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.