Awww yeahhhh, that’s what I’m talking about. It was last Friday (and then comes Saturday, and Sunday comes afterwards) and there’s nothing more that I needed to do than get some SHOTS!

Wait, hold on. Not those kinda shots. I’m talking about the nearly dozen shots (and typhoid pills) that I needed to have injected into my pristine body before being catapulted into the desert.

I’m okay with needles. What I’m not okay with is getting lame bandaids. State Department needs to stack up on these babies:

For those of you who are as morally opposed to vaccinations as I am to potlucks, let me explain how they work. BOOM! Dead/weakened disease goes into your body, BOOM! Immune system is all like, “I got this, ma.” and attacks and wins, BOOM! Immune system now recognizes the diseaseamabob and is now capable of destroying it back to the future.

But when your immune system is constantly attacking these fake diseases for an entire month, you know what’s going to be happen. Yeah. Guess who is spending their last week in the states SICK.

Oh well, you know what it is.

I went back home last weekend to say goodbye to my family and friends and to grab some more things from my old room to bring overseas with me. It definitely wasn’t easy.

I’m a very sentimental person – I keep nearly everything that reminds of memorable moments. That is why when my family presented me with a photo album filled with pictures of me, my friends, and my family – from the times when I was a kid to even moments captured on camera that I wasn’t around to witness myself – it moved me.

The hardest part of my trip home was going back to my bedroom. I had to decide what in my room was important enough to take with me on this new journey, and which parts of my life weren’t important enough. To even think that there were unimportant parts of my life, it gives me pause.

But because I’m going to Saudi Arabia, I needed to also think about what was worth taking, that would definitely not be confiscated at the airport/customs because of their strict laws. I couldn’t imagine bringing with me something that meant a lot, and never actually seeing it again. I couldn’t risk it – I left nearly everything at home.

After this tour, I’m going to need to do a consular tour, but since I already finished consular training, between this tour and the next, I highly doubt I’ll spend much time stateside. So besides saying the difficult goodbyes to my friends and family, I also had to say goodbye to where I grew up and the culture I grew up in.

You guessed right. I’m talking about cannoli and Ralph’s Italian Ices.

New York City, it’s been real..

A reminder to those at State Dept. that no matter who we are, what position we hold, or even whether we are technically right or wrong, the fact is we’re diplomats 24/7 and every word that we say will be closely scrutinized.

From CNN:

P.J. Crowley abruptly resigned Sunday as State Department spokesman over controversial comments he made about the Bradley Manning case.

…

Speaking to a small group at MIT last week, Crowley was asked about allegations that Manning is being tortured and kicked up a firestorm by answering that what is being done to Manning by Defense Department officials “is ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.”

Usually, when things like this happen (see Frank Wisner), the government says that the remarks expressed are those solely of the individual who made them. My question to you is:

What are some of the ways that you have learned to separate your personal opinions from your job?

I’ve received a few messages asking for some advice on the PNQs from those who passed the Foreign Service Officer Test (written exam). Here is the advice that I shared:

For the PNQs, what they’re actually looking for:

http://www.careers.state.gov/index/download-center4/3.0.0_fso_13_dimensions.pdf

Anyone can write a short essay but the key is to incorporate a few of the 13 dimensions into each response. Also, feel free to use the below format:

Situation – Briefly recount the situation you faced
Action – Say exactly what action you took
Results – Briefly describe the results of YOUR action in as much detail as possible
Interesting Features - Say something special or memorable about the vignette or relate the story back to the 13D’s.

Give them what they want and nothing more. Also, don’t worry about whether or not you are experienced enough. All they’re looking for is if you possess these traits and they can easily be evidenced in any situation.