Two puppies and a fist bump

Settling in here in Tana, though I’m not yet in my permanent home. That’ll be next week, or at least that’s the plan. Not much goes according to plan. Right now, I’m got roommates, for example. This never happens, but the residence of one of my colleagues had a sudden need for a fix-it that will take months, so they needed to move here. We’re tight on housing and, as it turned out, the temporary place I am in is set to become her permanent residence, so why wouldn’t I just have them move in now? I mean, the place has six bedrooms.

This has been the second week and everything’s been fine. She and her husband keep thanking me for letting them stay here – the other house is being renovated as we speak – but, seriously, it’s not like it’s a sacrifice. The place is HUGE and there’s not only three of us but we could probably fit in another two or three without blinking, too.

Still, I am excited for my own apartment, if just that it’ll finally be somewhere that I will (or at least should) stay for the next 35 months. Plus, I visited a colleague in the apartment buildings who has the exact same floorplan and I am already mentally trying to figure out which carpet will go where.

It’s been so long since I’ve seen my carpets, though, that I can’t even remember how many I have. Anyway, those are not coming next week, but I think my smaller, from-Tallahassee shipment will. If that happens, at least I will get a change of clothes. While I really like the clothes that I have with me, they are all I’ve had with me since I’ve left Baghdad. When I pulled out the black pants and paisley purple shirt last week, I remember thinking, “I only have to wear this one time after today and then I can give it a rest.” I have so few clothing items that I’ve worn all my work clothes once a week since Baghdad. I am the opposite of fast fashion.

Since my 30 days of free shuttle service are up, I’m trying to walk home as much as possible. It’s a long walk, like five miles, and takes just over an hour. It’s also roughly the same as the shuttle takes just because of all the traffic.

There’s one guy who walks to and from every day, so I asked him to show me the way. There are a couple routes, but it’s basically, “You see that big thing in the distance? You walk in that direction.” The route is peppered with people and some stretch is on a road but for the most part it’s a little path between a canal and some gorgeous rice paddies.

All the people are super nice and will say “bonjour” or get a wave. The little kids seem more enthralled with seeing a white person, even though they see the other guy every single day. The first day, when I was figuring out the route, he said hi to a whole lot of people and many seemed to recognize that it was perfectly normal for him to walk through. A couple 20somethings gave him fist bumps. I later learned he has the reputation of being “the mayor” of the walk.

There are also street dogs everywhere. This is going to make my heart hurt on a daily basis; the dogs are so skinny. They seem friendly and no one throws rocks at them or anything. (Mentally, I compare this walk to my time in Peace Corps, and rock-throwing was common.) I’ve seen two who were pretty maimed, like not able to use all four paws. I want to gather them all up and spay and neuter them, give them vaccines and take care of them, but that’s hard to justify because the dogs are alongside people who are among the poorest in Africa. I don’t know how I’m going to make it out of here without a dog.

I’m already scouting for dogs. The walk home has all kinds of dogs. They all have the same look. They’re about Kocur’s size, but not as sleek. Skinnier, for sure. I’m already mentally naming one, so that’s a sign. And I learned there’s a doggie day care as well as a trainer, plus my new apartment building has a dog park. The zeitgeist wants me to have one, but my rugs might think differently. Well, if rugs could think.

Mostly, I’m wondering when puppy season is. My second day walking home, I was by myself. On the way, I saw two puppies, of which probably looked a lot like Kocur did as a puppy.  The other one was a skinny spotted one who was, of course, adorable. They were maybe 4-5 months old. But I passed, mostly because I still haven’t moved in my apartment yet but also because, well, I wasn’t sure if the puppies belonged to anyone. Getting nailed for dog theft on your second day walking home isn’t the best look when you plan to do it daily for three years.

I made it home puppyless, but missed one turn and made the journey a lot longer than it should have been (like a mile, but when you’re walking and the final stretch is uphill, that’s a long time!) but I got cheered when a guy gave me a fist-bump of my own during the journey! 

Now I have Paris

Disney in Paris!

