peter gets into the emotion of the song.

i think i can dance AND sing. delusion is sweet and ignorance is bliss

there you go simon, you look much more awake this time.

outside walls of the medina

the spice vendor. i was looking for herbs to do a foot soak in my bidet. what else are you supposed to do with those things? i soak my feet in them.

photo op with ginger. styled by the spice guy.

abdellah and i. he is wiring my lamps. he even took me to the hardware stand and discutered my wires and whatnot.

courtyard where abdellah's shop is located

abdellah's shop

all the shops here are in a hidden courtyard around a fig tree. the men all work on the crafts they sell all day. abdellah became my friend and seriously hooked me up wiring stuff for the lamps i got.

too many treasures

this is an old moroccan menorah. there used to be a significant jewish minority here for thousands of years. people say they were the best craftsmen. you still see stars of david used as a motif. the little divets are for oil and wicks used for hannukah instead of candles. there are lots and they are BEAUTIFUL

too much to choose from. . .

you just turn and turn in the medina and get lost. the doors are amazing.

antique door and furniture store. keith, you would freak out.

look up, look around, there are treasures and nooks everywhere

the carving is incredible

jammed with goodness. anthropologie heaven.

doors galore.

Momma cat

part of the living room

fountain thing

front foyer

breakfast nook

house of hydrangeas

front garden

front walk

house from street

These are all out of order, but should be an enticement to visit! Looking into living room, roses

Living room

Looking upstairs

A spare room

2 more spare rooms

part of my room

one day this will be a waterfall, in sh'allah

oujda, these things are see through, FYI

Oujda, lunch with the Bendaha family -- thank you!

water seller, medina in Oujda

outside of medina in Oujda

I don't even know where to begin. I've been thrown right into the mix of things and have been working day and night and weekends. No internet at home yet so I am taking advantage of the hotel I'm in up on the Algerian border.

I am truly at a loss for words for the power of the work that Moroccans all around the country are doing for Moroccan-US relations. I have been to a Ministry of Youth Music camp, seen American High school students learning Arabic, given orientations to Moroccan students going to America, a basketball camp in the far north (Oujda and Nador), the Oujda American Corner, given TV, internet, and radio interviews in French, and oh yeah, learned how a US Embassy works (well, sort of).

I am totally and completely exhausted, yet energized by the power of the programs and the work so many people put into making them happen. The below pictures are from a trip this week.

2 students from Oujda singing "A Coat of Many Colors" - they were amazing

A play about Cinderella in English. This is in Oujda American corner in the conservative north.

Basketball Camp girls in Oujda

Nador girls!

I don't know why this river is this color, but it incredible. I begged the driver (thank you Larbi!) to stop

Walls of the imperial city of Fez. All of these I took from the window of the moving car, no time to stop! :(

Graveyard, somewhere near Fez

Roman ruins dot the countryside everywhere

Who knows, but it's beautiful

Walls around Fez, thousands of swallows fly around and sit in the ventilation holes

The medina in Fez

Entrance to Fez medina, the biggest in the Muslim world

A museum in Fez, they just had the Sacred Music Festival the night before

This is the most beautiful country in the world

I loved you from the moment I saw you, a true coup de foudre. Hopefully you will come back to me whole.At home where you belongAck! KidnappedI now have an empty driveway :(

I feel like I've committed the ultimate adultery by living in DC these last 6 months. Baltimore is hometown and somehow I had always cultivated this adversarial thing against DC. But, really it IS apples and oranges. This is a false city, a false construct. Visitors, dignitaries, fancy buildings will never/never compete with the spirit, soul, blood, sweat, and tears that comprise Baltimore City.

I love you, Greatest City in America. I will miss you.

I am so angry right now I could spit. Since Penecostal missionaries have brought their faith to West Africa they have done in inordinate amount of damage that anyone who calls themselves a Christian must decry.

Penecostal beliefs in Satan and possessions have blended with traditional African beliefs of witchcraft and sorcery to create a violent and volatile mix where children are tortured and accused of being witches and killed or ostrasized.

Deteriorating environmental conditions as a result of the oil industry in the Akwa Ibom state in southeastern Nigeria have caused residents of this impoverished area to cast blame on innocent children for unexplained deaths, poor fishing returns, lack of money, and simply unrealized dreams. Children are held by churches, beaten, starved, and often murdered because they are believed to be the root of all of the problems.

