Rebellious Apartment People

I may have mentioned before that the building our apartment is in is an enclosed area so that is almost feels like a community sometimes. Its the first time I've lived in a place like this where I run into the same people in the halls and the elevator and see them around the property (its a big property; gated, with three buildings, two dog runs, a park, a pools, two gyms, etc.)

After living here for about 10 months I have come to a conclusion about my building - we are the troublemakers in the eyes of management. And better than that, my wing of the building houses the real rebels.

(A quick note important for these stories: the air conditioning system in our building is centrally run and is connected to all the other units in the building. They have to all be on cool or all on hot. Its weird, but thats the way it is)

Earlier this year, during the transition from chilly days to warm ones, the management put out a notice that although they knew the forecast was for 80+ degrees (possibly the low 90s), they were not going to turn on the air conditioning for at least the next three days because it might cool down again. They put a notice under everyone's door and pasted one in every elevator. The notice in the elevator in our wing  soon contained my building-mate's feelings.

Writing with many different pens soon appeared. The comments ranged from mild profanity to organized group calling of the front desk to voice our displeasure. The sign was eventually torn down, reposted and finally removed by the management. Much to our surprise, the A/C was turned on the next day. The people had triumphed! (And it never got cool again).

A couple months later (again when the temperature was supposed to be in the 90s), we got a notice that the A/C had broken and it was going to take a couple days to fix. But its ok, according to the notice, the A/C in the gym on the top floor would still be on.

As you can guess, the apartment rebels in our wing were not pleased. Notes were written all over the notice in the elevator on our side (in the other two elevators...nothing was written). We may or may not have added our feelings to the paper. Surprise, surprise, the air conditioning was fixed the same day.

After these two events, people realized this was an effective means to get things accomplished in the building. Soon after another note appeared in our elevator, this time from a fellow rebel. They were displeased with the knocking and pounding that seemed to take place at all ours of the day in one of the apartments in our wing. (I knew exactly what they were talking about and am pretty sure the culprit is the apartment right above ours. Seriously, it sounds like a wood shop or something up there all the time). Again, people agreed, organized calling to the front office, and the culprit is only rarely heard from these days. Very effective.

This week the management is having with the A/C again, so laminated notices about keeping windows closed have appeared in the elevators. Guess which elevator there is not a notice in?

Apparently we are in the rebel section of the building that cannot be trusted with a notice in the elevator and they've laminated the other ones to stop the rebellion from spreading. I like it. We'll see how long they can keep us down....

Less than 2 months

In about seven weeks my first tour as a Foreign Service Officer will be complete. 

That seems both far away and so close at the same time. A number of people I've met while working in the Department are finishing their current tours and moving on. Some are headed to different offices in the building; others are going straight overseas (domestic tours don't get home leave); still others are like me, they will be headed to long-term training. I am really excited about the final group. 

While I have been learning the ins and outs of being a desk officer over the last year, most of my A-100 classmates have been in long-term language training together. 

At first I was bummed to be missing out on getting to know all of them better. They would see each other in the halls or the lunchroom, some even had class together. While they had each other I was in an environment where people had friends all over the building, while I could name the people I knew on one hand. I was worried that when I finally went to training I would be on my own there as well, since all my classmates will have moved on to their overseas postings. 

Now as I approach my training, I am looking forward to it not just because I'm thrilled to learn a new language, but also because I want to get to know all my current co-workers better. 

Almost everyday I find out someone else I work with now will be at FSI with me for the next year. As much as I wish I would have had all that extra time to get to know my A-100 classmates better, I am really looking forward to learning about my colleagues outside of the work place. It's going to be another fun year. 

Good

Every Friday I get an "End of Week" report from our Embassy in Dili, Timor-Leste detailing the events of that week; programs that started, events the Ambassador or other officers attended, the status of bilateral issues, etc. This week there was a domestic violence awareness event. Men of Timor-Leste walked through the streets wearing shirts that said something to the effect of "Real Men Don't Hit Women" and were sponsored by the U.S. Embassy.

There was also a note about an agricultural project that USAID is working on to help Timorese farmers diversify their crops and start selling produce so they can earn an income. Last week there was a note about a project to help pregnant mothers living in rural areas get medical advice and prenatal care.

There were so many reasons I wanted to join the State Department, and this was one of the biggest. There are a lot of negative things in the news right now about the Department and the U.S. government in general, but today I was overwhelmed by how much good there is. There are so many people, like myself, who want to help the world and serve our country at the same time.

From my desk in Washington I help move these projects along and get them the attention they need but I can't wait to get out there and be the person working with the kids who want to learn English so they can get a scholarship to study in the U.S. I want to help a couple get a passport for their newly adopted baby. I want to help parents find the child they fear has gone missing in a foreign country. I want to get a new project started that helps people out of poverty.

Yeah, there is going to be bad. But you can't let the bad outweigh the good because there is so much good.