Happy Holloween

Cable #7 - Falls Church, VA

Well, time has certainly flown by and I have not had a lot of time to keep my blog updated, but I sense a shift in the winds. So, for those of you following along, I thought I would give some quick updates as the holiday season approaches.

I completely my language top-off course in mid-October and transitioned into my consular class called ConGen. This is an extremely comprehensive course that educates us on U.S. Immigration Law as well as helps us understand the computer systems that we will be using. I must say, it is certainly a bit overwhelming at first, but I am getting more excited as we go along. By the way, here is a picture from the swearing in ceremony that I did not get until after I had posted that section...so a bit late, but better than never. Look at those dapper dans there (my friends Izaak, Rob, and Darren).

I received information from Tijuana, and it looks like I will be starting out in the NIV (Non-immigrant Visa) section. This looks like the situation for most newly arriving officers, and then by the second year I will move into the American Citizen Services unit. Just a recap, NIV is for aliens who are looking to come to the U.S. temporarily for business, tourism, school, among many other items, but not to be confused with IV (Immigrant Visas) which are visas for aliens looking to come to the U.S. permanently. These are only adjudicated (processed) in one mission per country, and for Mexico that is Ciudad Juarez, so I will not have to worry much with these on my first tour.

So Halloween rolled around the corner and it was a blast. I have to admit, I had not been to an "adult" Halloween party in forever, so I was looking forward to it. Who doesn't love dressing up like someone you are not, and playing out that role for the night. Ok, well the liquid courage certainly made things a little more fun. ;-) I chose to go as a Mariachi (see picture below), and yes, it was a true Mariachi costume, not some cheap Halloween store replica. I figured I could possibly use at some point in the future, who knows. I was told it would be probably not be the best idea to walk in my first day at post wearing this costume. Let's just say it may be a little offensive for the locals? Anyways, it was a blast!

Happy Birthday! November 1st was mainly spent sleeping...(if you get the drift from the previous paragraph.) No worries though. I had a lot of great people contacting me, and even the little nephew called to sing to me. Ha ha ha, what a stinker. Although several friends wanted to go "out" for the night, I was ready to play it safe for a little while longer and we did the dinner thing. Thanks again to everyone for the birthday wishes. Holy cow, another year older, yet wiser, no?

And then it was time for some pain. Who would have known to travel to third world countries, it was required to temporary become a pin cushion? Granted, it is important to play it safe and have updated shots, but I have more stuff going through my veins right now than the CDC would be comfortable with. I go back this week for my second rabies shot. Let's just hope at some point I don't start foaming at the mouth and have to lay beside old yeller. By next year, I will hopefully have immunity to Hepatitus A and B, Typhoid, Rabies, among a few others. And for those of you who know me, know I hate shots. Although they truly didn't hurt, nurse (done this way too many times and couldn't care less) tells me to sit down because I was too big for her to catch if I fell or passed out, after I told her I didn't like shots...hahahhah. Let's just say that was a little blow to the ego. Anyways, so she is squeezing in one of the shots and I hear this squishy bubbling sound...I think there was an air bubble or maybe she was squeezing too fast? Either way, my arm HURT for a few days. I can't wait to go back for the rest...I am a glutton for punishment.

So I close this with the promise to continue updating this more frequently. The time is getting close, as I will be wrapping up ConGen in mid-December. I will not be coming home for Thanksgiving, but definitely hope to see many of you as I head to post in late-December, as I am driving from DC to Tijuana and will be passing through Indy.

Until the next cable...