicotine was out of my system and I didn't have any habit cigarettes in DC, it wasn't hard to be a non-smoker. When I lived in Fredericksburg for a few months, I was even able to go play poker in a very smoky bar without much temptation.

Things changed when I started with the Foreign Service. I was going out a lot with my classmates and many of them smoked. I don't remember the first one I had, but I'm sure I was drunk. I bummer a smoke off someone one night. Later it would be come two cigarettes in a night. Then, I bought a pack so that I wouldn't always be bumming. I never was more than a social smoker, but I was definitely back in the habit.

When I finally got to Belize, I vowed to not smoke. That lasted five days. Once again, I started being only a social smoker, but then I bought a pack. And then I smoked a cigarette at home on my back porch. And then I was a smoker. It got bad enough that I decided I need to quit again. Just before I went home for Christmas, I quit cold turkey. Again, I had no problem at first, but a few months went by and I got really frustrated when I couldn't get my new TV to work. I smoked a cigarette and felt better. (I wish smoking didn't make me feel better, but it really did). The same cycle repeated itself and I am now a smoker again.

I started taking Chantix today. Chantix is a quit-smoking drug that is designed to turn off the sensors that make smoking enjoyable. During the first week, I can keep smoking, but I am to set a quit date for a week out. I have decided to make next Thursday my quit date. I will smoke my last 'last cigarette' on Wednesday night. I will be headed to Panama for a week vacation and I should have the nicotine out of my system. I will stay on the Chantix for 3-6 months in order to prevent those urges down the road.

Wish me luck.

Strike!

2011-05-27T18:34:00.000-06:00

I generally don't pay much attention to Belizean politics. It is not really part of my job. A few things here or there have caught my eye, such as the recent proposals to institute the death penalty, eliminate trial by jury, and allow for preventative detention in order to cut down on crime. But for the most I remain blissfully unaware. (This is in large part due to the fact that I get most of my news from the internet, which is usually woefully behind on information. Most Belizeans get their news from the radio or TV).

Today, however, Belize politics come into full view. Last week, a bus company was awarded some bus routes in the northern part of the country. There may or may not have been shenanigans in the awarding of the lines. The incumbent bus operators were not happy with the new deal and despite stating that they would not strike, that is exactly what they did this morning.

In the U.S., strikes are generally rare and often have little to no impact on the general public. In Italy, transportation strikes are common and a nuisance, but they are short and planned in advance. With a bit of planning and some extra time, you can get around the strike.

In Belize, not only did many of the operators refuse to run their routes this morning, but they also blocked the major highways with their buses and then proceeded to set tire fires on the highway as well. There were at least four blockades. One in Hattieville (blocking the road between Belize City and Belmopan), one in Burrell Boom (blocking the road from Hattieville to Belize City) and at least two on the northern highway (blocking the towns of Orange Walk and Corozal from Belize City).

Such a maneuver is especially disrupting in Belize because there is generally only one road between towns. The country only has four major highways (Western, Northern, Hummingbird, and Southern). If these roads are blocked, people cannot go around. To make the blockades even more effective, many of the blockades were at bridges, so you could not off-road your vehicle around the blockade.

Moreover, at least 1/3 of the Embassy staff and many government workers commute to work from Belize City each day. In our office, three of our five FSNs could not make it to work until after 10 a.m. This proved problematic for us as none of the officers had ever added visa pages or printed visas. We were able to fairly quickly figure it out, but it made for an interesting morning.

The police and Belize Defense Forces were eventually able to clear the roads, by using tractors to pull the buses out of the way and frontloaders to push the fires off the road. According to some of the news we heard on the radio, this may continue over the weekend or into next week. Fortunately, I don't have many plans to be on the road this weekend.

Unfortunately, writing this made me remember that we did not finish getting clearance for the Warden message and now I am headed into the Embassy to get clearance and send out the message.

Weekend in Paradise

2011-05-23T21:22:00.000-06:00

Even though there is "nothing" to do in Belize, I often find myself with a full - sometimes too full - social calendar. This week my schedule went like this:

Tuesday: Tuesday Tumble (Walk around ring road followed by pizza and beer)
Wednesday: Pig and Parrot (Pub at British High Commission)
Thursday: Sharanya's going away party.
Friday: Kira's birthday party
Saturday - Monday: Spent the weekend with about 17 adults and 13 kids on Calabash Caye. Absolutely a fantastic weekend with plenty of relaxation - see pictures below.

Sharanya and me at her leaving party

Emile - the eccentric drummer of the The Bob Dylans in a one-night only performance.

Kira's Cake - yes, that purse is actually a cake.

The fish that I caught with out using a pole!

Checkout the small fish inside the fish that I caught (you can see the eye on the right side of the mouth)

These gulls were flying right overhead while we fished

This was the small island just off of Calabash Caye

Stingray came up to our beach

Marial by the camp fire

The Belize Coast Guard has their HQ on Calabash

This about sums up the weekend

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T11:11:00.000-06:00

Growing up, I remember my Mom telling me a quote - I think it was embroidered on a decorative pillow, but I may be wrong about that - that sticks with me today:

Parents give their children two things - roots and wings.

Roots to know where their home is and wings to fly away.

I want to thank my parents for both my roots and my wings. They have always been there for me and have helped me become the man I am today. I would not be where I am today without the values that they instilled in me growing up and their love and encouragement as I explore the world. I thank them both for everything they have done for me.

I love you the most!

Bailey's favorite beer

2011-05-07T19:39:00.002-06:00

Even Bailey likes Belikin

Beatification of John Paul II

2011-05-01T13:14:00.001-06:00

Before I joined the foreign service, I had lived abroad several times in Europe. I spent a semester in high school and college in Italy, a semester of law school in Ireland, a summer in law school in Spain and in 2005, I spent about 6 months working as a tour guide in Rome (between college and law school). Pope John Paul II died during my time in Rome. Seeing his beatification today reminded me of all of my memories from that very historical moment in my life.

A few days before JPII died, my high school friend Sam came to stay with me for about a month. It was just after Easter 2005 and I had been working in Rome for about 4 months. By this time, I had been working as a tour guide, mostly doing the Vatican museum tours, for about 6 weeks or so. I had been living in my apartment - two blocks from the Museum entrance and about 8 blocks from St. Peter's Square - for about a month. The Pope had been getting progressively sicker for years. It had gotten worse the last few weeks of Lent, however, because he stopped doing the Wednesday morning blessings. He did, however, wave out the window for Palm Sunday (my sister and I were there) and I believe he participated in Easter mass.

Despite his deterioration, it still came as a shock when he passed away on a Saturday night. Sam and I were in my friend Francesco's bar in Trastevere when the news came over the television that he had passed. Partly for reasons of faith and partly for historical reasons, Sam and I decided to head over to St. Peter's Square. As we walked to the Square from Trastevere, the usually raucous piazzas and bars were noticeably quieter. This phenomenon was magnified when we arrived at the square.

If I were to venture a guess, I'd say there were about 8,000-10,000 people in the square when we arrived. Many were holding candles and the image of the candles flickering across the piazza is still ingrained in my mind. Despite the several thousands of people, the square was eerily quiet. It was so quiet that I began to hear this low gurgling sound. I spent several minutes trying to figure out what it was before I realized that it was the fountains in the square. I had been in that piazza dozens, if not hundreds of times. I had never heard the water in the fountains before, unless I was standing right next to them. That is how quiet the piazza was.

Over the next week, Rome quickly began to increase in population. Polish flags and Poles were everywhere. People were camping in the parks near Castel Sant'Angelo and on the streets. As the date of the funeral approached, we even had pilgrims sleeping in our doorstep. An estimated 3-5 million people came to Rome during the weeks after his death. (Consider that Rome has a population of 2.7 million people). Millions of people waited up to 20 hours in line to spend 30 seconds walking past his body. The line was so long that my boss's normal 10 minute walk across the square to meet for work took her over 90 minutes to walk around.

The funeral was held on a Friday - six days after the Pope died. Sam and I decided we would try to go to the funeral. Our original plan was to wait in line overnight, but the Vatican and the city of Rome prevented this by not announcing were the gates would be opened to let people in. I used my professional knowledge of knowing where the permanent metal detectors were located in St. Peter's to find a set of gates I knew would be opened. Once we made it past the original gate, we were in a mob of people that filled an entire street from wall to wall. Although it was quite snug, it was never unpleasant. Security had closed the outer gates behind us, so there was never any push from behind.

The crowd was very joyful (this funeral was a celebration). There was an old Italian woman who kept coming out onto her balcony to look on the crowds below. She kept waving her hand in that gesture that old Italian women have perfected expressing incredulity. Although I couldn't hear her, I am sure the gesture was accompanied by a proclamation of "Madaonna." Every time she appeared, the crowd cheer and exclaim "Ciao Signora."

(I should point out, I have been to two events in my life that had millions of people and high security - the Pope's funeral and Obama's inauguration. The Italians were so much better organized to handle the crowds, with thousands of volunteers, plenty of water for people and effective security entrance procedures. For all the shit the Italians get for their normal disorganization, they knocked the organization of the funeral out of the park).

After we made our way into the piazza, we were surprised by how empty it was. We had gotten really lucky with our timing. The steps and the first 1/3 of the square were cordoned off for VIPs, but the piazza was not even half full when we arrived. Sam and I staked out a spot next to the obelisk because we figured there would breathing room there when the piazza filled up. The base of the obelisk was covered in flowers and home made cards and banners left there to honor the Pope. Sam left a home-made Peace symbol key chain that his now-late father had made for him. I've always thought John Paul II would like that symbolism.

The mass itself is mostly a blur. The most ingrained memory that I have is when the pallbearers brought out the coffin. A strong gusty wind began almost immediately. The wind continued throughout the mass, until it died down immediately as the doors to the basilica were closed as they returned the Pope inside to be interred. In all my life, I have never had a more faith-filled moment. I truly believe that the Holy Spirit was there, physically blessing those in attendance.

Other memories include all of the "Santo Subito" signs around the piazza. "Santo subito" means "saint now." These signs - there were dozens of banners - are one of the reasons that Pope Benedict XVI removed the five year waiting period to start the sainthood process. I also remember the young French family and French priests in front of us singing hymns in French before the ceremony, receiving Communion in the piazza, and how happy everyone seemed to be. This was not a sad funeral in any way. We were there celebrating the life and works of John Paul II, not mourning his passing.

A few weeks later, Rome was again abuzz as the city and the world watched to see who would be named the new pope. I was working quite a bit during this time, so I never got to see the black or white smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel. When the selection was finally made, I was about to start a tour of the Palentine Hill near the Colosseum. A cacophony of church bells rang throughout the city spreading from the Vatican until the whole city was deafening from the sound of church bells. As we listened to the bells, I saw a priest screaming down the street on a Vespa. A nun, in full habit, whistled loudly and flagged down the passing priest. He screeched to a halt and she hiked up her skirt and jumped on the back of the Vespa and they took off for the Vatican. I encouraged everyone on my tour to head to St. Peter's to witness the historical moment of the new Pope being announced. Unfortunately, about 6 people still wanted to do my tour, so I was not able to be there myself.

