The ramp up to our PCS has another element of intrigue added to it. Recently, my wife was contacted by her previous boss in El Paso, a nephrologist that had heard she would be moving back to the city this year, and he offered her old job back with a substantial raise. The only caveat, she needs to start at the beginning of April.

A month back I had hinted that Angeli might depart post early if the right job opportunity came her way, and it looks like that’s exactly what has happened. Make no mistake, Angeli loves her job in Nouakchott, but the more we thought about it, the more we decided that it makes sense for her to take this opportunity. Here’s why:

1. It guarantees her employment for the entirety of my time in Rangoon
2. It is with her previous boss whom she had a great relationship and loved working for, meaning the learning curve will basically be nothing as it is the same job.
3. It is an advanced practice job. Angeli had been entertaining bedside nursing again, just to guarantee a job when she got home. Now she has a great job that she knows and loves and it utilizes the full scope of her abilities.
4. It will literally double her current salary. We didn’t get into the foreign service way of life to make money, but if we are going to be apart for a year, at least we can make it financially worth our while.
5. The job has great work-life balance. Not as great as her current government job, but great for a healthcare job.
6. Gets her back in our house sooner so it isn’t just wasting away unsupervised and unlived in.

The obvious downside is that she will be away from us for the last 2.5 months of our tour. Having run the family without her for just a couple of weeks in November when she went to South Africa wasn’t easy, but we learned it is very doable and the children survived under my watch (I know, a miracle). Childcare is also much cheaper here in Nouakchott so we don’t want to uproot the kids in the middle of the school year AND pay way more to do it. She also will get to come back to Nouakchott for the last couple of weeks of our tour to help us pack out and travel back with the kids, so that will be really nice. It won’t be easy, but solid gainful employment in her professional field was pretty tough to pass up.

With regard to her working in our future assignments, she is a member of the Family Reserve Corp, basically a list of EFM’s with security clearances that allows them to keep their clearance from post to post. Ideally we can find a post where she can still utilize her medical skills, but if not it isn’t a deal breaker. She has genuinely enjoyed working in the GSO shop, and the department invested a lot in her training so it won’t be hard for her to continue to work in the management section of just about any post abroad.

The Foreign Service is full of tough choices. Although we have loved it so far, it isn’t always easy. 2024 is going to be a challenging year for our family, but with a little sacrifice, I think we will nicely position ourselves for a great 2025 in a location we really love. -Nick