Further Updates to Come July 5th
It's been a while since the last update because the State Department's strict IT policy prohibits me from checking personal email, chatting, writing blogs, etc. And I currently don't have internet at home.
My first week of work is in the books - that's 10% of my internship! But the best is yet to come - this week, there are three Fourth of July parties. One on July 3rd in the Ambassador's residence with embassy staff and foriegn dignitaries. Another on July 4th in the country of St. Lucia (which is one of the countries covered by the Barbados embassy) aboard an aircraft carrier the USS Simpson. Unfortunately, I won't get to go but the other intern Kimberly will. And on July 5th, there's the embassy-wide party at the exclusive Barbados Boatyard. And the following day, I get on a plane and fly to Grenada as part of an election observation mission!
Currently, I'm living with Kimberly and a political officer named Rick in his very nice plantation house. Rick is a terrific cook who likes to make us dinner every night and usually a few glasses of rum punch too. This arrangement is only temporary and on July 5th Kimberly and I are moving into another political officer's house. It's even bigger, closer to the embassy, on the beach, and it has INTERNET! Pictures and further updates will come then.
Barbados I thought I knew ye
I did so much research on Barbados before I arrived that I thought I knew everything. Turns out, I couldn't even find my hotel and I got lost trying to get to the embassy as well.
The country is surprisingly underdeveloped and much of the population poor. One reason I picked Barbados as my post was because, compared to surrounding islands, it's relatively wealthy with a GDP per capita around $25,000. The wealth is apparently very unevenly distributed, since much of the landscape remind me of Haiti. Another shocking thing is the dearth of tourists. I'm staying in the St. Lawrence Gap, a mile-long stretch of resorts and beaches that is one of the most popular tourist destinations. Every hotel, restaurant, and bar is nearly empty these days, during the off-peak summer season.
Yesterday - my first day - I went to a cocktail party at the embassy hosted by the marines, whose job it is to protect the embassy. I had the chance to meet many of the FSOs (Foreign Service Officers) who I'll be working with, as well as my fellow intern. The US mission in Barbados is quite big, as it covers some eight countries. I've been assigned to work with the GSO (for those of you who don't know how the foriegn service is split up, it's the least prestigious department), while the other intern gets to work in the Political section...GRRR. However, we both might get to go to the island country of Grenada in two weeks as election observers!
Today, after waking up at 5am cuz of bug bites, I jogged to the next town over (Oistins), came back to St. Lawrence and chilled at the beach, went to the capital Bridgetown for the first time, and then celebrated my birthday at happy hour with the Australian and French couples that I'm sharing my cottage with.
My first assignment with the State Department - wake up tomorrow at 5am and help the FSOs beat the Marines in their weekly football game.
Why Barbados?
Tomorrow I leave for Barbados, a tiny pear-shaped island country in the southeast Caribbean. I'm going to work for the Political/Economic Dept. in the Bureau of Western Hemispheric Affairs in the US embassy.
How did I end up in Barbados?
It began last November, when I applied for the State Department overseas internship program. Applicants can only choose two posts - a primary and an alternate - from the over 180 countries the US has diplomatic relations with. My choices were Dubai, UAE and Bridgetown, Barbados. It came down to a combination of which regions I was interested in and which capital city was more awesome.
Once I got my offer in January, I waited six excruciating months and over a month after they missed my security check completion deadline until I was finally granted security clearance on June 5th and given my final offer. To my dismay, I then learned I wouldn't be provided housing (internship is unpaid too), and embarked on a furious apartment search. Just found out today I am secure in having a beautiful (and relatively cheap) beachfront apartment in Bridgetown! It has internet, which is definitely not standard in all places there.
The objective of this blog is not only to entertain, enthrall, and keep in touch with you all but also to convince you that it's worth using that three days of ibanking pay to buy a ticket to visit me (only about $500, and I will be there until August 31st).
We will wear flowery shirts and linen chinos that blow in the wind as we walk on the pink sand in our beautiful tanned bodies.