Sam, as we entered the piazza

Me, as we entered the piazza (really wishing I didn't have that cigarette in the photo).

The items people were leaving for the Pope. Sam's peace sign is in the middle.

The view of the basilica

Many Polish flags

The crowd and the church

A view looking back

An aerial view of the Square for the funeral - from MSNBC

From tough day to worse week

2011-04-29T18:28:00.000-06:00

In my last post, I specifically did not mention how the guy died. Even though his death was quite unusual, the manner of death did not matter to why I wrote the post. But, given what has happened the rest of the week, how he died has become important. On Monday, he committed suicide by hanging himself in his hotel room. He was not discovered until Wednesday. On Thursday, I had to attempt to identify him for the coroner.

While Belize does have some ability to keep bodies refrigerated (some countries don't), the deceased was too far gone by the time he was found. His body was, in the words of the coroner, "in advance stages of decomposition." To be perfectly honest, I didn't know this could happen to the human body. Out of respect for the deceased, I am not going to go into details. I was not, however, able to make a confirmed identification and we had to take fingerprints to verify his identity.

When I returned to the office on Thursday, I learned that we had two Americans arrested in southern Belize. One of them was a fugitive from the US. Belize ranks number two in the entire world for fugitive returns to the U.S. So, this in itself was not unusual. What made this case unusual was that they entered Belize on passports from the Conch Republic. They also entered Belize by boat. Then, last night, our duty officer got a phone call from the Belize Police Department to inform us that the male arrested had hung himself from the boat when they went there to secure the boat. That's right - two U.S. fugitives commit suicide by hanging in one week.

In addition to dealing with these two cases, we had the other woman arrested on the boat, the juvenile arrested last weekend, and our normal flow of passports and CRBAs. Additionally, today was Take Your Kids to Work Day, so we had 20 kids in the section for 45 minutes this morning. At lunch today, I discovered that my rear passenger window had dropped into the door and wouldn't roll up, so I had to take my car in to the shop (they rigged the window to keep it up, but I have to order the part and they will install it later).

After lunch, we got a call from an American with severe medical issues. In order for her to receive blood from the blood bank for her surgery, she needed to have friends or family donate an equal amount to the blood bank (this is apparently normal procedure in Belize) and she did not have anyone here to donate. We worked on her case most of the afternoon, as three emergency passports came in. One of these was easy, but the other two were adults who had never had U.S. passports (this is very unusual). They both wanted to leave tomorrow, but we could not confirm their citizenship and won't be able to do anything until we return from our three day weekend on Tuesday.

Finally, half of our consular officers are out of the country and we are short one FSN (out of five total) and this made for a very difficult week. The rest of the staff has really pitched in and I owe a great deal to them. FSNs really are the lifeblood of an Embassy and without such a great staff I would not have been able to make it through this week. Here's hoping next week is quiet so that we can catch up on all the paperwork that this week has generated.

Tough Day

2011-04-27T19:38:00.000-06:00

Telling someone, even a complete stranger, that their loved one has suddenly and unexpectedly died is one of the hardest things I've had to do. This was not, obviously, my first death case since I became ACS Chief, but it is the first one where the next of kin had absolutely no idea what I was going to say. They train us to preface the news of the death by telling them who we are, that we are calling from the Embassy, and that we have bad news about the loved one. Today, I did all that and it still hit her out of left field.

It was very hard to be on the giving end of such awful news. The pain in this woman's voice was so palpable that it was animalistic. I felt guilty for bringing so much pain to another human being. I couldn't help but think how I would handle such a phone call, especially if it came from a complete stranger. Or worse, how bad it would be for my parents to get such a phone call. I tried to be mindful of these thoughts as I listened to her sob and talked her through the next steps. Perhaps the worst part was when she realized that no one else knew and that she needed to make more phone calls.

After the phone call, I had to really compose myself. I was really down for about an hour. I was surprised about much it affected me. I didn't know this person. I didn't know his family. Yet, it undoubtedly had a dramatic effect on my day.

I was really feeling down until I remembered the most important rule about ACS work. No matter how bad my day is, the person I am helping is having a worse day. I regularly deal with people who have lost their passport, are in the hospital, have been arrested or had a family member recently die. No matter how bad things get at work, it is better than what these people are going through. I haven't decided if this is a positive or a negative way to view it, but it got me out of my funk today. I know that I am helping people in their time of need.

Where in the world?

2011-04-25T19:27:00.000-06:00

It has been a long and boring Easter weekend. I wanted to blog about something, but nothing is going on at all. So, I decided to rank my preferences of all posts worldwide. I used this website for a list of all the diplomatic posts. This is a fluid ranking and is done in a relatively short amount of time. I have ignored the fact that I need to serve in a language post for my next tour. (I ignored all of the special missions, such as UNESCO or OECD, except the UN). Overall, Belmopan would fall around the 50s or so for a post.

Rome, Italy
Berlin, Germany
Prague, Czech Republic
The Holy See, Vatican City
Florence, Itlay
Paris, France
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sydney, Australia
Vienna, Austria
London, England
Budapest, Hungary
Athens, Greece
Frankfurt, Germany
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Stockholm, Sweden
San Jose, Costa Rica
Istanbul, Turkey
St. Petersburg, Russia
Wellington, New Zealand
Milan, Italy
Lisbon, Portugal
Barcelona, Spain
Talinn, Estonia
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Oslo, Norway
Munich, Germany
Naples, Italy
Vilnius, Lithuania
Brussels, Belgium
Dublin, Ireland
Zagreb, Croatia
Jerusalem, Israel (although this works mostly with Palestinians)
Bratislava, Slovakia
France, other (not going to separate out all of the different consulates, but southern France sounds better than northern France)
Valetta, Malta
Hong Kong
Sofia, Bulgaria
Tel Aviv, Israel
Frankfurt, Germany
Dusseldorf, Germany
Hamburg, Germany
Leipzig, Germany
The Hague, Netherlands
Nicosia, Cyprus
Copenhagen, Denmark
Helsinki, Finland
Recife, Brazil
Havana, Cuba (US interest section)
Thessaloniki, Greece
Reykjavik, Iceland
Luxembourg
Bangkok, Thailand
Bucharest, Romania
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Bern, Switzerland (all other Switzerland posts would fall into here as well)
Turkey, Ankara
Tokyo, Japan (this would have been higher before the earthquake)
Cairo, Egypt (this would have been much higher before the revolution)
Australia, (Melbourne, Perth, Canberra)
Shanghai, China
Sao Paolo, Brazil
Maputo, Mozambique
Beijing, China
Belgrade, Serbia
Minsk, Belarus
Singapore
Skopje, Macedonia
Russia, Yekaterinburg orVladivostok
Kyiv, Ukraine
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
small Pacific island nations - Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Fiji,
Madrid, Spain
Seoul, South Korea (would be higher if not for everyone living on the base)
Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Mumbai, India
Amman, Jordan
Beirut, Lebanon
Windhoek, Namibia
Japan, other (would have been higher before the earthquake)
Maseru, Lesotho
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Montevideo, Uruguay
Santiago, Chile
Lusaka, Zambia
Casablanca, Morocco
Rabat, Morocco
Bridgetown, Barbados
Kuala Lampur, Malaysia
Hanoi, Vietnam
UN - NYC
China, other (this includes the rest of the China posts, except Shenyang, which will be lower)
Canada, all (Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver would be at the tops of the list, but at this point in my career, I am just not all that interested in Canada, but it would not be a bad place to go).
Brasilia, Brazil
Panama City, Panama
Santiago, Chile
Bogota, Columbia
Taipei, Taiwan
Nassau, Bahamas
Caracas, Venezuela
Lima, Peru
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Mexico City, Mexico
Kigali, Rwanda
Jakarta, Indonesia
Tirana, Albania
Pristina, Kosovo
Podgorica, Montenegro
Warsaw, Poland (I visited once and really didn't like the city).
Damascus, Syria
Kolkatta, India
Phenom Penh, Cambodia
Vientiane, Laos
Dubai, UAE
Guadalajara, Mexico
Hamilton, Bermuda
Nairobi, Kenya
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Kampala, Uganda
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Manila, Philippines
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Mbabane, Swaziland
Hyderabad, India
New Delhi, India
Chennai, India
Kuwait City, Kuwait
Tunis, Tunisia
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Doha, Qatar
Kingston, Jamaica
Port Louis, Mauritius
Managua, Nicaragua
Paramiribo, Suriname
La Paz, Bolivia
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Manama, Bahrain
Yerevan, Armenia
Tblisi, Georgia
Chisinau, Moldova
Hamilton, Bermuda
Quito, Ecuador
Guyaquil, Ecuador
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
San Salvador, El Salvador
Asuncion, Paraguay
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Pretoria, South Africa (be higher if it were Cape Town)
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Ougadougou, Burkina Faso
Gabourone, Botswana
Dakar, Senegal
Harare, Zimbabwe
Georgetown, Guyana
Katmandu, Nepal
Cotonou, Benin
Lome, Togo
Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
Asmara, Eritrea
Libreville, Gabon
Baku, Azerbaijan
Addis Abba, Ethiopia
Mexico border posts (some are ranked higher than the other)
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Djibouti
Muscat, Oman
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Brunei
Ulaan Baator, Mongolia
Baghdad, Iraq (only for the money)
Accra, Ghana
Kinshasa, DRC
Tripoli, Libya (if the war is over)
Banjul, The Gambia
Bangui, CAR
Luanda, Angola (I could learn Portuguese and go to a better place later)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Yaounde, Cameroon
Praia, Cape Verde
Free Town, Sierra Leone
Nouakchott, Mauritania
Bujumbura, Burundi
Port Moreseby, PNG
N'Djamena, Chad
Bamako, Mali
Conarky, Guinea
Niamey, Niger
Monrovia, Liberia
Rangoon, Burma
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia (other)
Malabo, Equitorial Guinea
Pakistan other
Dili, Timor-Leste
Islamabad, Pakistan
Khartoum, Sudan
Kabul, Afghanistan
Juba, Sudan
Sanaa Yemen
Port-au Prince, Haiti
Somalia
Abidjan, Coite D'Ivoire
Abujua, Nigeria

A bit about the list - the bottom ten was about as hard to put together as the top 10. A few places like Kabul and Baghdad were sent up the list because of the overtime possibilities, as well as the fact that they are usually only one year posts.

The top 60 or so are the places I'd really like to go. The next cut off is around 100, I'd still be excited to go to these places but not jumping over the moon. The 'I don't want to go to this place' list starts at 157 and below. That is not to say these places don't have redeeming values, but they won't be making the top of any list I turn in.

