Momo on the gogo

This kid really gets around. In one week she rode on...

planes,

trains, and...

long tail boats.

Then we stayed in the penthouseth in Krabi Town.

3 Nights in Bangkok

Elyse, Ryan, and I had a very nice week-long holiday in Thailand. What a great country. I'm not sure I can truly make that pronouncement since we really only saw Bangkok, Krabi Town, and Railay Peninsula.  But if those places are representative of the country as a whole, it's a real gem. In Bangkok we loved the, how should I put this? Development. Organization. Efficiency. Sanitation. Cow-free roads. Non-honkingness. All the things Kathmandu lacks. (Of course Kathmandu has other worthy attributes...just not these.) And on Railay, we loved everything. Picture a small peninsula with only foot paths, three top notch beaches, and limestone karst cliffs jutting from the sea. In the distance are more islands. And you...you just sit and drink pina coladas as the sun sets. That's Railay. The best thing about Railay for us is the climbing. After all, what is my pigment-challenged self going to do, sit on the beach?! This is a world class climbing destination. Momo has seriously cramped our climbing style. So we chose this as a holiday destination and simply hired a belayer so we could take turns climbing and watching her. It worked out great. I also now know Thai is hands down my favorite type of food. If you love coconut, pineapple, and nuts, this is the food for you. We were in the country for 7 days and I ate Thai for every meal but one. Delicious. Now, enjoy some envy-inducing photos.

Didn't those people realize I was using the panaroma setting?

"Nice holiday choice mom and dad!"

Long tail boats dropping off tourists.

Mom takes Momo for a dip.

RyRy's stoked about her new beach outfit.

That's just cool.

We decided not to stay in the $10, no A/C bungalows. Right choice.

Even when it rained it was great.

Still got the skills.

How high? My 60 meter rope almost ran out.

Nothing to add.

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

Randomly throughout a normal day in Kathmandu, I think about what I would do if there were suddenly an earthquake.  We are due for a big one any day now.  Would I stay put and cover my head, run for the door, hunker down next to a heavy dresser so debris would fall on it and not me?  What if Ryan was in another room, would I be able to get to her?  I come up with all sorts of plans for how to get down the fire escape with Ryan if one of our carriers weren't close by.  I think about what I would break a window with if I couldn't get it open.  I ponder different scenarios under which I would or would not grab the cats and the "go" bag.  Then I wonder, would I really DO anything that I planned?  Would I be able to think straight, would I be able to physically or mentally go anywhere?  Well tonight I got my answer.  I was nursing Ryan to sleep in her room around 7pm when the bed and everything else began to shake.  I immediately scooped her up and ran for the door.  Keith met me in under the door frame of Ryan's room, where we stayed for a few minutes to assess the situation.  Everything seemed to be ok.  It turned out that I did not think about any previous plans I had made and my instincts to grab my baby and run completely took over.  It ended up being a very short, small (4.6) earthquake centered just over the border in China.  No damage was done to our apartment that we could see.   As Keith says, nothing really moved, even a birthday card on a bookshelf in the living room stayed put.  Although, I think my heart rate did budge a bit.  It felt like a test.  A reminder that a big one could hit at anytime.  At least now I know what to do if that happens.  Trust my instincts, as if I have a choice.

8 Months Old?!?!

So, I've been a major slacker with these blog posts.  As the cliche goes, time is going by so fast.  It seems like as soon as I get ready to do a monthly update another month has gone by. Before that happens again, I'm determined to get something down on paper, err, screen.  Here we go...

In the last 4 months you've gone from an adorable little lump that sits in the corner of the couch to a little lump on the move!  You haven't crawled "properly" yet, but you're getting mighty fast at the army crawl.

You're getting more chatty in a babbling sort of way.  Here's a video of you chatting and crawling at the same time! So far you've mastered the mamama, bababa, and dadada sounds, but I don't think you've attached any meaning to those sounds.  We're betting your first real word will actually be cat.  You love those cats (unfortunately, they don't love you as much back)!

