A Quick February Update

So much for good intentions of updating multiple times a week, let along a few times a month. I guess when life gets into stasis mode it's hard to find interesting things to write about, and I don't even have many pictures to post because I haven't made it out of DC much in the last month plus. So enjoy an abstract image that I took during many daily walk. However, I now realize that there are probably people out there beyond my friends and family who are reading, looking for insight into the mysterious foreign service process, so now I have some external pressure to keep updating.

I continue to monitor my status on the Foreign Service econ register, which seems to be moving much more quickly than I would have predicted. I've moved up about 10 spots since going on the list back in December, which I assume is due to people expiring off the register as well as the two classes of FSOs that have taken place in the mean time. And while I obviously don't know the inner workings of the system, it seems there are a number of folks expiring off the register and less people being added. Predicted constraints on hiring may be leading to less invitations to the oral exam in the coming months, that trend may continue.

I've also been trying to concentrate on Russian studying, though I think there is a fairly decent chance that I would get called eventually without the language points, but probably not for over a year or so. The great thing is that I'm perfectly happy in my current life and can afford the time to figure a few things out before having to make the final decision on joining the foreign service.

The year of the apocalypse

The Potomac at sunset on New Years Day, 2012.

I can't believe it's 2012. Back in my Peace Corps days, circa 2007, I had a conversation with my site-mate about the Maya calendar and the coming end of the long-count calendar. Or as the rest of the world has now come to know it, THE END OF THE WORLD. We discussed coming back to our tiny Maya village in December 2012 to celebrate the impending apocalypse from the top of one our local pyramids, but 2012 seemed so far away, and neither of us could have imagined what life would look like in 2012.

Here's hoping I won't need an emergency exit in 2012

Five years later, my former PC site-mate and I have ditched our chacos (and chaco tans) for the fast-paced D.C. life. He as a press secretary for a Senator on Capitol Hill and me as a policy analyst in the Executive branch. We often talk about how far we've come, but it's even more exciting to think about, on this second day of the year, where we might go from here. I really don't do New Year's resolutions, but I do like to set generally high expectations for myself for the coming year, and this one is no exception.

So in 2012, despite the impending doom, I am optimistic and full of hope that things will fall into place just as they are supposed to do. I will be a student again, intent on learning a new language not just because it has the potential to alter my job path (though that's great motivation), but because I enjoy learning for the sake of learning. And with any luck, I may get to start a new career. Though if at the end of 2012 I'm still where I'm at right now, I would still count myself as fortunate. I don't know if I will make it down to Belize to sit on a temple next December, but I do hope to travel to a new place or two. And I'm sure I'll continue to have great adventures with my amazing friends.

This new year was kicked off by a hike at Great Falls Park, a beautiful spot on the Potomac River just outside of the District. The weather wavered between clear skies and rain, but scrambling over the rocks along the raging river was still a perfect break from city life. Even when it started raining pretty hard, other hikers were still smiling and happy to be outside, reminding me of the Seattle rain smile, the knowing silent exchange between walkers/bikers/hikers in the PNW that happens when both parties are soaking wet but still happy to be in the great outdoors. Our walk was rewarded when we reached the Great Falls viewing platform right before sunset, the sky to the west exploding in pinks, reds, and violets, and a rainbow forming to the east. If there ever was a good oman for a new year, this was it. I can't imagine anything more spectacular.

Walking along the C&O canal

Potomac river near Great Falls

Sunset, looking from Maryland to Virginia at Great Falls

This was the year....

...that I turned the corner.

I started 2011 in a bit of a down spot. I'd just come off of a fabulous 9-months working at the State Department and was faced with settling back into the job that brought me to D.C. in the first place. A job that I love and is absolutely perfect for me, but one that didn't quite feel the same after my short stint as a world-traveling enviro-diplomat. I knew that I still had lots to learn back at my old desk, and was grateful to have such a rewarding place to work, but I also felt in my gut that I eventually was headed back to State.

Thankfully, 2011 also brought some issues to my work that kept me busy and challenged while I decided how and when I would make my way back to the diplomatic world. I also moved into my very own grown-up one-bedroom apartment and had a full itinerary of travel for fun and work planned. In March, I bounced around Spain for 10 days with one of my best friends, drinking wine, sampling tapas, and admiring Picasso and Gaudi. After a short 20 hours back in D.C., I turned around for a work trip to Copenhagen that allowed me to get a quick fix of the international side of my job and also gave me a chance to see how Scandinavia celebrates St. Patrick's Day. At the end of April I headed to Costa Rica for a good friend's wedding festivities. It was the first time, probably ever, that I had gone on a vacation with the goal of sitting in one place and letting someone else figure out my activities. It was bliss.

The summer kicked off with a week in June in Denver for leadership training topped off by a weekend with my sister. Then 4th of July weekend in Seattle/San Juan Islands for a friend's bachelorette party. Another week in August for family camping in the North Idaho mountains, where there wasn't any huckleberries or cell phone reception but there were plenty of bugs. In September I headed way north and way west to experience Nome, Alaska for a work event with a quick stop in Anchorage on my way back to D.C. A few weeks later it was back to Seattle in for a wonderful wedding of two amazing friends. In October I turned 30, a low-key cabin affair with breweries, wineries, and waterfalls. I then managed to stay out of an airplane until December for my recent Christmas trip home.

Between all of the traveling and working, I also started to settle into my current job while paving a course for my future. This is where the corner turning really happened. After two plus years of working, I started gaining more responsibility and confidence in my career. All of sudden I was the go to person for certain things, and I loved it. Going to meetings and not only having something to say, but being expected to lead.

And finally, as I've documented here on this blog, my quest towards the foreign service has gone forward surprisingly smoothly. I took the written test in June, passed, was invited to the oral exam, and then passed that in November. I'm now on the register to be a foreign service officer, which was pretty unimaginable one year ago. Quite unexpectedly, 2011 turned out to be an amazing year filled with a comfortable combination of settling down in my current life while seeking out my next life. And so 2012 begins...

On the register!

Well, that was fast! In this whole journey to be a Foreign Service Officer, I've been warned that waiting, delay, and uncertainty is the norm. So after passing the oral exam back in November, I figured that getting my medical and security clearances complete and through the system would take a few months. Even with a current security clearance, I assumed that the holidays and the general slow trod of the bureaucratic machine I have come to know so well would put me on the register sometime in January or March. So I was pretty stunned last Friday when I got a letter (not an email) letting me know that I had been placed on the register exactly 30 days after passing the oral!

The upside is that all of the process stuff is out of the way and all I have to do now is concentrate on learning Russian. But the downside is that right now I have over 50 people ahead of me, with more being added as they pass the oral with higher scores or add language points. But, if I pass the Russian phone test sometime in the next year, I would probably end up in the top 5, pretty much guaranteeing me a spot in the next class. Of course, I could still get called up into an A-100 without the language points with the black box of budget + hiring needs + other factors (need for last minute class fillers) = an offer. This equation means that you're number on the list isn't always the end all be all. But I'm not one to rely on chance, so я буду учить русский язык.