The Final Week of Orientation

This week marked the end of orientation, and boy was it a productive one. As mentioned in the previous post, I learned my first assignment will be taking me to Nouakchott, Mauritania. I remain incredibly excited about the assignment, and perhaps more importantly, my family is too. My eldest daughter couldn’t be happier to be

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A Taste of Bureaucracy

Well, my transfer orders finally came in this week, and with them came my first taste of government fun. I had informed State that I would be going to my orientation solo, so wouldn’t need tickets/lodging for my family. This was confirmed by them in an email, and all my lodging was set up on

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“Moving” along

Pun intended. Sorry, not sorry. Just a quick update as there has been some movement over the last couple of weeks. I have continued to steadily pack out my stuff. Last week I basically got all my clothes separated into a UAB pile, or packed in luggage I will be taking with me, saving just

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One Month Away

It still feels surreal that exactly one month from today I’ll be sitting at orientation in the DC area. Sure it might be virtual to start, all done remotely (but we still have to be physically in the DC Metro), and I might have shorts on below my suit and tie that the camera can’t

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Ask Me Anything (Salary)

How much does an MP in the Foreign Service usually make? It seems the government salaries are usually much lower than the private sector. Arguably one of the more important things to consider when starting the application process, is the salary. The Foreign Service uses a rank ordered salary schedule, and if you are familiar

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Fast and Furious

“It’s a fire hose”. That is how a Regional Medical Officer that I befriended a couple years ago described the tidal wave of information and stuff you have to do once you finally get an offer from State. The past few days have been a whirlwind of information, planning, and telling family/friends about our plans.

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Offer Accepted

Well, I spent a whopping 12 whole days on The Register before getting my invitation to the April Orientation (now combined Generalist and Specialist). I was sitting at work yesterday (01/24/22) checking my email when a State Department email loaded with my invite. I probably had to slow myself down and reread it a dozen

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