We have completed Week One of the A-100 Foreign Service orientation class – it was incredibly busy and wonderful! We’ve had a week of interesting speakers, many of whom are very inspirational about our new career. The seriousness of it all is starting to sink in, although it still seems like a dream.
Our class is made up of 77 people. We’re not the oldest nor the youngest. Many were attorneys in their previous lives and many have one or more advanced degrees in things like International Relations – it’s pretty humbling. About half the class is single. John and I are the only married couple in the class – something which seems to fascinate our classmates (“How did you do that?”).
There have been several social opportunities since we’ve been here: a welcome party Sunday night before our first class, a happy hour on Thursday, and a Cinco de Mayo party later this afternoon. Everyone seems really friendly and nice, and we are all anxious to get to know one another, especially since we are reminded a lot about how small the FS community is and how we will run across these folks down the road.
The apartment is fine. We take a shuttle bus to school and back everyday (“school” is the Foreign Service training campus), which is good because we had to put the Volvo in the shop today (something just keeps killing the battery, despite the new battery we put in Monday night, grrrr).
Noodle loves the new pad. His favorite new spot to sit is on the cabinets up above the refrigerator. Little Flavia is still most comfortable under the bed, although she does come out in the mornings and some at night, and sleeps with us at night.