DiploLife

Ice Skating for the First Time

2011-12-21T03:26:00.002+05:30

Dear Sicily,
If you are reading this blog post in the future, I hope you forgive me for posting this embarrassing photo of you falling on the ice. I just really like they way it came out. You had a really great time though and couldn't wait to go again.
Love, Mom

Thanks to Kids in Prague, a great local blog run by expats with kids, Sicily and I settled on an ice skating rink for her to try ice skating for the first time. I am a Florida native, that has been on the ice maybe four memorable times, so I was very anxious trying to figure out how I was going to skate, let alone teach her how to skate. Thanks to Peppa Pig, Sicily was headstrong about going skating and pretty confident that she knew how, since Peppa Pig said it was simply "step, step, slide."

We went to a rink right off of Na Frantisku, on Kozi, which rents shoes and an amazing device called a hrazda. It is just a metal bar with two bar feet, and it works really well. Thank you inventor of the hrazda.

Sicily feeling confident while we walk on the rubber matting to the rink.

Above Sicily using the hrazda, while I am clenched to the side wall trying to convince her that it is more like "step, slide, step, slide." For the two of us, skating, skate rental and bar rental was about $8 USD. The rink was very empty on a week day, albeit when all of the schools are out for winter break.

The facility also has a playground, which we used as a break from the skating (I was the one who really needed the break).

What Happens When You Try to Use a 220v Appliance in a Different Country

2011-12-19T03:24:00.001+05:30

First adapter to extend outside of circular hole, second adapter to bypass the huge grounding prong that Indian appliances have. It works though!

Kicking of the Christmas Season with the Advent Festival at Nelahozeves Castle

2011-11-30T19:40:00.001+05:30

One of the main reasons that I blog about our life at post is to pay back for all of those great FS blogs out there that I have used for post research during bidding, preparing for post or remembering all of the things to do while at post. One of those great blogs I have been using for reference is The Travelling Rubeshes, who recently left Prague. Thank you Rubeshes!

A recent exploration was to a nearby town for the first Advent weekend. In the Czech Republic, Advent is celebrated by lighting a candle on each Advent Sunday, typically in a wreath as depicted below. Although the Czechs are not religious (5th least religious in the world according to a Gallup poll) many Czechs follow this tradition because it is a popular tradition (according to my survey of at least two Czechs).

The first Advent also signals the opening of many of the region's Christmas markets. The one in Old Town is the most famous in the Czech Republic, but many smaller towns and neighborhoods have them as well. We headed out to Nelahozeves Castle, about 30 minutes drive north of Prague, for the Advent Festival.

There we found several stalls outside and inside the castle, with handmade crafts and food, including the popular grilled sausages, hot wine called svařák, and trdelnik - which my daughter fondly calls "turtleneck."

There were many stations set up throughout the festival for children to work on small crafts, and an impressive large nursery room for all things infant related. This allowed us to extend our visit longer than usual.

Picture above shows craft booth where they provided aprons and sleeve covers (blousy white things) for kids to paint. And below, Sicily's first encounter with the angel in the St. Mikulas trio. Even though she can not understand or speak Czech, the smile and candy are understood universally.

Starting Again with Something Simple: A Really Great Online Book Sale at the Eric Carle Museum

2011-11-25T18:22:00.001+05:30

The problem with stopping is that you build up the next post in your mind, thinking it has to be really great to make up for the long gap without posting. I have been writing blog posts in my mind for several months now, thinking "Oh, this is a good one!," then loosing the drive to follow through.

Today, it hit me to just post something mundane, something that might be worth sharing, after I saw the Annual Picture Book Sale was on once again at the Eric Carle Museum. I end up buying from the sale every year, since they offer discounts over 50% and with free shipping.

There, I did it. A new post is finished. Now to spend time figuring out the changes to Blogger since I have been away and how to change on the text back to English from Czech!

On Tybee Island, Georgia

2010-08-11T22:38:00.002+05:30

We interrupt this home leave to write a post about Tybee Island, Georgia. A five hour drive from Atlanta, we took a short trip to get out of my parents hair for a few days, as staying at someone else's home for an extended period can warrant a little break. We had a great time.

Even though it was the height of summer vacation, it wasn't that crowded and still had the charm of a place that has the conveniences but is not over-developed.

The beach was great for toddlers, with surf that was tame enough for them to stand alone, a sloping beach so that Sicily could walk into the surf and lots of sand!

But the highlight was seeing the dolphins. We took a tour by Captain Mike and got lucking with lots of dolphin activity. The boat was smaller than other similar tours and was able to make some large wake, so we got to see the dolphins jumping and playing in the wake.