You got your first 2 teeth in (finally!) around 7 months and we think the next 2 are on their way!  You started off slowly with eating solid foods, liking everything we've given you, but not getting all that excited about meal time.  Now you eat with more enthusiasm, opening wide for each bite.  You still don't have any favorites, but pears, apples, and raisins are all a bit hit.

You are a well traveled baby, that's for sure.  A trend that I'm sure will continue.  Right around the 1 year anniversary of our being in Nepal, we visited some sites that you had been to before as a wee little baby in my tummy.  Here we are at Bouda 1 yr ago and today. 

We also took trips to Shivapuri....

 

  

Swayam Bhunath (the monkey temple)...

Pokhara...

And Haatiban...

You also were a big help with our first attempt at beer brewing.  You were so helpful, in fact, that we named the beer 'Baby's First Brew.'

Can't wait for more traveling, brewing, and to see what you come up with next!

Video Killed the Radio Star

If you happened to listen to 97.9 Image Radio Nepal Monday morning, you might have heard a familiar voice (for those who know me). Or, more precisely, you would have heard an American's sad attempt to speak about the Diversity Visa in Nepali. Wow! That was a humbling experience. The station apparently has more listeners than any other in Nepal. I'll bet they don't anymore. For about 30 minutes I tried to explain a large portion of our immigration law in Nepali. The key word there is, tried. I do dozens of visa interviews in Nepali daily. Due to their repetitive nature, I've gotten pretty good. This was a whole new ball game. It was different subject matter combined with the stress of a microphone and fast talking radio personality. (He told me he'd speak slowly!) And of course Nepali and Yoda still have the same syntax:

Host: "To you the U.S. government upon arrival in America a job will arrange?"

Me: "No. You upon reaching America your own job must find."

Thank goodness my Nepalese coworker was with me to answer those questions I struggled with...which is to say most of them. Nothing ventured, nothing gained I suppose. In this case, I ventured my pride and I gained a blog topic. Seems fair.

Memory Lane

Last week I proctored the Foreign Service Officers Test (FSOT) in the Embassy. As I watched the test takers, it brought on a strong sense of nostalgia and lingering disbelief. Three times I sat where they were. Having somehow made it through myself, now I was proctoring the test for others. I reflected on the whole process and how lucky I still feel to have made it.

For those who don't know, getting an invitation to join the Foreign Service is like running the gauntlet.  The test is only the first step, with cryptic essays, an enervating oral exam, and, in my case, a foreign language test still to come.

I took the written exam twice around 2003-2004. I failed both times. To pass you must have a broad scope of knowledge. Questions cover topics as varied as the 13th Amendment, Georgia O'Keefe, and the Ottoman Empire. (There are also essay, grammar, and biographic info sections.) Many people maintain "You can't study for the FSOT." I didn't...the first two times. But 5 years later I tried again. This time I read history books, the Constitution, and an atlas. And I was 5 years more experienced. I passed. Step 1, done.

Then you have to respond to five essay prompts via mail. In 200 words each, if memory serves, I tried to demonstrate how I possessed the 13 dimensions that State believes make for a good Foreign Service Officer. You must be pithy to set the scene and answer the question in just 200 words. I guess I did it, because I received the invite to "The Orals" (dun, dun, duhhhh). Step 2, complete.

The Oral Assessment is intimidating. It took about 6 hours to complete the entire day. There are three phases: the group exercise, structured interview, and case management exercise. On my day there were 18 of us. Some extremely impressive people, which can also be intimidating. But fortunately you aren't competing against each other...although a few didn't seem to grasp that. Theoretically, everyone can pass. But few do. In the end, we all sat in a room and waited for the examiners to call us out, one at a time, to discover our fate. That's a moment I will never forget. It was like waiting for the hang man. Ultimately, I was led into a small room where three of us received the good news. Step 3, over...kind of.

