DC→Brussels→Bujumbura

Views from our hotel with Lake Tanganyika in the distance.

After a few setbacks we have arrived in the Buj!

The day before our flight my husband was organizing passports and checking in online when I heard a horrified gasp. When I looked up and saw him staring at his passport in terror, I knew exactly what had happened- they spelled his name wrong in his diplomatic passport.

Cue: complete and utter panic.

I texted my CDO (career development officer) who has been absolutely amazing in helping me navigate this process. Her sage advice: just show up in the morning at the special issuance passport office. So the day of our 5pm flight we showed up at 9am to request a new passport.

Shockingly, it went well.

He received a new passport by 3pm that same afternoon and we jumped on a flight the next evening.

We spent 3 days transiting in Belgium: two nights in Ghent and one in Brussels. There is a direct flight from Brussels to Bujumbura two times a week, so I suspect we will be spending a fair amount of time here. It was nice to decompress in Europe a bit, as this past month has been a complete whirlwind.

Another unexpected turn.

During my last week of MED training my father became very ill. I was able to miss a day of training and come home to the Bay Area for a long weekend. Surrounded by me, my mom, and two sisters he passed in the early morning of September 12th. One of the more difficult aspects of this lifestyle is that it takes you away from family and friends for extended periods of time, and during this time you inevitably miss life events. I was lucky that I was still relatively close and in DC- had I already been in Bujumbura I most likely would have not made it back in time. This was a stark reminder of what this lifestyle demands of you.

My dad was my biggest cheerleader. He was so proud of me for accepting this job and choosing to live a life of adventure. Back in 2006 when I graduated nursing school, and decided to travel through Latin America alone for 6 months (instead of immediately getting a job) he was the only person that was 100% on board and supportive. He loved that I wanted to see the world. As I boarded a flight back to DC a mere 8 hours after he passed, it was this memory that gave me strength.

In the way that only a Puerto Rican, Bronx raised father can he raised us three girls with the ethos of “Be a bad ass and please do it with some style”.

I can still hear his voice now: “Don’t take no shit from nobody” and “Give them hell” followed of course by some criticism of my wardrobe and shoe choice.

Aqui vamos Dad, I promise to give everyone hell.

Life in the Buj, what I can tell you so far!

We arrived in Bujumbura and are temporarily staying in a hotel until our home is ready. Hopefully we will be able to move into our new place in about two weeks. The hotel is gorgeous with a rooftop bar and some seriously delicious food, but it’s still a hotel and doesn’t really have the space for a wild toddler to run free. My first day at the embassy was essentially a tour of the health unit, paperwork and meeting my new colleagues. Next week will be my first week of full time work, so more to come on this! The embassy staff is super happy to have a full time medical provider, and they have been extremely inviting and welcoming. This is going to be a great first post for me.

On a random side note: What has surprised me so far in this process?

The upfront cost of joining the foreign service is much more than I anticipated. Yes our flights, move and housing is paid for but relocating a family still has so many additional costs that I just didn’t take into consideration initially. Our consumables (that additional 2,500 pounds of liquids that we are allowed to ship) is essentially our cleaning and hygiene products in bulk for a year and came out to several very expensive Costco trips. We also had to make a few large purchases like a new TV and we bought several new kitchen appliances in the 220 voltage- since U.S. uses 120 (pro tip: check out this 220 voltage appliance store if you are in the DMV area, they are super knowledgeable and work with a lot of DOS peeps). Plus, we still have to buy a car in country. Luckily we will be able to slow down on our spending and just chill once we get to the buj.

Can’t believe the adventure has begun. Pinch me, is this real life?