Flag Day, at Last

Oh man, tomorrow is our swearing-in and I still haven't done the reveal from last Friday's Flag Day! Well, the best part was having D come to town, even though it was for far too short a stay. Still, it was nice to let him meet a few of my classmates and share, from several rows away, the thrills that were the ceremony. I'd filled out my "fantasy flag day" entry on the bus to and from our morning field trip. In addition, a few folks from our group put together bingo (actually, Oooooo-saka; sorry, inside joke) cards, which I tried to play while filling in the results for my fantasy flag day entry. 

But the big news is the process: all 93 of us sat in a group, with family and friends seated behind us. Our career development officers, A-100 course coordinators, class mentor, and dignitaries from the Foreign Service Institute were at the front of the room. Three banks of miniature flags were carried aloft to the front, and we were off. One by one, the image of a flag was projected on a screen, and someone (or many someones) called out the country. Then the post, job, and individual were announced. We'd been encouraged to make lots and lots of noise so the children in attendance wouldn't feel bad for being loud. We did not disappoint. It was mainly a blur, but I remember one classmate who was POSITIVE he'd go to a Mexico border post and was called for a post in Brazil. He practically danced to the front, although I suspect he'd have done the same for Mexico. One or two of the 17 posts we'd ranked high were called and claimed by others, then another high (and the one I'd ranked #1 in my head while reviewing our highs the day before) was called. I leaned to the classmate next to me and said "This will be me." 

And it was!! I was certainly in the top 5% of most visibly thrilled of the group. Looks like we're headed to Managua, Nicaragua, to do a little consular work and a little environment, science, and technology work. There are lakes, beaches, forests, and volcanoes. Crazy, huh? There's still about 9 months of training to go (Spanish from nothing to pretty darn fluent and lots of what they call trade craft), so there's plenty of time to get used to the new reality. So, about six weeks in. Verdict? Best decision (work-related) ever!!

Disclaimer: So many have described it better than I did, so I refer you http://www.travelorders.com/flag-day-stories/ for 50 very good stories about Flag Day.