Happy New Year!

Another year begins, and this one marks my 3rd year of employment with the Department of State. 3 years ago this month I received my invitation to join the Foreign Service, and in April I will celebrate my 3rd year of employment. This is a big year for multiple reasons from a career standpoint. For

Read More

Beer!

I love a good beer. One of my favorite things to do when I travel is try the local beers, and if there are any, the local microbrews. I don’t drink everyday, or even every week, but when I travel, tasting the local beers for me is one of the elements in embracing the local

Read More

Slowing it down

Not much to write this week other than to say I will be moving the blog from a weekly publication to twice a week. I have been publishing a weekly post for a few years now, and as I get busier in my job, and there become fewer things to write about that are worth

Read More

A day in the life.

Back in Nouakchott I had a similar post about my day to day life running the Health Unit, so thought it would be a nice time to right down my routine here, and how it compares. The reality is every Embassy is run a little bit differently, and the same is true of each Health

Read More

AMA: Danger Pay.

Since I have been assigned to Rangoon, several readers have asked me about the Danger Pay differential, and how one gets it. Danger Pay is a percentage pay differential an employee gets for serving in locations where circumstances on the ground could threaten physical harm against employees. Typical reasons a post would get Danger Pay

Read More

Elections!

For the first time ever, I got to experience a U.S. Presidential Election overseas, which was a unique and fascinating experience. Particularly because of the country I currently am posted. It was also the first time I hadn’t voted in person since I first became eligible to vote in the 2003, being one of the

Read More

Two Days in Mandalay

One of the coolest parts of my job is easily the periodic travel I get to do. Last month had me heading to Las Vegas for continuing medical education, and this month had me heading to Mandalay in Upper Myanmar to do some hospital visits. Mandalay is the former imperial capital of Myanmar, until the

Read More

Missing Myanmar

Late September into Early October gave me a wonderful opportunity to visit the U.S. for work as well as take some time to see my family after being away for two months. To kick things off, I flew from Yangon to Las Vegas (via Seoul) for our annual continuing medical education conference. MED puts these

Read More