The Alavis Abroad

Officially a Diplomat!

2012-02-28T20:20:00.000-05:00

It's official! Aamir is a diplomat! Last friday, he and his colleagues from the 165th A-100 class were sworn in as U.S. Diplomats. Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns administered the oath of office. My parents, a couple of Aamir's close friends and I were all there to witness this memorable event. I sure was a proud wife that day!!

So what happens next? Aamir started Portuguese classes this week, which will continue for the next few months. He has a few other training courses to take too - I think one course on Brazil and then another that is more econ related. Meanwhile, we're waiting to learn more about our upcoming move such as departure date, where we will live, etc. We have to wait for some of the official processes to take place before we can get that information. One thing that I've come to realize through this foreign service experience is that there is a whole lot of waiting with bouts of excitement thrown in there. "Hurry up and wait" has certainly become our motto!

More about Flag Day

2012-02-20T22:25:00.000-05:00

Friday was the famous Flag Day for the 165th class of foreign service officers. I've already shared the good news about Aamir's first assignment in Brasilia, but I thought I would share more about the actual Flag Day event. Aamir's dad was able to come in from California to share in the big day with us, so he and I headed to the Foreign Service Institute - where Aamir has been in training since mid January - in the early afternoon on Friday. We met up with Aamir right before it started and he gave us a quick tour of the campus. At this point, I was definitely starting to feel nervous, but in a good, excited way.

Shortly after the tour, we headed over to the auditorium where everyone had already started gathering. I was actually quite surprised to see how many family members came to be there. I am not sure why I was surprised by that; after all, it's a pretty big deal to be moving across the world to an unknown location! Soon the officials brought in the flags and people started finding their seats for the event to start.

I had Aamir's original bid list in hand to prepare for the ceremony. I had every intention of crossing out the posts as they were called so I could keep track of what was still left, but after the first two posts called, I got distracted and gave up on that pretty quickly. I think it was a combination of nerves and the fact they were calling them up pretty fast! It took awhile for Aamir's name to be called, but finally towards the end when the Brazil flag was up on the screen again (about 4 other Brazil posts had been called already at this time) and they announced "Brasilia, Brazil for the Science and Technology position" I knew Aamir's name would be called. And sure enough he was!

We actually suspected that Brazil would be an option. Aamir did very well on his Portuguese exam, even better than Spanish and Hindi (did I ever tell you that my husband is a language genius?). The day he turned in his bid list, he came home and said he found out he had the highest level of Portuguese among all his classmates, so we suspected Brazil would be the likely choice for his first placement. Of course, we wanted to keep our expectations low because anything could have happened!

We're both pretty excited! Brasilia is not Sao Paulo or Rio but seems like a very nice city and a great place to live. I am most excited about the weather - temperatures are in the 70s almost year around. And the travel opportunities from there are endless - the Amazon is nearby and Rio, Sao Paulo and Brazil beach towns are all short flights away, as are several other South American destinations like Buenos Aires. It should be an exciting 2 years! And now time to learn Portuguese!

And The Winner Is....

2012-02-17T17:20:00.000-05:00

The day has come to find out where our next adventure will take us. I know you all are anxiously waiting to hear the results, so without further ado, I announce that the winner is....

Brasilia, Brazil!

I'll write more soon about Flag Day and more details about this upcoming adventure!

Waiting mode

2012-02-05T09:24:00.000-05:00

We're still in waiting mode to find out where and when our adventure will take us. This is going to be a long two weeks! In the meantime, I've been thinking about ways to start preparing for the big move. We might get a "now" post and leave fairly soon, or we may not leave for another 10 months, so of course it's a little premature to do too much, but the planner in me can't help starting to think about next steps. Once we get closer to our departure date, whenever that may be, I know it will be crazy, busy, hectic so as much as I could get done ahead of time, the better.

I woke up Saturday morning with much ambition and started brainstorming what we could get done now. Here are some ideas I had:

Start looking for new suitcases since we will definitely be needing more than the 2 carry-ons and 1 larger suitcase we currently own.
Start that inventory list of all our belongings that will be required for insurance purposes.
Collect coupons to stock up on those household essentials that may be difficult to find (or expensive) overseas. I've read on other blogs that some people spend thousands of dollars stocking up on household items and consumables just to ship to post! Not sure we'll do that, but it never hurts to look for good deals.
Maybe I should just sit back and relax and enjoy finally having a free weekend with nothing going on!
I've mostly chosen to do the last thing on my list and just enjoy a relaxing weekend, full of lots of TV watching, puzzle-making, cooking and maybe (just maybe) a bit of working out in there

We did manage to do a few errands when I still had all that energy Saturday morning. I found great deals on toilet paper and dish soap at CVS and Walgreens and even managed to order 12 bottles of contact solution online. I wanted to maximize the 20% off your first order on soap.com, so I ended up buying 12 bottles...I know, you can call me crazy, but it's the only contact solution that doesn't completely dry out my eyes and it's expensive in stores (not to mention I go through 1 bottle a month)!
I did not wake up quite as ambitious this morning, so I think I'll let our to do list continue growing and I will continue the "lots of TV watching, puzzle-making, cooking" trend we started yesterday afternoon. Then, I'll continue eating and TV watching tonight at a Super Bowl party. And maybe I'll at least manage to get to the gym in between all of that!

