Sunday, February 8, 2009

So Many Choices! My Head Hurts.

The rain is streaking down the windows and I'm staring at my bid list - the list of posts with positions open in a year, one of which will be my next home - and hoping a clear choice will come to me. Of course, the final decision is not mine; my Career Development Officer will place me and the rest of my training group in posts as she see appropriate. What is up to me is how I rank the positions, how I bid them. The initial rush to research the places and jobs has worn off; I have gathered all the information I care to (which, for some, is shockingly little). Now I stare. I stare at the list, at my current rankings and try not to think about them. The choices will come to me, as they always do, if I don't push too hard. All I have to do is keep staring.

So I don't kill the cat with too much curiosity, here is the complete list:
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Algiers, Algeria
Jakarta, Indonesia
Accra, Ghana
Lima, Peru
Managua, Nicaragua
Kuwait, Kuwait
Brussels, Belgium
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Mexico City, Mexico
Quito, Ecuador
Beijing, China
Guangzhou, China
Amman, Jordan
Berlin, Germany
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Cairo, Egypt
Istanbul, Turkey
Shanghai, China
Rabat, Morocco
Kathmandu, Nepal
Bujumbura, Burundi
Washington D.C.

Jason was here last weekend. Events included (but were not limited to), hosting a dinner party, lounging on the couch, and checking out the new Taps bar - one of the few microbreweries in Istanbul.

Cool Mirror vs. Reality Shot (Laura, Brandon, Karen, Preeti, Jason)


Karen, Peter, and Laura


Don't Laugh, Karen! It's the Preeti Monster!


Rock On!