Several decent places, in Central and Latin America, were down graded simply because I will have spent the last two years in Belize. I really don't want to spend the next two years in another central American post.

Finally, there are a lot of places, especially in Africa, that I know little to nothing about. I only know that much of Western Africa is crowded and some of the places are bad. So, there may be gems in Africa and central Asia that I don't recognize at this time.

Drought and Duty Officer

2011-04-22T14:25:00.001-06:00

Even though I haven't written much this month it is not because there is nothing going on. Its been a little quieter since Sam left and some other friends went back to the States for a while, but I've been keeping busy. We've had some personnel issues at work and one of our long-time local staff is no longer working for the Embassy. I can't go into the details, but it has made things bit tougher at work.

The big issue in Belmopan this month has been the lack of rain and the smoke. Like many third world countries, Belize clears land by burning. With no rain for over three weeks, it was really dry and people were burning a lot. When this happens, Belmopan gets a LOT of smoke that settles on the city. During the main part of the day, it is not bad, but each morning and evening there was a fog of smoke covering the town. Every morning, when I'd go into my living room, I could smell the smoke in the house. It would sting the eyes and people with asthma would have serious problems with it. Yesterday, it finally rained and I actually got excited about the rain. I felt like a dust-bowl era farmer with how excited I got. Although it didn't rain all that much, it was enough to knock the smoke out of the air and to wet the dirt roads enough so that you weren't constantly kicking up dust. Apparently, this happens every year around this time, but it is worse this year because there is so much dead foliage from Hurricane Richard last fall.

I've also been duty officer for the last ten days or so. I had originally hoped to spend Easter in Antigua with my friend Chris in Guatemala, but that would have left no consular officers in Belize. Since that wouldn't be good, I switched duty weeks with another officer. I took this week, covering the four day Easter weekend holiday (since I couldn't travel anyway) and he is taking a week for me next month on a three-day weekend. Since I left work yesterday, I have had an American arrested for attempted murder and a death case (these are not related cases). It has already been a busy duty weekend, and it is only Friday.

One more story from the past few weeks. I told a friend this last night and he ordered me to put it on the blog. One night after the Pig and Parrot on a Wednesday, one of our interns went over to my friend Kevin's house for a beer and some food. As Kevin was reheating a pizza or something, the intern was petting Kevin's small dog, Pretzel. The intern wasn't really paying attention, but had his hand by the dog when Pretzel lifted a leg and peed all over the intern's hand. Kevin responded by giving the dog a treat.

Tickets are purchased!

2011-04-17T15:08:00.000-06:00

I am headed to Panama in June for a week of beach, jungles and canals. My sister, Shelley, will meet me down there and then likely come back to Belize for a few days. Since June is the only month without any holidays, I felt the need to take a week off that month.

Not really sure on an itinerary yet, but I have two A-100 classmates in Panama City, so I hope to see them. The canal is a must and I want to do some SCUBA, as well. If anyone has any suggestions for places to go or things to do, please leave a comment below.

(Funny story about Panama City. When I was a freshman in college, I joined a fraternity in the spring. About a dozen guys were driving to PC for spring break. I was shocked that anyone would drive that far over spring break and it wasn't until I was a sophomore that I discovered that there is a Panama City in Florida).

Mexican Strip Club

2011-04-10T20:53:00.001-06:00

Did the title get your attention? I decided to go for shock value. I am curious to see if I get more hits than usual with the title. Yes, the post will include a trip to a Mexican strip club, but it's not really about that.

This past week, one of my good friends has been having a bad week. His wife is out of country and he had a rough week at work. I suggested a trip to Chetumal on Saturday and he thought it was a great idea. By Friday, however, he had to back out due to work-related issues. So, on Friday afternoon, I headed to Pasquale's for a beer or two with friends. The few beers turned into many beers (with very little food). Several of the girls there were planning an overnight girl's trip to Chetumal on Saturday to celebrate someone's birthday. Bryan, one of the girls' boyfriend asked me if I wanted to crash the girls night with him. Given the few beers I'd had, I readily agreed.

Despite the fact that the best laid plans while drunk rarely come to fruition in the sober light of day, I picked up Bryan and Janet the next morning at 9 am. We made great time to Mexico with almost no border traffic and ate lunch at our hotel. After lunch, we headed to the mall to see Unknown. The movie was okay, but nothing special. The ending was a bit too cute, but considering there are no theaters in Belize and the movie costs $4, it was worthwhile.

The big new addition in Chetumal is the Wal-Mart. Now, you may ask yourself the question if you would really drive three hours to go to a Wal-Mart. For me, the answer was a resounding "yes." I bought some DVDs (first three seasons of 24, first season of Prison Break and a few other items you can't find in Belize. It is amazing how strange it feels to be in such an American store. I feel like I am on sensory-overload. I see things that I've forgotten I miss.

For dinner, we went to this Tex-Mex place where all the waiters were dressed up as cowboys. Bryan, Janet and I got there 'early' around 930 pm - the rest of the group came about an hour later. The place was packed and featured this really cute woman singing songs in Spanish. The food was delicious - we had 'queso ~~fondito~~ fundido' as an appetizer. It is melted manchego cheese served piping hot with some flour tortillas. For the main course, I had arrachera (steak) tacos which were spectacular and quite filling.

After the cute singer left the stage, they brought on another group. We were pretty certain that the woman singing was actually a man. They sang happy birthday to the birthday girl and all the waiters came and danced around her in a circle. This place is fairly well known for this as there were probably about a half dozen birthdays or anniversaries being celebrated that night. We left there around midnight, but the restaurant was still busy and a family with two little kids had just arrived for dinner. Given that everything in Belmopan closes by 9, it was another slight shock to my senses.

The bar area in Chetumal is located along the sea and was packed with young Mexicans celebrating a Saturday night. We squeezed our way into a packed bar that featured four liter taps on the tables. While we were there, the birthday girl decided she wanted to go to a strip club. She convinced the rest of the girls in our group to go and Bryan and I were not going to say no.

I am not a huge fan of strip clubs and I have only been to 3 or 4 clubs in the past. My total experience consisted of Glitter Gulch in Vegas, a club in central Missouri, the Hustler club in East St. Louis, and the Crystal City Restaurant in Arlington. Each of these was completely different in the lay out of the club, the type of clientele, and the attractiveness of the women. So, I shouldn't have had any expectations, but given the number of Americans who regularly go to Tijuana to see naked women, I was expecting more than what we got at this club. (Note - I was not expecting nor did I want to see a donkey show or anything more than naked girls).

The only real upside to the club was that we didn't have to pay a cover and the beer was cheap (around $2 a beer). The club featured a stage in the middle and tables around the stage and along the walls. We got a table along the walls and began to look around. The lighting was horrible - very dark with laser effects and an occasional strobe light. Not even the stage was well lit. When we got in there, there was no dancer on the stage and we were there close to 15 minutes before a dancer came out. She was mildly attractive, but we had seen much prettier girls at the bar earlier in the night. She danced around fully clothed for two or three songs, then during her last song she danced around topless for less than a minute. Then she left the stage. That was it.

There were several other dancers around the room dressed in bikinis and offering lap dances to drunk Mexicans. But there still wasn't much, if any, nudity. About ten minutes after the first dancer left, another dancer came out. She was not attractive at all and not very good at the dancing part either. When it became clear after the first song that she would follow the same pattern as the first dancer, we decided to leave. We had spent forty minutes in a strip club and had seen one topless girl for all of thirty seconds or so. A complete disappointment. (Oddly, I think the girls were more disappointed than Bryan or me. Most of them had never been to a strip club before and were clearly expecting something different).

After we left the club around 230, we went back to our hotel to sleep. This morning, we got up and went shopping at Sam's Club and the large grocery store. I stocked up on steak, pork chops, Italian sausage, and good cheese (all things sorely lacking in Belize). We drove back to Belmopan and I spent the rest of the day relaxing and talking to my parents (yes, I told them I went to a Mexican strip club).

Post of the Month

2011-04-01T14:33:00.000-06:00

Each month, State Magazine features one post or office in the department. This month, they are featuring Belmopan and yours truly wrote the article. The hard copy has not been released yet, but you can read the online version at
http://digitaledition.state.gov/publication/?m=11956&l=1

What a week

2011-03-24T18:04:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned that I am now working in American Citizens Services and this week the American Citizens have really needed a lot of services. This week alone, I have had 4 arrests, 3 victims of crimes (including 1 rape), 3 deaths, 5 emergency passports, 2 non-immigrant visas where the applicant has a claim to U.S. citizenship, and a pair of destitute Americans. All of these are around our monthly average, squeezed into less than 4 days. Plus, one of our two ACS local staff is on vacation. And it's only Thursday!

Diving the Blue Hole*

2011-03-20T21:48:00.000-06:00

I went SCUBA diving in the blue hole today. That's a picture of the blue hole on the right. It was created thousands of years ago when an the roof of an underground cave collapsed under the weight of the Caribbean. The depth goes from less than 20 feet all the way to over 400 feet in just a dozen feet of lateral distance. Surrounding the hole is a ring of rock and reef. (Despite what it looks like in the photo, none of the green areas is above the water. It is just very shallow). The day I found out I was going to Belize, I vowed to SCUBA dive here.

From the surface, the Blue Hole doesn't look all that impressive. But once you get underwater, it is amazing. The dive was more than twice as deep as any I had gone on before. There was not a whole lot of aquatic life in the hole, but the amazing rock formations more than made up for the few fish. A few months ago, there were ads for some thriller movie where these people go diving in a huge cave system. That's what this felt like. You don't expect to see stalactites underwater, which makes it all the more beautiful.

After we left the Blue Hole, we went diving in two more locations. The first was called the aquarium and the second was Half-Moon Caye. I could try to tell you how awesome these were (especially the aquarium), but pictures speak louder than words, so I will let them talk.

Our guide was blowing "air rings"

This fish had no side fins, only a dorsal and bottom fin. Really interesting looking.

Spotted Eagle Ray - unfortunately kept moving away from me

A red Squirrel fish

*When I posted this as my status on facebook today, one of my friends thought I was making a dirty Avatar joke.

Birthday in Belmopan

2011-03-13T17:32:00.000-06:00

On Thursday, I will turn 29 years old (for the first time). So, last night I threw myself a birthday party. My original idea was to rent out a bar and bring in this awesome band from San Pedro, but they wanted $1200US to come play, so I decided to have a BBQ on my back porch with music from my ipod.

Now, since my birthday is St. Patrick's Day, I encouraged everyone to wear green. I also asked people to bring side dishes or desserts with bonus points for green food. As with every theme party here in Belmopan, people went all out. There were two green cakes - one of them shaped like a leprechaun hat. Moreover, there was green bean dip, salad, zucchini, and even green hummus (looked gross, tasted great). Plus, I made watergate salad (which is also green).

