The bidding process….what a difference a week makes. This time last week, we had definitely decided that we were going for Washington, DC jobs. (It was a particularly bad weekend here in The “it’s better in the” Bahamas that pushed us to that decision.) But now — who knows? We’re back looking at overseas jobs.
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The bid list, that is. We finally got it on Tuesday afternoon of this week. Which means there have been many deep conversations and a general lack of sleep in our house for the past two nights. It’s going to be a long two months until bids are due.
It really is the hardest part. It’s bidding time again, and here we are, waiting for the list of available jobs to be published. First there was a rumor that it would come out this week. Then there was a rumor that it would come out today. Today’s not over yet, but, geez, I’m tired of waiting.
First of all, you may not have noticed on the last post, but I was included in last week’s roundup of Foreign Service blogs! I just discovered that this website existed a couple weeks ago, and I was amazed to see just how many FS blogs are out there these days. When Shawn and I started (has it really been almost 4 years ago now?), there were a few other blogs in existence, but nothing like there is now. And it must be an overwhelming job compiling these round-ups each week, but it’s been a great way for me to check out some new blogs.
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.
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.
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