criplomats

Caribbean view

After working some last Sunday to get ready for this trip, I flew out Monday well before dawn to start the journey to Guyana – it’s not easy to get there since we are required by law to use U.S. carriers and the total trip time from door to hotel was about 20 hours. Guyana is in South America on the Caribbean coast. The country is very poor and has bad infrastructure, but a recent mother lode discovery of off-shore oil has everyone there excited.

This was my first solo trip and I was a bit nervous, but I was met with a very warm welcome by the consular chief, who I knew from Mexico, and all of his staff. I ended up having a great time and felt the work went well, and next time I plan to stay a few extra days so I can do a little sightseeing, namely birding. There are 300 species in the capital city Georgetown alone, including the Scarlet Ibis, a bird I’ve always wanted to see (I saw a large red bird fly overhead, but trees obscured it, so I couldn’t tell if it was the ibis or a macaw). Once you get well out of town, it turns into rainforest, including howler monkeys! Next time!

The highlight of this trip was feeding and touching a manatee! I saw at least seven in one of the city parks in a pond – they are so cute. I pulled long grass and swished it in the water, and they came to eat if out of my hand!

Manatee nose!

Waiting for the mini-buss

Cattle egrets roosting at the park

On this trip I just worked and stayed close to the hotel – high crime kept me from walking the beaches, but I enjoyed the ocean view. I ran into another State Department guy who I had met in Quito a few years ago, so we had dinner a couple of nights at the hotel. The consular chief also had me over for dinner at his house one evening, and I thoroughly enjoyed an authentic Mexican meal cooked by his wife who grew up in Hermosillo.

Getting home on Saturday was not so fun – after sitting on the tarmac in Miami for over an hour waiting for a gate, I missed my connection and had to overnight there. Luckily the airline sent me to a hotel, but then I was up again early for a 7AM flight in to D.C. – but I finally made it!

Flavia was glad to see because John had left for Fayetteville on Friday. Wishing a speedy recovery to Ginger after her surgery – all reports are that she is doing well.

Click to see my photos from Guayana.

This week was the regional consular officers workshop here in D.C., so I was able to meet the eight other folks around the world who do what I do. Four of them are in their second year of this work, so it was a wonderful opportunity to learn from them. We did a couple of team building activities after work, including going to a Washington Nationals baseball game and doing an escape room – something I’d never heard of before. You’re in a room as a team and have to solve a series of puzzles to get out. Our theme room was based on popular culture from the 80s (yes, we managed to escape!). Afterward we donned some goofy hats for a photo.

My new gang

Yesterday we drove to Maryland, a little north of the Chesapeake Bay to go to a rug show at Kristin’s house. Obaid, one of our rug sellers from Islamabad had a lovely variety that he brought over, and of course we left with not one, but three. I had forgotten how much I love looking at them and the process of deciding which of these little children to bring home.

With Obaid and Kristin

This was a fun week! Aside from getting more comfortable at work, we were able to catch up with several old friends.

Friday I went to Main State and had lunch with my A-100 classmate, Aaron. After work, John and I met Scott and Tammy for happy hour, plus two other really fun women from work. It was fun to sit outside and laugh. On the way home, John and I ducked into an Italian restaurant for dinner, and I had a yummy seafood stew.

Saturday night, we met another A-100 classmate – and one of our favorites – Jimmi, who just arrived back in DC this week. We walked up to DuPont Circle and had a nice steak with her.

John was in a class this week up near my building, so we had lunch together several days, which beats my normal sad desk lunch. I also had coffee with a couple of folks during the day, which was nice.

I’m happy to report that Flavia is much more comfortable in the new apartment, thank goodness. I felt so bad for her when we first arrived. But now she’s out exploring and hanging out in the living room with us, looking out the windows, etc. Good for her!

Click to see all of my Iceland photos!

Northern lights!

My first work trip was to Iceland – how lucky was that?!! It’s a super-popular destination these days, really since the volcano eruption in 2010. I flew out a day early to get in some sightseeing, and stayed a day afterward. Wow – what landscapes…so desolate and majestic.

The flight from D.C. was an overnight, so I arrived early in Reykjavik Monday morning. After dropping my bag at the hotel, I headed to the neighborhood geothermal pool where the locals gather like a coffee shop. That was a great experience and really rejuvenated me after the six-hour flight. Then I headed to the church where you can go to the top and see the view. Unfortunately, the weather changed on a dime – as it’s apt to do, and I couldn’t see much. I ducked into a cafe across the street for a bowl of lamp soup to warm up, and emerged to clear skies. After the rain, the view from the church was beautiful and clear.

Downtown Reykjavik is charming! Lots and lots of restaurants and shops – but the prices are obscene! I’m not sure I got over just how expensive everything is – if you go, save your pennies ahead of time.

Tuesday I did a South Coast tour in a small tour van. It was a beautiful day, and we saw lovely landscapes, waterfalls, mountain glaciers, black sand beaches, and puffins! I really didn’t know what a geothermal hot spot Iceland is, but the whole country is all about the hot water. It provides them with cheap electricity (so much so that there are three large aluminum plants there and they enjoy very low electricity prices as consumers). You see steam coming out of the ground in many places, and sometimes a community can’t bury its dead because the ground is too hot. Hot water runs in pipes under the city streets to keep them from icing in winter.

Wednesday through Friday I worked. A lovely colleague from Frankfurt, Berenice, flew in to show me the ropes of my new job. She’s delightful and it was fun to learn from her and enjoy meals together.

Friday night, we went on a Northern Lights tour and were lucky enough to see them – wow! So mysterious and beautiful! And cold! My hands were freezing!

Saturday we went on a fun Game of Thrones tour, seeing spots where they had filmed parts of season four. We stopped at a horse farm to see some of the horses they used – Iceland prohibits any horses from being importers to the island so their horses are purebred. They are small but very strong and beautiful. They were super curious and friendly, and wanted to be petted.

The landscapes were just incredible. There are only 330,000 people in the whole country, and most of them live in Reykjavik, so the countryside seems very desolate. It’s basically an island formed by volcanoes, and you can drive for miles through lava fields…then you came upon a huge glacier in between mountains. Just incredible!

I think I’m going to like this job!

Cool landscapes!

Waterfalls and rainbows!

Glaciers!