Finally, my years-long journey getting to Madagascar is complete! The last leg, a 12-hour flight from Paris, went just fine and as the plane landed, I was thinking, “Holy crap, now it starts – what have I done?” I’m just so happy to get this chapter started. 

But let’s not forget I spent about a week in Paris before arriving! I’d been to the City of Lights before, but this time I spent more time than the previous other visits combined. I decided to go all Disney and do bother parks. What can I say, I grew up on Disney. I had a ball, even if I was by myself.

The Studio Park, which has Toy Story Land, had two roller coasters and each had a single riders line. In Florida, these lines move pretty quickly but holy cow, they were 50 minutes each, and it was a solid 50 minutes. I couldn’t believe it, but it was what it was. And Crush’s Coaster was totally worth it. I did it twice. At that park, I saw more shows than I’d ever done, watching 3 or 4 of them in between rides.

Tour Eiffel, from the second platform

The complex there is set with both parks side by side – no monorail or anything between them. Just off that area is their equivalent of Downtown Disney, and it’s possible to head out there and grab lunch, which I did for a break and to sit down for a stretch. I did the same thing the second Disney day, which started out super rainy so there were no lines. I took advantage of that and did the Indiana Jones roller coaster and Pirates twice in the time I spent in the singles line at Crush’s Coaster two days before. The lines were fairly short that day overall, with 35 minutes being the longest. The downside was because the crowd was thin, there was no single rider line. As a result, I only did Star Wars Space Mountain once. But by the late afternoon, I was done – no fireworks for me.

In between, I went to the Palace of Versailles and oh, man, it was phenomenal. There is so much history to absorb in Paris. I spent 3-4 hours in the Louvre, but was too exhausted to also hit the Museum D’Orsay. I didn’t get tickets for the catacombs or Invalides in time, so those will have to happen at a later time, if at all.

I totally did the tourist thing and went up the Eiffel Tower. I hadn’t planned on it, but I wandered over there and somehow found myself in a long and slow-moving line. I’d made the mental decision to go all the way to the top – even putting the cash in my pocket for a quick transaction – but about five minutes before I made it to the window, they shut down tickets all the way up. In the end, I went to the second-level platform and was totally OK with it. As NOT a heights person, as soon as the elevator started, I was like, what was I thinking? But it turned out just fine and happened to be the one gorgeous day I had in Paris.

I learned there's a Little Liberty
in Paris. It faces NY.

I also got to attend a judo event at the Paralympics, which was utterly amazing. The athletes were blind or had low vision and we – I attended with some colleagues who worked there – stayed probably 3-4 hours, although we left when it was still going on. I’d never seen judo before and had a hard time figuring out the scoring, but it was really amazing to see Olympic-level athletes compete – and compete with certain challenges. Christella Garcia won bronze! My friends had a flag, so we were all on the scoreboard (and TV) cheering her on. In front of us, we had a row of Brazilians and holy cow, they excel in judo. I don’t think there was a division that didn’t have at least one Brazilian competing.

Although I didn’t do anything else touristy the day I went to the event (other than a nice lunch), I am really glad I was able to attend. Paris will always be there later, but it’s not likely that I’ll ever be able to witness the Paralympics again. I was really thankful – and awed – by that opportunity.

Napolean in Versailles

Now, though, I am looking at staying in place for a bit, mostly because getting out of Tana is really, really complicated. Plus, I’m ready to just hang out for a bit and get to know my job and my home for the next three years. Early impressions are pretty fantastic. The people are nice and the weather’s been great.

At the moment, I’m in a huge house – six bedrooms – but I’ll move to an apartment in a month or so. It was actually crazy getting in because, first of all, the flight comes in late. Then my bags were among the last tranche off, so I and the embassy employee helping me waited well over an hour to get them. Next was a long ride to the house, followed by an extraordinarily hard time working the keys. Seriously, it took about 20 minutes of two people trying. Finally, I got in, and by that time I was absolutely stupid tired and just wanted to go to bed. The door opens in a little hallway with three exits – a kitchen to one side, a living room to another and a staircase. Coming from an apartment life, I assumed the bedroom was upstairs and climbed them. I found a giant balcony-type space with a couple doors off to the sides. I opened them. One was a bedroom with no furniture and the other was a bathroom. Strike.