There are two groups working on this issue, CRARN (Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network) and Stepping Stones Nigeria. If you consider yourself a Christian, instead of giving money for more missionaries to go overseas or to build a church that no one needs, why don't you contribute some money to undo some of the damage that other Christians have wreaked upon this world. Now that I would like to see.Also, if you want to learn about this for yourself, watch the HBO documentary called Saving Africa's Witch Children.

So earlier this week I decided to use the "search and record" function on my DVR to look for shows about Baltimore, my home town. I found an episode of American Gangster featuring Melvin Williams of Baltimore, also known as the man who brought heroin to the city.

Imagine my surprise when about 11 minutes in, The Judge (he shows up at 1:24 on the karaoke video), as in the Judge who has been oddly singing karaoke around the city for years, was interviewed several times throughout the episode. Squealing with delight I called the one person I knew would recognize him from the karaoke singing days of yore at the now-defunct Kelly's (crabs and karaoke, really what more could you ask for?).

So, if you're interested in the backstory behind the creation of The Wire (based on Melvin's criminal exploits) (another footnote, Melvin played the Deacon of the church in The Wire - he was great) or The Judge (yes, all caps are needed), watch these videos.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am debating posting a video of me singing "Rhinestone Cowboy" at Kelly's last year. I may be worse than The Judge.

Thoughts?

Nevermind, I'll do it and if there is political fallout, so be it.

Here are some pictures of Fulani I took with my Dad near the lake/dam in Notse.

IRIN Africa GHANA: Police crackdown on migrant Fulani herdsmen West Africa Burkina Faso Ghana Mali Togo Environment Food Security Governance Human Rights Migration News Item

I find the conflict between nomadic and settled people fascinating and not discussed often enough. Nomads, often seen as outsiders by settled communities, are often blamed for various crimes, usually robbery, rape, and killing/sacrificing and/or abducting children. It is easier to blame someone outside of one's settled community than it is to look inside the community for the perpetrators. The result is two-fold, one the outsiders are consistently vilified and two, the persons truly responsible for committing the crimes are never held accountable.

This phenomenon happens around the world, think of the Roma in Europe and also resettled communities around the United States.

I remember being in Florida staying with parents of a friend when a number of robberies occurred in a small town where everyone knew everyone else. Roma in the United States often spend winters in Florida during the circus off-season. Before even looking at the facts everyone immediately blamed the "Gypsies" and pretty much drove them out of town.

Of course, either the Fulani did it or a bunch of Losso in a spirit plane. Sheesh. No need to look any further.

I'm not saying these groups are completely innocent either, but sometimes these accusations become self-fulfilling prophecies, "well if I keep getting blamed for it, I might as well do it."

The orphaned children in Johannesburg are the same way. No one helps them because they are believed to be "tsotsis" so they start robbing because there's no other way to get food and people already think they're tsotsis.

Human nature will never cease to fascinate me. . .

The haunting song of the mourning dove (zenaida macroura) has been my favorite birdsong my whole life and a constant companion. They live in my courtyard here in downtown DC; they've always been up on the Bush River -- they're everywhere.

They're lovely and their song is sad and meloncholy -- hence the name.

When I moved to Togo the West Africa bird guide was my constant companion. Imagine my surprise when I heard a song one day that was almost my mourning dove song - minus the meloncholy. I look it up -- the African Laughing Dove (streptopelia senegalensis).

I like to think, despite the harshness of life there, people did laugh more and it is only natural that the doves did too.

What sound will the doves make in Morocco? A national dish is pigeon pie, so perhaps none at all:) Are they bi-polar?I need to get a North Africa bird book, stat!

Walking around DC with RY on Sunday we stumbled into the American Craft Museum. Amazing quirky selection of folk art, portraiture, sculpture, and the like. I fell in love with an artist I had never heard of: Romaine Brooks.

Just got the official picture. I am pretty happy about Morocco!

Courage to Togo. I am there with you in spirit.

Elections on Thursday

So I know getting a dog is not a good idea for me, but. . . that was before I saw Caesar.

If anyone knows me from the Baxter era (may he rest in peace), I am a sucker for dogs with...problems. I think Caesar here is missing an eye and my heart goes out to him.

Visit to the shelter?

Here is an old pic of Bax. He was blind and I loved him fiercely.

So, if it ain't this:

It's going to have to be this:

This:

Or this:

Though I've always wanted of of these (in orange):

Question is, do I wait 'til I get to Morocco or try and find one now?

So for those of you living in a hole, here in Washington we have over 3 feet of snow. The government has been shut down since Monday. Today is Thursday.

