Yeah, I know, it’s been a very long time since I wrote anything here.  Been having a hard time with a couple of things, which I won’t go into here any more than to say that I’m pretty sure my toothpick was broken and/or faulty.  But there are some updates…

My husband’s parents have been here for the past 3 weeks, and we’ve been having a good time showing them just how different Mumbai is from what they thought they knew of India.  They came together with his sister and spent some time in Mumbai with us, we all had Thanksgiving together, then they headed off to Calcutta to visit some extended family.  After that, the sister flew back to the States and the parents came back to Mumbai for a few days, then we sent them off to the middle of the state of Maharashtra to see the Ajanta and Ellora caves (which they LOVED, as did we when we went).  They’ve been in Mumbai again for the past couple of days, and are taking off tonight.  It’s been fun having them around, going shopping and driving the guys crazy with it, and showing them some things about the country of their birth that they may not have seen before.  Also: my husband has been super-thrilled to see his parents after so long apart from them.  Thrilled husbands are a nice thing to have around.

On the horizon:  I’m going HOME for Christmas!  I’m really, really looking forward to it.  I’ve been needing a good dose of the Pacific Northwest for a while now.  I’ll get to hang out with some long-time friends, and even meet the 1-yr-old daughter of one of them for the very first time, see my cat and my mom’s neurotic-but-sweet dog, and generally relax.  I’ll also probably be wrapped in about six layers of fleece, heavy sweaters, blankets, comforters, and probably some hats – I’m afraid living so long in Bombay has made me weak and I’ll be one of “those” people who come from hot places and are constantly complaining they’re cold!    Should be a sight to see.

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years already.  I still remember sitting there on the floor in front of the television with my mouth hanging open, thinking, “But this is impossible!”  Just a few short years before, I’d experienced first-hand the very real and very strict division between East Germany and West Germany when my family went on a picnic in woods overlooking the huge no-man’s-land between the two – we got chased off by guys with large guns.  This?  This was inconceivable.  Still kind of is.  What a great day that was.

A few of my friends are fond of doing the occasional “day in the life” post.  Yesterday was a pretty unusual day, but most of my days aren’t worthy of actually sharing here anyway.  So without further ado…

0730 – Wake up to use the restroom.  Nervous about this bidding thing, so stay awake to check my email.  Email has a message that may point toward possible good news, but I won’t know for a few more days.

0745 – Decide to go back to bed and sleep in a little.

0815 – Still lying in bed wide awake, thinking about what that email might mean.

0830 – Give up and get out of bed.  Get onto the internet to see if anything’s going on in the world.  Read interesting article about an old map.  Give my husband a kiss as he heads off to the gym.

0900 – Realize I am hungry and haven’t had breakfast.  Go to the fridge and stare at it for a couple of minutes.  My normal breakfast (yogurt) doesn’t sound good today.  What does sound good: the yummy, super-meaty pasta sauce I made Thursday night with plenty of red wine in it.  Spoon plus leftover pasta meat sauce equals breakfast.

0930 – Pick up a “fluff” book and read for a while.  Have to wait to take a shower because the municipal authorities are doing some work on the water supply lines and have said there will be no water until 10:00AM.

1015 – Shower.  Talk to my husband as he comes home from the gym and gets cleaned up.  Start to get ready for work (yes, work on a Saturday – as I mentioned, a bit of an unusual day).

1115 – Gather my halloween costume components; put those and my husband’s halloween costume components together in a bag to take with us to south Mumbai.

1140 – Leave to catch a taxi to south Mumbai.

1245 – Arrive in south Mumbai.  Touch base with my USSS contact running the show at the Taj Mahal Hotel.  Go with my husband to Indigo Deli for some good food for lunch.

1345 – Back at the Taj Hotel, husband goes off elsewhere.  Touch base again, set up camp in the lobby.  Send a few emails/text messages back and forth to people coordinating things, and field a few phone calls.

1420 – G.W. Bush and his team arrive at the hotel.  Greet and touch base with his staff, make sure everything’s squared away with their arrangements.  Spend the next several hours chasing down bits of information, chasing down people’s passports to prepare for the next morning’s departure, and passing messages between various individuals.  Meet Mr. Prem Watsa, dubbed “the Warren Buffett of Canada” – super-nice guy.

