criplomats

We’re back into the rhythm of work and it’s mostly business as usual, although we are still observing mitigation efforts to prevent the spread of COVID. Luckily cases seem to be going down a bit. I had a video chat with a desk officer in DC regarding adoptions this week and got in an outdoor visit with a former colleague, but other than that it was a fairly typical week at work.

We talked with Ginger (and Pete) on her birthday this week (Happy birthday!). I chatted with Ann, Pam, and Jackie last Sunday which was nice. John and I had a video meeting with our financial advisory on Thursday. The rest of the week we watched (and finished) “Stay Close,” which we enjoyed. We’ve started a second Cush Jumbo show called “The Beast Must Die.” I’d only seen her in “The Good Wife” before, but really liked her in “Stay Close.”

I finished “The Emperor’s Children,” by Claire Messud and enjoyed it. I’ve been tracking my reading on Goodreads and was heartened to see I read 24 books in 2021 – not working weekends helps the book count. I hope to have more in 2022. While I certainly don’t read the heavy books that John does, they are fun and relaxing.

It seemed like a very long week! The holidays are over and the Christmas tree in the atrium is gone. The consular staff is all back in the office after some took time off at the end of the year but we’re all still being very cautious about COVID since numbers are still high in Liberia. There’s a last push of students trying to get visas for spring classes and we’ve had a few emergencies with U.S. citizens — yesterday brought several calls from the duty officer. I guess it’s back to business as usual!

I had a nice video chat with my former boss Nomi who’s currently in Tijuana – we had a great time catching up. John and I finished season three of “Berlin Station” and are lamenting there are no more seasons! I read Cal Newport’s “Deep Work” yesterday and have been pondering how to use some of his ideas for doing less “shallow work” – he hit the nail on the head talking about the tyranny of email and its constant distractions.

The manager of the embassy cafeteria made John and me a special dinner of salmon to take home one evening – it’s the small things! The consular section celebrated our employee James’s 53rd birthday with a cake this week.

This would have been Joyce’s 98th birthday. Rest In Peace.

We spent a very nice, very quiet New Year’s weekend at home. John cooked black-eyed peas for New Year’s Day – heaven knows the world needs more luck, so we did our part. We got a lot of reading in, plus some television. I did not even set foot outside the apartment all weekend!

Last Sunday I had a good video chat with Ann, Pam, and Jackie, and a mid-week chat with Cousin James. Work was busy, as usual, with everyone still worried about COVID rates in Liberia.

We’re watching a spy series called “Berlin Station” that we enjoy, plus we watched “Don’t Look Up.” I’d kind of like to re-watch it, as I haven’t made up my mind about it – but it is fun and campy. I finished reading “Being Wrong” (interesting but dense for me), and also read a diet book “Women, Food, and Hormones” (don’t recommend, but picked up a few things), the very interesting and engaging “Countdown bin Laden” by Chris Wallace, and the fun “Embassy Wife” by Katie Crouch.

John and I spent a nice, quiet day at home on Christmas. COVID cases are on the rise here, so there wasn’t a lot of socializing going on again this year (like last year). We had a few gifts to open, watched “Love Actually” (a Christmas tradition) and started the new James Bond movie. We also had a nice chat with Pete and Ginger.

The week was busy at work. An emergency case is keeping us quite busy, and we have several staff out on vacation. Last Sunday I had a good call with Jamie and Jackie.

John and I have started watching “The Landscapers” – it’s so clever and well done. I read “Quiet in her Bones” (a murder mystery) and the second in the Thursday Murder Club series, “The Man Who Died Twice” – as fun a read as the first one. We also watched “Being the Ricardos” – Nicole Kidman never ceases to amaze me.

The big news of the week was making a decent score on my Spanish test – it will help finalize the paperwork on my next assignment in Buenos Aires. I was very nervous about it since I haven’t spoken Spanish much since 2017 – and my tester had an accent that I am not very good with (from Spain) – but all’s well that ends well.

I also got a few pieces of good news regarding various projects at work, so I’ll mark this week up as a “win”!

John donned a Santa suit yesterday morning for photos with the kids at post – he had a lot of fun but was ready to get out of the Santa suit after a couple of hours in the outdoor heat!