What better time to play Wii with your friends you ask? No better time, I answer. Until you vigorously bowl and throw the controller at the TV, smashing it. Said TV is brand new, the most I think I've paid for anything save my car back in the day. And my house, but you get the point.

Kind friend offers to get the TV for me, and though armed with my credit card and a note, Best Buy will not give him the TV. Le sigh. More snow yesterday. I tried to get out and get to Best Buy. Nothing doing. Sat waiting for the Metro for a half hour. Went home, blinded by snow. Ventured back out, found a cabbie charging exorbitant fees. He got me to Best Buy (for $50, mind you). Closed! I called them, they said they were open, but no dice.

So, day 4 snowed in and I am reading a travel guide to the USSR. Le sigh. I want to go to work.

I am going to Morocco! I start with the US Embassy, Rabat as the Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer and the Political Officer in June.

So very very happy!

Thievery Corporation show, 9:30 Club

H & H colorful feets

H & H pre-game at El Tamarindo

Getting ready

Life in DC is great so far (with the exception of lack of dive bars in neighborhood - more research required on that front).

Training has been intense and interesting and inspiring. It is amazing to be surrounded by people that could thoroughly school me in Trivial Pursuit. Someone needed and got a big dose of humble pie.

I have solved the grocery dilemma by taking frequent trips with a backpack. The cart will be used as a planter when spring arrives.

Today I hope to explore the city while it is sunny and un-frigid. . .

after today's uproarious display of bumpkin-ness, i think i have finally solved my personal dilemma of whether i am a city mouse or a country mouse.

after 2 days in dc, i have finally realized that baltimore is a lot of wonderful things, but it is not a city.

i just walked 3 miles to get groceries with one of those city-people grocery carts. these carts are not all made alike. do not buy the first one you see from a cheap chinese import store. i fell on my laden cart in the middle of the street at least 3 times, spilling all of my groceries. this never would have happened in baltimore because i had a car and the grocery stores had parking lots. cities do not have grocery stores with parking lots. cities barely even have grocery stores period.

this is a great time for such as important revelation given that i am about to embark on a career that will have me living in every capitol city in the world. crap. i am a country mouse with no hope of living in the country for the forseeable future. awesome.and don't buy the above grocery cart. it sucks (that or i don't know how to drive it. probably the latter.)

i don't blog anymore because they won't let me cut and paste. you see, i have no original thought. i have about 15 started posts that got nowhere because of this problem.

if someone can help me the situation will change.

i have much to say.

thank you and good night.

hy

I was already quietly concerned about this:

http://diplodocus.wordpress.com/2006/08/12/the-solitary-service/

A sacrifice I guess. . .

Someone please explain how people can live in an area where there is no scrapple.

The New Ideal, my fave

Half chipped beef, half sausage gravy, side of scrapple

"I can't do footnotes or copy and paste on here. That is annoying". That would have simply been a footnote.

But food notes, that's what we're looking for. So, let's go back to the latest food dream, so see if I visited or my deflated budget and low motivation hadn't quite gotten me to my food fantasies yet.

Edo Sushi: haven't made it back there. Haven't been downtown too much. Visited the old office. Said "hi", but then no one ever called for happy hour so, never made it to the downtown spots. Jeez, I mean, I worked there for 10 years. "Welcome Home!". Or not.

Pazo: Oh yesireebob. Yum. Have eaten some tonno and lots of other goodies. Who can stay away? Honestly though, all the elderflower is a bit much. Make me a good old school dirty martini and walk away. Thank you. Ugh. Fancy drinkdom. Yuck.

Charleston: No. Come on, I just left the Peace Corps. Jeez. Are YOU going to take me there?

Miss Shirley's: No. Looks busy though.

Parents' back yard: Yes. Crabs, cheese, wine, delicious things.

The rest: No, not yet. Hope to make it to a BBQ before summer is over on the sidewalks of Bond Street.

One-Eyed Mike's: They are a special category. I have eaten there 5 times since I've been home. Dude - that is more than the

New Ideal -- that is saying something! I walk in there - it can be 8am - and they're like "soft shells?" and I say "yes" and there you go. Coffee, ice water with lemon, soft shells, 2 sides. Easy.

One-Eyed Mike's is consistently delicious. Honest, fun, straightforward always great food. Plus, it is on Bond St.

More later on food.

Daniel and I - I am sharing Pop Rocks with him.

I miss Louise. For those who don't know, I am Louise whenever I am in a non-anglophone part of the world. It is my middle name and Heather is just impossible to say unless you are from Great Britain, the US, or Australia & New Zealand. They can't even say it in Ghana.

