The National Museum

Thomas Hoving, the former head of the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York, once wrote about a game he plays when he goes to a museum.  He makes a list of the 5 objects he would steal if he could.

Today we visited the Sudan National Museum, so I present to you, the 5 objects I would steal,

These statues are about 20 feet tall.  Those are air conditioning units near their feet, which is why I am pretty sure these are the ancient goods of A/C.

Part of Sudan was called Nubia in ancient times.  Sometimes the Egyptians conquered them, sometimes they conquered the Egyptians.  Either way, there was a lot of overlap between teh cultures.  This statue was less than a foot tall, and was especially well preserved..  

This tablet looked a little like a tombstone.  It was covered in art and hieroglyphics.  The detail work was incredible.

This sphinx had what looks like a vase between his paws.  It seamed like a good item to have by my door, and I can put my keys in it. 

This is the wall of a temple that they moved to the museum.  That paint is 3,500 years old.  

Cash

You have heard of the cashless society?  Sudan is the opposite.  Because some of the most severe economic sanctions in the world, you cannot use credit cards here.  So everything is cash.

Every time you go to a restaurant or  grocery store, you need to be sure you have enough money on you.  For us, that's a little unnerving.  Back home, we used credit cards all the time, and hardly carried cash.  I could literally go weeks or months with out visiting an ATM.

And to make it worse, we can't use ATMs because of the sanctions.  So when we need cash, we need to go to the cashier at the embassy and write a check.  Which takes planning.

I miss credit cards.

We have arrived in Sudan

I have been way behind in blogging, so let me catch up from where I left off.

So we were in Washington, D.C. ...yada...yada...yada.. we arrived in Khartoum.

I may have glossed over a couple of details.  So lets pick up our story at the airport.

We departed Dulles at about 11 AM on a Wednesday, and flew direct to Addis Ababa,  The flight was about 13 hours, and we had exit row seats, so it was way better leg room than usual.  When we took our seats, we noticed that the guy sitting next to us had a Diplomatic Passport like ours.  It turns out he was a Political Officer heading to Juba, South Sudan.  Small world.

In Addis, after a short lay over, we headed to Khartoum.  A short 2 hour flight, and we arrived at about 11 AM local time on Thursday.  When we travel, the embassy hires a local "fixer."  His job was to get us through immigration and customs.  We even got to use a special line for diplomats.  Very Cool.

Then came the luggage.  We have always prided ourselves on traveling light.  But traveling for vacation and traveling for relocation are two very different things.  We had 7 bags, plus carry on.  And this is the stuff that we will live on until our shipments arrive from the US.

Once we were past security, we were met by our sponsors, and one of my coworkers.  Once you are assigned to a post, the embassy assigns a sponsor.  This person is supposed to help you get acclimated.  Our sponsors are a couple, Suzette and Chris.  They have been great.  We sent them a package with a few things we wanted in the house when we got there.  They also made sure there was a meal we could reheat in our fridge.

We were also met by Scott, who works in my department in the embassy.  I have met him back in DC, and he has been very helpful in getting me up to speed at work.

We went straight our humble home.  And by humble I mean HUGE!.  I am sure this will be the subject of another blog post in the future, so for now I will just say we have 5 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, multiple living rooms and balconies, etc.  Wow!

After unpacking and a nap, we headed to the embassy for the Thursday night happy hour.  Embassies use the same work week as their host government, so we work the Muslin Sunday to Thursday week.  Thursday night is our new Friday.

Soon we were ready for bed.  Luck for us, we arrived at the weekend, so we had two full days to recover.  By the time Sunday (our new Monday) rolled around, we were pretty much recovered from jet lag.

Memorial Day 2015

There is always a lot to do in Washington, especially on a national holiday.

It started on Friday with a free jazz concert in the National Sculpture Garden.  This was not an actual Memorial Day event - they have one very Friday in the summer.  But it was great kick off to the weekend.  The weather was great, and we had a pitcher of sangria while we listened.

Saturday was Thomas Jefferson day for us.  We took a ride to Jefferson's home, Monticello.  Over the years, we have been to many historic and impressive mansions - Newport, The White House, Mount Vernon, The Hearst Mansion, etc.  I have decided that Monticello Is my favorite, my dream home.  It was not large for a man of Jefferson's stature. But its layout and furnishings was somehow just right.  Someday when I retire I will build a home just like it.

On Sunday, we took a walk to watch Rolling Thunder.  Every year, thousands of veterans who are also bikers gather at the Pentagon, and ride into Washington and drive a lap around the Mall.  The ride itself takes an individual biker about 15-30 minutes.  But there are so many riders, it takes hours for them to empty the parking lots. If you stand in one spot, the motorcycles just keep coming and coming.  And many of them are flying flags and patriotic messages.  Its really quit impressive.

We then went home and rested up for a couple hours, and took some sandwiches down to the capital and waited for the Memorial Day Concert.  We got great seats, Some of the concert was tug-at-your-heart stories of wounded soldiers, or families coping with loss.  It was very moving.

