The past six months have flown by far faster than I would have imagined. When I arrived, I was unsure of myself and the direction I was headed in – I made a few acquaintances and learned to cope with it. I got over the worst of it – those first few weeks, where every day is a huge drain, you’re struggling to keep your head above water, and stave off loneliness and despair. It eventually ebbs, things come around and start to feel normal, and eventually start looking up.
My classmates became my friends. With some of them, such a rapport developed to rival longstanding friendships I’ve had back home. I learned to thoroughly enjoy the life in limbo characterized the time spent in D.C. at FSI. Though the apartment I lived in never felt like a home, the companionship I found helped to bridge that gap. I will cherish many of the connections I made, and the people I met during this time. As my impending departure loomed ever closer, I found myself wishing I had more time to spend with these individuals.
Leaving a place is never easy. Abandoning the routine for the unknown puts me ill at ease. Some people find this exciting, but for me, it was terrifying. Ironically, I felt the same way about downhill skiing when I first tried it a few years, and now I really enjoy it. One less thing I’ll be doing in Cairo, but I hear they have an indoor ski slope. Anyway, I digress…
The last few weeks have been spent checking off some of the final things on the to-do list. I attended FACT, which would make for a great blog entry of it’s own, but is probably best left as something experienced, rather than documented. A few other gap days and seminars, and you’ll find yourself running around on your consult days getting all you’re pre-departure work done, wondering where the time has gone.
Departure from the US to your first assignment involves a long laundry list of checkout and preparation activities that one has to muddle through first, and not all of it is straightforward. There are some pretty good resources that will guide people most of the way, or help them make a through-looking departure checklist, but I haven’t found a complete or definitive departure guide. By the time you’re thinking about checking out, you’ve hopefully already taken care of your shots, travel arrangements, and visa. On top of this comes transferring accounts, final checkout procedures, returning equipment, coordinating with the gaining post, and a whole host of other activities. On the personal side, you’re probably already freaking out about packout, packing, family stuff, pets, checking out of accommodations, and any number of other things. The good news is that this all happens surprisingly fast, and once you get on that plane, it all becomes much easier and those responsibilities take a backseat to the reality that you’re finally heading to post.
Things in the State Department seem to move at glacial paces at times, yet they also happen surprisingly quickly when they want to. Such was the case with my initial orders to D.C., which arrived only a day or so before my scheduled flight. This time around things