There's much more in the Louvre,
but here's the obligatory photo.

I went back down the stairs, again, just stumbling at this point because I was so tired. (I can’t sleep on planes.) I found another hallway with more doors. Like four doors. Empty bedroom, empty bedroom, empty bedroom, bathroom, some weird closet-type room. Strike 2. 

I was pretty much at a loss until I discovered yet another door, which led to four more doors. And yes, although doors No. 1 through 3 were each partial bathrooms, the next one was a bedroom – with a bed! Bases hit - paydirt!

After a couple of days of rest, I looked a little closer and discovered I’d missed a room on the top floor – another empty bedroom. All told, this place has six of them. I’m not counting the bathrooms because I don’t know how – one has a shower, tub and sink and another just has a toilet. Another has a shower and a toilet, no sink. It’s kind of weird. The closet-type room is the weirdest, because it’s more of a mop closet – it’s not like there’s a clothes bar in it. 

But it’s absolutely fine for now. I hit the grocery stores this morning and am settling in as best as I can knowing it’s temporary. I’ve been to two events so far: a meet-and-greet with newbies and some guests and a party for former Peace Corps volunteers, of which there seem to be a bunch.

I'm ready!

D.C. is done

Finally, language is over and I’m almost out the door to post. It’s been so long since I’ve been useful that I hope I can remember how.

Lincoln and WWII memorials

Still, though, time in D.C. – and elsewhere – hasn’t been wasted. Today, my last full day, I took a chance on day-of tickets to the top of Washington Monument. Being overcast and kind of gloomy, it wouldn’t have normally been the best day to do it, but because it was literally the last day possible, I went down to the place where they give out the day-of tickets and got in line. Nothing I’d read indicated how many tickets they have, but getting them online proved impossible so I took a chance. Fortunately, there were enough to go around, and I went right up. It’s 555 feet tall and the observation deck is on the 500-foot level; there’s an exhibit at 490 feet.

The visibility was crap but it was a really cool experience. I could see some stuff through the condensation, like the WWII memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. Other stuff kind of faded in the gray but it was still absolutely worth it.

The elevator on the way down slowed a bit to let us get a glimpse of the plaques that are built into the wall. There’s a staircase and the plaques are kind of put in, mosaic-like, all the way down, but the staircase isn’t open to the public, so I was glad the elevator slowed up a bit.

Best photo I could get from a moving elevator

With that, I’m totally good leaving D.C. tomorrow. I had wanted to go to LL Bean one last time but the metro stopped indefinitely and by that time I was hungry and just wanted to get on with my day. My other big errand was sending myself two packages in Tana, which proved to be far more difficult than it should have. In the end, it took three people, three browsers and four devices to get it done but there are now two packages safely in the mail so I don’t have to lug them around tomorrow.

As is, I have two, maybe three, giant bags. I’m trying to get the carry-on crammed inside the checked bags, but we’ll see.

Anyway, life’s been fine since French ended. I had a couple more classes – the last of which was yesterday – and took some annual leave, something I’ll do next week too.

I so wanted to take one of these home.

My packout, which was in Florida, went fine. My packers didn’t seem to care, so that made it easy. I had some stuff I wasn’t sure was allowed but they gave not one whit and loaded everything up. Now I just have to hope it arrives.

I did have a wrinkle in a virtual class I was supposed to take – had trouble with the access – so I was able to take Zippy to watch pickleball and visit Wendy one last time, so that wasn’t all bad.