Fate is out of our hands

2012-01-30T21:27:00.000-05:00

After days of research and reading about cities around the world, the time has come to turn in the bid list. We did our best to consider all the options and rank them according to our priorities, but ultimately, our fate is now in the hands of the State Department.

While I can't share what is on our list on this blog, I can say it certainly was an interesting list of cities, scattered all across the world. I was a bit surprised when I first saw the list - it's sorted by city, rather than country, and I will be the first to admit I had to google some to learn where they actually were! There were about 70 spots on the list, one spot for each of the foreign service officers in the current A-100 class. It's fun to think about where people will end up, but it still doesn't seem real that one of those posts will go to Aamir!

When determining our rankings, we swayed between being very emotional ("Oh, I've always wanted to live there") to very analytical ("This is a great place for both of us to advance our careers"). I'd like to say we mostly ranked according to what made the most sense based on our selection criteria (econ or consular job for Aamir, employment potential for me, and language requirement) but of course there are a few in there we just couldn't resist ranking high (or low) despite what our selection criteria was telling us!

Remember to check back February 17 to find out what the winner is!

A-100 and Bid List Galore

2012-01-19T06:13:00.000-05:00

Hello again!

It's been awhile since I have had a chance to blog as work here in Kenya has been keeping me very busy. I still don't really have time to write, but thought I deserved a break from it all while I eat a cup of ramon noodles for lunch. Maybe I should have used this time to get proper food for lunch instead? Oh well, the Kenyan version of ramon is actually quite tasty!

While I have been slaving away in Nairobi (no, really, I'm not complaining or anything...), Aamir has been having some adventures of his own. In between dealing with stolen license plates and punctured tires on our car, he ended his previous job and has already started training for the foreign service! They call this initial 6 week introductory/orientation class A-100, named after the room number in which the very first class was held. A quick search on Wikipedia tells me that it was held in Room 100 of the State, War, and Navy Building for the first time in 1925. I am not quite sure how such a name could stick around for so long. It's not exactly the most catchy or exciting title!

Due to the time difference and our busy schedules, I've only managed to talk to Aamir briefly since he started training on Tuesday. I think he likes it and is learning a lot. It's a lot of information to take in! Unfortunately I am going to miss the EFM (Eligible Family Member - official terminology for spouse or child) orientation since I do not get back until next week, but there are plenty of online resources to keep me busy preparing for this change in lifestyle.

Probably the most exciting thing is that Aamir gets the Bid List TODAY! Of course today in DC means tomorrow for me, so I have to wait even longer to get the information from him. Boo for time changes! The Bid List is the list of all posts open that he is eligible to "bid" on. He ranks each one High, Medium, Low and then meets with a career development officer to discuss his choices. They have the final say on where he gets placed, but at least there is a process to take into consideration our preferences! I am so excited. I am not sure how much information I will be able to divulge about what countries are on the list and what are top choices are. I still need to learn all the rules about confidentiality from Aamir...

We have until the end of January to research all the posts and come up with our preferences. Then on February 17 - Flag Day (more foreign service lingo for you) - we find out where we are going! Needless to say, it's pretty exciting times in our household! Now if only I can focus to finish my project in Kenya and get home finally after 5 weeks away!!

My experience in Pakistan

2012-01-07T11:49:00.000-05:00

Most people do not have positive thoughts when they hear any mention of Pakistan. After all, our media does a good job describing Pakistan as a place full of violence. Granted I only visited one city – Karachi – on this trip, but I can honestly say it was nothing like what is portrayed in the media. The Pakistan I saw was one of every-day life for the millions of people that call Karachi home. I saw a place rich with history and culture; and one that prioritizes family and community. My experience was quite a refreshing change from the Pakistan I had previously only known through media.

One of the most memorable parts of the trip for me was meeting all of Aamir’s relatives. I certainly met lots of aunts and uncles and cousins and now I need to study a family tree to get all the names and relationships down!

We were able to get around and see some of the sites in Karachi too. We visited the street where Aamir's dad grew up and where several Alavi relatives still live. Unfortunately the house my father-in-law lived in does not exist anymore, but the other family houses are still there. They were quite impressive as you can see from this picture.