The BBQ was a big hit as around 30 people consumed two dozen burgers, two packs of hot dogs, and more than a dozen chicken kabobs (which were delicious), plus two and half cakes and all the side dishes. We also polished off 15 bottles of wine, 6 bottles of liquor, and over two cases of beer. It was a good night.

The food was delicious

Sharanya, me and Jessie

Me, Jessie, Marco and Margarita

Rebecca likes this photo because it shows off her legs

Jackie, Nigel and Beth all claiming to be sober

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Beth is still claiming she's sober

A new perspective

2011-03-11T19:48:00.000-06:00

With all of the recent disasters around the world, both man-made (Civil War in Libya and Ivory Coast, protests in Egypt and Tunisia, etc) and natural (earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand, floods in Australia, etc), I feel for those affected by the disasters. But now that I work in the Embassy, I can't help but think of the work facing those consular officers. Sleepless nights and long hours, identifying bodies and calling next of kin, not knowing what to do when there is so much to be done.

So, when I woke up this morning and saw the devastation in Japan, my heart went out to all those directly affected. But, I also thought about those who are dealing with the aftermath as well.

Housing

2011-03-10T22:03:00.000-06:00

Apparently, there is a theme this week for State Department bloggers to talk about their housing. Several of the posts have been about the downsides of Post housing. One post actually spends time talking about how bad her couches were - the exact same couches sitting next to me right now. And, sure, they may not be the best looking couches ever, but I lived in an apartment for a year that had no couch. I never had visitors because they wouldn't have anywhere to sit. So, let's be honest, I can handle a couple of ugly couches.

The housing in Belmopan is actually pretty damn nice. I have a two bedroom house with a den. Throw in a huge kitchen, dining room, living room, about 17 closets, two storage rooms, a laundry room, and a screened in back porch that runs the length of the house and I have more space than I can use. The floors are all tile (I would much prefer carpet) and the walls are all white, which annoys some people. But I have ceiling fans in most rooms and great recessed overhead lighting. In terms of housing, I don't mind saying it is probably the nicest place I've ever lived.

Most of the Americans at Post live in the housing compound (as I do). Four houses are the same as mine - twelve houses are two-story, three-bedroom houses. The DCM's house is a bit bigger than the two-story houses and the CMR (Ambassador's house) is huge. There are about a half-dozen off-campus houses as well. The compound has a pool, tennis court, basketball court, walking path, and a large field. It can be a bit of a fish bowl and everyone knowing everyone's business.

The biggest issue with housing is how much the government pays for it. When the Embassy moved to Belmopan five years ago, there was not adequate housing. So they entered a "build to lease" contract. I don't have the actual numbers, but the government pays somewhere more than $10,000 per unit. That is U.S. dollars per month. This, in a country, where most people make less than that in a year. AND the government pays the owner a monthly maintenance amount. Hopefully, when the contract ends in a few years, it is renegotiated lower. But, if my experience in contracting is any indication, it won't ever get lower.

Dining room with soccer scarves

Awesome back porch

Awesome kitchen (this is less than half my total cabinet space)

Party in my dining room

La Ruta Maya

2011-03-05T23:51:00.000-06:00

One of the greatest things about my job is the opportunities to experience events and festivals that simply don't exist anywhere else in the world. And while millions of people from Rio to Trinidad to Venice to New Orleans are celebrating Carnivale this weekend, Belize is celebrating the "La Ruta Maya" canoe race.

The race covers 176 river miles from near the Guatemala river to Belize City and the Caribbean Sea. Although the race itself is relatively young (I believe this is the 13th year), the route has great historical underpinnings. The Mayans often used the rivers for travel. More recently, British loggers used the rivers to get their mahogany from the forests to the seas for shipment back to Britain. The best part is some of the names of towns that the race passes - Roaring Creek, More Tomorrow, Burrel Boom, Spanish Lookout, Teakettle, Bermudian Landing, Ladyville, and my all-time favorite, Double Head Cabbage. I assure you that those are all real names of real villages in Belize.

Our current DCM, who used to work in the boating industry before he joined the Foreign Service, built a canoe while here in Belize. It's not a dug-out canoe, rather he glued thin strips of wood to a frame, sanded down the edges, and put a bunch of sealant on it. It's actually quite an awesome little boat, named "Up the Cric", although it obviously does have paddles. He finished this boat last year in time to enter an Embassy team for last year's race. The team (all Belizean FSNs) had little practice time, but made a solid showing. This year, they have gone out twice each weekend for the past month and put in practice time.

On Friday, we got to the Embassy at 530 to take a van to San Ignacio to support the team. About 40 people from the Embassy, both Americans and local staff, were there. San Ignacio and Santa Elena were packed with people that morning. Although I am awful at estimating crowds, I'd say there were at least 2,000-3,000 people there. This is easily the largest crowd I have seen in Belize. People lined the banks and were on both the high bridge and the low bridge.

Once the horn sounded, the boats took off paddling furiously. Within a minute, most boats were out of my site. A few were clearly in no hurry and several capsized before they reached the low bridge. Apparently, the low bridge usually causes a few boats to go down and this year did not disappoint. I saw at least 4 or 5 boats capsize at the low bridge. One poor boat flipped over 4 times in between the bridges. They were going to have a long day.

The rest of the weekend is apparently a traveling party, with supporters setting up camp at each of the launch and exit points. After the first leg, the Embassy team was in fourth place in its division.

The route of "La Ruta Maya"

Approaching the low bridge

Peace Corps volunteers getting their canoe ready

Launching canoes in front of the low bridge

Up the Cric (with paddles)

Steam comes off the water in the early morning chill

My absolutely favorite name for any of the boats

The U.S. Embassy team in Up the Cric

The race begins

People watching from the low bridge

Diplomatic Children

2011-03-03T17:45:00.000-06:00

There is a great article in the Washington Post about how diplomatic children are affected by world events, such what has been going on the Middle East. The best line in the article is a quote referring to Oakwood Falls Church, "It's like the State Department ghetto."

My great cable revenge

2011-03-02T18:43:00.000-06:00

Anyone who may have followed my non-State Dept blog, The III Degree, would know that I have had problems with cable companies. I find that cable companies abuse you more than any other type of utility and that satellite and FIOS offer competition in theory only. I have spent countless hours on the phone or in line with cable companies arguing over charges and service, etc. With one company, I refused to pay a disputed charge for months, always deducting it from my monthly payment and informing them in writing that I disputed the charge of $12.84. Finally, I moved and closed the account with the disputed amount on there - and they sent me to collections. Assholes. After I threatened to sue the collection company for harassing me over a disputed debt, they left me alone.

So, when I was in Crystal City last year, I had Comcast (again) and was mostly satisfied with their service. They screwed up slightly when I canceled my service and I had to see them about getting $10 taken off the bill. When I went to the store, the guy removed the charge with no problem and told me to have a nice day.

What he didn't realize is that he credited the account for the whole amount, which left me with a negative balance -$1.75. Since then, for the past 10 months, they have sent me a statement informing me that I have negative balance. Each month, I happily get the statement and throw it away. For all the countless hours I spent arguing with them over money, they now waste money each month sending me the statement.

Meeting Americans

2011-02-25T19:04:00.000-06:00

As I think I have mentioned on here before, after Christmas, I switched from visas to American Citizens Services. Unlike many of my friends at large posts, I get to experience almost all components of consular work. And from now until at least the summer, I am in charge of American Citizens Services (ACS).

ACS is, as we say, a cradle to grave service. We literally do birth reports and death certificates. We also do passports, help victims of crimes, visit prisoners, help Americans get home, and find lost Americans (or more accurately, Americans who haven't checked in with family). This past week has been quite busy with several arrests, a quarterly prison visit, a possible child abuse case, and a town hall meeting. And this was a four day week!

On Wednesday, I went to Hattieville to visit the prisoners. While each police district has its own small jail to hold prisoners temporarily, all long-term prisoners go to Hattieville. Run by the non-profit Kolbe foundation, the prison looks like something out of O Brother, Where Art Thou? The land around the prison is flat and relatively treeless. The whole complex has around 1500 inmates. There is a chain link fence on the outside of the whole complex and several fences inside separating the various housing units. In all honesty, escape would not be that difficult.

The atmosphere appears very relaxed compared to a U.S. prison. The prisoners don't have uniforms - they wear whatever they can get. Unlike some other Central American prisoners, they are fed by the prison. There are a couple of woodworking shops and a jewelry shop and most of the inmates do some work. The guards have uniforms, but aren't armed.

There are currently fewer than five American prisoners in the prison. I can't go into any details about them or why they are there, but I was able to meet with all of them personally. We go to the prison at least once a quarter. We always bring some toiletries (toothpaste, soap, deoderant, etc). We also try to collect clothes, books, magazines, etc for the prisoners. In general, they were pleasant to me and happy to have someone to talk to about their case or what they will do when they get out of prison.

On Thursday, we had our first town hall meeting of the year. We try to hold meetings around Belize to give people the opportunity to meet the Ambassador and our staff, to ask some questions, and to learn what we do. Our meeting this week was in Belize City. Given that it is, by far, the largest city in the country, we expected a good turnout. Instead, we had fewer than a dozen people come. Those who did come seemed to be engaged. Even though our presentations were done by 1230, most of the people were still there by 130-200 mingling with each other as well as the staff.

This week was the first time since I started on ACS that I really got out of the office and got to meet Americans without bullet-proof glass between us. I really enjoyed this side of consular work for the first time. I had been dreading doing this for 6 more months, but I actually enjoyed it this week.

Now, let's just hope the duty phone doesn't ring all weekend.

1848, 1968, 1989, 2011?

2011-02-21T21:11:00.000-06:00

All views in this post are mine alone and do not reflect the views of the State Department or the U.S. government.

I majored in history in college and one of the concepts I remember vividly is that in many years, very little happens. Sure, they write things in the history book for every year, but if I were to ask you what major events occurred in 1983, you'd probably have to look to Google to find out. (My quick search shows the most significant world event in 1983 to be the bombing of the Embassy in Lebanon).

But some years are chock so full of events that important events are given no historical coverage. I'm not talking about years like 2001. 9/11 remains the single most important event of the 21st Century. Moreover, the US invaded Afghanistan following the attacks, but not much else happened of huge historical import. I'm talking about years with so much going on that the years become linked with the events.

In the past 200 years, there have been quite a few of these years. Any of the years for WWI and WWI would qualify. But outside the war, there are three years - 1848, 1968, and 1989 - that most historians agree are defined by the revolutions that spread across the globe during these years. After what has happened during the first two months of 2011, I would not be surprised to see the current year join these historically significant years.

1848 - The year was characterized by a series of revolutions throughout Europe. Often called the Springtime revolutions, popular uprisings occurred in Italy, France, Denmark, Habsburg Empire (Austria), Hungary, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Wallachia, and even Brazil. Though there was very little immediate change from these revolutions, the unification of both Germany and Italy can be directly attributed to these revolutions.