Everyone who passes the orals receives a score and is put on "The Register" in rank order. If you get a low score (5.3 is minimum) you'll probably never get the invitation before you cycle off in 18 months. In that case, you start all over again. My score was moderately good, even though I only passed one of the three Oral Assessment phases: the structured interview. (There must have been some returned Peace Corps volunteers on my panel who liked my stories.) With federal budgets tightening and hiring slowing, I saw my chances dim. To get a whopping .17 additional points, I decided to brush up on my Portuguese and take a language assessment by phone. Fortunately I lived in Providence, RI, home to the Lusophone diaspora in America. For only $10/hour Joe from the Acores spiffed up my Portuguese. And since I didn't have the required landline for the test in my house, I took it in my pastor friend's church offices. Perhaps I got some divine support because I passed. Step 3.5...acabado (finished).

Finally, I was through and guaranteed to get an invite...depending on a medical exam and background check. I jumped from around #75 to #17 on the register and got "the e-mail" in days. Elyse and I remember it like it was yesterday. That was September, 2010. Joining the Foreign Service certainly changed our lives. And the adventure continues.

If you are interested in becoming a diplomat and representing the U.S. in a new country every few years, give it a shot. The process is challenging, but it's free. And you can take the FSOT once a year, and just keep trying until you make it. It may be hard, but at least it's an objective selection process, which is more than I can say for most jobs. Good luck.

Kathmandu Valley Girls

We've been getting around the valley a little bit over the last few weeks and just generally having a lot of fun with the Momo. First we went to the Valley's southern hills to a place called Haatiban (Elephant Forest). Then we went to ancient Bhaktapur, "The City of Devotees," with some friends. Check out what we've been up, on the road and around the house!

Not sure which peak it is, but who cares? It's the Himalayas! Even better, I can see them. Great views from Haatiban Resort.

Talk about 3-D. In the foreground is Kathmandu (with its persistent smog). Then come the valley's northern hills. In the distance are the Himalayas which form Nepal's northern border with Tibet (China).

Elyse and RyRy (with her patented "Momohawk") taking a walk in the Elephant Forest, prayer flags flapping in the breeze.

My new "friend". I got up early for the clearer vistas and met...this guy. In between cigarettes and a 40 oz. beer at 7:00 a.m. he asked me to take his picture. This was the pose he struck, musing over the big questions, peering into the middle distance.

Babes in temple land.

Elyse, RyRy, Katie, Bhairav and Big Lion.

Saturday is apparently  bath day in Bhaktapur. Some even bathe on the roof. This poor kid was bawling his head off, until he saw us down below. He then paused, gave us a peaceful "Namaste", a wave, and a smile...then resumed crying.

Ummm, ancient Newari art? No wonder there are so many kids here.

African cats like The Bus know it is wise to stay under the mosquito net, even when conquering the world. Or the changing table.

Oatmeal day! She got some in her mouth...I think.

Mom and MoMo sanitize the bottles for Baby's First Brew.

Dad and MoMo transfer beer to the bottling bucket. Glad we are teaching her about the important things in life early.

What's Kathmandu Like?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a 10-minute video worth? Below is a video I found on You Tube that, I believe, paints a pretty accurate portrait of Kathmandu. It looks to have been shot in early 2012, so is very recent. The video captures people going about their daily lives in what is essentially a living museum. Some of it takes place in actual UNESCO world heritage sites, like Pashupatinath, Swayambhunath, and Boudhanath. The rest comes from the narrow and chaotic streets running throughout the city. It shows Kathmandu in all its beauty and grime, richness and poverty. Watching it is well worth your time. Enjoy.

Video credits to Grahame Lockey. Thanks Graham!

And no, that is not me in the monkey costume. That is Hanuman, the monkey god.

Kora around Kathmandu...almost

Last week Save the Children organized a charity bike ride called the Kathmandu Kora Cycling Challenge to raise money for much needed birth centers in Nepal. The coordinators made it sound incredibly intriguing in their invitation: "In Buddhism and Hinduism a ‘Kora’ is a circumbulation, done clockwise, usually around a religious structure. It is said that a single Kora around Mt. Kailash in Tibet for example is enough for one lifetime. Kathmandu, with its myriad religious structures, is a perfect location to do a circumbulation. It boasts two of the most revered Buddhist Stupas of Boudhha & Swoyambhu, and one of the top eight temples for Hindus worldwide, Pashupatinath." In other words, they were going to ride 50 kilometers around the city and see some amazing sights. Sounded like a brutal but memorable adventure and all for a good cause. So I signed up.