I have been toldthat I am a different person when I am Louise -- nicer, chiller, friendlier. Maybe it is just the speaking French part that makes me happy, I don't know.

Nonetheless, I have been getting emails from my companions in Notse. Daniel and Desire were like my sons/little brothers/students. They were at my house every day, we played, we worked, we read, we drew, we studied, we explored.

Here is the email I just received from Desire, he is about 13:

"Bonjour Louise ;comment ca va. C'est vrai que tu nous a quitte mais tu resteras sans mon coeur pour toujours.Depuis ton depart je suis reste en tristesse. Lorsque je me rapelle de nos petit jeux dans ta maison; les larmes viennent dans mes yeux.Ma mere te salut.S'il te plait envoie moi sa photo par ordinateur pour voir ton visage car tu me manque beaucoup.

JE T'AIME LOUISE. De la part de Desire."

Translation:

"Hello Louise, how are you? It is true that you have left us but you will remain in my heart forever. Since your departure I remain in sadness. When I remember our little games at your house tears come into my eyes. My mother sends her greetings. Please send me a photo via computer so that I can see your face because I miss you so much.

I love you Louise.

On behalf of Desire."

Isn't that so sweet. I miss my boys.

Since I am counting down to coming home, here are the foods/restaurants I am dreaming about. All my foodie friends, please tell me if any of these have gone downhill and of any new places I haven't been yet. . .

Edo Sushi (Harbor) - lunch combos

Pazo - tonno crudo and foccaccio

Charleston - she-crab soup, foie gras, oysters, shrimp grits

Miss Shirleys - anything with fried oysters and softshells, grits, sweet potato fries

Parents' back yard - crabs, corn on the cob, tomatoes

Holy Frijoles? - chimichanga, chips and salsa

Broadway Market - fried chicken livers & gizzards with hot sauce, soft-shell sandwich

Lexington Market - oysters, clams

Anything Heidi cooks. . .

Grill out on the corner of Bond & Lancaster

Anything from One-Eyed Mike's

Suggestions?

I have always loved a song called "Banks of the Pontchartrain" by Nancy Griffith. One lonely night over a year ago I was laying in my bed in Notse, no electricity, listening to it on my ipod and the lyrics magically changed themselves into something much more personal. With permission, here is my adaptation of the song. It makes me weepy every time I hear it.

I'm goin' back where my garden blooms all year

Where the wintertime speaks softly in the fallin' rain

I'm goin' back to my friends and family there

and we will dance along the banks of the Chesapeake

Oh, I've grown dark beneath the skys of Africa

Where the voices ring like bells in French and Minah

And the heat melts the body all year long

I am alone at night and dream of my own Chesapeake

Chorus:

Take me to the airport...

I am late to catch my eastbound plane

Oh, I'm gonna call my sister Heidi

she will be waiting by the gate when I fly in

I'm gonna fly across the ocean

just to stand beside my Chesapeake again

These old rails shake like thunder through the night

Soon I'll have my family's arms to comfort me

Oh, I can see my sister Heidi by their side

her hair will flow in waves like on the Chesapeake

Take me to the airport...

I am late to catch my eastbound plane

Oh, I'm gonna call my sister Heidi

she will be waiting by the gate when I fly in

I'm gonna fly across the ocean

just to stand beside my Chesapeake again

I'm goin' back where my garden blooms all year

Where the wintertime speaks softly in the fallin' rain

I'm goin' back to my green eyed lover there

and we will dance along the banks of the Chesapeake

yes, we will dance along the banks of the Chesapeake

we will dance along the banks of the Chesapeake

and here comes the plane

I can't wait to be home for fall and winter. I miss you.

Gee, so much is going on, too much to say, too public to say it all. I passed the Foreign Service Orals, moved to another part of Lome, the fancy part actually, where things like this happen in the wee hours of Easter barbeques. We didn't even hear the shots.

Togo leader's brother in shootout

A security raid on a house belonging to the brother of the Togolese president left at least two people dead and three others wounded, reports say.

A BBC reporter in Togo says security forces exchanged fire on Sunday night with troops loyal to the president's brother, Kpatcha Gnassingbe.

Following the shootout in a Lome suburb officials accused President Faure Gnassingbe's brother of coup plotting.

He denied the charges and said he was the victim of an assassination attempt.

Prosecutors said five senior military officers had been arrested.