The next best highlight was the seafood. Great shrimp, crab, crawfish, fish and more at places like The Crab Shack. A definite good time!

A Different State of Mind

2010-07-02T10:13:00.002+05:30

As others write about when they have less than a handful of weeks to go, there is so much to blog about near the end of a tour but no time. I hope to catch up afterwards. Our days are full of goodbyes and errands. The stuff I had two whole years to get done but for some reason waited until 10 days before we leave. On one of my trips around the city, waiting for a typical 5 minute light to change, I saw this view out the car window. It is not as fascinating online as in person, but it describes my state of mind right now, seeing beauty in the craziness of Kolkata. The layers of painted advertisements both commercial and political created a wonderful abstract image that could be a Jackson Pollock painting.

When we first arrived, I may have seen this as visual noise, now when I am out in the city I want to take pictures of every minute detail. How sentimental am I?

Annual Cost of Living and Quality of Living 2010 Survey Results Are Out

2010-06-23T14:02:00.004+05:30

ECA's annual Cost of Living 2010 results are out and Tokyo beat out Luanda this year, which fell to third place after two straight years at number one. Oslo jumped to second place from eighth, and the other three big jumpers in the top twenty were: Stavanger, Norway up to six from 14; Moscow up to 15 from 29; and Seoul up to 20 from 102. The top twenty highest cost-of-living cities are:

1	Tokyo
2	Oslo
3	Luanda
4	Nagoya
5	Yokohama
6	Stavanger
7	Kobe
8	Copenhagen
9	Geneva
10	Zurich
11	Bern
12	Basel
13	Libreville
14	Helsinki
15	Moscow
16	Paris
17	Abidjan
18	Abuja
19	Tel Aviv
20	Seoul

The major cities in India (and Bangladesh) ranked:

204

New Delhi

209

Mumbai

211

Dhaka

227

Chennai

229

Bangalore

230

Hyderabad

236

Pune

237

Kolkata

Last year's ECA Cost of Living report can be found here.

The other interesting annual report, that was recently released, is Mercer's Quality of Living Worldwide City Rankings 2010. Vienna held its position as top city for quality of life again this year. The top ten didn't change much at all, the only difference being that Frankfurt moved up to tie with Munich for seventh place, from eighth last year.

1 Vienna
2 Zurich
3 Geneva
4 Vancouver (tied)
4 Auckland (tied)
6 Dusseldorf
7 Frankfurt (tied)
7 Munich (tied)
9 Bern
10 Sydney

There were more U.S. cities in the top 50 this year, with Honolulu (down to 31 from 29), San Francisco (down to 32 from 30), Boston (down to 37 from 35) and Chicago (45), Washington D.C. (45), New York (49) and Seattle (50).

Mercer also added an Eco-City Ranking which measured water availability, water potability, waste removal, sewage, air pollution and traffic congestion. The top ten best eco-cities friendly are:

1 Calgary
2 Honolulu
3 Ottawa
4 Helsinki
5 Wellington
6 Minneapolis
7 Adelaide
8 Copenhagen
9 Kobe (tied)
9 Oslo (tied)
9 Stockholm (tied)

Last year's Mercer Quality of Living report can be found here.

Krazy for Knedlíky

2010-06-18T14:38:00.003+05:30

Knedlíky or dumplings are the national pride of the Czech Republic and I have yet to be fortunate enough to have one, but I am assured we will have plenty of opportunities once we get to Prague.

You, like I, may not have known that there are three main kinds: bread dumplings (houskové knedlíky), potato dumplings (bramborové knedlíky), and sweet dumplings (ovocné knedlíky) filled with fruit or jam. There are also regional versions, for example in Karlovy Vary, the dough is made of left-over bread, egg and spices.

The Czech Republic is the biggest producer of pre-prepared dumplings in the world, with 95 percent for the Czech market, and the rest going to Slovakia, Austria, Poland, and Germany.

The most creative use of dumplings goes to Helmut Winter, a graphic designer in a Munich suburb. In 1967, he was so fed up with the noisy low-flying German and US fighter jets from a nearby military base, that he designed a giant catapult to pelt soggy dumplings at the planes.

There were no causalities, but the conflict was jokingly labeled "the Great Bavarian Dumpling War," with a mock armistice signed between the designer and US Army Major Donald Murphy.

