I woke up to good news this morning: I can still go to work on Monday! I’m so relieved that the government didn’t shut down this weekend, for a variety of reasons – not the least of which is that John and I have R&R scheduled this coming week, and we were not sure if we could still go if the government had shut down.
This was a very interesting and busy week.
Saturday late afternoon, John and I drove to Jerusalem to attend a birthday part for our friend Dave. It was great to see our A-100 classmates Dave, Liz and Mary. It was a fun party with yummy Mexican food.
Last Sunday, I spent the day in court in Haifa, representing the Embassy at the trial of Rachel Corrie, an American woman who was killed by a bulldozer in the Gaza Strip. Her parents are suing the government of Israel; one of the consular section’s responsibilities is to monitor trials of American citizens. Click to see the local coverage of the trial, which includes a photo of yours truly sitting behind Rachel’s parents.
Wednesday started my week as duty officer, which means I live in fear of the telephone ringing! So far, so good. Fingers crossed.
We were off work on Friday because of the Tel Aviv Marathon, which pretty much shuts down the downtown area. It was fun to stand in front of our building and watch 1000s of people run by. I watched for an hour or so, then went to the office to get caught up on work. I spent a lot of time working on an emergency visa case for a very famous Israeli singer, working with Washington to get computer issues pushed through. I finally got it printed so he could travel last night for some big event in the U.S. – I’m doing my part for world peace!
I’ve gotten some books and CDs from Cousin David that I really appreciate! It’s fun to get mail!