Former Defence Minister Kpatcha Gnassingbe is now under house arrest.

He told the BBC that armed men in military uniform had turned up at his home spraying bullets at his bedroom and the bedrooms of his children during the gun battle, which lasted at least three hours.

President Gnassingbe, who was elected in 2005 during a vote which observers said was flawed, cancelled a foreign trip on Sunday after the shootout.

He became president after the death of his father, Togo's veteran leader Gnassingbe Eyadema in 2005.

(from BBC)

The weirder thing is no one here is talking about it. Like, at all. Ho-hum, just another day.

Did you know that there is a Hari Krishna temple down the road from my house? (Of course you don't, you don't live here, duh) I have never actually gotten the nerve to go and talk to them to simply ask "how in the heck did you people get here??". Then again, I have never heard the chanting or seen the yellow robes, so maybe it is a cover for something. Hmmmmm. . . .

Poll:

Should I go and see what is up? At least take some pictures with some Togolese Hari Krishnas? Let me know if anyone would find that remotely fascinating.

Quick post:

I leave for America in 8 days to take the Foreign Service Oral Exam, so consult the ancestors, burn some incense, or pray to your gods to send good fortune my way.

I am nervous as heck!

Peace out.

PS - KB keeps promising me that he will upload all of the pictures from South Africa and various other escapes of late. Hopefully I can post some soon.

Jim & friends,

I am so glad you brought up PETA because it remnds me of a story here that I otherwise might not have remembered to tell. In the village/town in which I used to live, Notse, I worked with a nice and sensitive man named Sylvan for an AIDS-awareness and cultural preservation youth group as well as his orphan-support NGO.

Sylvan had a regular job at the prefect's (local mayor, sort of) office and also had a peanut field which he cultivated himself and got single mothers to help harvest and they could keep half of what they harvested. He is a good and thoughtful man, anxious to help those less fortunate than he. He is also much more broad-minded than most Togolese I have had the pleasure to meet.

One day I invited Sylvan over for lunch -- a stew with rice, ginger, cabbage, carrots, and. . . chicken. Sylvan informed me that he was a vegetarian. I started laughing. First of all, I was blown away that he would even know that people in world WERE vegetarians, and secondly (and most importantly), this in a country where most people don't ever even SEE meat, and not for religious or moral reasons, but because they simply can not afford it. The diet consists of completely empty carbs in the form of a manioc-type tuber and cooked down okra and lots and lots of spicy peppers.

I asked Sylvan why in the world he would even dream of becoming a vegetarian. Well, somehow, somewhere he had watched a PETA DVD explaining the horrific process of animal farming and butchering -- in the western world. Here (and probably in a majority of the rest of the world), ALL chickens, goats, sheep, and cows are "free-range". Even in the capitol. Goats and chickens and sheep wander the streets. Somehow they know to which compund to return at night and all people know which animal belongs to whom. When it comes time for an animal to be killed, it is done with ceremony and a blood offering is given to the ancestors in the ground. I have killed chickens and pintades myself -- it is the only way to get fresh meat.

Even the smallest child knows the animal that dinner came from (not that a child would ever get meat anyway, or women either, for that matter) and that child probably also gutted, plucked, etc. happily fighting over the feet or some other delicacy.

I explained to Sylvan that in the West people buy their meat in plastic packages in the grocery store. No one has any contact or hand in the raising of that animal, and certainly not in the killing of it. It is not respected as a life-form, it is simply a commodity you pick up at the store when you stop in to grab your Lucky Charms.

Sylvan was not a wealthy or frivolous man. Honestly, though a full-grown man and strong, he needed the protein. Yeah, he ate his peanuts, but people here that aren't eating meat aren't exactly up to date on getting the right proportion of legumes and rice or whatever to make up the missing protein. I convinced him to drop the silly vegetarianism idea and if he was really concerned about his soul regarding animal treatment he should get people to stop throwing stones at dogs and start a rabies vaccination and spay and neuter campaign.

In summation, animal welfare concern with regard to killing for consumption and sacrifice is just plain silly here. When an animal is sacrificed, it is quickly killed with an expert slash across the throat and it's departing spirit is asked to send a message to the ancestors. It is thanked for it's assistance and for the sustenance it will soon provide. A sacrificed animal is eaten, whether by the preist conducting the sacrifice or by the person requesting the sacrifice.

I know in the United States and other little pockets of the western world where there are still vestiges of voodoo, organizations like PETA cry foul about animal cruelty, but in all honesty, to sacrifice an animal and then eat it is much less cruel than buying a chicken breast in the store.

