January 21, 2004
Into the hands of fate
Here is our final top 25 list by city, country and when we would leave to go overseas. Now all we have to do is wait until February 17 to find out where we are going.
1. Algiers, Algeria - October
2. Algiers, Algeria - September
3. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - November
4. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - October
5. Kuwait City, Kuwait - April
6. Yaounde, Cameroon - November
7. Lome, Togo - September
8. Djibouti, Djibouti - June
9. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso - September
10. Niamey, Niger - August
11. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - May
12. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - September
13. Manila, Philippines - May
14. Athens, Greece
15. Warsaw, Poland
16. Seoul, South Korea - August
17. Seoul, South Korea - December
18. Pristina, Serbia - September
19. Pristina, Serbia - August
20. Minsk, Belarus - February ‘05
21. Dhaka, Bangladesh - August
22. Moscow, Russia - August
23. Ulannbaatar, Mongolia - June
24. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - August
25. Maputo, Mozambique
January 20, 2004
A matter of perspective
For anyone who watched the SOTU please share with me what you think constitutes hard work. I'm still trying to think of one thing I could say about myself that would put me in the "hardest working" category.
Things to Remember
As most people reading this know, we have had a stressful couple of weeks trying to decide in what order we would like to go to places like Algeria, Kosovo, Djibouti, Bangladesh, Mozambique, the list goes on. Its been really nice to have the support of friends and family throughout this process. I have gotten a lot of really helpful feedback. I want to share one thing a friend told me last week that really has stuck in my head and reminds me each day that we are making the right choices.
"I was thinking about you guys this morning as I was walking through the snow...living in a "dangerous/hardship" place that most Americans just don't even go to and I thought how proud I am that you have the courage to start a life in countries where an American presence is more important now than ever. And who better to represent than Denise and Sam?!"
January 19, 2004
Arlington National Cemetery
Click here for more pictures from Arlington.
January 18, 2004
DC Sites 101
So we had our first visitors this weekend. Tia, Tom and Isiah came down from New York. Tia and Isiah had never been to DC before so we spent a day walking around in the COLD seeing all of the main monuments and memorials.
You can click on each image to see an enlarged picture.
Tom, Tia and Isiah in the Metro Station |
 The Capitol |
 Isiah is bigger than the Washington Monument |
 >Tia and Denise at the Lincoln Memorial |
 The Korean War Memorial |
 The Library of Congress |
 The Lincoln Memorial |
 Tia, Tom and Isiah in front of the Supreme Court |
 Tia at the Vietnam Memorial |
Tom giving Isiah a little break after 4 hours of walking |
 Tom and Tia at the Washington Monument |
 The World War II Memorial, in progress |
January 15, 2004
Question of the day
Has anyone ever seen a black squirrel? I saw one on my walk to work this morning, kinda felt like a black cat crossed my path. I had no idea they even existed.
January 14, 2004
Pleasant surprises
Even though I only lived in New York for 3 years, in moving down to the DC area I have realized that I became a "New York snob." I feel like I am always comparing things and that everything is better in New York. People here think the Metro is the greatest thing and that it is so much better than the NY subway just because its cleaner and the seats are padded. Maybe I'll change my mind about that but for now there is no easier place to get around than NYC. Having said that the one thing that has surprised me, in a good way, is the total lack of aggression down here.
You know how in New York you can barely cross the street without getting run down by a car or a bike? Well here you can be a block away from an intersection and cars will wait for you to cross the street. It really cracks me up.
Also this morning as I was walking to work I saw a car accident and when the guy who got hit got out of his car the first words out of his mouth weren't "You F***ing..."
I'm lucky enough to live a 20 minutes walk away from work so I feel like I have so much extra time in my day. Its nice to walk out the door at 8:10 and be home by 5:20!! New York is definitely still winning out, but I have enjoyed the absence of those random daily battles.
January 13, 2004
Where oh where will we be going...
Here is the list. We are probably looking at places in this kind of order :
1. Arab and/or Muslim countries
2. French Speaking Africa
3. South East Asia
4. After that it gets tougher, most likely we won't bid on anything in the Western Hemisphere.
Please feel free to offer any thoughts or suggestions.
Kabul, Afghanistan
Algiers, Algeria
Vienna , Austria
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Minsk, Belarus
Belize, Belize
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Yaounde, Cameroon
Santiago, Chile
Beijing, China
Bogota, Columbia
Kinshasa, Congo
San Jose, Costa Rica
Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire
Havana, Cuba
Prague, Czech Republic
Djibouti, Djibouti
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Cairo, Egypt
San Salvador, El Salvador
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Frankfurt, Germany
Athens, Greece
Georgetown, Guyana
Port au Prince, Haiti
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Kolkata, India
New Delhi, India
Tel Aviv, Israel
Guadalajara, Mexico
Hermosillo, Mexico
Mexico D.F., Mexico
Monterrey, Mexico
Tijuana, Mexico
Maputo, Mozambique
Managua, Nicaragua
Niamey, Niger
Abuja, Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria
Islamabad, Pakistan
Peshawar, Pakistan
Panama City, Panama
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Asuncion, Paraguay
Manila, Philippines
Warsaw, Poland
Moscow, Russia
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Pristina, Serbia
Seoul, South Korea
Lome, Togo
Caracas, Venezuela
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Harare, Zimbabwe
January 12, 2004
Some pictures of the new place...
Kitchen, Dining Room, Living Room all in one
Our very first walk-in closet
