Back after a long absence

Hey everybody!

Greetings from Gaborone! (That's in Botswana, dontcha know?) I just wanted to put up a quick post to let everyone know that I am still alive.

I think I last posted from Frankfurt which was quite some time ago. Since then, I took a short vacation to Brazil and then traveled to Luxembourg (again) for work.

I left Luxembourg on Saturday and flew to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt, I picked up a connection to Johannesburg and then in Jo'burg connected to get to Gaborone on Sunday afternoon. I'll be here until next weekend which puts me home on Sept. 10th.

Gaborone is all right. We are trying to organize a visit to a small game park near town. We've got to work some this weekend, but we'd still like to get out and do something fun.

In other news, I found out that I passed the Foreign Service Written Exam that I took back in April in Albania. The Written Exam is merely the first step in the hiring process. Next I have to do the Oral Assessments. That is basically a day-long practical interview during which you work in groups and do some role-playing. All during the assessment you are being observed and scored by a reviewer. Their score determines whether or not you pass and where you are "ranked" on the list of candidates.

Once you are placed on the list of candidates, you must complete your security and medical clearances and then wait. You wait for State Department to start up a training class and hope that they need enough people that they call you.

So I'm still very early in the process, but I did clear the first hurdle.