Nassau is a weird post in the Foreign Service world as far as housing goes. Housing at most posts comes complete with the standard issue Foreign Service furniture. It’s kind of weird to see pictures from people’s homes around the world and think, “Hey - I have that exact same living room set.” However, in Nassau, all housing is landlord-furnished. As you could guess, this can either be really good, or really bad.
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I’m working on getting settled in to our new home in Nassau. First of all, our house is amazing! Way better than anywhere we’ve lived before. And much bigger in person that in the pictures we’d seen - a nice surprise. We’re currently struggling with some gas/hot water issues in the house, which is a little annoying, but at least we’re in a climate where lukewarm showers are doable. We have a big yard for Laika to run around in (for about 10 minutes at a time, then the humidity gets to her and she has to retreat to the air conditioning and her water dish), and with said humidity combined with the heat, our pool is a blessing. So far in the yard we’ve discovered a mango tree and a cherry tree. But what I’m most excited about is the fact that our neighbor’s avocado tree hangs quite a way over the fence into our yard, so I’m claiming anything that lands on our side…that’s fair, right?
We’ve been in Nassau almost a week now, but are still lacking internet at home. It’s amazing how complicated the process of getting set up is, no matter the country. It’s even more amazing just how important having internet access feels when you are denied it. I’m in at Shawn’s office today for our official orientation. I really thought that this move would be easier than the last, but the level of disorientation is just as high. At least I can talk to people here, even if I feel like I can’t understand their response half the time. Getting used to the island accent is going to take a while.
One would think that moving to the Bahamas would be somewhat simpler than moving to Ukraine. No language barrier, a general similarity of cultures, etc. It turns out that this logic would be incorrect. It’s becoming clear that it is infinitely more difficult to move our little family to Nassau than we had anticipated.
I found time this afternoon to go to our nearest public library and get my DC library card. It’s a pretty small library, which is a bummer since we lived near an awesome library last time we were in the area, but I still managed to find 4 books to read and one craft book to peruse. The good thing about being two years behind in books is that you don’t have to fight everyone to get the newest ones.
On Monday, all of our things will get packed up and shipped off to destinations half-way around the world. Which means that this is my last blog entry from Ukraine. The past two years are not easily summed up in words, so I put together a slideshow of my favorite photos from our time here. Most of them are from Kyiv, but there are also a few from Chernihiv, the Crimean Peninsula, and Lviv.
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?)
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.
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