criplomats

I’ve been watching a lot of the Australian Open opening matches and having a blast! Lots of fun matches.

Thursday night we went to the ribbon-cutting for the Texas de Brazil steakhouse, then Friday night we attended the farewell party for Jane Miller, the outgoing British ambassador, and her husband Rob. Saturday we met some embassy folks for lunch at the Oasis Cafe. This afternoon I had a good catch-up chat with my friend in the consular section when she came over to enjoy the pool. Speaking of the pool, a striated heron stopped by to say hi this week — and we have at least one baby thrush in the nest in the pool cabana!

Otherwise the week was pretty routine. We’re watching “The Night Manager,” “The American Revolution,” and “Hijacked.” Last night we watched a feel-good, older movie with Helen Mirren called “The 100-Foot Journey.”

I snapped the photo above as we were driving around town yesterday – it’s a typical example of the architecture in Georgetown and I think it’s beautiful. John and I found a new dry cleaners to try – the last one pressed out the crease in his dress pants. Afterward we went to the butcher shop. You have to get there pretty early because things get “finished” quickly — but not too early because not everything is out yet. The boneless chicken breasts disappeared before our eyes, but we snagged a fresh-from-the-fire rotisserie chicken as a treat.

When we lived in DC, I was a regional consular officer and covered 13 posts, including Guyana. This week, the guy who has that job now was in town (Matt), along with his boss from Frankfurt (Pauline), so we had them over for dinner on Wednesday. I loved getting to talk shop with fellow consular officers! We enjoyed getting to know them.

Thursday morning, I went with Natalie and her nanny (and baby) to the Bourda fruit and vegetable market. I was impressed overall. I had gone to another local market shortly after arriving here, but there was too much meat hanging in the open air stalls, so I’ve been avoiding going back. I was happy to just see fruits and vegetables at Bourda, at least in the section where we were. It was a cool morning, so it was pleasant to walk through the stalls and it didn’t feel claustrophobic. Parking is very difficult but I might attempt it on my own sometime. It’s a bit cheaper than the supermarket, but much fresher.

John and I have been enjoying “The Night Manager” and we also picked up a new season of “Tehran.” We also started a new Star Trek series with Holly Hunter, I think called “Star Fleet Academy.” I finished reading two books: “The Art of Spending Money,” by Morgan Housel and “Awake” by Jen Hatmaker.

We had big fun at the EU Ambassador’s home on Friday night, along with our Ambassador and the ambassadors for the Canadians and Brits. He has a beautiful pizza oven and is a Neapolitan pizza expert. He brought in most of the ingredients from Italy and taught us how to form the crust and cook it in his beautiful oven. John did great! We enjoyed sitting outside and visiting over delicious pizza.

This morning we had the British ambassador and her husband over for a coffee roasting demo and breakfast. They’re so nice – I’m very sorry they are departing Guyana soon. We have enjoyed getting to know them.

Friday afternoon, John and I went to the Embassy’s intramural cricket match. They borrowed a very nice field. It was a beautiful afternoon and the breeze from the ocean across the street made for pleasant temperatures. I enjoyed chatting with the new Peace Corps director who arrived this past week. The match was particularly fun because there was a good mix of American officers and Guyanese local staff – lots of cheering from the sidelines and plenty of smack-talk!

Cousin James was nice enough to have a long chat with me about investments this week; I really appreciated his insights and expertise as I dip my toes back into finances. I also had a fun chat early this morning with Lea (DC) and Rachel (Buenos Aires). It’s always fun to catch up and laugh with them.

In addition to my usual yoga, I’m getting back in the habit of using my spin bike, too, now that we have our household goods. I love my morning walks outside, but rainy season has put a “damper” on that for the last month or so and I need something to get my heart rate up!

Speaking of getting my heart rate up, sadly I had a fender-bender yesterday! I had run downtown to a little grocery store and backed into a parked car as I was leaving. It didn’t cause a lot of damage, but I had to call the embassy to come (standard procedure) so a police report can be filed, etc. I don’t think I’ve had any accidents since 1983 when someone hit me! I was mortified and embarrassed. To top it off, the vehicle belonged to the store I had just visited – oops! At least they were very nice about it…

We finished watching “Blue Lights” (so good!) and have started season two of “A Man on the Inside.” We’re also rewatching season one of “The Night Manager.” I’m reading Morgan Housel’s “The Art of Spending Money.”

Happy birthday, Ginger!

We went to the British Ambassador’s home for New Year’s Eve for a small, casual chili supper. I enjoyed chatting with the Canadian ambassador‘s mother about her former career working around the world with international organizations. (I was also jealous because she once received a gift of driving a NASCAR at her nearby racetrack! I would love to do that!) It was a nice evening! We came home a bit before midnight but stayed up listening to the fireworks all around town.

Last Sunday, I had a fun video chat with Ann and Pam then John and I jumped in the pool before heading over to the British DCM’s house for a small happy hour to meet his visiting girlfriend. I was happy to get to chat with the wife of the EU’s DCM – she’s a lot of fun. Wednesday for lunch I met some other wives of embassy employees for lunch – I enjoyed seeing everyone, especially the two daughters of a co-worker who are visiting – they are very smart and interesting.

I’ve really been flummoxed by grocery shopping here, so I was happy to go to a butcher yesterday with a couple from the embassy. I recognized some of the cuts of beef and bought some to experiment with. I’ve heard the beef here is not that good, so we’ll see. I was fascinated to see fresh raw milk in the dairy case. They put it out while I was there and it was still warm. I was a bit daunted by the thought of pasteurizing it myself, so I didn’t get it — but it was tempting. There’s only one dairy here and finding fresh milk at the grocery store is a challenge (I went twice this weekend with no luck). Sadly, the UHT (“shelf”) milk is not very good, and I really need milk in my coffee. Even the local Starbucks uses shelf milk. The struggle is real, folks.

I spent some time this week planning a trip for a wedding in May. I’m also trying to get a handle on finances – something I’ve ignored for a long time. It’s been fun to dig into the details of it all and start building a retirement spending plan (it’s complicated!).

John and I started watching “Blue Lights” on BritBox. It’s a police procedural and we’re hooked! We just started the last season although they are planning another for 2027.

Yesterday the U.S. announced that Maduro in Venezuela was captured and taken for trial. Guyana is next door to Venezuela, but we are fine – thanks to so many of you who reached out to us.