1830 – The CG (guy who heads up our operation in Mumbai) arrives.  Connect him with Bush’s Chief of Staff, sit with the two of them for a while before going upstairs together.

1900 – Arrive at G. W. Bush’s suite.  My original plan is to hang out in the hallway while the boss-man goes in to have his chat.  This plan goes out the window as I am ushered inside.  Sit down in on a couch in front of a coffee table that is literally covered with fruits, chocolates, flowers, etc – all seemingly provided by the hotel, and all untouched.  GWB originally assumes I am the CG’s wife (whoa!) and is quickly disabused of that notion.  He really doesn’t have much (read: anything) to say when he asks where I’m from and I say “Seattle.”  Has plenty to say when the CG says Oklahoma is his home.  All in all, the chat goes well – it turns out Bush is pretty personable in person (no great revelation here), and no political-type subjects are discussed.

1930 – CG wants to get a photo with Bush, as do a few other consulate staff who were instrumental in organizing the visit.  Bush comes out of the suite on his way to the evening event, stops for these few photos in the hallway.  Again, he’s pretty personable and asks the staff their names.  Again, my plan is to hang out by the elevator waiting for the CG to have his photo done.  Again, this plan goes out the window when Bush looks straight at me and beckons me over – so there’s a photo out there somewhere.

1945 – My role with the Bush visit is pretty much finished, so I see the CG off into his vehicle to go back home, touch base with my security-type colleagues and Bush’s staff people, make sure everybody knows the arrangements for the crack-of-dawn departure the next morning, and leave.

2010 – Arrive at the consulate-owned apartment building after my most quintessentially South-Bombay-rich-snob-esque taxi ride yet (Taj Mahal Hotel to Altamont Road).  My husband meets me with a plate of pizza (homemade by a friend/colleague) because I’m now starving again.

2030 – Join the consulate Halloween party after going downstairs to a friend’s apartment and changing into my cobbled-together costume.  Several hours of partying ensue.

0130 – Help to usher out the last few Halloween party guests.  Spend some serious time bringing glasses, bottles, cups, etc back from outside to the bar area.

0230 – My husband and I lock up the bar, go back downstairs and try to keep quiet in our friend’s living room while changing out of our costumes, then catch a cab back home.

0315 – Upon arriving home, realize I’m hungry again.  Again with the spoon and the meaty tomato sauce.  Yum.

0325 – Collapse into bed.

It was a rather extraordinary day, and I’m glad it’s finished.  The visit has been occupying a lot of my time over the past couple weeks, and my husband was in charge of setting up and running the Halloween party (which, incidentally, had a guest list of about 600 people – thank goodness not all of them actually came!) which had him pretty stressed as well.  Today, I’m trying to do as little as possible.  Aahhh, Sundays.

This is a good one.  For those (admittedly few) of you who know/recall what I wrote my master’s thesis on, you can imagine my reaction to this news story.  Ah, Maldives!

It seems, in the space of about one month, I’ve seen two of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World – in fact, from what I’ve read, these two are just about the only ones that appear on every variation of that list.  As it turns out, I may now be more than halfway to seeing all seven on that list.  Who knew?

As I mentioned in my previous entry, Nepal was beautiful.  The people were welcoming, the scenery was gorgeous… it all just kind of fell into place.  It was a marvelous experience (really: I marvel at it).  It’s definitely on my list of places I should get back to and spend some more time.

Without further ado, here are some photos…

Not enough photos for you?  Never fear, there are more here.  Hopefully, I’ll get back to Nepal at some point and do it right, getting out of the Kathmandu valley and doing some real hiking/trekking.  For now, though, this was a great short escape.

That is the best word I’ve found to describe what we’ve seen in Nepal so far (in my whole 1.5 days of being here).  Even in the capital city, they seem to live very close to the land.  It’s not one of those places that puts a fake, dressed-up “face” on things – what you see is what you get, and they’re fine with that.  People who ask you where you’re from are actually curious about where you’re from, not trying to find a way to swindle you.  Kids who ask you to take their photo are actually excited about getting their picture taken, rather than trying to find a way to make a quick buck.  Also: unlike the part of India where we live, they have preserved the evidence of their past and can readily talk about their long, long history.  And they’ve got some really great scenery.  It’s not a wealthy country, but most of the people we’ve come into contact with seem welcoming, honest, and overwhelmingly – even fiercely – proud of their country.  Yes, it’s a remarkable place – and we’re enjoying it.

