First, I went for training to Johannesburg, South Africa. I arrived on a Sunday, was in training all day from Monday to Friday, and then left on Saturday. So I don't think I can fairly create my usual list of top thoughts. But I can tell you a few things. Here are some random thoughts:
- Johannesburg is clean, and the roads are great.
- Food and drink are cheap. Both in Restaurants and at the supermarket. Two guys in my class and I went out for dinner every night, and never paid more that $20 per person, and we did not hold back. Full entrees, wine, beer, etc.
- The weather was so great - 70's and sunny. No Haboobs.
- I went to a wild animal park, but I cant say I really liked it. These are captive animals, even if I am in a caged vehicle, and they "appear" to be free to roam, they re not.
The highlight of the trip was the supermarket. I stocked up on high quality, inexpensive beef, pork and cheese. I brought it all back to my hotel and asked them to hold it for me in their freezer. On my last day, I bought a cooler, filled it with the frozen food, went to the airport, and I checked it as luggage.
I once heard that you are not a real Foreign Service Officer until you have lugged a cooler full of food through an airport. I can now check off that box.
Next, Carole and I went to Oman for a long weekend. We spent the most of our time at a very nice resort called the Shangra La. Again, my visit was too short and limited to give a list of my thoughts. I will tell you that Oman has a very stark beauty to it, The kind you only get in the desert.
I can also tell you that in the past, Carole and I have never thought of ourselves as the kinds of people to do the "lounge around the pool" type of vacation. Evidently, that's changing.
The final country we visited recently was...The United States of America! We went back for a sad reason, the passing of Carole's mother. We ended up back for a little over two weeks, and so now I can give you my thoughts after having spent almost a year out of the country. So here they are in no particular order:
I once heard that you are not a real Foreign Service Officer until you have lugged a cooler full of food through an airport. I can now check off that box.
Next, Carole and I went to Oman for a long weekend. We spent the most of our time at a very nice resort called the Shangra La. Again, my visit was too short and limited to give a list of my thoughts. I will tell you that Oman has a very stark beauty to it, The kind you only get in the desert.
I can also tell you that in the past, Carole and I have never thought of ourselves as the kinds of people to do the "lounge around the pool" type of vacation. Evidently, that's changing.
The final country we visited recently was...The United States of America! We went back for a sad reason, the passing of Carole's mother. We ended up back for a little over two weeks, and so now I can give you my thoughts after having spent almost a year out of the country. So here they are in no particular order:
- Its green! Trees and grass everywhere!
- Its clean. You have no idea how clean America is until you have lived in a place like Sudan.
- Food and drink, Going back to our favorite places and trying new beers is an unbelievable luxury.
- Being homeless is weird. Having sold our house, from now on when we visit, it will be a combination of staying in hotels, and with friends and family. Over the course of our visit, we stayed in 2 hotels, and 3 different homes.
- Family and Friends: Meeting up and catching up is another unbelievable luxury.
- Poker! I managed to get a game is with my old poker buddies. (thanks again, Gus!) I have not been able to get a regular game going over here.
- Bagels. OMG! They are soooo goood back home.
- Its a small world - Two Canadian friends from Khartoum were going to the east coast for a wedding and we gave them some advice on where to go. With our unexpected trip, it turns out I ended up meeting up with them in Connecticut!
- It was relaxing. Living abroad has all kinds of stress. On a day to day basis, you might not even notice it. But once we were home, you can feel it lift.