Last weekend, though, was the FSU game in Dublin. Even though we lost, it was a fun experience. Laurie went – her first trip to Dublin – and we knocked out her wish list. The highlight for her was a Game of Thrones Studio tour and I gotta say, even not having seen a single episode, it was enthralling. To me, it was very much art museum-y and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Winter is coming in late August

Our hotel was in the heart of the Temple Bar area, and from the looks of it, so was the hotel of every other Seminole fan. It was absolutely incredible walking around and seeing people in FSU gear everywhere. There were a few Georgia Tech fans, but the Noles completely outnumbered them. (Too bad the team didn’t outscore them.) There were official pep rallies (or something) in different bars so I’m sure the Tech fans were all over theirs, but there is no way wherever they were could have been more happenin’ than the place FSU fans went – the Storehouse, I think it was. It was wall-to-wall Garnet and Gold – so much fun. We didn’t stay long but I talked to a couple fans and just took it in. It was absolutely incredible, as was doing other sightseeing stuff (Book of Kells, whiskey tour, Leprechaun Museum) and being in a roomful of Florida State fans. We were everywhere.

Random FSU fans at Trinity College

I hadn’t bought a ticket to the game in advance and hooked up with a couple from Dallas – they’d met while attending FSU – and scored a great seat at a cut-rate price. It was even under an overhang, which was fortunate because it rained a little at the start.

Our flights went fine, although we had a tight connection at Heathrow on the way back. Laurie had it worse than me because her bag got stopped and there was no rhyme or reason as to when they’d clear your bag. She wound up sprinting to the gate, but there was still enough time to get a Coke Zero and pee.

Flying back, though, all I could think of was the fact that four days later, I’d be making my third trip across the same ocean. I’m so ready to get going, but travel is just not fun.

French is over. Celebrated by spending the day in bed with Val Kilmer

 After a six-month haul, French is finally over, at least somewhat successfully. The box now has a checkmark, anyway. The test was rough and long, but it didn’t seem as long as it really was. Unfortunately for me, I came down with some kind of death virus about a day before and I felt absolutely miserable. I went in masked but I sounded so horrible during the first part that the testers insisted I finish the test remotely, which I completely understood.

Comprehension has always been my biggest problem and adjusting to new people’s speech patters can take awhile. Meaning, a lot longer than the test itself. I absolutely could not understand what the person was saying. There’s a portion in the test where you ask questions and then report the answers and I literally couldn’t not make out anything for one of the responses. Had I felt better, I could have asked and re-asked for clarification, etc., but I just wasn’t up to it.

In the end, I got the score I needed to proceed without additional paperwork. I feel like some of the grade was a courtesy, but I don’t care. I’m glad it’s over but honestly, I’m still too sick to muster up any emotion about it, including relief.

Since I haven’t bothered testing for Covid and today’s Covid resembles a cold, I could have Covid. Apparently it’s going around the group of new hires and I did go to their “flag day” celebration. (And at the time, I did not know Covid was going around their class…) But no regrets – I met a bunch of new colleagues who are just excited to be heading out to their posts as I am to mine.

But five or six days later,  I feel absolutely miserable. It’s legitimately acting like my colds usually do, so I’m going with that, although I am masking up just in case. Masking up when I go out, that is. Which hasn’t been since the test.

Yesterday, I spend a blissful day in bed with Val Kilmer. I’d gone to the library last weekend – it’s a block away! – and snagged “I’m Your Huckleberry,” which is one of Wendy’s favorite quotes from Wyatt Earp. I know “Huckleberry” more from a Toby Keith/Scotty Emerick tune, but as an Iceman fan, I checked it out.

And it was lovely read. Never knew Kilmer had a poet’s soul. I spent the entire day moving from the bed, the sofa and the comfy chair curled up with the book.

Today, I’m feeling marginally better but as the remains of Debby Downer are hitting us, I’m planning on laying low for a bit.

Originally, I’d hoped to travel out of town this weekend but right now I am really glad to have not sprung for a ticket. It’s nice to be home. And it’s really nice to not be studying French anymore. 

In a New York Minute

Last weekend I took a bite out of the Big Apple. I didn’t really do a whole lot but had a great time.

