Feature Foreign Fruit: Parchita

After a long pause, I thought I’d get back to my series of posts about interesting fruit I encounter while I’m abroad.  I find it interesting that these posts get, by far, the most regular traffic of any post on our blog.  Maybe that means I’m not the only crazy fruit-and-veggy foody out there?  In [...]

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Caracas on Fire (Well, At least part of El Avila on Fire)

El Avila on Fire Originally uploaded by el_naranjal This was our view of Caracas tonight: El Avila on fire. El Avila is an 8,990-foot mountain that skirts the northern side of Caracas. It’s a national park, so normally it provides a beautiful green backdrop to the city. But, with the lack of rain, it’s looked [...]

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(DRUM ROLL) OUR NEXT POST WILL BE…

AMSTERDAM!!!  Starting in October 2011.  We’re over the moon.  It was #2 on our bid list, so not bad at all!  More info coming soon…

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How do you get assigned? Do you get to choose?

We often get asked these questions, so we thought—in a rare co-blogging effort—we’d try to answer them.  In fact, the answer varies depending on where you are in your career. As an untenured officer going to your first post, you are given a list of potential positions.  During A-100 (the new diplomat orientation), you have [...]

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These Weeks in Kahlilah: 50 to 52 Weeks

So, we’ve reached 52 weeks…or 1 year old! And, in her typical style, Kahlilah finished out her first year by amazing us with advance after advance. She now… Stands unsupported Takes a few steps unsupported (this happened at 1 year and 1 day) Recognizes music and starts dancing Blows kisses Stacks rings and loves putting [...]

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It’s Kahlilah’s Birthday!

One year ago, Kahlilah Haydee decided she’d had enough of the womb and entered the world 6 weeks earlier than we expected her.  Although it was a rough start, she has amazed us ever since with her resilience and joyful spirit.  Today, we’ll celebrate just the 3 of us, with some carrot cupcakes.  But, this weekend, we’re [...]

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What is the weather like there?

It’s been a few months, but I thought I’d pick up on my series of posts answering frequently-asked questions (I already answered the questions What time is it there? and What do things cost there?).  Asking what the weather is like may be a trite conversation starter in other places but, in Venezuela, it results in anything [...]

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