I'm not really a mountain biker. Or any other type of biker. Since coming to Kathmandu, however, I've been hitting the valley hills with some extreme cyclists. Because of the lack of green space, infrastructure, and clean air in the city, we all look for ways to get out of the pollution and in to nature. The surrounding green valley, with its hilly terrain and endless trails, fits the bill and is perfect for mountain biking. But, in case you were unaware of this fact, mountain biking is difficult. Especially for a skinny legged rock climber. Turns out mountain biking doesn't require much in the way of forearm or finger strength. In order to enhance what little leg strength I have, I decided to invest in clipless shoes and pedals. For the uninitiated these "clipless" shoes, counterintuitively, connect you to your pedals, which is great for power, speed, and oneness with the bike. It is decidedly not great when you need to put a foot on the ground, which in rocky terrain is a lot. At least for an inexperienced rider like me. Consequently, I fall over frequently. I'm sure this is funny for my fellow riders or the constantly gawking local residents. It's even kind of funny for me if I'm just coming to a stop for a chat, rest, or water. Though it's decidedly not funny when I'm flying down hill, or trying to power through a rough patch. With that foreshadowing...back to the Kora ride.

An estimated 300 riders participated in the event. We gathered in Patan Durbar Square, the ancient seat of power for one of the valley's three former kingdoms and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After some uncoordinated coordination, we were off like a glacier. Apparently 300+ bikes don't move quickly through narrow back alleys and single track mountain trails. For a novice like me, this was actually fine, at least for a bit. The ride in the southern valley was beautiful. The slow pace allowed for sightseeing and conversation. The group occasionally stopped to get the massive pack back together again. But then, about 1 hour in, a deep mud puddle caused by the on-going monsoon buried my front tire. Unable to quickly extricate my foot thanks to my very clipped-in clipless shoes, I fell hard, right onto a degraded and rusty barbed wire fence beside the trail. Fortunately, I like scars, because this should be a good one.

After a thorough iodine irrigation and some slap dash bandaging, which one friend accurately described as looking like a used diaper, we were off again. The rest of the ride was decent, but not quite as fun as I'd hoped. There was a lot of stopping for bottle necks due to sheer numbers. And, unsurprisingly, with no course markers, large groups inevitably got separated and lost. We did manage to find Swayambunath, aka The Monkey Temple. Not every bike ride passes by a giant golden Buddha. So I've got that going for me, which is nice. Another few hours later, I was done. And by done, I don't mean 'completed the ride.' I mean, wiped out. Fried. Kaput. After more than four hours of riding, and the realization that we were only half way around the city, it was time for this injured, cramping, pinkening redhead to make for home. Still, all in all I managed to ride exactly half way around the Kathmandu valley, about 25 kilometers. I'm pretty proud that I had made it that far. And I'm happy to report that once I decided to call it a day, on the short 10 minute road-ride home, I made it without a single spill.

A buddy in front of Buddha at "the Monkey Temple"

One of several stops to reunite the long line of bikers

4 Month Momo

You're 4 months old and so much fun! One of the biggest milestones of the last couple of weeks is that you've started rolling over.  You've only done it twice on your own, in your sleep, but that totally counts.  When you're awake I help you out, but you just need a tiny nudge and voila, you're on your tummy.  That's still not your favorite place to be, but you're getting used to it.  I think you'll be crawling in no time. 

The other fun thing that you've started doing is drinking from your camelbak bottle.  Dad made fun of me for buying one for you, but you totally dig it! I gave it to you one day to chew on, since you're teething, and before I knew it you figured out how to drink through the straw! You can hold the bottle, which is just about as big as you are, too! It's pretty amazing! When you get fussy, this is an easy way to distract you and lighten your mood. 