The highlight, easily, was cheap tickets to see “Suffs,” which gave me a surprise new anthem: "A Great American Bitch". Dear God, I loved the play, from start (“Let Mother Vote”) to finish (“Keep Marching”). But “A Great American Bitch” was by far the best and most memorable number of the play.  I’d buy the soundtrack just for that song. 

"Isn't 'bitch' an insult?" 

"That's what they want you to think!"

Obligatory Statue of Liberty photo

I’d bought the ticket that afternoon at the cheap booth in Times Square. Kudos for that, but holy smokes, it was hot. I was in line well over an hour in direct sunlight. All the people were super nice and it make me realize how many people deeply love going to the theater. The lady right in front of me had flown in from Hawaii the night before (Friday) and was leaving on Tuesday. All she was doing was going to the theater.

And after seeing my first show on Broadway, I get it. I’ve seen plays before in different venues, from Tallahassee’s Young Actor’s Theater to a university production of “Shrek” in Minot to off-Broadway shows in Sydney and Guangzhou, but this was my first on-Broadway show, and it was utterly amazing. I understand now why people will see the same play over and over. Heck, had I gone to the matinee show instead of the evening, I might have turned around and seen it again. As it was, I came close to seeing another on Sunday afternoon, but I didn’t get back from my morning excursion in time.

Choosing it was random, too. The cheap place doesn’t have all the shows, but there were lots of options. In my hour and a half in line, I listened to others around me discuss what they were seeing and what they’d seen and narrowed it to “Suffs” and “Six” (the Henry VIII wives one) by the time I got to the window and basically let the ticket guy decide. He made a great choice.

The only other thing I did, really, was do the Big Bus tour for two days. I got off and wandered but mostly it was low-key. It was my first visit since just prior to Peace Corps, so a lot had changed, like the new 9/11 memorial. That was serene, though one of the two reflecting pools (which are in the footprints of the old twin towers) was drained for cleaning.

I did the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, of course, but other than wandering around Hudson Yards and the Harry Potter store, I really didn’t do much. In a search for air conditioning, I hit up the old Macy’s and happened upon a shoe sale. There, I splurged on shoes that were marked down from $80 to $22 and crammed them into my backpack for the trip home.

I went alone, hoping someone would join me but not having any luck. In the end, that was probably fine because the hotel room was the size of a postage stamp. It was right at Times Square – if I left my windows open, the marquee for “Hamilton” would have kept me awake so the location was amazing for what I wanted to do but the space was almost enough for one person and definitely not two.

But if someone wanted to go next weekend, I’d happily join again. I’d taken the bus up there because I really didn’t care when I arrived, but going back I opted for the train since it was an hour shorter. Both were super easy.

Now that I am back, I’ve realized that I’m basically out of touristy things on my list. I didn’t plan anything touristy for this weekend at all, though I do have plans to meet some people for lunch tomorrow. I feel like I should do another road trip from here, but I haven’t looked at the options.

Though there’s no tourist stuff this weekend, I have had a busy Saturday. Last week, I caved and bought a car, which I picked up today. It’s nothing a special, a 2016 Nissan Rogue. Madagascar doesn’t have import restrictions so I didn’t have to have a newer one. This one – named Cassian, after the character in “Rogue One” --  probably won’t arrive for a solid six months, so I’m hoping to start it on its journey ASAP. I think I submitted all the paperwork today and picked out an aspirational date to send it off. I don’t intend to drive it here and am not even registering it in Florida since it won’t get there until 2027, if then. There’s also an auto shop nearby and I dropped it off for a tune-up. I’m hoping I get no bad news; I bought it as-is.

Other than that, it’s life as usual, although a bit hotter than normal. Climate change is real and, walking to and from work every day, it stinks. More often than not, I arrive home in a puddle of my own sweat. It’s not near as humid as Florida, but 97 degrees is toasty no matter what. There’s a little splash pad and a public park on my way home. It’s about three blocks from my house, so on the return, I’m a bit warm by then. I wear sandals because it’s so hot and when it’s really bad, I weave around the little kids through the shallow river created by the splash pad. The kids probably think I am nuts because my pants tend to get soaked from the ankles down, but it’s relief.

