Winding Down

As expected, I have mixed emotions about leaving the Foreign Service. As the days and weeks go by and I approach my June 20 departure date from Karachi, I've reflected on the good times I've had and how those memories will be with me forever.  I'll miss so much of this lifestyle when I make my transition to retired person.  But I'm also excited about returning to Texas and now that I finally heard that I am a homeowner once again, I am thinking about what all I will now have time to do in that house to put my stamp on it.  I know all my carpets will look beautiful on the floors.  I was lucky to find a house with no/no wall to wall carpet, so I won't have to rip anything up!

 

These past 6 years have been so good; I don’t even know where to start listing what I’ll miss when I return to a normal life.  Probably the biggest thing I’ll miss is working with the local staff at the posts…Tegucigalpa, Muscat and Lahore.  Unless you are exposed to other cultures and people in other countries, you can’t appreciate how much I will miss this part of my job.  Living in America, we tend to believe that our way is the best way, the only way and any other ‘way’ is unacceptable.  This is totally not the case. I've learned so much from the Hondurans, Omanis and Pakistanis.  Not only do you learn that there’s more than one way to do something, depending on your circumstances, what supplies you have to work with and the skills you have to get the job done, you also learn that that your way may not be the best for all.  And the way of doing business around the world is amazing.  When I was in Oman as well as here in Pakistan, I would look at carpets…gorgeous, expensive hand knotted carpets.  There would be 30 carpets unrolled in front of me and the shop keeper would say…”Take some home with you and see how you like them.”  Hey, we’re talking over $1000 per carpet and this man is telling me to just take a few home.  “Pay me later”, he says…”or bring them back.  It’s OK.”  Of course, they knew that once you got it home, you’d fall in love with it even more and the carpet would never be returned.  You would go back the next day or week with cash in hand, thanking him profusely for letting you take them home to see just how you liked them.  Can you see Macy’s doing that?  Heck no.  There’s also a place in Islamabad who would sell items and, knowing we were diplomats and would be leaving in a year or 2, would buy back the items you had bought (less a small percentage) when you moved on if you decided you didn't want to keep them.  It’s kind of like a rental service for local items without having to keep them forever if you don’t want to.  This helps you avoid the problem of accumulating a ton of things at each post around the world.  After a 20 year career, I can imagine a home looking like a museum!

What will I not miss?  That list deals mostly with the quality of life.  It will be nice to be able to drink the water from the tap again.  I will love being in the same time zone as friends.  Being able to pick up the phone and call my doctor, insurance company, or whoever it might be that I have a problem with instead of waiting a week for emails to bounce back and forth.  And I will not miss being chauffeured around!  I can’t wait to get my car back!  And I won't have to soak my vegetables in bleach water.  

There’s another thing that I’ll have to deal with when I return home.  I've had the greatest opportunity to travel the world and see things that most people never get the chance to see…and experience things that others will never experience.  I’ll have to be very careful to not go on and on about my travels and experiences when with friends.  I have photo books with photos I've taken that I’ll leave out and if people ask, I will be happy to talk about my travels.  I may need to find an outlet for my love of places I've been…maybe the library or schools that sponsor things like this where I can share my experiences.  As much as I want to share where I've been and what I've seen, I don’t want to bore my friends.  I can see their eyes rolling and them thinking…’here she goes again.’

I can’t wait for what’s in store for me…

Evacuation? Ordered Departure? Take my Advice…

As things turned out, all non-essential personnel have been evacuated from Lahore, Pakistan to Islamabad, including me.  I’ve been this route before and thought I had learned my lesson.  Not quite.  So I thought I would share some tips just in case any of my Foreign Service readers ever fall victim to an evacuation of any kind.

Pack wisely.  That means the biggest suitcase you own.  You don’t need to fill it but you’ll have room for purchases just in case you are displaced to some location with good retail opportunities.  That would be shopping!  If you need to, take a second one and split the contents between the 2. Even though I was sent to Islamabad, Pakistan, there are stilll lots to see and buy here.

Prepare for Longer Stay Than You Think.  Even though you might be told this is a ‘temporary situation’ and things will be ‘evaluated on a daily basis,’ it could turn into weeks. We all agree that everyone wants us back in our regular jobs quickly, but some things take time.  Prepare for it with enough clothes, meds, toiletries, undies, snacks, etc. that you think you’ll need for a longer time.  Believe me, after 4 weeks wearing the same 3 outfits, you’ll be ready to burn them!

Boredom will set in.  Depending on where you are relocated to, there may not be much to do.  You might end up staying in something like the ipods here in Islamabad.  They are actually repurposed containers like what things are transported in on freighters.  They look nice inside but after a while, you will feel closed in.  Bring books, games, crafts, knitting…anything to help combat boredom in the evenings.

Power Up!  For whatever power toys you bring, don’t forget your power cords!  I know this sounds silly, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard friends comment that they forgot the cord for their camera or their iPad.  Use the bed in an extra bedroom to ‘stage’ your packing.  Don’t put anything in the suitcase until the last minute so you can see just what you have.  Put all power cords in a zip lock or attach them to the item they support…whatever manner that will insure you don’t forget them. Make sure everything is fully charged before you leave in case you want to surf the net on your smart phone or in case you miss flights or a vehicle breaks down.

Pepto Up!  Don’t forget your meds.  If you think you’ll be gone a week, take the entire bottle with you.  You may end up somewhere where the food doesn’t agree with you so take something for stomach problems.  Make sure you have plenty of any meds you take on a regular basis.  Best case, you could be back home in a week.  Worst case, you might never return to your post.  Don’t get caught trying to get more meds in an unfamiliar place.

E.T., Phone Home.  It’s so important to keep family and friends back home informed on how you are, where you are and how things are.  If you have a blog, keep updating it. If you can call them, do it as often as you can.  Send emails daily.  You may know you’re just fine but those at home will worry about you, the reason you were evacuated and why the heck you aren’t back yet.  A quick update on whatever social media you use is also a good idea. 

I Owe, I Owe, It’s Off on Ordered Departure I Go!  Try to log on and check your credit cards before you leave.  You never know how good (or secure) the connection will be when you arrive at your point of evacuation.  There are always computers for us DOS people, but you could be so busy that paying that MasterCard bill may slip your mind.  And make sure you have a check or debit card.  Most Embassies can cash a check for you and/or have an ATM machine around.  Some countries only accept Visa, some only MasterCard and some both.  Be prepared…nothing worse than ending up with no cash.

Rain Keeps Falling On My Head.  Take an umbrella or rain suit.  In areas where there are rainy seasons, it could be sunny one minute and a downpour the next.  Be prepared for a change in weather.

I hope these tips help you if you ever find yourself being whisked off to the airport in the middle of the night.  Being prepared for anything will help make this kind of disruption in your life a little easier to endure.