All that being said, I am a carnivore. I eat foie gras and veal and lamb and sweetbreads and every other politically incorrect meat that has the poor judgement to wander my way.

I hope this message didn't come off as being aggressive, but I thought the Sylvan/PETA story was germane. I thought it truly was one of the most hilarious things I had ever heard here. And as for how that video even GOT here. . . This was taken 4th of July 2007, a month after arriving in country. We made fried chicken for our celebration. Killing the chicken for the 4th of July

"Free-range" sheep in NotseGratuitous picture of doing the hokey-pokey with kids in Badou

So I have been considering going to a feticheur and paying for a voodoo ceremony and a chicken to sacrifice, etc. etc. to give me a better chance to pass the Orals and beyond. I figure you only live in Togo once (OK, maybe not. I feel like I have been reincarnated here like 8 times already) and it will make a good story later on in life. I love learning about voodoo, so I figure I ought to put my money where my mouth is, you know?

The only concern is: once you do a ceremony and make a sacrifice, are you further beholden to the voodoo gods and therefore vulnerable in the future or can you go on your merry way?

Thoughts?

I got an update from Dr. Hahn, my former English professor at Towson. I helped him on a book (click the link to go to the publisher's page) when I went back to school and it is published! I'm in the acknowledgments and if anyone ever has any questions on British Naval poetry in the Napoleonic era then I am your girl:)

Will post later about the rest of South Africa and life in general, but found a new article on the Foreign Service. I hope this bodes well for my Orals in March. . .

December 21, 2008

Hiring Window Is Open at the Foreign Service

By EILENE ZIMMERMAN

A RARE bright spot has appeared in a job landscape dominated by layoffs: the Foreign Service.

For the last several years, hiring in the United States Foreign Service was minimal because of a lack of Congressional funding. In addition, war has created an urgent need for diplomatic personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, and as officers have moved to these countries their previous jobs have remained unfilled.

So, in the last several months — with a new president on the horizon and new funding from Congress — both the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development, or Usaid, are ramping back up.

A supplemental war funding bill, which became law in June, has provided money for Foreign Service hiring. And President-elect Barack Obama “has talked explicitly about the need to increase the Foreign Service and we hope he will make that a priority,” said John Naland, president of the American Foreign Service Association, the professional association and labor union representing career diplomats.

The State Department has asked for funding for 1,500 new positions for the current fiscal year. Of these, roughly 800 are Foreign Service and 700 civil service, said Luis Arreaga, director of recruitment, examination and employment at the department. Many of those positions are being filled because of attrition but about 160 are new. "We consider that a down payment,” said Mr. Arreaga.

Felix Salazar, hired as a junior officer by the State Department in September, said that during the interview process he felt “a sense of urgency, that they were actively hiring and really valued my experience.” Mr. Salazar, who spent three years in the Peace Corps, leaves in February for his first posting, in South Africa.

Not everyone is cut out for Foreign Service work, which can be stressful and highly demanding. About two-thirds of a diplomat’s career is spent overseas; officers usually move every two to four years and can be exposed to dangers like disease and war. The State Department offers a suitability quiz for prospective applicants on its Web site.

Yet career diplomats like Ronald E. Neumann, a former ambassador to Afghanistan who now heads the American Academy of Diplomacy, called it the best job in the world. “I enjoy what I’m doing now but it’s nothing like working on foreign policy,” he said. “In my 37 years of service I may have gone home tired or frustrated with how a decision came out, but I never went home and asked myself if what I was working on was worthwhile.”

Applying for a job with the State Department involves written and oral examinations. Those who pass the oral exam become conditional officers and receive a ranking score based on oral-exam performance and language skills. The higher the rank, the sooner they will be assigned.

Of the 12,000 to 15,000 people who register annually for the written exam, about 450 officers are hired, said Frank J. Coulter, management officer with the Foreign Service and a member of the State Department’s board of examiners.

The first time he took the written exam, Mr. Salazar failed, after running out of time during the essay portion. He was so determined to pass that he spent the next year writing an essay in 30 minutes every day. “When I took it the second time and got my results, it actually sent chills down my spine,” he said.

New Foreign Service officers at the State Department choose one of five career tracks: consular affairs, economic affairs, management affairs, political affairs or public diplomacy. No matter the track, all entry-level officers spend their first several years working in a consulate, interviewing applicants for United States visas and working with American citizens who need their help.