Want culture? Be my guest.

 In my effort to glean as much culture as I can while I am in D.C., I made a point to find some cultural stuff to experience, in addition to the amazing lot of historical and/or touristy stuff.

“Little Shop of Horrors” was my excuse to visit Ford’s Theater and I also went to a Mark Twain play in Alexandria. With the number of venues here, I couldn’t see something at every one, but I absolutely wanted to get to the Kennedy Center.

Since I couldn’t afford “Bye Bye Birdie” – those tickets are close to $200 – I scrolled forever on their site to find something and finally landed on it: Disney in Concert.

“The Sound Of Magic is a one-of-a-kind musical and visual celebration of the beautiful stories told by the music in Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Theme Park's iconic settings.” That’s the blurb from the Kennedy Center website and the totality of what I knew I was getting for. I really had no idea.

Oh my, it was utterly fabulous. I had assumed it was some kind of touring show, but it was a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra. How would I have known that? I didn’t know there was a National Symphony Orchestra. But there is, and the conductor, Christopher Dragon, let us through two hours and 100 years of music.

Here’s what the NSO page says about the show:

“Your favorite characters and soundtracks from the Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Parks come to life on the Concert Hall stage and big screen in a live-to-film concert like never before. Performed live by the National Symphony Orchestra, this new concert takes you on a magic carpet ride through the most memorable song, score, and movie moments of the first 100 years of The Walt Disney Company, including Peter Pan, Moana, Aladdin, The Jungle Book, Frozen, The Lion King, Fantasia, Encanto, Disney Parks classics, and more.”

My seats were high up on the second level, so I had a great view but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out the string section. It seemed the majority of the orchestra was strings, which included an electric guitar. The brass section had three trumpets, four trombones, a tuba and four French horns – unless I missed something. The percussion section had cymbals, bells, the whole nine yards.

And behind them, there was a giant screen. Essentially, it was like watching a fabulous mélange of Disney clips – not just from the movies, but also from sketches and narrations from Walt himself – with the orchestra performing the music live.

I cannot imagine the effort put into it, but it was absolutely worth it. I tried to imagine synching even a tape player up with a TV set. That’s hard enough, but this was live. Every crash on the screen – whether from Ariel’s transformation, Simba getting caught up in a stampede or Moana setting sail – was met with some kind of musical punch, and every one was spot on.

Of course the opening included “When You Wish Upon A Star,” and after the introduction, the orchestra swung into “Be Our Guest.” But other than those two slam-dunk inclusions, I have no idea how they whittled down a century’s worth of music to a two-hour event. The selection was interesting, because there were some songs I hadn’t heard of and some blockbusters weren’t included, like “Into the Jungle.” (Not that I wasn’t OK with that decision – last thing I needed was to have that song going through my head the rest of the day.)

The video clips really did go back 100 years, with Snow White just one of the older ones featured. Heck, they even had clips of Todd from The Fox and the Hound, a favorite of mine.

So many films figured in, in some way or another. And while I knew most of the songs, there were some that I never heard of, like “God Help the Outcasts.” I never saw The Hunchback of Notre Dame. There were also a couple of recent ones – I could tell from the animation – that I had absolutely no idea what were. But even those were wholly enjoyable.

Not Disney-related, but someone hid this
little guy on campus and I thought it was cute.

Of course there were a bunch of kids there, and that was especially obvious when “Let it Go” started. There had been happy murmuring at Moana, but when Elsa appeared, the kids went nuts. It really was hard to hold back. I mean, come on. It may not even be legal to just sit there and listen to “The Bare Necessities.” You have to at least tap your toes, if not burst out into song. I had trouble holding back during “I’m Almost There,” so I could totally relate to the kids.

Not that anyone audibly sang along, really, although, when there was a mashup of what really amounted to pretty scary and/or sad scenes from 100 years’ worth of movies, a couple of kids started crying. No, Bambi’s mother was not featured, but it’s always sad when Beast almost dies.