I’ve talked earlier about this whole bidding mess that we have to do as Foreign Service officers.  You know, the thing where every couple of years (or thereabouts) you have to fight, scratch, kick, bite, beg, borrow, and steal to try to get an onward assignment to someplace (or to do something) you might actually enjoy or find interesting.  I haven’t had any luck on that yet.  Sure, Korea had its interesting bits, and India has as well, but both places (and job roles) have been, shall we say, not my first choice.

This time around, with everything based on who you know and whether they can exert the right pressure on the right person in a decision-making position, I feel like I’m at a distinct disadvantage.  I wasn’t able to get the types of assignments I needed the first two times around, and thus I haven’t had a chance to make the necessary connections within the parts of the organization I’d actually like to work in.  You’ve all probably heard the adage about bringing a knife to a gun-fight.  Well, this is the Foreign Service, so maybe it’s more like a sword fight (let’s face it, there might be blood, but nobody’s going to get shot and die).  And to this sword fight, yours truly has brought a toothpick.

I kind of just want this whole process to be over, though.  I’m tired of my stomach being tied in knots, being unable to sleep well, coming up with ridiculous strategies/ideas, lying in bed wide awake wondering whether I should send Person X another email to remind him/her of my existence, etc, etc.  Maybe I should just find a rock to crawl under.  Wake me when it’s over.  I’ll surrender my toothpick if you promise not to maim me.

Sorry it took me a while to post this, but just look…

Sydney's Opera House at Night

Sunset behind the Sydney skyline. Our ferry coming back from one of Sydney's beach areas had pretty good timing.

Two random people, sunset, Sydney's Harbor Bridge. They look happy.

Saltwater crocodile among the mangroves, Port Douglas.

Catamaran at sunset in Port Douglas

Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas, aka the beach that almost killed me. Let's just say there weren't the nice fluffy clouds the first time we walked ALL THE WAY down the beach and back, including the little hidden 1-km beach cove at the far end, wading half the time, having sunscreen-less legs. Yeah, I couldn't walk for a couple days.

Beach at Cape Tribulation. It's as far north as you can drive without 4-wheel drive and one of those snorkel-type thingies on your car. Rainforest, untouched beach, gorgeousness.

Inside a hollow tree in the Daintree/Cape Tribulation rainforest. They say it's the oldest rainforest in the world (no super-huge trees though, as there was also a whole lot of logging going on here in years past).

The Daintree River as it meets the sea. The slogan of this region is "where the rainforest meets the reef." It's gorgeous.

This one, taken at sunset on our last day, says it all. Peaceful, crazily gorgeous, clean (the water, the air, the land, even the food), not overpopulated, calm, restorative, and did I mention truly beautiful?

Okay, we’ve been in Sydney for three full days now, and we’re having a great time!  What keeps striking me, though, is how similar this place seems to home.  No, I’m not saying the two cities are long-lost twins or anything, but Sydney seems to have more similarities to Seattle than any other city I’ve ever traveled to.  The people are laid-back, there are signs about caring for the environment, everybody is out doing active things in the outdoors, and the downtown areas have the same sort of mix of small businesses, office buildings, department stores, and even similar architecture styles.  People drive Subarus, and we haven’t found a restaurant yet that looks at people askance because they’re not dressed formally enough.  Both cities love their street markets.  Both have one main road that’s the center of the “alternative” cultural scene and can surprise you with its sometimes-unexpected gems (here, Oxford Street; home, Broadway).  Both have beach areas (Bondi here; Alki at home) that have the same kind of quiet-neighborhood-plus-beachside-cafes feel.  Both are large, world-class cities that simultaneously have a bit of a small-town feel, and both have a sort of frontier, withstand-it-all mentality that is a holdover from earlier days.

Yes, I’m having a grand time.  We’ve been eating beef, and walking on real sidewalks (without even having to watch our feet the whole time for fear we’ll step into a hole or trip over someone sleeping or step in something nasty), and when we cross streets the cars actually stop for us, and we can drink the tapwater without fear of dying from it, and there are shops that carry clothes that I can actually fit in, and restaurants that have menus that I can order from without wondering whether I’m going to be able to eat the food.  Ahhhh, the good life.

The President put it this way: “Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States senator of our time.”  He was an example to all of us, whether or not we’re in government service.  Senator Kennedy will be missed.