criplomats

For no good reason, I just didn’t post anything last weekend, so I have a little catching up to do.

I found out today that Mike and Wayne’s dog Mookie died. She was only five years old, but became suddenly ill. I know it was tough for them to let her go. She was a sweet and pretty girl, with one blue eye and one brown. Over the rainbow bridge. She’ll be missed.

This weekend the Pakistanis are going to the polls to vote. If it goes well, it will be the first peaceful and democratic transition of power in the country’s (relatively short) history. There have been lots of stories on the news about pre-election violence and demonstrations, but it’s been pretty quiet in Islamabad. We canceled going out to dinner Thursday night because of a big rally that snarled traffic, but we made up for it on Friday night by having sushi with several good friends. Election eve was really quiet; our local staff got the day off so they could go home to their villages to vote. So, today they are voting and we will hold our collective breath that it goes smoothly.

Wednesday was my birthday! John and I had a really nice dinner with our old Juarez friend Jason, who we hardly ever see even though we all work at the Embassy. It was great to catch up with him. I had lots and lots of good wishes, and the visa staff surprised me with a cake at work, so it was a very nice day.

It’s been busy at work since we returned from Indonesia. We have two new officers in my section, which is fun. On the downside, it’s also time for people to start transferring out, so we have had to start saying goodbye to people. Also, we are all trying to get our own evaluations in on time, plus write evaluations for our employees. It’s a tedious process, all narrative with lots of nuance.

On the social scene, we had dinner with two other couples last Tuesday at the Serena.  Last Wednesday was a holiday in Pakistan, so John smoked some chickens. Jim, Kellee and another buddy came over for an impromptu dinner – lots of fun – and the chicken was wonderful! Last Friday we all headed over to the French Club for lunch to celebrate Laura’s birthday.

Last weekend, John and I worked. We’ve started looking for onward posts, which is exciting and scary.

We’ve watched some fun TV and movies the last couple of weeks. “Silver Linings Playbook” was a really good movie. And we are caught up on “The Americans” and “Mad Men.”

We were unceremoniously thrown back into work this week – can I go back to Indonesia, please?

I was happy to see that my back-up handled pretty much everything while I was gone – so nice to come back and not have fires to put out. That said, it is the season for employee evaluation reports (EER), so I was busy proofing reports for review panels and writing EERs for staff. The week flew by, and I spent all day Saturday and half of today (Sunday) trying to catch up.

We have two new officers starting work on Monday, so that’s exciting. It will be fun getting them settled and trained. Since most folks just sign up for one year here, there are lots of comings and goings.

Something bloomed recently that my allergies don’t like, so I’m a little sniffly. The upside is that the gardens look beautiful all over town!

We checked into a blah-but-clean hotel and headed home the next morning. To only go three time zones, it sure takes a long time! By the time we got home, 24 hours had elapsed since we got up that morning in Lombok (we came home via Jakarta and Bangkok). Unfortunately, the weather in Islamabad was bad, so our scheduled 10 PM arrival was delayed until 3 AM – the rest of the time we spent sitting on the plane in Lahore, where we were diverted.

The rest of the week, we just stayed home – it was great to see little Flavie and she is happy we came back! She’s been sitting in my lap all week. We’ve watched tons of television and read, and really enjoyed the last few days of our vacation.

Friday night we went to dinner with a friend at the Marriott for sushi. Yesterday afternoon, John smoked a duck and some chickens – yum! And this morning, we attempted to hike up the Margalla Hills to Monal Restaurant. Wow – it’s a long way! We did see some great wildlife, including a bunch of monkeys (one was very curious and got really close to us) and a huge (I mean HUGE) momma boar and six tiny babies. We got about halfway up before I threw in the towel. Our buddy kept going while John and I walked back down the hill to get the car – we drove up to the restaurant and picked up our friend at the top. We sat outside and had lunch and enjoyed the wind and the view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This has been an excellent R&R! The days have run together since last week’s post – the weather cooled off a bit and we got more afternoon rains, which we have really enjoyed. Every day has been spent with a book in hand, either on the beach or lazing around somewhere on the property.

The hotel upgraded us to a fancy room a couple of days ago. It is also lovely. We have a private pool, outside day bed and ocean view – the best thing is just being able to hear the ocean – so relaxing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last night we had our last dinner here. They set us up in the Chinese temple – a huge lovely structure with smooth teak floors. They set up dozens of candles and flowers everywhere – very private and nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click to see all of our Lombok photos. Click to go to the hotel’s website.

On a very sad note, Dail passed away this week. (Click for obituary.) I am just sick at heart to know that when I go back home, he won’t be there. His wife Nancy and I had many email exchanges throughout  the week – due to the 13-hour time difference, I was able to email her while she was awake in the wee hours of the morning. It was a comfort to get those updates from her and made me feel a bit closer. Of all of the tributes that have been posted either on the Caringbridge site or elsewhere, my favorite was Phillip Cuffman’s “Raconteur, bon vivant, mock curmudgeon” – an excellent description. You will be missed, friend.

 

 

 

We started our R&R on Monday. We did a little bit of work in the morning, then spent the day doing laundry and packing. We got to the airport at 8 PM for our 11:20 PM flight…I mean, our 2:30 AM flight. After a maddening 3 hour delay, we were off. We figured that we would miss our connection in Bangkok, but lo and behold, Thai Air saved us! We were picked up at the gate and whisked to our connecting flight – and even our checked bag made it! We arrived on time in Lombok, Indonesia, after our layover in Bali.

The hotel picked us up and drove us 1.5 hours to our destination. It’s really lovely – thanks to Scott and Laura for the recommendation.

Since Wednesday, we’ve done nothing but relax. And by nothing, I mean nothing. Breakfast…then lay by the beach…then lunch…then lay by the beach…then afternoon tea…then dinner and maybe a movie in our room. Sleep like clams, then get up and do it again the next day!

The only down side to the trip has been very bad news from home. Dail has been hospitalized again and the prognosis is not good at all. This is one of the times when it’s hard to be so far away. John and I both would love to be able to see him and Nancy – it has made us really glad we saw him when we were home last fall.