When I decided to sign up for the all day "Spouse Orientation" last week and asked for the day off from work, I didn't really think much of it {ok, I panicked a little bit about "what to wear", i.e. "tried to not look like a chump"} and just went about my normal workweek. Thursday night Michael Ball, Daniel Ball and I spent all evening looking through our official "Bid List" which only listed cities with available posts, not their respective countries. I am ashamed to admit I couldn't pronounce a large number of them, much less fathom an even rough estimate of where in the world they might be. There were a few instances where we looked up a city on Google maps and had to zoom out about ten times to even recognize anything remotely nearby. We stayed up way too late doing this, then got up early on Friday and headed to the Foreign Service Institute.
I felt like I was a Freshman in College again, except that it caught me off-guard. I had to navigate my way around "campus" to find my designated building & then classroom number. We were introduced to various important & useful people, introduced ourselves to other spouses, and were handed more paperwork than I know what to do with. Then lunch time came around and I had to find my way over to the cafeteria to meet up with Michael Ball ~ I can't even remember the last time I ate in a cafeteria, but it was kind of fun.
All that to say, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. I am also starting to feel like my time in DC {and the US} is limited and have started adding things to my "To Do" List before we leave...and yes, I realize that one of them involves leaving the country. That's how I roll.
If you have any suggestions for other things I should add to my list, feel free to leave a comment...
I felt like I was a Freshman in College again, except that it caught me off-guard. I had to navigate my way around "campus" to find my designated building & then classroom number. We were introduced to various important & useful people, introduced ourselves to other spouses, and were handed more paperwork than I know what to do with. Then lunch time came around and I had to find my way over to the cafeteria to meet up with Michael Ball ~ I can't even remember the last time I ate in a cafeteria, but it was kind of fun.
All that to say, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. I am also starting to feel like my time in DC {and the US} is limited and have started adding things to my "To Do" List before we leave...and yes, I realize that one of them involves leaving the country. That's how I roll.
- Go to the Textile Museum
- Go camping in Shenandoah with Dane & Val (& the pups, this time prepare better so that the bears don't steal all our food again)
- Go to Risika, Cuba Libre & an assortment of other restaurants
- Go up to Philadelphia & possibly New York City, possibly plan a College Roommate get-together.
- Go back to Chicago at least once
- Go to Costa Rica to visit the parents?
- See the big {fat & naked} man sculpture at the Hirshhorn Museum if he is ever on exhibit again...
If you have any suggestions for other things I should add to my list, feel free to leave a comment...
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