1968 - The year of the student protests and socialist revolutions were in a large part a response to the US war against Vietnam. Millions of students around the world protested against the war and for civil rights for women and minorities. Protests in Czecheslovakia and Poland were ended by violent responses from the Soviet Union. Assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, along with the violent protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago were just some of the major events that occurred in 1968.

1989 - This was the year of the anti-communist revolutions. Protests in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czecheslovakia, and Romania led to the fall of their Communist regimes. In Berlin, the divisive wall came down in November. The Tiananmen Square massacre occurred in April of that year. Over the following years, the USSR fell apart and democracy took over Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

2011? - I will be the first to admit that 2011 is not quite there yet. But the events of the first 50 days this year have sown the seeds of revolution in the Middle East. We have already seen mass protests lead to the fall of long-time dictators in Tunisia and Egypt. Protests in the Sudan (as well as the Southern Sudan independence vote), Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, and Iran (and Wisconsin?) all have the potential to add 2011 to the short list of monumental years.

Al and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2011-02-18T21:10:00.000-06:00

One of my Mom's favorite stories to read us as kids was Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. If I recall, Alexander keeps dreaming about going to Australia to escape his awful day, but at the end realizes that bad days happen even in Australia.

When I was home over Christmas, I ordered a 55 inch Multi-system LCD HD TV. This is my first real luxury item I have bought myself since I started to earn a decent income. Other than my car and some trips I have taken, it was by far the most I had ever spent on anything. When it was delivered to my sister's house, the delivery guys were jealous. Even the box looked beautiful. I had specifically arranged for a second HHE shipment just to get this TV. So, when our logistics guy told me they could deliver my shipment on Friday, I was super excited.

I must admit that the first half of my day was uneventful and not at all bad. In fact, I got back the final version of the Post of the Month and the article is awesome and was barely changed at all.

I took off a half day so I could meet the shipment, as well as the guys removing my old entertainment center (too small), plus the guys who were coming to mount the TV on the wall. Additionally, my internet hadn't been working right since I got back from DC. The wireless modem wouldn't connect directly to the computer and the VPN wireless router wouldn't let me connect through the VPN, but I could still connect to the internet. I had an online appt. with the VPN company to fix the router. Not only was she unable to fix the VPN aspect of the router, but she managed to break it entirely, so that it would not send out any signal. Aargh. So two wireless signals and neither one would work. Fortunately, I happen to own another wireless router, so I can connect through that.

Look at how beautiful this TV is.

When the TV and other HHE got here, there were no problems. Everything was on the truck, even my beer. (Yes, I shipped a case of Natty Light. I rule.) Then, the guy came to mount it on the wall and we took it out of the box. It was amazing, in all of its glory. Bigger than I had even realized.

Unfortunately, as the guys were messing with the wall bracket, I noticed that their is no coaxial cable input. Sure, most places have cable boxes or satellites and connect through A/V cables. But Belize just uses the old fashioned coaxial, straight from the wall into the TV cable. Somehow, I am completely oblivious to the fact that the plug is one of those weird three pronged ones like you have on your stove until the carpenters pointed it out. Not only is the plug messed up, but the voltage is 220 only. Belize is a 110 country like the US. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK.

Now, I spent weeks researching TVs, I knew what I cared about and what I didn't. The thing I cared about most, more than anything else, was that I could take this TV around to post after post with me. I paid quite a bit more for this TV so that it was multi-system and would work where ever I went. Now, it won't even work where I am!!!! I couldn't contact the seller because they were closed, so I vented on facebook. Several people felt it necessary to mention that their houses (in Belmopan) are wired for both 110 and 220 and volunteered to take the TV off my hands. The carpenters were more helpful and stated I may be able to get the electricians to come in and wire a 220 socket for me (I didn't know this was possible). Someone else suggested that I could get a converter, which would be at least a temporary solution. This being Belmopan, I tried two suggested stores, who were both out of stock. Figures.

To add to my misery, when I got home I had a letter from my bank. Now, I love my bank. Not only do they not charge ATM fees for out of network ATMs and refund the fees charged by the out-of-network ATM, but they also refund the VISA transaction fee for international withdrawals. Last year, I specifically did not switch to USAA because TD Bank was better. So, now, of course, today's letter tells me that they are ending all of that. Not only are they not refunding me other people's fees, but they are tacking on their own as well. I now have to decide between being a smart customer (and leaving) and being lazy. I will probably switch over to USAA, but if anyone else has an awesome bank out there, please let me know in the comments.

So, by 6 pm today, the internet broke, the TV won't plug in and my bank screwed me over. Why should't I try to put together an IKEA TV stand. There is no way that this will cause me any pain or frustration. But, I need to put together the TV stand so I have something to put my old TV on until I get my new TV working.

So, even in Belize can you have a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.

Happy Anniversary

2011-02-15T21:31:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe it has been a year already. A year ago today was my first day of A-100, or as it is more commonly known in my A-100 class, as the "Badging day from Hell." A lot has happened in a year - most notably moving to Belize, etc. And while I have been at Post for 8 1/2 months, others from my class are just arriving or have not finished training yet (learning Chinese and Arabic will do that to you).

I spent last week training in DC. I have recently switched from visas to American Citizens Services. I am not the go-to person when someone loses their passport, is arrested, has their Crocodile Sanctuary burned down by an angry mob, or is killed by a jaguar. I am also the point person to help victims of crimes and international parental child abduction. So, last week, I joined a dozen officers and foreign service nationals for training in Assisting Victims of Crimes and International Parental Child Abduction.

Both of these are probably bigger issues than you would first think. Sadly, thousands of Americans each year are the victim of a crime overseas. The great majority of these are property crimes, but we also deal with murder, rape, child abuse, armed robbery, assault, terrorism, etc. We strive to help the victim file police reports, provide them with information about the local judicial system, contact family and friends, and put them in contact with resources in the US. Unfortunately, we are not able to do the things that most victims want (restitution for their lost property, investigation, and arrest of the criminal). I do not look forward to these difficult cases, but I think that the training definitely helped me understand what I can (and cannot) do for these victims.

International Parental Child Abduction is a much bigger issue than most of us realize. It refers to when one parent takes the child to another country without permission. The most famous case was the Sean Goldman case which got tons of press in the last few years. These cases are usually governed by The Hague treaty, which essentially states that the kid should be returned to the country of usual residence and the courts of that country will decide custody. It probably doesn't surprise you to learn that this often doesn't happen as it is supposed to. The class wasn't very good, but the information was useful.

More enjoyable for me than class was meeting with old friends. I got to meet up with a friend from high school - Brandon; a friend from college - Nick (incidentally, today, Nick's wife played in a quartet with Medal of Freedom winner YoYo Ma at the White House while President Obama quietly listened in the corner); a friend from the U.S. Attorney's Office - Katie; and several friends from A-100 stationed in DC on their first tour - Morgan, Ian, and Tryg. I had great food, great beer, and great conversation.

This week, I am trying to do my taxes. I usually do my own taxes, but I may have to get some help this year. The federal return is no problem, but I am struggling with the State taxes. When I joined the State Department, I picked Missouri as my state of domicile. I have my bar license there, spent 7 years for college/law school in the state and the taxes work in my favor. But, I also lived part of the year in Virginia (both with and without VA domicile). I am not a tax attorney nor a CPA, but from what I understand, there are three possible scenarios of what I have to pay on state taxes:

Scenario 1 - I pay VA taxes on my Coast Guard income. The moment I joined the State Department, I became a Missouri tax payer and ceased to be a Virginia tax payer (despite the fact that I continued to physically reside in VA). I'm even with VA and Missouri refunds me all of my withholdings.
Scenario 2 - I pay VA taxes on my Coast Guard income and my State Dept. income up until I moved to Belize. Since no withholdings occurred on the State Dept. income, I owe them taxes on approximately 4 months of salary, while Missouri refunds me all of my withholdings.
Scenario 3 - Virginia says I am still a resident of the state, despite living in Belize, and I owe them taxes on everything. Furthermore, they charge me with tax fraud, I lose my security clearance and job.

I've been assured that Scenario 3 is unlikely, but also told that VA likes to hound military and foreign service officers to keep them as residents. I think Scenario 1 is the proper way for this to break down, but getting the online tax software to accomodate these issues is tough.

So, if anyone out their in the foreign service world has dealt with this issue, or knows of an adequate, cheap, tax preparer (except the whole state thing, my taxes are simple), please send me a message or leave a comment below.

DC Update

2011-02-09T20:13:00.000-06:00

I'm having a great time in DC - learning new stuff about ACS, eating good food, and meeting up with old friends. Last night, I found out my friend Katie was featured in the Washingtonian magazine in December for her work as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in DC. This is the office that I worked for when I was preparing for the Oral Assessment and doing my security clearance. It is an interesting read, offering insight into the office I worked in and it showcases one of my best DC friends. The article fails to mention that most of the attorneys handling the misdemeanor cases are not actually hired by the US Attorney's Office. Rather, they are brought in from other federal agencies to get the attorney valuable trial experience.

Losing and gaining friends

2011-02-04T22:50:00.000-06:00

People come and go. It's a part of my life that I have to get used to. But some people leaving is harder than others. From my first days here, I have been closer to Aaron and Brianne than anyone else in Belmopan. Aaron took me out and introduced me to everyone around town. They were the couple that was closest to me in age and who didn't have kids. Most of the fun stuff I have done in Belize has been with one or both of them. When I needed someone to talk to when my Nanu was sick, I talked to Aaron. Sure, I've only known them for 8 months, but you have to make fast friends in this life and Aaron and Brianne were good friends. Of all the people in Belmopan, they are the only people who I know I will see after I leave Belmopan. If we are ever posted to the same continent, we will make that trip together.

Aaron and Brianne - you will be missed in this small corner of the world that is Belmopan.

In other news, I apparently made a friend this week as well. Unfortunately, it wasn't the kind of friend you hope to make. A few months back, at a Christmas party, I met a friend of a friend. We talked for a while and I got her number from my friend. We've gone on a few dates and both had a good time. And while I was hoping this would develop into something more, I found out this week that I've moved into the "friend zone." In the grand scheme of things, not a big deal, but with such a limited dating pool here, you have to hope for the best when an opportunity presents itself. I think Nada Surf put it best:

"Be prepared for the boy to feel hurt and rejected/

Even if you've gone together for a short time and haven't been too serious/

There is still a feeling of rejection when someone says/

She prefers the company of others to your exclusive company..."

