Blessings

I have found myself talking to God a lot for the last few days and I seem to be saying the same thing over and over - Thank You, Lord, for all the wonderful blessings You have given me.

Time for Family

My brother and his family have come to DC while I'm here this week and I've really enjoyed their company. It has been wonderful coming home at the end of the day and having someone ecstatic that I have arrived.

We have spent time swimming, walking, shopping and sightseeing. One of the most memorable activities we did was the moonlight monument tour. The city is beautiful at night.

I love my family and have been so happy to have this time with them.

Training at FSI

It is a normal part of life in the Foreign Service that you must return to the National Foreign Affairs Training Center, known to us as FSI (Foreign Service Institute) for training at periodic intervals of your career. For me this time it was only a week of leadership training but for some it can be many long months of language training or tradecraft of their specialty. The odd thing about being back at FSI is that all the people you knew are gone, replaced by brand new foreign service officers, mid-level people transferring to a new post and senior staff preparing for the next phase of their careers.

Most everyone is unfamiliar, but the facility and its operation is so familiar...it is just an odd, weird sensation.

One of the things our trainers said to us (tongue in cheek, of course) during our initial training was "okay, we all know you are ALL water walkers..." Meaning that just to get this far you are "special," cream of the crop, high calibre people...but it is not that you have "arrived" and can now sit on your laurels, you must now work to set yourself apart, compete for promotions and prove yourself even further.

What I realized being back at FSI was that the air of "we are special, we are 'water walkers'" was palpable. It was a reminder that humility is always a good thing. Also after being overseas, working in what is a pretty small community where you support and know each other, you see the huge contrast when you are thrown into a very large group of colleagues that you do not know well.

I was blessed to have a couple of very dear friends in DC at the same time and getting to see them was wonderful. One has already departed for her onward post in Kabul and others are preparing to go to similar places. Much as I enjoy being home, I do look forward to going out again. I don't know if non-FS people can understand the draw of the opportunity to challenge yourself, but it calls loudly to me.

Returning from Abu Dhabi

I have finally arrived in the States. What a trip!
It is a 23 hour trip, with a few stops and layovers along the way. It began with me forgetting my phone (with contact data on it) on my desk at work, then the driver not showing up to take me to the airport. He argued with me that I was departing on the 8th, but could not grasp that my flight was at 25 minutes past midnight and that I needed to be at the airport 2 hours before - on the 7th!!! He kept telling me he would come get me tomorrow night, lol.
I have been home several times during this tour in the Middle East, but this time was different. This time I'm supposed to be going back to "normal" but you begin to realize just how much your idea of normal has changed. I did experience a bit of culture shock, in that everyone judges you to be just like them in familiar surroundings, but I feel so foreign and they don't even know it, so if you respond in an odd way they have no understanding.
Got to my lodging and found that I did not have a cell phone (as I had meticulously planned) and that my internet did not work. I was a little bit like a deer in the headlights, unable to think clearly. It is amazing what a bit of food, conversation with friends and a bottle of wine can do to make you feel normal again.

Uncouth

Okay, I really do try to be positive in all my postings but I’ve got something under my skin. Growing up in rural TN and living most of my adult life in the area, I am unfamiliar with mannerisms and traditions of foreign cultures including Asian, Arabic or even European.

Nowhere am I more aware of the differences than when sitting down to have a meal.
I am clumsy with chopsticks and have no clue how they survive without knives or spoons, especially when the food is so good I just want to scoop the tiny pieces. I know very little of Prosecco, Sake or Champagne and their serving methods. I don’t know if it is proper form to use my fingers when eating Arabic food…In all these instances I use my own judgment, watch others and try not to offend my fellow diners.

As a Southerner I’m sensitive to the clichéd attributes of being ignorant and uncouth. To my way of thinking having “manners” is not so much about knowing the exact protocol as it is to show respect for others and to make them feel comfortable. This is what famous Southern hospitality is all about - making others feel welcomed, appreciated and respected. There are some who think the “form” their manners take is more important than how it affects those around them. They boast that their manners set them apart and displays to others their superior sophistication.

I had the unpleasant occasion to dine with such a couple recently who made a big deal out of perceived faux pas committed by the rest of us, taking time to completely enlighten us on their advanced experience. I wonder if these people realize just how alienating it is to the others around them; how much their behavior shows their total lack of manners.

The traits of ignorance and uncouth are certainly not unique to American Southerners.

Diving Musandam, Northern Oman

The house is all packed up, everything is gone, except the furniture (doesn't belong to me) and my suitcases. It is July 4th weekend and I have no computer, no TV and not a lot left to do here in Abu Dhabi-so I decided to go diving.

Musandam in Northern Oman has beautiful fjords, some of the most rugged mountains plunging into the sea. It is a harsh landscape with large areas not accessible by road, only by water. I boarded a dhow in the port at Dibba with a few other divers. We proceeded to the most nothern tip, about a 6 hours cruise, watching the sun go down and the stars come alive. I went to my cabin a little after 11 p.m. and we still had not dropped anchor. The next morning I awoke to find us safely tucked away in a cove.

As one of the others said-diving, eating, sleeping. That is what we all did for the next few days. Early morning dives, followed by breakfast, a rest and more of the same. We saw Lion Fish, stingrays, clown fish, eels, turtles and so much more. I must learn more about the animals and fauna before I can tell you. But the colors are so very vibrant, life is so abundant and there was so much to see and enjoy.

Even as I write this I still feel as though I'm rolling on the waves, but I'm on dry ground. Guess it will take a bit for my body to readjust to being on dry land.