Of Bids, and of Lists, II

Though as we're quickly learning, a general amenability to sudden change is a key asset for a Foreign Service Officer, our bids seemed really to coalesce today, after I spent several hours in a suite at FSI (the Foreign Service Institute) known as the OBC (Overseas Briefing Center).  The OBC contains gems such as post videos made by officers and their families at each of the posts, and the so-called Personal Post Insights form (PPI), which is a survey that post personnel can fill out anonymously, and on which they can list the grievances, grudges, regrets, exasperations, and conspiracy theories they've accrued during their time at post, as well as the satisfactions and delights of the post.

After poring over these for hours today, and then conferring with Nina, I think we have a pretty firm setting on our high and medium bids.  They are as follows:

High--Astana, Kazakhstan; Belgrade, Serbia; Bogota, Colombia; Geneva, Switzerland; Krakow, Poland; Kyiv, Ukraine; Vilnius, Lithuania.

Medium--La Paz, Bolivia; Nicosia, Cyprus; Oslo, Norway; Rome, Italy; Sofia, Bulgaria; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Washington, DC.


Now.  Several of these may seem perplexing, even downright counterintuitive, or just plain bananas to those who know Nina and myself well.  And several of them, if anyone's counting, did not show up on our first list of likely high/medium bids.  So, there follow selected explanations.

Bogota: This posting was added a few days after Nina received the initial list of open posts.  Not well known, I suspect, is the fact that though near the equator, Bogota sits at an elevation of more than 8,000 ft. above sea level.  Due to this elevation, Bogota has an extraordinarily mild climate--high temperatures in 'winter' are rarely below 55 degrees, and high temperatures in 'summer' almost never rise above 75 degrees.  Indeed, it is said about most of Colombia that there are no seasons, only elevations.  In addition to this pleasing climate, there are many very positive facets of a Colombia posting.  First, individuals who, like Nina, speak Spanish receive incentive pay for going to a post at which Spanish is required.  Second, the post fulfills the Junior Officer requirement of doing a Consular tour in one of the first two assignments.  Third, the PPIs report that spouses at the Bogota embassy have ample opportunity to work if they choose.  Fourth, security in Bogota itself is of minimal concern--little more than the usual big city issues with pick-pocketing, purse-snatching, and the like.  In general, all available information indicates that Bogota is an overlooked jewel of a post.

Ulaanbaatar:  There's no getting around it, Ulaanbaatar is considered by many to be an irredeemable dump in the middle of nowhere.  But.  But.  The job there is a particularly appealing one, having to do with several science and technology issues related to climate change and agriculture.  Furthermore, it's a new position which will likely allow the holder of the job considerable leeway in shaping her work.  And the landscape surrounding the city is breathtaking, an unimaginable sweep of mountains (the Altai range, if I'm not mistaken) and grasslands.  The biggest question here is taking a pet to a post that's so far away and so hard to get to.  For that reason, we still need to do some investigating before we rate this position medium, but it is interesting in its own impenetrable sort of way.

La Paz: Like Bogota, La Paz sits at an extraordinary elevation (some 13,000 ft.), and has, therefore, extraordinary weather.  Such extreme altitude does give one pause in considering one's health and the health of one's pet (and in fact the State Dept. requires special medical clearance, which, I suppose, either Nina or I might not receive if we're tested and found wanting).  But it has its charms as well, and the post holds many of the same inducements as Bogota.

Nicosia: This may also get downgraded to a low ranking in the end.  They drive on the left side of the road.  They endure occasional extreme water rationing.  Etc.  But it's a relatively wealthy European city on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean.  Mountains, beaches, and no humidity.

Rome: Pollution, crime, gridlock.  But, a fairly interesting job in the economic section of the embassy, dealing with the full range of international economic and foreign policy issues in a G-8 country.

Oslo: Obviously much in the news of late.  So much so as to make it the butt of jokes.  So much so that foreheads will surely be slapped in disbelief upon finding it a part of this list.  But the recent incident there is a red herring, and everyone has to know this.  Oslo is no more dangerous now than it was a month ago or a year ago, and it is no more dangerous than any other place on the list.  What happened there could happen anywhere.  Could happen in California or Canada, or Kyiv, or even at, say, a shopping mall in a place like Omaha.  Right?  C'mon.  Is Oslo dangerous?  Yes.  The world is dangerous.  Life is dangerous.

In the end, though the ways of the Foreign Service are inscrutable, they tend to put people where those people fill needs.  And for that reason, I truly, truly can't imagine them putting Nina someplace other than a) Eastern Europe/former Soviet Union, or b) a Spanish-speaking country.  Now, one last caveat is that Mexico is a Spanish-speaking country.  And there are probably at least a dozen posts in Mexico on the full bid list.  Which means that, yes, Nina could conceivably get sent to any one of them, despite the fact that she's ranked them all low.  I'm not sure what to say about that possibility.  We may know more after we meet with Nina's Career Development Officer tomorrow.  We may not.  In the end, we signed up for worldwide availability, and that's a promise we'll fulfill.  If doing so means landing in Ciudad Juarez, well, one just has to keep in mind: it's only for two years, we can drive the dog there, and the flights back to the States will be short and cheap.