On Monday, Memorial Day, we went to Arlington Cemetery to see the President.  To get there from our apartment, we walk right past the Marine Corp Memorial.  That is very moving.  Then we enter the back gate the the cemetery.  It is row upon row of simple white tomb stones, all with a flag for the holiday.  We took the tram from the visitor's center to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where the President would perform the traditional wreath laying.  It was so crowded, there was no chance we would see anything there.  So we waited instead in the Amphitheater behind the Tomb.  It was stand room only, but we ended up in a great spot in the shade, with a good view of the podium.  While we waited, the President's Own, the Marine Corp band played.  The President came in, and gave his speech as part of very nice ceremony.

We then capped it all off with a parade.  Marching bands, veterans groups, active duty soldiers and flags.  Lots and lots of flags.

On Tuesday I went back to work because I needed a rest.

Living in DC

Living down here in the DC area has been great for us.  DC offers a ton to do, often for free.

First is the monuments.  If you start at the Washington Monument, its a great walk to go to the World War II memorial, the Viet Nam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial,  The Korean War Memorial, the Martin Luther King Memorial, the FDR memorial and end at the Jefferson Memorial.  If you simply are walking, you can do that in an hour.  If you want to linger, and read the inscriptions and really experience them, give yourself 4 hours.

The National Mall is a great open space that spans from the Lincoln Memorial all to way the the Capital building.  Its a great place to walk or jog.  People use the Mall for sports, picnics, and just about anything else.  Through out the year, there are events on the mall with food and entertainment. 

In the past, the Capitol Dome was spectacular, looming over the Mall.  But for the next couple of years, it is being restored, so it is covered in scaffolding. 

The Mall is lined with several of the Smithsonian Museums.  These are some of the best Museums in the world, and they are all free.  Depending on how interested you are in the subject, each one can take a full day.

The hidden gem of Washington to me is the Library of Congress.  The out side of the building is impressive, but inside is even better.  The walls are covered with art, quotes, statues, etc.  They have a Gutenberg Bible in the lobby,  There are rotating exhibits from the library collection.

While we are loving Washington, we are living like tourists.  The people who actually live here are not nearly as enthusiastic.  The cost of living is very high, and the traffic is awful.

Someday, we might be jaded to the city, but for now, it is a blast.

Diplomatic Passports

Last week, we had a milestone in our journey.  We were issued our diplomatic passports.

The Department of State is tight with these documents.  I had to apply for it.  In order to get one, you must already have a regular passport, plus you need to show you have a need for a diplomatic passport.  For me, that meant giving them a form that shows I have been assigned to a foreign country.

Having a diplomatic passport sounds better than it really is.  At some airports, there is a separate, shorter line to enter the country.  Aside from that, I don't really get any special privileges.  Diplomatic immunity is way overblown.  If I do anything so bad that I need it, the US has the option to wave it and let me be prosecuted.  Or they can bring me home and fire me.  The point is, its not something anyone should count on.

Even with a diplomatic passport, I still need to follow the visa requirements any country I go to.  Sudan requires you apply for a visa here in the U.S., not at the airport in Khartoum.  So Carole and I filled out our applications, and gave then to the Sudan Desk at the State Department.  They drafted a cover letter and gave it back to us.  Today Carole dropped it off at the Sudanese Embassy.  Now we wait.  In a month or two, they will tell us our visas are ready.  We will need to visit them again, and have them stamp our passports.  Only then can we travel to post.

I spoke to someone who is on Secretary Kerry's advance team.  Those people have 3 or 4 passports, so they can be traveling on one while the others are getting stamped by the embassy's of countries they will be visiting soon.

All that said, it still feels cool to have a Diplomatic Passport.

Catching Up

This weekend, we made a quick trip up to Connecticut.  After talking to lots of family and friends, I learned something.  People want me to blog more often.  You start a blog full of typos, spelling errors, and grammar mistakes, and people just want more.  Who knew?

Since the last time I blogged, the big news is:

We are going to Khartoum, Sudan! 

It will be a challenging post, but we are up for it.  And there are some benefits to this post.  For example, the R&R's.  When you live in a hardship post, the State Department provides you with a certain number of Rest and Relaxation trips.  They give you a round trip airline ticket to a more hospitable city, and you can either go to that city, or someplace of your own choosing for an equivalent cost.  For Khartoum, the city is London.  We can fly to London, or go someplace else.  If the fight is cheaper than London, its paid for.  If its more expensive, we pay the difference.

During a two year posting, and typical hardship post will get one R&R.  Posts that are harder get more R&R's.  Khartoum get four.  That is 4 more opportunities to see new parts of the world! Yea!!!

We will leave for Sudan in August, but until then, we have lots keeping us busy.  I completed my orientation in April, and was sworn in as a Foreign Service Specialist, and then I started my training.  Lots of classes about various aspects of doing the job of Information Management Specialist.

Outside of work, we are still enjoying living in the D.C. area.  We are still enjoying acting like tourists, seeing the sights, visiting the museums, and generally enjoying everything we can do down here.  Plus we have been meeting up with friends and family in the area. 

All this activity is why I have a been a little lax on the blog postings.  But now I know:  My public demands more than short Facebook status updates.  I will endeavor to do better in the future.