In true Disney fashion, the whole scary/sad medley was followed by the uplifting set, because, of course, Beast didn’t die, Tiana opened her restaurant and Simba became king. The energetic ending came way too soon; the show lasted two hours but I could have listened to four.

Still playing tourist. It's more fun than learning French.

Harper's Ferry - John Brown Fort

As I plug along and struggle with French, I’m making a point to play tourist every weekend. At about the halfway point, my French stinks but I’m checking off the tourist boxes big time. I’ve checked off many of the Smithsonians, seen a play at Ford’s Theater and, last week, went to a podcast taping of “Stuff You Should Know” (my favorite podcast) at the 100-year-old Warner Theater downtown. I’ve got tickets to upcoming performances at the Kennedy Center and the National Theater, plus a road trip to NY planned.

Last weekend I took a road trip with a friend to Harper’s Ferry. I thought I knew the place, but then I realized the reason it sounded familiar is because that’s the road I turn on to get to Zippy’s house. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Gettysburg, but I’d never been to Harper’s Ferry.

Smithsonian Postal Museum

As that’s practically the first thing I’ve done with someone else, I had a blast. We walked a ton, up and down the hill and in and out of shops. Honestly, if I didn’t like my job so much I would aim for working at the National Parks Service. They have so many cool sites to explore! I’d gone to one on Saturday in DC – the old post office, which is now restored and a Waldorf Astoria hotel – and Harper’s Ferry had a few. The docents – or whatever they are – know their stuff. We happened into one cute little storefront and randomly arrived three minutes before a presentation. The presenter knew his stuff – he discussed the battle for an hour! And today, I went to the Capitol and gleaned knowledge from the guide there. (That may not have been NPS, but you get the idea.)

I still have three months to go but my “must do” list is dwindling. There is plenty to do here, though; that initial list is mostly the main touristy stuff. Although I’ve done a few off-the-beaten-path-type things, there is just so much more here. Washington.org is a fantastic site and I need to remember to check it before Thursday to plan the weekend.

Museum of African Art
(made with old gas cans)

Work-wise, French is awful for me but I’m plugging along. I’m well behind the curve but my hope is that one day it will all fall into place. The language is so lyrical and I just can’t tell when one word end and another begins. Essentially, I have to visualize the words and the read them and I’ll hear something like “con-gee” and think it’s the one word for “time off” but in reality, it’s two words meaning “when I.” I just cannot tell because it flows together, almost musically. (I mean, not when I speak, but basically anyone else.)

It’s like the song “Blinded by the Light.” No, the lyrics are not “wrapped up like a douche, another rumor in the night,” but that’s what I hear because I can’t pick out the words. It’s only once I get the lyrics – err, the transcription – that I’m like, OOOH! It’s “Revved up like a deuce, another rumor in the night.” NOW I hear it. But no matter how many times I hear it (and trust me, I replay these things 5-10 times) I cannot pick out the words until I see them in print.

In no way do I hate it, but it is sucking away at any bit of self-confidence I had. This is, quite literally, my job right now and I am pretty awful at it. It’s hard to accept being awful at your job. It’s not a feeling I like, for sure.

View of Capitol from old post office

It’s a slog, for sure, but time is marching on and I’m just hoping everything comes together in the last two months. I am so ready to get to post, mostly because I want to be good at what I do again.

Meanwhile, I am also ticking off the boxes of logistical stuff I have to do before I leave. New passport, check; visa application, check; vaccines, check. The next big hurdle is buying a car. I was hoping to buy Zippy’s but that doesn’t look like it’s going to work out so I’m looking in the DC area. Luckly, cars are cheaper here (guess it’s the inventory) but holy cow, prices are incredible. I thought I found a hybrid that would work but then I read that shipping hybrids – especially used ones, which is what I am looking at – is touch-and-go so that’s not going to happen. I don’t plan on making a move for another month or so, but I did learn yesterday that one of the dealers with some possibilities is only a mile away, so that’s walkable. I may stroll over there in the next week or two just to lay eyes on the stuff I’ve been looking at on Autotrader.com.