1st Post From My 1st Post!

**Disclaimer: I actually wrote this post about a day after we arrived in Manila, but I am just now getting a sort of internet access. Due to our bizarre housing situation, we are unable to get our own internet until we move into our permanent housing. This means I am piggybacking off of one of fabulous FS colleagues who happens to live downstairs from us and was nice enough not to kick us out after we knocked on their door and said something to the effect of: "Hi, we're your new neighbors. So nice to meet you. Can we please steal some of your internet?" Anyway, access here is not what one might think considering that the Philippines is now #3 in the world for call center outsourcing from the US (meaning there are lots of companies here that need good, fast connections). We have very spotty access now, but at least we are able to get on sometimes. I'll post a more recent update when I'm able. I start work for realz, realz on Monday and Husband is set to start on the 21st. 

Welcome to the Foreign Service where our motto is “It Depends.” Someone once made the analogy of the Department of Defense to dogs: loyal, and organized pack animals. The Department of State is more like a bunch of cats: intelligent yet aloof loners. I cannot help but see the distinction in even more clarity as we begin to experience our first assignment.

The trip really wasn’t that bad considering the amount of stuff, people, and animals we were transporting to (literally) the other side of the world. The kids held up as well as can be expected, the animals made it all in one piece (I was very impressed with Delta as a pet carrier – they made sure to let me know on each flight that the animals were safely on board). The only thing we left behind was a bag full of groceries that would have served us well here, but what can you do? We arrived in Manila at about 10pm, earlier than expected, but had no trouble getting through customs and the airport thanks to the airport expediter and our sponsor. It was there that things started to veer off course. Apparently someone realized at about 3pm on the day we were to arrive that our original temp housing (a very nice long-term stay hotel) would not take large dogs. This started a scramble for them to figure out somewhere for us to live after our expected arrival in about 7 hours. They ended up sticking us in a townhouse on the Embassy Compound, still a good 15-20min drive from the Embassy, where we will be for about a week (I don’t actually know the details since I was unable to get a hold of the housing officer despite stopping by the office 2x yesterday and calling repeatedly). After that we are allegedly going to another temporary apartment in a different part of the city where we will live until our permanent quarters are ready on July 1 (this last part remains the same, and we will have a house with a yard at some point!).

The biggest issue right now is our inability to get television or internet for the next few months. When we were to stay in the long-term stay hotel all of that would have been taken care of by the hotel, as well as some of our other issues. For example, we didn’t ask our sponsors to pick us up essentials like, say, toilet paper or cleaning supplies or the all-important coffee, etc. because we were under the impression that the hotel would cover all of that. It’s now Saturday, which means we’ll have to wait until Monday to get a hold of GSO to try and figure out what is going on. I am very concerned about the prospect of not having internet access for two full months, particularly when we planned to have C home school online. Hopefully at some point in the near future we’ll also be able to figure out how to get cell phones so we can start communicating with the world again since it doesn’t look like we’ll have access to Skype for a while.

Anyway, after having this bombshell dropped on us and making our way to our new temp-temp living quarters, we made it to bed at about 1am local time. My work sponsor was not aware of the change of plans as of yet, so our plans to meet in the morning were obviously out the window.  My social sponsor walked me around the Compound briefly and showed me where the shuttle to the Embassy would pick me up. From there I guess he figured I could find my way to the Consular section and track down my work sponsor. Um, sure, since I’ve never been to an Embassy before and I’m currently working off of 24-hrs travel with three kids, two pets, and ten suitcases, I’m sure that will be just fine. Luckily my work sponsor was able to figure it out when he showed up at the original location and learned I wasn’t there, and he was able to adjust and come get me at the Embassy Compound. My first day was mostly spent in processing through HR. I was able to accomplish a few things, but a lot of things have to wait until certain paperwork gets processed and your Dip status is recognized. Also, it would have been really great to know that I should have brought certain paperwork along with me (for example, I didn’t bring the entire family’s passports because I was worried they might need them). So I wasn’t able to accomplish as much as I could since I didn’t have the paperwork I needed. After doing what I could and wandering around the Embassy like a zombie for a while, someone finally took pity on me and let it be known that I wasn’t expected to put in a full days work and could leave when I wished. So I made my way “home” after figuring out that there is a shuttle and where to pick it up.  