The State Department also hires Foreign Service specialists, who provide technical, security and administrative support overseas or in Washington. Specialists must pass an oral assessment but not a written exam, and start in a specialty like medicine, information technology or law enforcement, Mr. Coulter said. All newly hired officers and specialists are trained at the Foreign Service Institute in Washington.

Each of the first two postings overseas last two years; after that, it is generally a three-year posting in each country. One-year hardship postings — in a region too dangerous to allow an officer’s spouse and children to accompany him or her — are required at least twice in the course of a career. After two assignments, Foreign Service personnel can bid on postings — requesting particular countries or Washington — but everyone is expected to serve in a variety of assignments, Mr. Arreaga said.

Usaid’s entry-level Foreign Service officers must have a master’s degree in an appropriate technical area, like economics, agriculture, public health or education. The average Usaid entry-level officer has four years of relevant experience; many come from the Peace Corps, but others have worked for nongovernmental organizations, in private industry or the military.

Thousands apply to Usaid each year and about 1 in 20 will be called for an interview, said Susan Riley, Usaid’s chief of Foreign Service personnel.

Foreign Service officers with Usaid work on a range of projects, like assisting farmers in developing countries or working in programs to reduce the prevalence of diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Last year, the agency kicked off its Development Leadership Initiative, a recruitment effort to hire more than 1,000 Foreign Service officers in the next two years. “This is the most that we’ve planned to hire above attrition in 15 years,” Ms. Riley said.

THE base salary for entry-level Foreign Service officers ranges from about $40,000 to $72,000 annually, but compensation can increase depending on the danger level of the posting and on a region’s cost of living.

For Foreign Service specialists, the salary range is anywhere from about $26,500 to more than $100,000; for civil service employees at Usaid, the salary ranges from $16,500 to over $100,000. Overseas benefits include housing and private school for dependent children.

Many of those choosing Foreign Service work do so out of a dedication to public service and see it as not just a career, but also a way of life.

Salman Khalil, hired in May, took a 50 percent cut in take-home pay to join the Foreign Service after a decade in the I.T. industry. Any day now he will leave for his first assignment, in India. “In my I.T. profession I was helping big companies make more money and it wasn’t satisfying for me,” he said. “What I wanted to do was serve in a capacity where I could directly help people.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: December 28, 2008 An article last Sunday about renewed hiring in the Foreign Service referred incompletely to one of five career tracks that new Foreign Service officers at the State Department can choose. It is public diplomacy — which involves working with the media and foreign audiences to promote understanding — not diplomacy.

Just a few pix from Mammoth Cave Kentucky - it is the longest cave system in the world, but since it is dark in there, well, there aren't a lot of pictures:)

Today - time for a haircut! The last several have been done with a Swiss Army Knife, so I think whoever the lucky stylist is may be in for a surprise.

Last night, not a glass of wine, but the champagne of beers (sorry Dad, raided the fridge and that was what was there) and movie! For the American readers, this may not sound very exciting, but trust me, these are special times.

This morning there were two crabs in the trap. Lunch coming right up!

Yeeehaaawww!! Made it to Harford County, got my old number hooked up (410.948.0464), ate mozzarella sticks & jalapeno poppers & went to Blockbuster. Gonna hang on the river, maybe have a glass of wine, and watch the herons, eagles, gulls, and hawks wheel around the sky. The roses and all of the flowers are blooming all over the yard, the weather is perfect and the air is fresh and American. I am one happy Marylander right now. I think I will find some good Maryland corn and crabs on the side of the road tomorrow and steam them for lunch. All by myself.

Yum.

PS - I just found out I passed the Foreign Service Written Exam today. Now I wait until December to see if I am invited to take the Oral Exam. Kind of exciting all around. Some days it is simply good to be an American in America. Today is one of them.

Yesterday we rented a convertible clown car and drove over 300k to a village outside of Poitiers to visit a friend of Kevin's family. Most of the trip was on the A10 (holy expensive tolls!) passing all of the tantalizing signs for the sights of the Loire Valley before entering into Poitou-Charentes. Sister/Mother Mary-Jean is a nun who lives in France and was visiting her sister and family on their estate. The family was lovely and welcoming and the house was absolutely beautiful. Kevin was able to bring messages of love from his Mom to Sister Mary-Jean and taped a video message. I know this means a lot to them and I was lucky to be a part of it.

