Constant Motion

One aspect of Foreign Service life that you have to quickly learn to accept is that people are always on the move. Newcomers are arriving at post, others are departing post. In between the two there are shipments constantly arriving and being packed up. You get used to meeting new people one day and then scavenging through your colleague’s left over pantry the next to see what you want.

I live in a building with five apartments, all of which house people associated with the embassy. In the 14 months we’ve been in the building there have been eight different families living in these five apartments. When one arrives to post their air freight arrives about two weeks after they arrive and the bulk of their stuff arrives via land or sea about two months after they arrive. When someone packs their goods out before departing post, the movers are generally around for 2-3 days depending on the size of the apartment. If you do the math you’ll see that a moving van is parked outside my little apartment building about once a month.

In just over eight months we’ll be moving. First, we’ll head to the Midwest for some home leave. Then we’ll go to DC for some training. Then we’ll go to our next posting in the Bahamas. After about seven months in Nassau I’ll start looking for my next assignment. It makes me tired just writing it.