Monday's Meowment: Helping?

 

And the fifth stop is........

 Cairo, Egypt!

image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Egypt

So, you may be thinking: Isn't this a bit early for your next post announcement? Don't they normally come out in late fall? And you would be correct! This bidding cycle State started an early bid season for posts that are historically difficult to staff. It allows posts to get positions filled sooner and it allows bidders who wish to avoid the scrum of bidding (ie avoid the stress of multiple interviews, bid lists, ranking posts, and hoping you are your number one's first choice) and get that handshake earlier. We saw one post that has been in orbit a few times, but there were always shinier posts that got the rose. We checked out the school, we both chatted friends who we know who've been posted there, it has R&R's (good with a kid heading off to University), we read post info, and Richard threw his hat into the bidding ring. None of the other posts really piqued our interest or check enough boxes off for the risk (ie you throw your hat in the ring you have to be prepared to go there). Richard had the usual interview and on the final day bids were due, he was still the only bidder (good odds!!). We then only had to wait two tortuous weeks (versus the usual month plus) to get the handshake and the paperwork started! 

map from: https://www.britannica.com/place/Cairo

I'll have a chance to stick my toes in another part of the Mediterranean Sea, SCUBA dive in the Red Sea, cruise down the Nile River, and many other cool things (like Pyramids and Sphinx anyone?). Since 2010, 'Ancient Egypt' was one of the favorite Playmobil sets we had (loved by both kids)....so it seems only natural to go live there...lol. (For the record, we also had a coral reef set, remember Fiji, hmm I'm seeing a pattern.....).

We still have a year left in Frankfurt, of course. So we are planning the last trips we want to take over school breaks of course. Once we arrive in Cairo next summer that will mark our fifth continent (of the basic seven....we know there are tectonically more!) that will visited or lived on. I am hopeful I will get caught up on editing photos so I can upload pictures from all the trips we have taken and adventures we have had this tour...lol. 

And the fourth stop is........

 Frankfurt, Germany! 

image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Germany

Staying true to all that is 2020, this was a very weird bidding season. The list of total posts available to bid on was relatively small compared to last time (60 posts this time versus 160 posts last time). With a teen that will be a rising junior when we arrive, we had to be a tad more choosy when it came to schools as well (so of course all those posts had 10-20 bidders). Richard made the 'getting an interview' hurdle at a large number of the places he bid. He was also told he made nearly every short list (aka top 5), but not the coveted #1 spot (so there was always a chance someone would get two top spots and if you were on the short list you would move up....but it is a gamble). After several nail biting weeks, a few new sparkling tresses, and likely an ulcer or two.....Richard found the perfect position.

map from: https://www.whereig.com/germany/frankfurt-location-map.html

We see many road trips in our future - both via car and train. We are excited to get to explore Europe and not be in a time crunch - COVID-19 dependent obviously, we can take weekend trips to so many countries! An added bonus....we are not moving all that far....our HHE and car shouldn't take that long to arrive!

map from: https://www.ajot.com/news/cma-cgm-to-improve-its-services-connecting-north-europe-with-middle-east-an

The public transportation system seems a bit more complex than what were used to....hopefully we will quickly learn our way and get off on the correct "ausfahrt" (yes - I know that's technically a freeway exit....but at the moment, that's about the only German word I know....lol).

map from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt#/media/File:Frankfurt_am_Main_-_Netzplan_Schienennahverkehr.png

So there you have.....I know there is a backlog due to the pandemic. So start getting your passports renewed and let us get the our haus unpacked at the end of Summer 2021! (look at that...now I know two German words!). For now, our animal crossing characters can start to walk the walk...lol.

Hopefully, we will have a bit of time to do some more exploring Qatar and other nearby countries, before we leave the middle east region....especially with the weather finally out of the triple digits!

Wrap it up and put a flower on it.....

Once we got back from our South Sea Island weekend the crazy really began. We headed down to our favorite guy in the handicraft market - Max in Stall 4.

We have visited Max likely too many times (but we did come in underweight....). He always had the best quality carved items. Max is super fun too....he will demonstrate just how a neck breaker works!

 The kids waiting while Richard works on a deal.

Outside the market - I love the murals of Fiji painted on the walls there.

The kid's school celebrated their 45th anniversary with a number of events. My favorite was this photo ISS posted....the kids group together to make a 45. Can you find Mason and Clarissa in the photo?