Nada Surf - Popular

Medical issues

2011-01-31T23:40:00.000-06:00

Last week, I'd been having some tooth pain on my left side. It was never severe pain, but it did wake me up a few times. I talked to the staff nurse and she suggested I go see a dentist in Belize City. Given Belize's medical standards, I was a bit skeptical about going to a dentist here. But I was pleasantly surprised with both the facilities and the doctor. The doctor was educated at Marquette. He took a couple x-rays and determined that I needed 2 (TWO!) root canals.
I can't say that I was surprised by the diagnosis. I have horrible teeth. In my adult life, I have spent probably around $10,000 in premiums and co-pays. I've had 3 crowns and way too many cavities - some pretty severe. My last dentist kept telling me I'd probably need a root canal, but since the point of a root canal is to get rid of pain (and I never really had pain), I had never had one done. So, when my Belizean dentist told me I needed one on Thursday, I wasn't exactly surprised. He offered to do it then, but I had a lunch date that afternoon and plans for the weekend, so I put it off until today.

The root canal was no problem. But when I was driving in to Belize City, I noticed my wrist starting to swell from a bug bite I had gotten the day before. The swelling kept up most of the morning, so I went to see the nurse. Turns out I am allergic to some bug (which is strange since I have no other allergies) and my wrist as ballooned up something fierce. The nurse has put me on benadryl and other antibiotics. I can't work or drive for at least the next two days due to the meds. Who would have thought that the root canal would be the least of medical issues today?

What people are searching for

2011-01-26T15:59:00.001-06:00

There are several fun tools that you can play with to discover who is coming to your blog and how they are getting there. If you look at the Feedjit gadget in the side bar, you can click on real time and see where people are visiting from. If they clicked from another site, it will tell you. If they got here from Google with a search, it will tell me what they searched for. Google analytics does the same thing but it compiles the information over time.
The top searches are ones where people are clearly looking for me or for other foreign service related things:

Call me al foreign sevice blog
foreign service
alcaniglia.blogspot.com
call me al blog belize
al tikal

But in my view the most interesting things are the random searches that somehow got people to my blog. Some of my favorites -

"had to get" "glasses"
a joke about looking in the mirror
americans acting like children
belmopan friends with benefit (this may be my favorite)
call me electronica
december is that you can call me january
does christian bale play poker in las vegas on new years
how to do with diversity in my addiction
how do you call ambassador's wife
i'm a foreign service officer belize belmopan
similarities between beer pong and bowling

I can also see where people are at when they read my blog (or at least where their IP says they are).
By far, most of my readers come from the US (over 75%). I have had visitors from 48 of 50 states (what, you too good for me South Dakota and Vermont). The highest concentration is in Virginia, then California (thanks Bob), New York, Arizona, Nebraska, Florida and Texas. In the world, Guatemala, Belize, UK, and Japan, Mexico, Brazil, France, India, and Canada round out my top 10. Overall, 92 countries have visited.

Analytics will also tell me what my most popular posts are. By far, is my Flag Day post with almost 1400 hits (about 25% of my total traffic). A very distant second place goes to the Ultimate Road Trip, (about 150 total hits) where I dreamed about my unfulfilled plans to road trip from DC to Belize. That is closely followed by Crap I've bought for Belize, Chetumal, Packout and Beyond, and How I got here.

Foreign Service Blogs

2011-01-23T19:17:00.000-06:00

I've added quite a few blogs to my blog roll. Most of these are foreign service blogs, but some are other friends of mine or blogs I read regularly. I was recently added to a listing on the State Dept. Careers website.

Be sure to check them out.

The Sounding Board

2011-01-21T09:33:00.000-06:00

As any State Department employee can tell you, one of the greatest things to come from Secretary Clinton's reign over the foreign affairs is the Sounding Board. It is a message board where people can post ideas on ways to improve the State Department and other people can viciously shoot them down. It is high entertainment. One of today's subject was about whether there should be two spaces after a sentence (Slate says no, I say yes). That led to someone posting this essay written by Dean Acheson.

Of Mice and Mail
By Dean Acheson
From Foreign Service Journal, May 1965
Long ago, when the world was young, the official censor of English usage and prose style in the Department of State was a charming lady with an imposing and elegant coiffure. In those days we were in the old State War, and Navy Building, just west of the White House. Affection for its tiers of pillared balconies and mansard roof and its present mantle of soft dove gray is the touchstone which separates aging Victorian aesthetes from neoclassicists and moderns. We loved, also, its swinging, slatted, saloon-type half doors. They not only provided ventilation before air conditioning and permitted most covenants to be overheard and hence openly arrived at, but their vicious swings into the hall created a sporting hazard for passersby.

The Department was much smaller then. The country had not yet reluctantly donned the imperial purple of world leadership, or acquired a voice heard hourly around the world, or discovered and exchanged culture; nor was it required to cope with the mounting ill will of the objects of its solicitude and generosity. The days when the Department would
add to its little nucleus of diplomatists the equivalent of Montgomery Ward, Chautauqua, CBS, and Lincoln Center were still mercifully ahead.

So much smaller was it that at the end of the day the elegantly coiffured chieftainess of the Division of Coordination and Review could and did bring to my office all the important departmental mail, to be read and signed over the title Acting Secretary. We began with a ritual which would have puzzled the uninitiated. She pulled a chair close to
the front of my desk and then sat, not on it, but in it – that is, she perched herself crosslegged in the chair. And thereby hangs a tale.

The Undersecretary’s mouse lived in his office fireplace, where for years a wood fire had been laid but never touched, much less lighted. Probably generations of internationally minded mice had grown up within the log structure and gone on to positions in the United Nations. When the long day’s work was ending and the busy office was hushed and the fever of departmental life was over, the mouse would come out. Some atavistic fear or urge, older than time, leads women to slander mice by believing that they harbor a lascivious desire to run up the female leg. Elephants seem to share this fear. At any rate, both are traditionally nervous in the presence of mice.

From her safe haven the chieftainess could observe the mouse without tremors as we tackled the mail. For years she had battled bravely with the bureaucracy and maintained the State Department’s standard of literacy high above that, for instance, of the Department of Agriculture of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. But time had dampened the fire and dulled her cutting edge. She welcomed the help of fresh enthusiasm and a
new blade.

We won a few opening and easy victories over phrases with no solid support—villainous expressions like “as regards to,” “acknowledging yours of,” “regretting our delay in,” and so on. Then came our first major attack on a departmental favorite. The target was the use of the verb “to feel” to describe the Department’s cogitating and deciding process.
“The Department feels that to adopt the course you urge would not,” et cetera, et cetera. The Department could, I insisted, decide, agree, disagree, approve, disapprove, conclude, and on rare occasions, and vicariously, think, but never feel. It had no feelings. It was incapable of feeling. So the ukase was issued that departmental feeling was out.

The immediacy of our success brought home to us the immensity of our combined power over the written words. When the chieftainess eliminated feeling from every letter no matter by whom written and I signed letters brought to me only by her, the Department simply ceased to feel. Absolute power, Lord Acton wrote, corrupts absolutely. But in our case, it was not so. Moderation was our guide. The tumbrel was filled discriminately. Into it went “implement” and “contact” used as verbs – “the Department must implement the Act of Congress” or “you should contact the Consul General at Antwerp.” These horrors sneezed into the sack. So did “finalize,” “analogize,” and “flexible” when used to modify “approach.” “To trigger” would have done so likewise if anyone had dared use it.

Thus far the natives showed no signs of restlessness under the new order. Indeed, they hardly noticed the increased literacy and clarity of their returning carbon copies. But our pruning knives soon cut deeper into clichés which had taken the place of thought. The first of these was “contraproductive.” What would a congressman think, I asked, when
he read, “The course you proposed would, in the Department’s view, prove to be contraproductive”? It would sound to him suspiciously like a veiled reference to birth control.

Once started on this line of thought, we soon added to the proscribed list two other phrases, also likely to suggest undue familiarity with the shady side of sex. These were “abortive attempts” and “emasculating amendments.” “Crippling” amendments were bad enough. Why not, in both cases, switch to “stultifying” for a change?

Even those oddities were put down to no more than reluctance to admit modern ruggedness of speech into official correspondence. But when the guns were turned on “sincere” the murmurs grew. “For proof of Russian sincerity,” someone would write, “we look to deeds not words.” Nothing could have been more misleading or misinformed concerning both the meaning of the word and the nature of the Russians. Under pressure all would agree that Webster relegated to fifth place the letter writer’s
belief that “sincere” meant “virtuous.” As its first meaning, Noah put down just what the Russians were: “pure; unmixed; unadulterated; as sincere as milk,” or, one might add, as sincere – that is, unmixed and unadulterated – trouble. He even quoted the eighteenth-century wit, physician, and friend of Pope and Swift, John Arbuthnot, as writing (incomprehensibly), “There is no sincere acid in any animal juice.” That clinched the matter, and “sincere” as an adjectival encomium went on the Index Prohibitorum.

We were tempted to go further and rule out “Sincerely yours,” either as a self-serving declaration that the Department was “unmixed,” which was false on its face, or that, taking a lower meaning, it was “without deceit,” which the body of the letter usually disproved. We preferred “Respectfully yours” for our superiors in the White House and
the Capitol, a reserved “Very truly yours” for the citizenry and for foreign VIP’s the stately “With renewed expressions of my highest esteem” (a delightful phrase, since the expressions were never expressed). But “Sincerely yours,” having by usage been deprived of all meaning, was finally adjudged suitable for the departmental use.

Thus we strove mightily at the noble task of returning the Department’s prose to a Jeffersonian level; but we strove against the current. We became obstacles to efficiency. The mail backed up. Congressmen complained of the delay in answering their letters and refused to be assuaged by the superior prose of the answers when they did not come.

When the first symptoms of elephantiasis appeared with our absorption of Colonel Donovan’s Research and Intelligence people and Elmer Davis’ foreign-broadcasting facilities, our doom was sealed. Our evening sessions with the mail became as hopelessly inadequate as Gandhi’s spinning wheel. The revolution of expansion swept our ukases away, and through the ruins the exiled phrases defiantly marched back, contacting, implementing, feeling, contraproducing, aborting, and emasculating in shameless abandon.

Back to Work

2011-01-15T17:59:00.000-06:00

I had an awesome vacation. It was great to spend time with my family. We moved my sister into a new house - I got an awesome TV. I spent two days in Vegas (spent less in Vegas than Wal-Mart). I saw most of my extended family. I even managed to see enough snow to last me for the year.

Usually, I am not there for the family get together and it is my senior portrait being held up. But this time, I was home while Shelley was working at Christmas.

Me with Nana and Nanu. Nanu is doing much better after being very sick this fall.

New York, New York skyline on the Strip

Ezekial, my cousin Jenny's son. He liked the camera.

Coming back this week, my big project was working on the Post of the Month article. Each month, State Magazine (the official magazine of the State Department) features one of the Posts around the world. The article is written by one of local officers and showcases photos of the post. Back in September, our PAO (Public Affairs Officer) asked me if I'd like to write the article for when Belmopan is featured in the April issue of the magazine. She knew I wrote this very blog and thought I might like to Post of the Month. I, of course, said yes.