You were born with a ton of hair, which doesn't appear to be going anywhere, it's just getting longer.  Most of the time you have an awesome faux-hawk going on with an occasional power flip in the front.  Everyone is always commenting on how much hair you have and how cute it is.  I have to  agree.  Those cheeks aren't bad either!

Last, but not least, you've been testing your lung power.  You still don't cry too much (thank the lawd!) but you do like to scream, mostly at the cats.  They don't scream back, they just look at you funny.  It's mostly cute when you do this, but when we're at the embassy in the wide-open cafeteria, you can be quite loud, which is a little embarrassing.  With that voice and your hair, maybe you'll be a rock star when you grow up?!

Next Post

No sense in burying the lead, so... I've decided to take my talents to South...America. (Ode to Lebron...although I don't like him.) Our next post with the Foreign Service will be a "Pol/Econ" tour in Montevideo, Uruguay. We are extremely excited and satisfied with this assignment. In fact it was our #3 (out of 30) post.  It actually is kind of our #2 choice as the first two were both in Lisbon, just with different arrival dates. (Since Portuguese helped me land the job in the first place, I would really like to use it some day!.) Montevideo looks great for so many reasons. It is a "Pol/Econ" job, meaning it is in my "cone", or career track. I'm a political officer doing a consular job this tour, so I am anxious to do the work I was primarily hired to do. Plus, I think I'll learn a lot in an interesting region.  Also, after studying the lovely yet challenging Nepali language, I really look forward to (re?)learning Spanish, which will hopefully open up more great jobs in the future. Since it is such an international language, I foresee more tours in Latin America...perhaps. Elyse will get to study it with me as well. And the Momo may even use it as a second language from an early age. How cool is that?  It will be nice to have another applicable skill, for all of us. As for the city and country itself, what can I say?  It just looks fantastic. We are loving our time in Kathmandu. Yet for all it possesses, it lacks certain things. One is fresh, clean air. Another is infrastructure. A final one is green space. All of which Montevideo appears have in spades. Or at least it has sandy-beach space, with a long walking/biking trail alongside. There are ocean and city beaches mere blocks from housing and the Embassy itself. Even I, as a pigmentally challenged American and avowed shade-seeker, can appreciate that. And the weather seems just about perfect. It sits at 35 degrees south longitude, same as N. Carolina in the northern hemisphere. Summers average in the low 80s, winters in the high 50s. Even my Floridian family can handle that. But no place is perfect. What Uruguay definitely lacks is mountains, so there will be no climbing or extreme trekking as we've been able to do in Nepal (kind of). Yet that is the beauty of this career. If you don't have it now, you may have it next time, whether that is in reference to the job itself at the Embassy/Consulate, or the city/country in which you live. So do some research on Montevideo and start making travel plans now. We arrive around mid-2014! I promise we will have room for many visitors. Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven. (Nope, still don't like Lebron.)

Shortbus v. the Abominable Momo

Hey everyone. This is Shortbus again.  I'm back at the computer to report on some unfortunate changes here in my domain in Catmandu (the other spelling makes no sense).  My two human pets appear to have brought home a mini-human.  They call her Ryan.  I call her The Abominable Momo.  Her extremities are pale and creased just like a delicious Nepali momo, but she's a terror, just like the Bumble!  She runs everything around here.  When to wake up, when to sleep, when to eat.  And she does each of those things every 37 minutes.  I can hardly get into my pets' laps anymore, as The Abominable Momo is usually there.  Well, as you learned from my previous post, I lead this parade.  So I had to put my feet down, as you can see in the photos below.  Let the conquering begin:

Oh, I'm sorry. Was this your swing Momo? Conquered

Next I conquered Ryan's jungle...thing. That music was driving me nuts.

You ready to talk yet adorable duck?!

Consider yourself conquered Abominable Momo.

3 months!

You just turned 3 months old and wow, what an exciting 3 months it has been.  Your dad has  posted about some of our adventures below, so I'll spare you the recap, but let's just say you're quite the traveler!