Images and excerpts from Czech Radio

FLO's 2011 Professional Development Fellowships

2010-06-16T09:20:00.001+05:30

As I mentioned earlier this year in the post Funding Opportunities for Trailing Partners and Spouses, information on FLO's Professional Development Fellowships for the 2010-2011 term is out. The following was taken from the cable announcing the Fellowship:

The Family Liaison Office's Professional Development Fellowship program is open to spouses and partners of civilian direct hire US Government employees under Chief of Mission Authority [posted overseas]. This program is designed to assist those spouses and partners who are not in a position to pursue their career paths overseas to maintain, enhance, and/or develop their professional skills.

Fellowships will be granted on a reimbursable basis for enrichment activities. The 2011 program will have a minimum grant amount of $1,000 and a maximum of $2,500. The 2011 Fellowship period will cover activities that commence on October 1, 2010 and conclude no later than August 15, 2011.

Selected applicants must fund a minimum of 25% of the cost of the proposed activities while the Fellowship stipend will cover the additional cost up to the $2,500 maximum. Activities can include, but are not limited to, continuing education and distance learning through an accredited university, professional development, participation in professional conferences, and dues for membership in professional organizations.

The proposal deadline for 2011 is July 16, 2010.

More information and the application can be found on FLO's website at: http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c25927.htm

Happy Flag Day

2010-06-14T19:59:00.006+05:30

I remember finding Flag Day a bit confusing when I was a child, since it was so close to the 4th of July. It seemed to be a bigger deal back then. or maybe it was just because my family loved to throw a BBQ at the drop of the hat. Living overseas brings new meaning to the holiday since it stirs up memories of home and you feel more inspired to remember and explain all American holidays.

Here is my favorite patriotic song in celebration of Flag Day:

This Land Is Your Land

The lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing melody in response to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”, which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. Tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on the radio, he wrote a response originally called “God Blessed America for Me”.

(Chorus) This land is your land, this land is my land,

From California to the New York Island,

From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters,

This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway,

I saw above me that endless skyway.

I saw below me that golden valley.

This land was made for you and me.

(Chorus)

I roamed and rambled, and I followed my footsteps

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,

While all around me a voice was sounding,

“This land was made for you and me.”

(Chorus)

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,

And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,

A voice was chanting, as the fog was lifting,

“This land was made for you and me.”

(Chorus)

Revisiting Singapore Chili Crab

2010-06-09T10:40:00.000+05:30

While clearing out items to get ready for pack out, I found a pack of Singapore Chili Crab mix that I picked up at the airport in Singapore as an impulse buy. With an expiration date of June 2010, it was time to use it or loose it. Luckily large crabs are available in Kolkata, namely at the Gariahat Fish Market, where I picked up four large crabs for the dish. It was basically a rip open and dump mix but it was very good and reminiscent of our chili crab experience in Singapore. The hardest part was cleaning the fresh crabs, which got several rounds of laughter out of Krishna, as I squeamishly took on the task. The results of the dish in the photo above.

Which brings me back to Singapore. We visited last year in May, and although a hot time of year there it felt like a complete vacation from Kolkata. I like to call it an Asian version of Las Vegas (especially now since they have opened a couple of casinos), since the main activities are shopping, eating and relaxing.

We spent most of our time in the Chinatown and Indiatown (Mustafa's is a must) areas of the city, with a visit to the night zoo.

But the main highlight was the food in the street-food courts and markets. There are several large street-food courts around town where you can have several types of cuisines in the same meal. Our delicious chili crab is below with hand for size reference and to stop anyone from getting that big claw before me!

This Week's State Department Blog RoundUp

2010-05-28T21:12:00.015+05:30

I have to start out by reiterating the slow move east's comment that these Weekly State Blog Roundups take a lot of work! A big round of applause to A Daring Adventure for putting these roundups together in the past.

The big news this week is that Muttering Behind the Hardline decided to hang up the spurs for a while. We will miss you and hope to read more from you soon.

And we were very happy that I’ll take mine… to Go, please! decided to continue on…

A common theme this week and for more weeks to come is PCSing or summer travel. Is it summer yet? Not officially, but it sure feels like it in Kolkata, India.

Traveling and enjoying the good weather was:

the slow move east said farewell to D.C. and revealed her most precious Esmerelda;

Foreign Service Specialist was allowed back home in Thailand;

Diplodocus is having readjustment pains;

Minnesota Gal explored beautiful Cebu. Her adventures around Manila make me want to put the post on our “must bid” list;

there’s sand in my latte enjoyed “ghost” cheese and other delights in Turkey;

the world we live in described their recent travel to Eilat and an explosive experience;

from the back of beyond described her recent visit with friends New Orleans;

A Daring Adventure enjoyed the Washington D.C. Zoo;

Moppyseed Puffin went on two field trips around D.C.;

SassAndSweet enjoyed her recent trip to D.C.;

and Cyberbones went camping with the Cub Scouts;

Prepping for the big PCS were:

Find out how Email from the Embassy lost 30lbs in one day!;

The Perlman Update was able to sell (and buy!) some things before PCSing;

and Beyond the cornfields was moving to Miami - now its Bangladesh, but does their UAB know?