(Note: this will be the third time I've been published - I had two articles published in Truman State's history journal my senior year and my article on gerrymandering was published in the St. Louis University Public Law Review. This will clearly be my largest audience. Besides the fact that it is awesome to get published, this will also be awesome for my EER (performance review). Not many people get to write these articles and even fewer first tour Consular officers without any PD experience.)

When I went on vacation, I thought the article was due at the end of the month. When I got back on Monday January 10, I found out it was actually do on January 15. So, that is what I spent most of my week on. I got the article drafted, edited, cleared and turned in. The article will appear in the April issue - so I will link to it when it is ready.

New Year's Eve and Resolutions

2011-01-01T16:03:00.000-06:00

I have never really had a good New Year's Eve. It's not that the night is a disappointment by lofty standards or anything - the night has actually been below average to awful. Some of the low lights include getting a black eye, having to physically restrain my drunk sister, working (both at the restaurant and grocery store), and watching a movie at home with my dog. My best New Years Eve was probably a few years ago when I went to play BINGO with parents and grandparents and I got BINGO in an early bird game and won $100 (I still lost money this night).

So, when I went out with my sister and her friends last night, I was merely hoping to avoid disaster. We went out to the Tempe block party. We went to a couple of bars (including the very cool "Big Bang" which features dueling pianos and $3 beers) and I had an average to above average night out. There were no fights, no arrests, no injuries, no accidents - which made it a fantastic New Year's Eve.

I know many people had a rough 2010, but 2010 was pretty damn good to me. I got an awesome job in the Foreign Service. I got assigned to an amazing post in Belize. I've traveled (Israel, Belize, Guatemala, Vegas, and Phoenix). I've made good friends. 2010 was a pretty good year for me. But, that does mean that 2011 can't be better. Here are a few goals for 2011.

Quit smoking (again). I quit smoking after law school, but started social smoking this year. That expanded to regular smoking late this year. I quit again on December 22 and so far, so good.
Travel to at least 3 central American countries (in order of preference) - Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador
Watch at least two sun rises and sunsets. I have had this goal every year and I usually make it. Sunsets are much easier for me to watch than sun rises.
Get an awesome second posting. This summer, I will get my bid list and get my assignment for my next post.
Date more.

Christmas in Arizona

2010-12-27T20:55:00.000-06:00

As Belize is such a horrible, god-awful place, the State Department provides each employee on a two-year tour a Rest and Relaxation trip. The general rule for R&R is that you can fly to (a) your R&R point or (b) anywhere in the United States or (c) anywhere on a cost-construct ticket, as long as the place you want to go is relaxing. The R&R point is usually a first-world city like London, Rome, Sidney, etc. For the Western Hermisphere, our R&R point is Miami, so I obviously was just going to go home. The government only pays for the flight, the employee is responsible for the time off, housing, food etc.

As Belize is so close to Belize, I will make multiple journeys to the US, but I wanted to take my R&R at Christmas when tickets are usually the most expensive and when weather problems can cause the most headaches (the government generally buys higher fare tickets that are refundable and also bump you higher on any standby list). In addition, I wanted to go to both Phoenix and Omaha. I was able to cost construct and pay the difference in fare to go Belize-Phoenix and then return Omaha-Belize.

When I left Belize on December 23, I ran into five people that I knew at the airport. Four of us were on the same flight out of town. Belize really is a small country. After a quick layover in Houston, my parents picked me up at the airport only ten hours after I left Belmopan.

Christmas is all about traditions and my family has many that I love:

Our Christmas tree is covered in unique ornaments that we find whenever we go on a trip, or we made growing up. Every ornament has a story and putting up the tree is a walk down memory lane. Now that I have my own tree, this is a tradition that I have continued.
On Christmas Eve, we usually eat Italian. We had my father's delicious lasagne this year.
We also open our presents from each other on Christmas Eve. We pass out all the wrapped gifts and go one-by-one opening a single present from youngest to oldest. This year, my little sister's boyfriend joined us and for the first time, Katie didn't get to go first.
Our family loves to play cards and other games. The game will change depending on who is there, but this year we've played 'hand and foot', progressive rummy, and scattergories.
On Christmas morning, Santa comes with our stocking gifts. Every since we moved to Shenandoah when I was in middle school, Santa started using large gift bags instead of actual stockings. Santa is very practical at our house, he often brings underwear and socks, as well as toiletries or other useful items. He also brings fun stuff as well. This year, we decided to draw for Santas. It was a nice change and I'd guess we'll keep it going next year.
We usually go see a movie on Christmas night as well. This year, we saw "The Fighter" which was quite good. Christian Bale was phenomenal. It's nice to be able to go see a movie without having to take my passport.

My older sister just bought a house and is moving into her house this week. So, I get to spend a good part of my vacation helping her move a whole bunch of stuff. Not my idea of a great time, but I'll do what I can.

I am also organizing a second HHE shipment. Since I did not use all of the allotted weight during my first shipment, I can do a second shipment within the first year of going to post. Since this was my first tour, they allowed me to amend my travel orders to allow for a shipment from Arizona. I've purchased a 55" Plasma Multi-system TV. I've also spent the past four days buying tons of stuff that is either not available in Belmopan or much more expensive there. The amount of crap I've bought is astounding. I am also getting a bunch of stuff from my parent's house. I will hopefully get a photo before the packers come next week.

Quick hits

2010-12-18T14:16:00.000-06:00

A few pictures as I count down the last few days before I head back to the U.S. for Christmas. Besides Christmas and the holidays, I plan on buying some stuff and making another HHE shipment. I will also head up to Nebraska/Iowa to see my friend Kris's new baby and see extended family and play in a poker tournament. I also am getting to go to the dentist - YEAH!

I've been attacked by 'no-see 'ums', aka sand flies. I apparently break out in a bad rash when bitten by these things and they itch like crazy. The rash actually got worse then this before it went away.

This is the first year I've lived in a house since I was in high school. I had to decorate and went all out with the six foot inflatable snow globe. The kids love it.

A couple weeks ago, I took my Dad to the Big 12 Championship in Dallas. We had a great time together despite the fact that Nebraska lost.

Beth and Kevin's son Max underneath my tree.

Most of the Consular section at the Embassy Christmas party - Mark, Jennifer, Ashley, Karla, Charise, Me, and Sue.

A typical day

2010-12-09T15:13:00.000-06:00

Whenever someone tells me what they do for work, my next question is almost always, "What does that mean?" If someone is "relocation coordinator" in Dubai (I met someone with that title yesterday), it means that they help all of the expats who work for the large corporations settle in and get housing, utilities, licenses, etc. I still have no idea what a project manager does, despite the fact that I have known several. They can never adequately explain it.

So, what does a Vice-Consul do? Every post is unique and Belmopan is smaller than most (or all) posts. Because of this, I am not just a lowly vice-Consul, I am also the Visas Chief. This means that I have more things to do than just hundreds of Non-Immigrant Visa interviews.

A typical day starts at 645 when I get up. I am usually showered and dressed by 715, so I eat breakfast and surf the internet until about 755. Then, I leave for work. I arrive at 8. (Yes, I have a five minute commute). Generally, I will spend a half-hour to 45 minutes checking e-mail and catching up with anything left over from the afternoon before.

Sometime between 830 and 930 (depending on how busy we are), I will start NIV interviews. During our slow season (now!), we have between 20-35 interviews. During the busy season, we will have between 50 and 70 per day. For each interview, I have to review their application and file, take their fingerprings, ask them some questions, take notes, and then determine whether or not they qualify for the visa. I try for about 5 minutes per interview. This is slower than some of the visa mill posts, but still fast enough to keep people moving. Depending on the volume of cases, I will finish interviewing between 11 and 2.

Generally, I will take my lunch break at noon or when I finish interviewing. I go home for lunch about half the time and eat at our cafeteria the other half. Occassionally, I will go out for lunch to one of the few restaurants in town. Lunch is an hour and I am generally back at my desk by 1. I then spend between a 30 minutes to an hour catching up on all the e-mails that were sent while I was interviewing.

In the afternoon, I will usually either do Immigrant Visas (on Mondays and Wednesdays) or catch up with the backlog of all the other work I have going on. Immigrant visas are a completely different beast than NIVs because there is a lot more paperwork and the people are obviously moving to the US permanently. These take a lot longer than NIVs - about 30 minutes per case. Longer if there are multiple applicants.

I generally finish between 3-4 and spend the rest of the day catching up with cases. Anyone who does not have all their information at the interview needs to have the case reviewed when everything is available. I respond to Congressional inquiries. As I said before, I have to do a lot of other things that are outside the normal junior officer's role. I have to write performance reports for the local staff. I have to work on all of the weird visa cases - the ones Post only sees once or twice a year. I am in charge of the Visa section of the website. I have been working on establishing DNA testing procedures. I am one of three board members on the newly created Commissary. I will be writing the "Post of the Month" report for Belmopan in State Magazine. I am doing less fraud now that our new Vice-Consul is here.

I work to fit all of these things in to the late afternoons and Fridays. I leave for work around 5 and am usually home by 505. I will usually relax for an hour or two and then go to the Pig and Parrot or the Tuesday Tumble or one of my friend's house. Generally, I head to bead around 11, read for a bit and am asleep by midnight.

Potpurri

2010-12-02T16:13:00.001-06:00

Lots of small things today as I get ready to head to Dallas for the Big 12 Championship Game

Made my first prison visit today. We make quarterly visits to the prison to see the long-timers. They were all friendly enough and were happy with the items we were able to bring (toiletries, some donated clothes, magazines, and a holiday meal donated by people at the Embassy). I didn't get to see enough of the prison to know how bad it is. I know I wouldn't to spend time there, but I am pretty sure there are worse places to be in prison.
I have been attacked by 'no-see'ums'. These tiny sand flies have been all over Belmopan recently and I got tore up last week. The itch is worse, in my opinion, than mosquito bites. Plus, I apparently have some reaction to them as my leg turns all red and splotchy from the bites. Quite disgusting.
It's Christmas time and I have been trying to do my part in decorating my house. Unfortunately, things are not working out as well as I'd hoped. Half the lights my parents sent aren't working and I haven't taken the time to get them working properly. Palm trees are much more dificult to string lights on than the oaks and elms of my Midwestern youth. I can't hang any lights on the house, except for icicles on the gutters because I can't get the lights to stay up (guess what? Duct tape CAN'T do everything). Now, I have been having electrical issues with one of my extension cords apparently causing the circuits to break.
The one big hit has been the inflatable snowglobe I bought. The neighborhood kids love it.
Belizeans use "good night" as a greeting. It strikes me as odd every time I hear it. Where an American would say "Good evening", the Belizean will say "Good night". I constantly feel like people are telling me to leave.
Wikileaks sucks, though it has no immediate effect on my personal job.
I can't believe the 2022 World Cup was awarded to Qatar (it is actually pronounced "cutter"). I think it would have been great if the US had won, but it probably has been too soon since they last hosted. Twice in 30 years is a bit much. What I am surpised, however, is that Qatar got it over Australia. Qatar is smaller than Rhode Island, it is HALF the size of Belize. I just can't imagine having 12 World Cup size stadiums in a space the size of Rhode Island. If Qatar had combined with another Middle Eastern country like Belgium and the Netherlands did in their bid, I could see it. That being said, I can see myself bidding Rio 2014, Moscow 2018 and Qatar (I don't even know what the capital is) in 2022. I think following World Cup soccer is as good of a bidding strategy as anything.
I started SCUBA training last week with my confined pool dive and will likely continue my certification next weekend with a couple of dives. More on that later.
I have no problem with the proposed pay freeze for federal workers. I'd like to have the 2-3% raise that government workers get every year, but I can do without. What I won't be happy with is if it turns into a pay cut. Federal workers who are in DC get locality pay, which is approximately 22% on top of their base salary. When you serve overseas, you don't get this. You do get, however, hardship pay, danger pay, or costs of living adjustments depending on the post. What has happened, however, is that when people go from DC to somewhere like Nigeria, they actually have a dip in their take-home pay. This clearly removes the incentive to go to Nigeria. In order to increase bidding on the hardship posts, Congress approved the overseas comparability pay, which would eliminate the gap between DC pay and overseas pay. So far, we have received 16%, with another 6% due in August. It is almost certain we will not get the 6% bump, but there are rumors we will also lose the 16%. Needless to say, this would suck.