You've been a pretty easy baby since day one, for which your dad and I are extremely thankful!  You're quite clear with your cues for being hungry (a lot like woody woodpecker with the head bob and "eh-eh-eh" sounds for the first couple of months) and tired (an incredibly pathetic/adorable yelp).  And thank goodness you came out knowing how to do the breastfeeding thing since I had no clue. I caught on pretty quickly though, so we're rocking and rolling these days.  I'm usually doing the rocking (in our awesome hand-me-down glider thanks to Aunt Cam and Uncle David) and you're doing the rolling, as in, man you're putting on some chunk!  We've started calling you Momo, after the Nepali dumpling since you're all white and doughy and pretty yummy to nibble on, especially your chubby cheeks and your plump thighs!

 In the last few weeks you've started cooing up a storm.  Especially at 5:30 in the morning when you've decided it's time to be awake (not sure where you came up with that one) and for some reason the shadows on the ceiling really crack you up, which in turn cracks me and dad up.  Unless we're ignoring you, since it's 5:30 in the morning! You don't seem to mind.

Once we're all awake, we really enjoy reading to you.  You seem to pay attention and LOVE to kick the books with your feet.  We read good ol' kids books like The Little Engine That Could, Goodnight Moon, Curious George, etc, but I like to throw in America (Jon Stewart) and Freedom of the Hills (climbing bible) every now and then to keep things interesting (to me). You also love standing up on tables (hope this changes before you're in college) and exploring the world around you while we carry you around (this one you can keep doing for the rest of your life, except for the being carried part).  You've just started sucking your thumb, which is pretty cute and seems to help you fall/stay asleep, so more power to ya! I can't wait to see what fun things you do next!

         

It's finally here!

So many things have occurred in the last two weeks since my last blog action, I don't even know where to begin. I always have grand designs on writing in-depth poetic stories about individual enlightening events, like my recent old-fashioned haircut (scissors), shave (straight razor), and head and face massage for 2 dollars. Or my trip to the Last Resort near the border with Tibet.  Don't worry, I didn't do the bungy jump...the 3rd highest in Asia.  But I did take a short hike up the hill (a mountain in the U.S.) where I received this text message from Big Brother:

 I could also post about our trip to the Nepali touristy lake town of Pokhara where my paddle boat was overrun by naked Nepali pirate children.

But how can I make the time for all of that when the BID LIST IS OUT??!!!!!  Yes, the bid list, the Foreign Service Officer's equivalent to an official Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock.  It's all we can think about.  And it is finally here.  Thank you Santa.  What is the Bid List, you ask?  It is only the most exciting thing in existence for a young Foreign Service Officer: a list of every possible post and job for our next tour.  Even though we've only been here for 8 months, the State Department must plan for future tours at least one year in advance.  We received our bid list about a week ago and have attended to little else since, much to the chagrin of my 3-month old daughter.  She's tired of changing her own diapers, but she's a natural. Our bid list is large, with 455 discrete jobs. That is a lot of diplomacy.  How to parse so many options?  With a fancy, high tech spread sheet of course.  Luckily Elyse is a wizard with Excel.  I think she sees the world kind of like Neo in the Matrix...everything is just cells, columns, and rows.  With her Excel wizardry we sliced and diced the list like the Slap-Chop dices an onion. But even once you remove the impossible posts (e.g. too early, too late) or the places you don't want to go (e.g... I can't give a funny example because I'd get in trouble with some country in the future), there are still 50 or 60 left.  After still more discussion and child neglect, we've finally narrowed it down to the requisite 30.  I'm not going to name them all, or tell you the order, but here is a random sampling of cities on our Bid List: Oslo, Istanbul (was Constantinople), Lisbon, Quito, Canberra, Praia, Montevideo, Riga, Bratislava, Brasilia, Baghdad, and Ljubljana.  Ever heard of the last one?  Can you pronounce it?  Neither could we.  But thanks to Wikipedia, it made the cut. Oh, and Baghdad was a joke.  Good one, huh Gale?  I thought so too.  We will submit our list in late June and find out a few weeks later.  We'll keep you posted on where they keep us posted.