criplomats

Sunset

I spend an inordinate amount of time on realtor.com. While some people are addicted to games on the computer, I am equally as bad when it comes to houses. My friend Muffy has joined me in scouring listings in Arkansas (sometimes I venture to Hawaii or Santa Fe) and we’ve talked multiple times over the last couple of weeks as we walk through photographs on-line and critique houses one by one. While John and I are a ways off from retiring, it’s fun to look around!

Last weekend I had my bi-weekly video with Muffy, Ann, and Jackie – Ann took us on a walk through the beautiful (and deserted) Hendrix campus (they are 100% on-line this fall). I also talked to Tammy back in DC (she has me dreaming of retiring in the Caribbean!). I love being able to connect so easily with friends.

Last Monday was the Labor Day holiday (I’m still wearing white, shoot me, it’s hot outside). John and I went to do some grocery shopping, he talked to Stoker, and I read “The Art of War.” (Not pretending I understood it all.)

Friday we observed a moment of silence at the embassy in honor of 9/11. It’s hard to believe it was so long ago. I was doing a modeling gig in North Little Rock when the first plane hit.

Last night, we went to the embassy to watch “Hamilton” with a small group of folks, hosted by the Charge and her husband. It really was fun and clever, and we really enjoyed it. The first act was especially captivating – we had it on the projector with big screen, and subtitles helped me follow the very wordy rapping.

Congratulations to John on a group Superior Honor Award he received via Zoom this week for his work standing up a diversity council for WHA last year (ahead of the curve). We also found out he was on the list to be promoted but the numbers ran out before they got to him on the list – argh. But it’s wonderful news and hopefully bodes well for next year!

This was a relatively quiet week without much to report. I enjoyed staying in all day yesterday, chatting on the phone with Muffy for a long time as we searched online for the perfect house for her back home. I spend an inordinate amount of time looking at houses in Arkansas – usually lake houses for John and me, but lately also for Muffy. It’s a fun way to pass the time and think about retirement, and what that might look like for us. I also read “Pride and Prejudice” this week, so I did do something productive!

John and I have been engrossed in the French intelligence series, “The Bureau” and finished it last night. It is so well done and subtle – we really enjoyed it.

Boy carrying water below our apartment

Monday was Liberian Flag Day, and ostensibly a holiday, but I spent most of the day at the office trying to catch up. I also sent a security alert to U.S. citizens regarding the demonstrations around town this week. Most of the demonstrations had to do with protesting rape – it is a bad problem here, and often committed against minors, some as young as three years old. A local said some of the rapes are ritualistic, which completely surprised and shocked me. Liberia also has a problem with female genital mutilation, something else I didn’t expect here — yet it does.

John has some great trees outside his office window, and during rainy season when the bats are gone, he’s seen some cool birds. He regularly sees the Western Plaintain Eater and this week was excited to see a hornbill!

Western Plantain Eater outside our apartment

John and I met with a local official we like very much on the veranda of the chief of mission residence (CMR) one morning this week. It was good to catch up with her over a cup of coffee and get a little business done, too. We went back to the veranda last night for dinner, mostly with John’s team, including our newly arrived permanent doctor. I enjoyed chatting with Rick (the Charge’s husband) and our new IT officer, J.

I made a quick trip with my upstairs neighbor to a small crafts fair Saturday morning, where I picked up a shopping bag to send as a gift and some great shea butter. Later in the day, I had a good chat with Pam and Jackie, although we missed Ann. It was a good tonic to an otherwise frustrating work week.

Thanks, Hendrix!

Although we had lots of rain and loud storms a couple of months ago, August has been relatively dry and cooler. The locals say it means September will be really rainy – we’ll see. I was prepared for constant downpours in July and August, but it hasn’t really happened.

I had a couple of calls this week with work colleagues around the world. The first was with a very kind and generous local staff employee in one of our embassies in east Africa – she walked me through the complicated process of doing an inter-country adoption “from scratch” so I could attend to an adopting couple this week. The other was with my new regional consular officer (the job I used to have), who is just getting settled in Frankfurt. I love having supportive colleagues ready to help!

John and I were guests of the Swedish ambassador, their new management/consular officer, and his husband at lunch on Monday. We ate outdoors at a local restaurant and had a lovely visit. It was the first restaurant we’d been to since the pandemic started and it felt both odd and good to be out.

Last night we were invited to dinner on the veranda hosted by Alyson and Rick at the CMR (chief of mission residence) – it was a bigger group than last weekend. I sat across from the deputy country director for USAID, and enjoyed getting to know her better. It’s such a pretty setting by the ocean and hearing the waves crash.

Thank goodness for video chats! I remember living in Costa Rica in the late 1990s when email was just getting started and the only real way to communicate was by phone. We had some kind of bootleg system where we’d dial a 1-800 number and then get a callback to be connected, but it was still relatively expensive. Love the new technology.

Last weekend I had a birthday chat with Cousin James, and John and I did a chat with Jim and Joan – so nice to catch up! Later that day, I talked to Jaime and Jackie, old college friends. Yesterday I had my bi-weekly meet-up with Ann, Pam, and Jackie where we approved of Biden’s VP pick, Kamala Harris, and discussed instant pots (lol).  John and I were also on a Zoom call to say goodbye to departing colleagues during the week.

We had two small going-away ceremonies for colleagues this week, one for a long-time local staff member who received a special immigrant visa for his years of service to the embassy. He played a critical role during the Liberian civil wars, especially in 2003 when the embassy received mortar fire and thousands of refugees made camp on the land the current embassy sits on today. Given the trouble with flights and all of the different Presidential Proclamations limiting entry to America, we all breathed a sigh of relief when we got word he and his family made it through immigration in New Jersey this week – a mere two days before the visas expired!

Last night we had a really nice (socially distant) dinner on the veranda of the Ambassador’s house hosted by Rick and Alyson, with Matt and Kateri also in attendance. It was a bit windy and cloudy after an afternoon rain, but very pleasant with the sound of the waves crashing just below us. They served a really yummy steak salad which was a treat for me.

Yesterday I finally ventured out to the salon for a hair and nail fix for the first time since March – needless to say, it was long overdue. I was the only customer there and the staff wore masks, etc. so I felt pretty safe. It was a good reward for what was at times a frustrating week at work.