Thanksgiving and 30

2010-11-27T21:51:00.000-06:00

For Thanksgiving this year, the Ambassador and Mrs. Thummalapally invited what seemed like every American in Belmopan for dinner at the CMR (Chief of Mission Residence). They set up a huge tent on their patio and cooked up a wonderful dinner. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green been caserole, stuffing, and a few other things I can't remember. It was quite delicious.

The kids' table. They all insisted on eating together.

Friday was the Nebraska-Colorado game, and I had to watch the game while also preparing for my friend Aaron's surprise 30th birthday that I was hosting that night. For the party, I was making homemade jalapeno poppers and fresh guacamole. This was the first time I had tried either recipe and they were a smashing success (despite the fact that my hands were stinging all night from the peppers).

The party was super hero themed and once again, the residents of Belmopan did not disappoint. We had tons of great costumes.

The birthday boy is the one with the cape in the middle.

Batman and the Joker - he colored his actual hair for the costume

Despite my late night at the party, I got up this morning to start my certification process for SCUBA diving. We did our confined dive in the pool. It was pretty darn awesome, even just as a confined dive in the pool. When I get back from Dallas (I am going to Dallas next week to watch the Big 12 Championship with my Dad), I will go out and start doing my certification dives. I will have to do 4 dives, probably over two days. It will likely take me until after Christmas to finish up certification, but then I will be able to dive almost anywhere.

Day Trip

2010-11-21T22:00:00.000-06:00

Belize has a great many things. A gorgeous reef, amazing people, beautiful oceans, fantastic jungles, awesome ruins and even cave tubing! What it does not have, however, is a first-run movie theater, fast food, and a shopping mall, and a Sam's Club. With that in mind, a few friends and I piled into my car on Friday and headed to Mexico.
Friday was the Belizean national holiday of Garifuna Settlement Day. According to Wikipedia, the Garinagu (singular Garifuna) are descendents of Carib, Arawak, and West Africans. Belize has a significant number of Garinagu, centered around the area of Dangriga. There are Garinagu in Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. They are especially known for their music, particularly their drumming. The most common form is called punta and its modern form is called "punta rock." Check out this song by Supa G. (Be sure to watch the whole thing, it's hilarious).

But, rather than enrich ourselves in a unique Belizean cultural event, we went to Mexico to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I. We left my house around 730. It is normally about a 3 hour drive to Chetumal and we were making good time until we hit the border. Normally, cars with diplomatic plates are waived through after showing the diplomatic passport (note: they don't stop every car and only make some go through immigration, so it is not only a diplomat thing). This time, we got stopped and had to spend a half hour there. Fortunately, the guy who stopped us jumped us to the front of the queue, which was about 2 hours long.

We missed the 11 am showing we were hoping to go to, so we bought tickets to the 220 showing. After buying our tickets, we stopped for lunch at Burger King and then went to Sam' Club. I bought cheeses and salami and some Christmas gifts and decorations.

The movie was awesome, although the subtitles were a bit distracting. It was totally worth a 7 hour round-trip drive and international border crossing to see the movie. The best part? The ticket cost me 35 pesos, a medium popcorn and drink cost me 67 pesos. At 12 pesos per dollar that amounts to $9 total.

After the movie, we hit the mall and the grocery store. I stocked up on a few more things I can't find in Belize. (I find it hilarious that all my friends in Mexico cross into the States to do their shopping and we have to go to Mexico to do ours). We hit the Corozal free zone and got some alcohol at super cheap prices on our way home. We got home about 930, 14 hours later. A very successful road trip.

My addiction

2010-11-17T20:51:00.000-06:00

I am an addict. They say the first step is admitting that you have a problem. I have a problem. I make decisions about my time and about my life based on this addiction. This addiction has provided me great joy, but also great sorrow. In order to feed my addiction, I have spent thousands of dollars. I have avoided the company of others when I need a fix. My addiction has led me to miss out on SCUBA diving, snorkeling, hashes, Mayan ruins, caves, and BBQs. My addiction is Nebraska football.

Honestly, I am really obsessed. I have managed to watch more games than I ever thought possible this season - all thanks to being in a US time zone and having US television. Next year, as Nebraska heads to the Big Ten, I am lobbying the local cable company to start carrying the Big Ten Network (I also found that a friend of mine has the network and I will likely be pestering him next year to watch games if I can't get it).

The best news is that I am headed to Dallas to meet my Dad to watch the Big 12 Championship game. The Huskers (barring a horrible collapse the next two weeks) will be playing in the game for a chance to go to the Fiesta Bowl (unless a miracle happens and they make the National Championship game). Either way, I actually own tickets to both since the game is in Phoenix where I will spend Christmas and New Years.

So, as much joy and pain the Huskers bring me during the season, nothing will compare to the utter depression that begins every January after they play the last game of the season.

Go Big Red.

Looking in the parental mirror

2010-11-09T18:07:00.000-06:00

Like all kids, whenever I was told that I would grow up to be just like my parents, I always laughed it off a bit. I would be different. Usually, someone would make this argument when I had an argument with my parents. During these moments, the last thing I'd want to hear is how I would grow up to be like my father. I am pretty sure it is every teenager's nightmare to be there parents.

But, here it is - I am my parents. Clearly, my life is different than my parents. At 29, I am single, a law school graduate, living in Belize, working for the State Department. At 29, my parents had two toddlers and worked in their restaurant (my Mom may have been at Ramada by this time, I am not sure). Neither had ever lived anywhere other than Omaha, Nebraska; they were surrounded by family and life-long friends. Our lives are clearly different.

But, in so many ways we are the same. We are all close with our family and talk to our parents almost daily (my Mom's parents had died by the time she was 29, but she talked to her Mom everyday before she died). We are spontaneous and like to travel. My parents love to tell the stories about life BC (before children) where they'd drive to Colorado on a whim when they got off their shift on Saturday night (1 am) and didn't have to be back until Monday evening.

I really resemble my parents in our mannerisms. When my Mom sits in her Lazy-boy, she always has one leg tucked underneath the other. She will switch legs every 20 minutes or so. I do the exact same thing (though I don't have to stand up to switch legs as she does). When my father is relaxing in his chair, he will often throw one of his arms on top of his head, so that his triceps is next to his ear, the crook of the elbow bent with the forearm resting on top and the hand dangling. I do this constantly.

I tell the same corny jokes I make fun of my father for. (Side note - when driving around Belize, there are tons of chickens that roam free. At least once a month, I will approach a chicken that is crossing the road. I make a joke about "Why did the chicken cross the road?" and I giggle EVERY time. This joke does not stop being funny.) I also tend to tell the same stories repeatedly. The only difference is that I don't get the story wrong.

When I was growing up, my Mom had to leave for work at 630-645 every morning. Despite this ungodly hour, she would actually get up around 5-530, so she could have her coffee and read the newspaper in the morning. She loved this time of her day and hated whenever any of us ruined it by being awake. I always thought she was crazy for wasting so much potential sleep time. But, if you substitute "cereal" for "coffee" and "internet" for "newspaper", I do the exact same thing.

With my (lack of ) commute and the time it takes me to get ready for work, I could conceivably get up at 730-740 everyday and still make it to work on time (one of the many reasons my job rocks). But, I need that time in the morning to orient myself for the day. If I wake up late, the rest of the day seems off-kilter. And I think that having someone else around at that time would ruin it.

If I have to grow up to be like someone, I am glad that it can be my parents.

(I am curious how many people will just read the title of this post and think I got a girl pregnant?)

Red Dress Run

2010-11-06T21:11:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned the Hash several times on this blog. Today was one of the biggest events of the year - the red dress run. The story of the Red Dress Run comes from a Hash in California (there are Hashes all over the world). Some hasher invited a woman to join him for the Hash without explaining it to her. Not knowing that it was a running club, she arrived to the Hash in a red dress. Not daunted by the constant ridicule from the other Hashers, she went on the run anyway. The next Hash a few guys wore red dresses to commemorate her zeal and a tradition was born. Now, Hashes across the world have an annual Red Dress Run - often to raise money for charities.

"Wrong Way" went for the strapless dress

Do you have your tickers? To the Gun Show - "One Stroke", "Granny Banger", "Wrong Way" and "Visa Molester"

"Lamb Chop" took a different approach to the dress requirement.

Does this dress make me look fat? "Cockspur Squaw" and "Visa Molester"

The circle of Red Dresses

Some Halloween Photos

2010-11-01T23:07:00.000-06:00

My friend Chris who came from Guatemala for the weekend - and brought his pimp suit

A Mexican wrestler and snake charmer

Aaron went as Dr. Who and I went as Aaron

Pringles, anyone?

The (C^3)/2 = Half the Crystal City Crew

Apparently, I am now a pimp and Chris is a skinny Fred Flintstone

Rock me like a Hurricane part II

2010-10-25T20:12:00.000-06:00

I should let you know that I wrote last night's post when I thought the storm was over, but it was really during the eye of the storm. So, we had to go through everything all over again. Did you know that the wind blows a different direction on the backside of the hurricane. Kind of cool. Well, here are the promised pictures.

Tree hit my house

Tree took out the monkey bars

Tree pulled up by the roots

Trees snapped like twigs

My driveway this morning

Tree on top of my house

The tree came up by the roots. Good thing we have strong concrete houses as I was sitting right inside the white door.

Somehow the random circus tent that has no purpose or owner remained standing with minimal damage.

The extent of the damage to my house after the tree was removed.