Enjoying the simpler things in life were:

Life is a bowl of cherries and Lack of Tacos decided to make juice;

place2place is enjoying the dandelions;

Lindsey Mae and company enjoyed peanut butter pancakes;

at post continues to treat us to unusual shopping adventures around the world;

Tuk & Tam is enjoying her recent change of perspective on her mother’s blankets;

and well, not really enjoying and not simple at all, but Life After Jerusalem is still experiencing her EER;

The last few A-100 classes and aspiring Foreign Service are full of active bloggers:

travel orders describes the extra-curricular classes at FSI;

The B Files received her security clearance in three months! Congratulations!;

Fawda Munathema added some additional thoughts to The Hegemonist’s legendary post on the Foreign Service application process;

and Something edited this way comes was able to get a lot of things done.

And in the Now for Something Completely Different Category:

Even though EF’M: The Life of an FSO Spouse wrote about the heat in Hermosillo, it is the photos of Tiffany’s teeth cleaning that I can't get out of my mind;

Diplopundit reported on the Principal Officer's at Consulate Fukuoka performance as Meriken Omaru in a Kabuki play;

and The Skeptical Bureaucrat reveals that the Ambassador from Zimbabwe heckled Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, at a gala event.

And finally, awards of the week so that I can use some alliteration:

This week’s Best Bawdy Banter award goes to Hick/Hitchhiker/...Diplomat for his pictorial essay “Angles.”;

The Hilarious Health Happening goes to NP Worldview for her hilarious post on the dialogue with post drivers as she examines them for high blood pressure;

The Totally Terrific Tour award goes to You Can Call Me Al since he got an insider tour of the White House;

and the Deeply Definitely Defining Domicile award goes to EF'M: The Life of an FSO Spouse as he pondered “Home is Where…?”

Next week’s Weekly State Department Roundup will be hosted at Wife-Mommy-Woman. Sign up for your turn at A Daring Adventure.

Enjoy!

Image from The World That We Live In

Tomorrow, the Weekly State Blog RoundUp!

2010-05-27T14:21:00.001+05:30

Tomorrow I will be hosting the second incarnation of the shared foreign service community feature, the Weekly State Blog RoundUp.

So beautifully executed last week by the slow move east and joyfully created by A Daring Adventure, I will try my best to keep the feature moving forward.

If you have a blog or link that you would like to be featured, please email it to stateroundup2.0 {at} gmail.com.

More tomorrow...

Thank You John Shepherd-Barron, Inventor of the ATM

2010-05-21T18:45:00.005+05:30

John Shepherd-Barron, inventor of the ATM, was an Indian-born inventor of Scottish parents, that spent most of his life in the UK. He recently passed away at the age of 84. The concept came to him in 1965 while in a bath, after showing up one minute late for a money withdraw from his bank.

"That night I started thinking that there must be a better way to get cash when I wanted it. I thought of the chocolate vending machine, when money was put in a slot and a bar dispatched. Surely money could be dispensed in the same way."

"By chance, in 1965, I bumped into the chief in general at Barclays Bank who was about to have lunch. 'Give me 90 seconds' I said over a pink gin." Barclays Bank installed the first ATM in London in 1967.

Thank you Mr. Shepherd-Barron for making those of us who travel have an easier experience, and also for showing that long baths, chocolate and gin are truly sources of inspiration.

Image from Dogs trained to retrieve money from ATMs article on www.ubergizmo.com.

How Upstart Online Newspapers Are Redefining How the News is Reported and the Potential (Small) Benefit for Trailing Partners

2010-05-18T11:57:00.007+05:30

The New York Times recently published an article on how some entrepreneurs are trying to redefine online newspapers by culling articles from the masses, or people willing to sign up and submit articles, rather than maintaining a newsroom with regularly salaried reporters.

These masses are willing to get paid by the page view or a percentage of online advertising revenues generated from the submitted article. Average pay is about $15 for an article. To reach a "$60,000 annual salary, an online journalist needs to generate a whopping 1.8 million page views a month."

Outside of the ramifications for our news industry, many trailing spouses that have decided to take on a writing career may find writing for some of these papers as resume builders, and a way to almost finance a morning latte ritual.