Now, I’m a big girl, and I can figure things out for myself. But why on earth would you not try to make it as easy as possible for someone coming in to a new situation, in a new and unfamiliar country, working off of terrible jet lag and exhaustion, particularly when this is their very first assignment? It just gave the impression that things are incredibly unorganized and it certainly made it very clear to me that the camaraderie I enjoyed so greatly in DoD is not an attribute that is highly valued in DoS. First impressions aren’t everything, but between the communication issues (or lack there of) with the CLO and other offices, and my experiences since arriving…well, I can’t say I’m impressed. Why, why, why would they make it this hard? This has been my question to just about everything involved with the Foreign Service so far. From figuring out how to get my step-kids added to my orders, to how to get a Post cleared for my special needs child, to simply what is expected of me for the next couple of days, it is all like pulling teeth. It is just mind-boggling.

Let me briefly compare this experience to when I PCSed to Japan with DoD. I arrived as a single parent with two animals and lots of luggage. I was whisked to my temporary living facility (TLF), which was well stocked with simple necessities, my sponsor brought a packet of information which welcomed me to the country and the unit and listed everything that was expected of me to check in and the timeline in which it was to be done along with where those check in tasks were located (office and bldg. numbers). The next day my sponsor picked me up and personally escorted me to get all of my badges, sign me up to take the drivers course to get my license, took me phone, food, and car shopping. The following few days were similar, as I wasn’t expected to go into work right away since, you know, I had just arrived in a new country with no childcare, transportation, or home. I was able to accomplish all of those necessary things and make my way to work within a week as a happy, productive, and prepared employee.  Right now, I have no internet, no phone, no childcare, no groceries or simple necessities except what we brought along in our suitcases (thank goodness for the tissue paper I brought) and no way to figure out how to get any of these things since we don’t really know what our living situation will be. I’m trying very, very hard to just let it all roll of my back since I’m sure it will all work out in the end, but for a Type-A planner like me, this is all extremely stressful. And that much more stressful since it really shouldn’t be, if that makes sense. If one agency is capable of making international moves go smoothly, why can’t that capability be duplicated?

I should temper my tone by stating that everyone has been super nice on a personal level, and I like everyone that I have met so far. My work sponsor is fantastic, and he has gone above and beyond to take me around and introduce me to different contacts *** UPDATE: I want to add in that, individually, people are absolutely amazing. We have been offered the use of people's personal drivers, rides to and from work, and all sorts of other random niceties to help us out along the way.  If this is indicative of what we have to look forward to in future assignments, I know we made the right career choice!***

The other big issue, of course, is the jet lag. We were up at 2am this morning and not able to fall back asleep. The kids have been up since about 3am. I’m writing this at about 5:30 while we kill time waiting for the rest of the world to start functioning. Our sponsors will be here at about 10am to take us grocery shopping, which is good since we have no toilet paper, and there is literally nothing on or within walking distance to the Compound. There is a 7-11 out the back gate, which is quite shady. We walked there with J alone (leaving C&A home) and experienced true Manila (between the dirt, smog, noise, and dodging traffic with no apparent order are the toothless old taxi drivers grabbing your arm to try and get you to take their cab, very small beggar children outside the store begging for change, and the wide-eyed stares of people who have never seen a small white child with red hair). I’ve seen worse, but this was a pretty overwhelming intro to our new city for Husband. However, we really needed toilet paper and something to eat for dinner (we went with ramen for all), so we didn’t have much choice.

Despite the frustration, we are still so excited to finally be here and starting our adventure. While Husband was a little overwhelmed by our sojourn outside yesterday, I found it exhilarating. I got a copy of our local newsletter from the CLO’s office and there are so many opportunities to volunteer and local organizations to join (I know my sis was heavily involved in local women’s groups in Amsterdam before my niece was born, and she really recommended getting involved as a way to quickly become a part of the community). It’s easy to see how Compound living can shelter you from the real community since you don’t have to experience it if you don’t want to (this was definitely true when I was in Japan, as well), but that’s not why I wanted to join the Foreign Service. I want to get involved and, as hokey as it sounds, I can’t wait to represent the US. I just wish it was a little more organized of an introduction ;)