We were also able to stop at Villandry, my favorite gardens

Kevin & I in the clown car outside Sister Mary-Jean's family home

Sister Mary-Jean's family's homeThere were fields of sunflowers everywhere -- miles upon milesFrench countryside

Paris is amazing (well, duh!). And FREEZING! I have had to buy two pairs of tights, a sweater, and a coat.Kevin has been updating his blog with pictures and stuff. He is more diligent than I. Check here: http://www.projectkb.blogspot.com/

Went to Laon yesterday, a town about 2 hours north of Paris. It was lovely:On the train Laon viewLaon view In the cemetary

Cracking up and falling to the ground Kevin and the cathedral

Back down the hill and celebrating Back in Paris, tired & celebrating with grodey shot

I had to say goodbye to one of my closest friends in country a few weeks ago, and now I have to say goodbye to another today. Four of us came in together and have been close friends since almost the beginning. A tribute to the now disbanded Pi-Pis. I will love always love you (at least more than Celine Dion). OK, that wasn't fair: more than Togo. Ok, ok: more than mozzarella sticks.

Young & naive: Teaching Togolese children how to smear fireflies on your your skin and other PETA-riffic activities Aren't we bien-integre?

With one in Oregon, one in Florida, me in Maryland, and the other remainer in Chicago, it will be a long time until we are together again. Ladies, you mean more to me than you will ever know.

See article below. I happen to live on the Route Nationale, the only highway in Togo. The one cut off from the capitol. The 100 km detour the giants semis are taking, yeah well, there is a tiny dirt track that cuts through my town and goes 51 km to the secondary highway that one can then take to the capitol. Imagine, semis laden Africa-style with literally all of the goods coming to and from not just Togo, but all of Burkina Faso as well add mud, lots of mud. They get a few km and tip over, it takes hours to get them out and there are hulks just sitting at the side of the path (for that truly is what is, usually used only by bicycles and motorcycles and people walking). The villages along this little-used track are freaking blown away. They have never seen so much activity. It took several interesting hours to travel 51km and all of my freshly-scrubbed ready for France luggage, etc. is COVERED in dirt. One good thing is the corn has been harvested and dried in whole area so the increase in traffic allows these people to sell their corn much more quickly and at better prices. A bowl of corn has gone from around less than $1 to over $3 because farmers can't get their product to market.

Not sure if it is good or bad that I am leaving right now, but I do know I don't want to make that trip again any time soon.

Oh, and the government said the bridges won't be fixed until around December/January. Gravy.

France assists Togo after floods kill 9, cut roads

Sat 2 Aug 2008, 13:41 GMT

By John Zodzi

LOME (Reuters) - French soldiers have been dispatched to Togo to help the tiny West African nation tackle floods that have killed nine people this week, destroyed bridges and raised some food prices due to disrupted transport.

No estimate has been given yet on the financial scale of the damage but one immediate impact was an increase in the cost of maize -- already high from the global food and fuel crisis -- as some agricultural areas are cut off from consumers.

"We have today nine victims and nine bridges down," Celestin Ekpaou Talaki, Togo's minister for public works, transport and town planning, told state television late on Friday.

The French soldiers from a peacekeeping mission in nearby Ivory Coast will repair a bridge north of the capital which has been destroyed, shutting down country's main highway, an official in the prime minister's office said.

The floods were caused by unexpected heavy rains in Togo's south, which have swollen the Hao and Zio rivers north of Lome.

On top of the roads, several sections of railway have been cut off.

Donors have held crisis meetings with the government and Togo's development minister said a way must be found to help the "thousands of people who are stuck in their homes".

Assistance from France comes after Togo's army began helping deliver food and non-food items to those in need.

Neighbouring Ghana has also offered military assistance.

Until the French engineers can help re-open the main artery to the north, transporters serving Sahel countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali will have to make a 100 km detour.

Escalating global food and fuel costs are hitting Africa's poor particularly hard as these goods make up a greater proportion of incomes than in other parts of the world.

A Reuters witness in Lome said the impact of the floods could already be seen in the markets, where the price of a cup of maize had nearly doubled, rising to 1,400 CFA francs from 850 CFA francs just three days earlier.

Plans are underway for the grand trip to USA & France! I will be in Paris from August 9-17, DC 8/18-22, Kentucky/Ohio 8/23-28, AND Maryland 8/29 to 9/14 then back to Togo on the 20th. Please email me if you want to get together and hopefully I will have a cell number to give you for the States.

Termites: Free

Roasting of termites: a little charcoal and patience

Pleasure of exacting revenge on nasty flying creatures that invade your bedroom by the thousands

Termites collected from the yard and salted and roasted.