We also visited Benazir Bhutto park in Karachi, drove along the coast to check out the beach area, and hung out at Port Grand, this newly developed area with lots of dining options on the port. It was fun to see the various sites around Karachi and do some "touristy" things.

One day, we took a day trip to Thatta, a historic town about 2 hours from Karachi. This was one of the worst-hit areas during the 2010 floods. The town has several historic monuments, including a beautiful mosque and a famous necropolis that is listed among the World Heritage Sites. I wasn't feeling the best this day but Aamir managed to help me snap a few shots!

Another great moment from the trip was our New Years Eve. We were lucky enough to get tickets to the premier ball in Karachi - the Special Olympics Ball - so Aamir and I went with his brother and cousin. I cannot even begin to describe in words how cool it was and unfortunately I have no photos to document the experience. So you all will just have to believe me!! It was held at a hotel in Karachi, in a large, carpeted tent outside of the hotel (you actually couldn't really tell you were outside). The ceiling was streamed with lights and fancy decorations. The DJ played great music, a combination of local, American, and even Latin music. The food was so good and they had almost anything you could ever want. I especially loved the crepes with ice cream and vanilla sauce.

I am thankful for the opportunity to see a side of Pakistan so different from that which we hear and read about in the news. I am not denying the problems or challenges that do exist in the country but the every-day life I came to know first-hand in Pakistan is much more exciting and interesting in my mind than any stories on all the turmoil and violence. If only the media would agree with me!

First Stop...Istanbul

2011-12-29T02:25:00.000-05:00

When I started this blog, I intended to use it as a way to keep our family and friends updated on Aamir's foreign service process and our life overseas. Since Aamir doesn't report to training until mid-January we don't have anything new to share yet (unless you'd all like to hear about the piles of paperwork he has to fill out!). But we've had an exciting couple of weeks that fit nicely with the theme of this blog, so hopefully these posts will be as interesting as the adventures that await us!

First stop: Istanbul.

On our way to Pakistan, we had a long layover in Istanbul so rather than spend 8 hours in the airport, we decided to venture into the city to see some of the sites. It was actually quite simple - we purchased $20 visas for each of us, quickly went through immigration, and were on our way on the metro train to Sultanahmet, the old city of Istanbul. Once there, we walked around to see the famous Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, and some Turkish markets. We also relaxed in a few cafes to take in the picturesque scenery around us. The city was quite nice that we both decided we wouldn't mind too much if Aamir's new job placed him in Istanbul! Once back at the airport to catch our flight to Karachi, we realized it was a good choice to spend some time in the city. There are very few seating options at the airport, so that would have been a long 8 hours!

We are now safe and sound in Karachi and having a good time. We both have battled some bouts of sickness but overall are doing very well. There is a lot to update on this trip, so I'll save that for some later posts. For now, here are some photos of Istanbul!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-20T18:57:00.000-05:00

Aamir and I just came back from MN where we spent the weekend with my family to celebrate Christmas. Since we are going to be in Pakistan on Christmas day, we'll miss the traditional family gatherings next weekend, but I am so glad we still got to see my family during the Holiday Season! My parents hosted a wonderful gathering at our house for all my extended family, so we even got to celebrate with my aunts and uncles and a few of my cousins. We spent the rest of the time hanging out and playing games with my parents and sister and brother-in-law. It was a great early Christmas weekend (except there was no snow!). Here are a few photos from the weekend (using my new camera...although I am still learning how to use it!):

We're off to Pakistan tomorrow through the New Year. Then I head to Kenya for work for most of January, so it might be awhile before I can blog again. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

How this adventure began...

2011-12-12T20:19:00.000-05:00

How is it that Aamir and I are about to embark on a journey abroad? Well, it all started last fall when Aamir decided to throw his hat in the ring and sign up for the Foreign Service test. The process is quite long and highly competitive and taking the test is just something that many young professionals in DC do, so neither of us really thought anything would come of it. Slowly but surely, Aamir went through the process, passing each step along the way. And now a little more than a year later, Aamir received an official offer to join the January class of junior Foreign Service officers!

What’s next and what does this all mean? Aamir starts January 17 with training and orientation here in DC. Sometime in February, he will learn where his first overseas post will be and when we will depart. Apparently most people stay in DC for training for at least 4 months, sometimes up to a year before departing for their first post. Once oversees, Aamir will work at the U.S. Embassy as an Economics officer (promoting trade and business between countries) and/or doing some consular work (processing and approving visas) during his first tour.

What’s in this for me? Well besides being able to travel the world off my husband’s job and getting some international experience in public health for my own career, I got to buy a new camera to document our adventures! It’s been a hobby I have wanted to start for a while now and I’ve had my eye on this camera for about a year. This was the perfect excuse to make that initial investment!

Stay tuned for more!