The Former Ambassador to Fiji, Judith Cefkin, retired. The day before her departure, a traditional Fijian farewell ceremony was held. I got caught in the background of a photo of her cutting the cake. I'm in the white sula jaba!

The CLO (aka me!) planned and put on the Easter party (with a little help from AWA). The party was a couple weeks before Easter, since as soon as the term break starts everyone scatters. There was craft prepping I had to do that week (fingerprint animal bookmarks and decorate your own cookies...both wins!) as well as egg stuffing (luckily some others at the embassy volunteered their time to help). Of course there was the easter egg hunt and visit from the fuzzy bunny!

Girl on a mission! I love that I caught her mid-air in this shot!

Now, don't worry....Mason hasn't deemed himself too old for Easter parties (if so I would have recruited him to hide eggs or something). Nope - right before this, Mason had his Year Eight class trip. It was sort of bittersweet/symbolic that 2 weeks after our arrival into the country he went on the year 6 trip and now just a few weeks before our departure he took his year 8 trip. It almost made bookends of his time in Fiji. For years 6 & 7, they stayed on Viti Levu...but year 8 they ventured to a different island! They went to Ovalau Island in the Lomaiviti Group to the east of Viti Levu. They stayed in the town of Levuka, Fiji’s first capital (which just happens to be a Unesco World Heritage Site as of 2013). The class left on Wednesday and returned on Saturday (catching the 6am ferry back). So Mason wasn't back in time for the Easter party. Here are some photos his teacher had posted.

They stayed at a church and Mason said it was the nicest place of the three camps. Indoor bathrooms and hot water! It was also facing the ocean so it had amazing views and they went swimming.

Lest you think camp was all fun and games, they did have to split into groups and each group was assigned a meal to prepare for the rest of the class. Calculating amount of ingredients needed to feed 50 people is a good life skill! During the day, they were loaded up into local transportation and taken to help village schools.

Which I am amazed at how many students fit in there!!

They did have a bit of a history lesson while there. Levuka (the town) was once the capital of Fiji. Naturally they went to the monument honoring of the Deed of Cession. The deed was signed in 10 October 1874 and officially established the Colony of Fiji. For the next 96 years, British rule was followed (according to the Wiki).

Sacred Heart Catholic Church - in addition to being a church it is also a lighthouse for guiding ships into the port!

The Monday after the Easter party/Mason's camp our pack-out began. When the movers where at the house, we locked in IsaLei in a room with our suitcases and passports....don't want those on the slow boat!! In the evening, she would inspect the movers work.

Sadly, the day came to sell my our blue Prius. There is a car age import restriction for our next post and sadly, the 10 year old Prius is too old. It had been my car before we joined the Foreign Service, but then we became a one car family....so it was ours. It was paid off and already dinged so it was perfect for shipping around the world.

Just like that.....all the hard stuff was done. Now I just had to knock out all the to-do's at work before I was done. Sadly, my replacement was still waiting on her clearance....which meant I had to try and plan things out through the end of the summer.

The Friday after pack-out, we put together a chili cook off. It went really well and we were able to raise money from drinks for the Embassy Local Staff fund (it had gotten depleted as there was a number of deaths and the departure ceremony for Ambassador Cefkin). Luckily, it was typical rainy day - so perfect chili eating weather!

The winner above...she decorated their table with a Fijian theme. Another table (below) had Dr. Pepper!!

There were 13 entries....so that means lots of tasting and eating.

Kids even partook.....in the eating part.

One of the last foods left in the house (that we kept ordering....they deliver!!). Tasty Island Treats! So good! If you are in Fiji, you need to follow her - she typically posts what flavors will be available mid-week. You message your order and then they are delivered on Saturday. The flavors change week to week as it depends on what is in season. The main ingredient is coconut milk....soooo yummy, I'm craving one right now! Our two favorite flavors were

During the last week of classes, we held a farewell/goodbye party. The kids also had personalized invites for their classes......we had quite the gaggle of people show up.

Clarissa and her friends hung out at the pool (until sunset when it closed, then they just ran around....sigh I will miss free range parenting).

Clarissa's friends mom, got this awesome photo of the two of them! 

Mason had a huge group of friends. Sadly, I think they were expecting us to buy all the pizza's (like we did for Mason's bday), but they pooled their money and were able to get a few....oops....there's always that fine line......

Here's a group of us Embassy parents (who's kids are who know where...lol). As I write this, only five of those people are still posted in Fiji, with two more leaving in another month. As we say in the Foreign Service, it's not good bye, but see you later....you never know when paths will cross again!

