Here I am all by my lonesome on the 4th of July again. Last year I requested that someone have a Dairy Queen ice cream cone in my honor, and this year I’m craving a bowl of Hard Times chili and an ice cold Blue Moon. So if there’s anyone in the DC area reading this, indulge for me, okay? Particularly since I’m currently eating what passes for microwave lasagna here in Ukraine. (I know it says “lasagna” on the box and has a picture of a piece of lasagna, but what is this?)
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So I was kind of surprised that I didn’t get any questions about why all the protests and demonstrations yesterday. Perhaps you’re all smarter than I give you credit for. Or perhaps no one besides my mother even read my entry and she already knew the reason. (By the way, if you want to see some video of one of the protests in front of the Embassy, CNN has a video here.) Anyway, the reason was this:
Spring is finally crawling into Kyiv, but where am I today? Stuck at home. Why, you ask? Because of large anti-American demonstrations planned throughout the city today. Ah, the joys of being a foreigner.
Last night we found out our next overseas assignment. [insert drumroll here] In summer 2009, we will be moving to….Nassau, Bahamas! So if I can just hold on for another year and a half, every day will look somewhat like the photo I posted yesterday.
As I currently sit cuddled up in a blanket watching the snow falling outside, my only consolation is that I will be on my way to the beach in a mere 5 days. As a reward for surviving our first 10 months in Kyiv, we have decided to R&R in sunny Thailand. Oddly enough, this will be the first time we’ve vacationed in a warm place during the winter. Guess we’re moving up in the world.
Yesterday Shawn’s bid list came out. For those of you unfamiliar with the Foreign Service, this is the list of open jobs that he can bid on (request) for our next tour. Sounds great, right? Well, let me just explain the process to you and you can make up your own mind.
I see that another week has passed since my last blog entry. Remember when I said I was going to be better about blogging? I swear, people, I’m trying. I don’t know how so many people seem to find the time to blog every single day. But they do, and recently I’ve become a little obsessed with blog reading. Maybe too much of that is why I can’t find the time to blog myself?
On Thursday, Colin Powell was in town for some meetings. He was nice enough to stop by the Embassy just to say hello to the staff. After saying a few words, he actually took the time to pose for photos with all of us before heading off to the airport. Kyiv was his fourth stop in as many days - I can’t imagine having a life like that.
So Shawn told me out of the blue the other day that he really likes my blog. To me, this is a huge compliment, as I consider him The Writer of the family, kind of in the same way that I consider him The Actor of the family. Meaning, while I do enjoy both writing and acting and participate in both activities from time to time, I have never done either professionally and therefore am not as good as him. I guess that’s a very American attitude, huh? Money = success. Anyway, I think that his comment may have motivated me to write more frequently. You can all let me know if you think that’s a good thing or not.
So one of the negatives of living overseas is lack of access to healthcare at an American level. Don’t get me wrong, we do have a great medical office here at the Embassy, but they just don’t have the facilities and equipment to handle everything. The State Department compensates for this by paying for medical evacuations when it is deemed necessary. Last week I had my first experience as a medical evacuee.