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So it begins...

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I made it! And, it really feels so great to finally say it.  Having started my application process in the early spring of 2019 this wait has felt like an eternity. At certain points, I felt my coworkers, friends, family, and even myself begin to question the legitimacy of my conditional offer and the waitlist for a training date.  In actuality my story is not that unique. From what I understand, the average turn around time from application submission to the start of training is between one and three years. This may seem like a shockingly long time but after you consider all the work and multilevel intricacies of the hiring process it becomes more clear. Where my story (and that of my new coworkers) is unique is that we made it. Countless people try for years to join this organization. Some need to take the exam or interview multiple times to receive an offer, some timeout on the waitlist, and the vast majority never even make it that far.  Needless to say, I feel very fortunate to be
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Next stop Dhaka

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My orientation to the Department has been completed and with it came my first tour assignment, U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh.  For those not as familiar with its geography, the country is located in South Asia to the east of India (well technically to the east, south, and west of India). To provide a better picture and not force you to open a Google search here is a detailed image from Encyclopedia Britannica. I must admit that I was not hoping to get sent so far away from the US on my first tour. Traveling to the other side of the world was a non-starter of our two elderly dogs and with it Michelle.  We have talked it over since receiving this news and will have to adjust to some new life style choices as Michelle bounces back and forth between Texas and Dhaka every few months. I sadly also have to accept I likely will not get to spend the final years with our dogs.  So is the cost one must pay. 
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First Visitors & Thanksgiving

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As the weather cools, the leaves are beginning to turn shades of yellow, red, and brown in D.C. and with it the smell of hot trash seems to dissipate from the city streets. Though unbeknownst to me, trees at the neighboring fraternity house drop their ripened fruit during this very same season fermenting and rotting upon the pavement giving birth to new more unpleasant smells. Would it be too much to ask for the pledges to clean the yards and sidewalks? Fortunately, my parents came to visit and helped stave off the seasonal depression that is supposedly triggered from the darkness of midnight occurring at 5pm and the bout of homesickness that is currently setting in.  I must admit I did not foresee myself having this issue as I have never experienced the longing to be back in my own home. But it is happening nonetheless. Even when we spent a month in Canada I never felt the urge to return home. Maybe that is part of the issue though. I always knew the return home date. Now I know that
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