That next day was Friday and the last primary assembly. Which was a moment Richard and I were dreading. The school sings a beautiful farewell song to the kids leaving within the next week, they get a shell necklace put on the student leaving by the 1 or 2 friends they bring down with them. When we first arrived at post - you think aww, that's sweet. Mid-way through your tour - oh wow, I know that kid can't believe they are leaving already. This last term, I couldn't go to any assemblies because just thinking about it got me teary-eyed.

Clarissa on the other hand....she was having her moment in the spotlight, her moment to shine and doesn't look sad at all!!! (And somehow her and the other girl leaving both brought down 3 friends).

Clarissa's class also made her a little farewell book. Each student wrote her a note and they bound it together. Her teacher posted this photo of her class farewell.

For his last week of school, Mason wore his PE shirt and had his friends all sign it with sharpie (that was fun to iron/wash EVERY night!). Mason's class had a little ceremony, but nobody let me know the when/where. His teacher sent pictures though.....

Sigh...of course he got this after packout....hopefully we can preserve it with out completely squishing it in our luggage.

I had my final book club (we'd always go out to eat when someone was leaving). At one point there were 12 of us.....slowly we are moving all away.

Richard's boss hosted a farewell for him too. His staff got him a Tanoa bowl and a Lali drum. The story behind the Lali drum was awesome. Within and between villages, Lali drums are used for communication. Since the IT department does communication, it seemed natural to get him a Lali drum!

The school term finished up and we had a couple days before our final getaway!

Monday's Meowment: Packing Out is Hard Work

And the third stop is......

Doha, Qatar

Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Qatar

("Since the Arabic letter qof/qaf (ق) doesn’t exist in most European languages, an approximation is necessary. The closest in English is a cross between “gutter” and “cutter”. Definitely not “ka-TAR” as is frequently heard" Borrowed this from a post on how to pronounce Qatar).

This was the first bid cycle playing with the big kids.....a.k.a as a mid-level bidder. There were many, many more options (I think the original list we looked at had 160 posts). We then had to whittle it down to the posts that have the right schools, timing, housing options (we would prefer something where the kids can ride bikes/scooters again), etc. Of course, the height of bidding season fell right when we were on our campervan trip in remote cell signal sparse areas of the South Island of New Zealand (posts coming soon....this whole part time working as a CLO/Richard getting appendicitis is infringing on my blogging time). We ended up #1 on Doha's list and Doha was tied for #1 on our list. So it was a win-win situation to be in.

We still have about 6 months left in Suva. Trying to get the last things checked off on our bucket lists (one trip already planned). Mason is already researching falconry and asking about getting our own camel (yes to falconry, no to the camel). Clarissa is excited to be able to finally to have a place to ride her bike! I don't have to worry about being cold (something I do not enjoy). Career-wise, Richard feels this a good move for him as well.

And the Second Stop is......

Suva, Fiji

image from http://fijiflag.facts.co/fijiflagof/fijiflag.php

This past month (since we got the bid list) has been torture. We picked our top choices....but we were worried to get too excited, since theoretically we could be assigned to any of the 18 posts on our list. So to get our #1 choice was awesome!

To help orient you where in the world Fiji is, check out this map. We are heading to the South Pacific!

image from http://matangi-island-fiji-resort.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/World-Map.gif

We still have 10 months left to explore as much as we can in Tbilisi....but we are also starting to order travel books, fish ID guides, and making a consumable check list and checking it twice....how much sunscreen will a family of four need????? This marine biologist can not wait to get there though!!!!!!!!!!!

And the First Stop is.......

Tbilisi, Georgia (country not the state).

Image from: http://highlander.ge/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/georgian-flag.jpg

It is such a relief that after months and months of being asked where we are moving to (and saying I don't know) or getting the eyebrow raise when I said I moving overseas and don't know where.....yeah.

To help you orient yourself, I found this map online:

Image from: http://williamellisdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/georgia-map.jpg?w=500&h=311

Now its time to plan......figure out kids clothes (how quickly will they grow and how much can I find on clearance based on the climate, which looks surprisingly similar to Charleston....except there are mountains full of snow close by to go play in during the winter!), food and toiletries we can't live without and don't want to pay an arm and a leg for (we are actually allotted 2500 lbs of said food and toiletries...called consumables, because they are so hard to find/expensive!).