Category Archives: Foreign Service Officer

Post Cards from Peru: Kitesurfing in Paracas

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The sun is unseasonably warm; the sky is bluish.  Life is good four hours south of Lima in Paracas thanks to this year’s fickle El Niño.  Enjoying some ceviche, washed down with some sweet dark beer followed by a Chilcano along with some Afro-Peruvian cajon music in the background; ah life is good in Peru.

Paracas Kitesurfer.

Kitesurfing in Paracas Bay.

The little dudes, known as the dynamic duo of Zos and Bo (the Bozos) ask Diplomonkey to stay another day in Paracas.  Why not?  Gives us another day of ceviche, clean air, and a beautifully stark desert landscape by the South Pacific.  These sort of days make foreign service life all the better.

Gearing up for a sail.

Gearing up for a sail.

Kitesurfing

Kitesurfers in Paracas Bay.

Kitesurfer

Paracas Bay Kitesurfer.

Sunset in Paracas Bay.

Sunset in Paracas Bay.

Hope you enjoy the views from Paracas. Come down for a visit, take your shoes off, and have a Chilcano and some ceviche.

Cheers!

Peru and Paprika: About Sixty Kilometers South of Paracas and Just Outside of Ica

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It has been far too long since I have thrown something out there about Peru; bad, bad Diplomonkey for focusing so, so much on Ecuador of late  Okay, so here goes what I think I will start to call postcards from Peru.  These are the snippets of the life experiences that I am enjoying during my Lima assignment.

Woman sorting paprika by color and size.

Woman Sorting Paprika by Color and Size.

Life in the Foreign Service has its ups and downs of course, but one of the greatest benefit of this career and the lifestyle that we choose, is the possibility to go out and see new and wonderful things. We also get to meet  people around the world that we would likely never have any interaction with otherwise.

Women sorting paprika in the desert.

Women Sorting Paprika in the Desert #1.

Culture shock: yes little Dorothy, it abounds when we go overseas on a new assignment.  We also get to face it, ironically enough, when we also return home to the States.  But still it is worthwhile to do this gig, the pictures speak for themselves.

Woman Sorting Paprika #2

Woman Sorting Paprika Outside of Ica.

Enjoy the photos; and next time you pick up some paprika, you will have hopefully a better notion from where it comes.

Producing Paprika in the Desert.

Women Sorting Paprika in the Desert #2.

Cheers from Lima!

4,208 Kilometers from Lima

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As Diplomonkey prepares for his next Ecuador trip, he has a flashback to the fun filled afternoon spent earlier this year with the little dudes (AKA as Zos and Bo, which together make up the dynamic duo of the BoZos) at Florida’s Gold Coast Railroad Museum. Although nearly half a year and 4,208 kilometers separate us from that sunny January afternoon, the memories are as fresh today as though the visit occurred only yesterday.

Florida Gold Coast Railroad Museum 1

Florida Gold Coast Railroad Museum – Ghost Train 1594

Foreign Service life with kids is about getting the most fun with the little guys in new settings, collecting memories along the way that hopefully last a lifetime. Despite the hardships we often confront, and occasional (real) dangers, we are incredibly fortunate to get the chance to live and work in different places around the world in the service of our country.

Sam being Sam

Sam being Sam

Fortunately since most of our assignments are accompanied, we get to experience new places with our kids.  Sometimes these places, as incredibly as it might seem, are back home in faraway and exotic Florida.

Gold Coast Railroad Museum - Ghost Train

Florida Gold Coast Railroad Museum – Ghost Train 4033

Our kids growing up overseas are blessed with being able to experience unique life experiences. Our hopes and desires, as parents, are all to often tied to giving our children every material thing that they might possibly need to succeed. I guess that the Foreign Service life style, with its shipment weight allowances limitations and the ever present possibility of an evacuation, forces many of us to focus on what truly is important for the kids – experiences, memories, and the ability years later to say “I did this” or “saw that when I was a kid in the land of Erehwon (i.e., Nowhere spelled backwards, taken from an old foreign service exam).”

Zos and Bo, The Dynamic Duo of the BoZos

Zos and Bo, The Dynamic Duo of the BoZos

Nasa Railroad Switch

Nasa Railroad SW 1500 Switcher Locomotive #2 – Because We Are Future Astronauts!

Enjoy the pictures!

Sign Post - Need One for US Embassy Lima 4208 KM

Sign Post – Missing a Sign for U.S. Embassy Lima 4,208 KM

Cheers from Lima, the land 4,208 kilometers away!

Okay, I Have Been a Bit of a Slacker #2

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Washington DC is not only one of my favorite cities, but also I would dare say my abode for a decade and I miss it dearly.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and the opportunity it gives me and my family to move around internationally and explore the world, as well as prove myself every two to three years; if I do not get evacuated from post.

WASDC 1

I would be lying if I said I did not miss friends, old haunts, and even the intrigue and politics of the city and the Hill.  I guess being gone for a time makes one anxious for a return, which allows one to savor the city and its environs all the more.

Capitol Hill, Perspective #1

Capitol Hill, Perspective #1

The Capitol Dome, Restoration, #1

The Capitol Dome, Restoration, #1

The Capitol Dome Restoration, #2

The Capitol Dome Restoration, #2

Fortunately, work has taken me back to Washington DC twice in the past six months.  It has allowed me to explore the city both on the day of arrival and of departure on the weekend – sorry during the other time in the city, work and its obligations is a relentless task master that does not afford much time to explore.

Tulips on the Mall

Tulips on the Mall

So I guess any opportunity I get, I will maximize it to the most.  This time around I explored everything between old town Alexandria (even hit Starbucks numerous times) to Capitol Hill down through the mall (including the Shackler for a quick half hour visit) and around the tidal basin (including the Jefferson Memorial) and up to the Lincoln Memorial (by way of the FDR, MLK, and WWI and Korea memorials.  Experiencing along the way as many of the sights and the characters that make Washington DC so special.

The Percussion King - A Great Street Performer

The Percussion King – A Great Street Performer

Tidal Basin Fishermen

Tidal Basin Fishermen

Walked by main State, and waved at the security cameras, and got on the orange line and headed out to Georgetown via Rosslyn.  I even ran up  the hundred or so runs on the mechanical escalator with my pack just for old-time sake, to prove that though a young old fart, I am still in decent shape, and then across the Key Bridge.

Tourists - Blessed Them for Visiting and Contributing to the Economy

Tourists – Blessed Them for Visiting and Contributing to the Economy

On the other side of the river, I even find the time to climb the exorcist stairs, hit GU’s bookstore for a school cap – go Hoyas, and take a picture of the little row house with a view of the Potomac that wifie and I considered buying when we first moved to DC.

Finished the day off as the sun is setting at Pizza Paradiso enjoying the Belgian beers I cannot get in Peru, some pizza Atomica, and all the olives I can eat when I get tapped on the shoulder by a headquarters’ retiree which allowed me the chance to catch up with a friend.  Ah, life is good in the nation’s capital.

I am so sorely tempted to make an offer on that little 120 year-old row house, with its English garden with its big trees, its tiny rooms but with a view of the river and around the corner from GU.  Guess I will have to wait a while until I rotate back home.

Cheers from an on the road FSO.