criplomats

My good friend Pam from Juarez got back to DC today, so we met for dinner, then walked down to the Iwo Jima Memorial to watch the fireworks – they were really fantastic! It was great to get caught up with Pam, too, and will be fun to have her in town.

In fact, she and I went to see Joan Armatrading at The Birchmere Music Hall on Friday night – it was fantastic! I went after class to wait in line, since it’s first-come, first-serve. I had a nice shady bench to sit on with some other fans, did my homework and was rewarded with the perfect seat at the show. It was wonderful to hear so many of her old songs – her voice is just incredible.

Monday was a holiday and I took it easy with a pedicure, a little shopping and a nice steak while John and I watched an Israeli movie. We have to use sub-titles, of course, but it’s fun to pick up on some of the dialogue.

Hebrew was a little rocky this week, but we just have to hang in there with it and keep studying.

Saturday morning we met Richard for a nice brunch and conversation at Kramerbooks in Dupont Circle. It was rainy, which was nice because it cooled things off a bit. We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon studying, then watched “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” based on the novel by Stieg Larsson. We loved the book and really enjoyed the movie, too.

With Richard

This week wasn’t so hectic, which was nice, and, mid-week, the weather took a break from being really hot and humid.

We went out for a short bike ride last Sunday morning, although we went a little too late and it was already sweltering outside, so we cut it short after about six miles.

Friday night, we had a going-away dinner with Michael, Suzanne, and their two kids at a kabob restaurant – we worked with them in Juarez and Michael was one of my favorite officers there.

Saturday night, we met up with our A-100 friend Carolyn at Harry’s, who is just back from Kathmandu. We had dinner with her and two of her friends from New York who were really fun and interesting.

The rest of the week was pretty low-key. We watched an interesting documentary in Area Studies called The Oath on Tuesday; the director was there for Q&A afterward. That night I piddled around with my new camera, learning how to use it, while John went to a magic lecture in Maryland.

On Saturday afternoon, I test drove a Cooper Mini, which was a lot of fun. I need to find a new, small car to take to Tel Aviv. Suggestions?

Speaking of Tel Aviv, John and I got our housing assignment and we are very happy. We’re across the street from the beach and just a few blocks from the Embassy. The apartment is tiny, but the location is fantastic! Click here for a photo of the building.

This week, John and I started using Hebrew for most of our discussions at home, which makes it interesting – and also makes for rather short conversations!

With Michael, Suzanne and family

John and Jimmi at the Quarterdeck

It’s summer now…and boy, can we feel it. Hot and humid here in DC!

Last Sunday, John and I drove up to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to visit Joyce. It’s about four hours to get up there, but a pretty, green drive. We had a nice visit with him and Carol, and also got to see Carol’s mom, Emma…plus two of Carol’s children came over who we had not met before, Jennifer and Jeff. Nice day of catching up. Joyce seems to be doing pretty well and looked very good. Click here for photos.

We were so happy to get to see Juarez friends on Wednesday! Roger, our NIV Chief, and my favorite local staff supervisor, Juan, were in town for a conference, so we organized a happy hour at Car Pool in Ballston. We had a great turnout, and also got to see two ELO’s from Juarez, Ryan and Kerry. I really miss Juan – he is just super. He’s the proud dad of a new baby, their third, who was born three weeks ago. Click here for happy hour photos.

It was off to happy hour again on Thursday night, this time a going-away for our good friend Jimmi who is heading to Calgary for her next assignment. Click here for photos. We also took her out for a fun crab dinner at The Quarterdeck on Friday night. The weather was nice enough to sit outside, which was amazing. The Quarterdeck was great – it reminded me of The Oyster Bar in Little Rock.

Saturday morning I drove up to Maryland to get my hair cut by my Druze lady. I got home in time to watch soccer in the afternoon, then we went to visit with our friends Della and Robert who live in this apartment complex. We were in A-100 with Robert; they are going from Santo Domingo to Peru and are here a short time for training. They have the cutest new baby, Indy.

With Juan

With Joyce

Sev and Gil

This was another very busy – but fun – week.

We started off by going downtown to see Christopher Hitchens, one of John’s favorite pundits, talk about his new book. The talk was in a synagogue, and it was fun to be able to read some of the Hebrew around the building.

Monday night, we went to Harry’s with Rebecca from CJ – she was the Deputy IV Chief while we were there, and we always enjoyed visiting with her and her husband Mike – they are both very witty and funny.

Tuesday afternoon, I took Flavie for her appointment with the vet, to get her move process started. After that, I picked up Gil at his hotel, and we met Sev and his girlfriend at a bar in Old Town Alexandria. On the way home, we stopped by James McCully’s house to say hi – he is teaching voice lessons out here. It was great to see all of those guys. Click to see more photos with Gil, Sev and James.

Wednesday night we were back at Harry’s, this time to meet John’s friend from his old Systematics’ days, Tabitha. We had a good visit with her and her family.

Thursday night we went to Georgetown for dinner with Caroline and Harold from CJ – Caroline was my supervisor there for a while, and they were regulars in John’s book club. We had a good dinner and good conversation with them.

Friday and Saturday we just relaxed and studied. Friday night we watched a couple of episodes of Law & Order that we had recorded. Last night, we watched “The Blind Side,” which was a wonderful tear-jerker!

With James

With just a little over three months to go here in DC, I finally got in gear and got Flavie an appointment at a vet for her shots and new microchip – she has one chip already, but it’s not the kind that Israel wants, so she will need another. And due to a rabies outbreak in Israel, they have tightened up their requirements, so she will also have to have a titer test done a month after her next rabies shot to be sure the vaccine is working. I was happy to find a vet just around the corner who is familiar with international requirements; she will go in next week.

I took the plunge and unpacked the new camera I bought last weekend! My friend Jim has a nice Nikon that he really likes, and I bought a similar one. I never really liked my point-n-shoot; hopefully this one will be better. I figured that since we will be traveling quite a bit, I should have a good camera. The photo of Flavie above was taken with it.

A good friend from Juarez was in town this week, Jason, so John and I took him to dinner on Monday at RT’s, that good Cajun place that we like (actually, he treated us!). We had a great meal and got caught up with the Juarez news.

We had another Juarez reunion at Cafe Asia on Thursday night. We met David, an officer who left Juarez before we got there; we had always heard good things about him, and we lived in his former house there. Turns out, he is a nice guy, and I really enjoyed visiting with him. My former manager, Caroline, and her husband are also back in DC.

Friday night we stayed home and watched “Crazy Heart,” which I really enjoyed. I don’t know if Jeff Bridges is a good actor, or just picks roles that suit his personality, but he was really convincing.

Saturday morning, we dusted off the bikes and went down the street to ride the W&OD Trail – it’s a pretty (but rather crowded) trail, paved, that passes through greenbelt, parks, community gardens, etc. The rest of the day was spent playing with the new camera and studying Hebrew.

We went bike riding again this morning – I saw a bunny, a turtle and a chipmunk!

The weather this week has been nice, although a couple of days were rainy. One afternoon, I was able to sit out on the balcony to study. We were saddened to hear about the campground flood in Arkansas this week – so very tragic. That campground is not far from Hot Springs.

With Harold and David