"Over the last few months, there has been a palpable uptick in both advertising and the journalism job market. The iPad, and its applications that restore magazines and newspapers to something like their traditional format, was greeted within the industry like the sight of a ship from a deserted island."

Some online newspapers that are accepting articles under this model, as listed in the New York Times article:

http://www.demandstudios.com/

http://www.globalpost.com/

http://www.theawl.com/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/

http://trueslant.com/

http://thefastertimes.com/

If you have any other resources or experiences, please share!

Image of newspaper from www.artsjournal.com

Home-style Egg Curry (or Chicken or Potato or Anything Your Heart Desires in a Curry)

2010-05-15T12:19:00.001+05:30

After I started this post, I realized I forgot to take a picture of the dish on a plate. The anticipation of eating this dish made me forget!

This is a quick, home-style curry that can be used with any main ingredient you desire. Krishna does recommend that if you do use a meat like chicken, grind the onion instead of chop to create a thicker "gravy" or sauce.

Egg curry has a significance in our home. When either Alan or I is not able to be home for lunch (not often believe it or not, another wonderful aspect of serving in Kolkata) the remaining usually has egg curry, or in our house "the only me curry."

Home-style Egg Curry

6 small boiled (but still firm) and peeled potatoes
3 boiled and shelled eggs
2 tbs vegetable oil
2 small onions chopped (or ground for chicken or other meats)
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp turmeric power
1 tsp water
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp water
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tsp cilantro leaf powder or ground dry cilantro leaves (called coriander leaves in India)
1/2 tsp ground red chili pepper powder
1/4 to 1/2 cup water (depending on how thick you want the final curry sauce)

1. Heat the 2 tbs vegetable oil on medium high heat, and in a pot with high sides like a dutch oven or larger sauce pan.

2. Turn heat to medium once the oil is hot.

3. Add onions and fry until soften, or if using paste fry for about 3 minutes.

4. Add the 3 eggs and fry with onion until both are browned.

5. Once browned, take eggs out of pan and set aside.

6. Krishna likes to layer her spices. Add 1 tsp garlic paste and stir. Then 1 tsp ginger paste and stir, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and stir, 1 tsp water and stir. Let cook for about 2 minutes.

7. Add the boiled and peeled potatoes and mix.

8. Next is the second set of spice layering. Add 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and stir, 1/2 tsp salt and stir, 1 tsp water and stir, pinch of ground clove and stir, 1/2 tsp cilantro leaf powder (coriander leaves) and stir, 1/2 tsp red chili pepper powder and stir. Let cook for about 3 minutes.

9. Add the eggs that were set aside earlier, turn down the heat to a low simmer and then add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup water depending on how thick or thin you would like the curry sauce to be.

10. Cover and let sit for at least 10 minutes for the potatoes and eggs to absorb the spices.

The ginger paste, garlic paste and onion (in different forms) seem to be the sofrito of Indian cooking. And ginger, garlic, onion, cumin (or jeera), turmeric, clove and chili have appeared in every main dish we have made so far just in different quantities, although you can adjust these spices to your taste.

The above recipe should serve two people with rice and you can double it to make more. Enjoy!

Can Making an Inventory Actually Be Fun (At Least for the First Hour)?

2010-05-11T21:46:00.000+05:30

As we wrap up our time in Kolkata, we are trying to get serious about a more accurate inventory of our stuff. We will have our suitcases, UAB for D.C., HHE for Prague, and HHE back to storage in D.C. to organize as we leave Kolkata. And then when we leave D.C. for Prague, will have our suitcases, UAB and possible HHE with items out of storage.

I had created some spreadsheets when we left D.C. almost two years ago. They meticulously detailed all of Sicily's clothes, toys and other items. That was all. For the rest of our stuff we scribbled some things down on paper and did a walk-through of our house with a video camera. Not quite sure where the video tape is but I can find the spreadsheets, which are now all out of date.

As you shuffle stuff around, it becomes even more of a chore to keep the inventory up-to-date. She wore stuff out, we gave stuff away, we got more stuff. I didn't want to even open the spreadsheets to try to reconcile what we have now.

After reading a post on livelines about Delicious Library, I was curious to see if there was a better solution to my rudimentary spreadsheets. Delicious Library is an application for Macs that allows you to organize and manage your stuff through visual shelves.

What makes it a nice choice for our lifestyle is that you can create collections or shelves and then drag items into the shelves to organize them into groups. For example, I can create a UAB shelf and then drag items onto that shelf so that I can see what we have in our UAB shipment, and still look at all of the books we have at one time regardless of what place they are in. Much easier than cutting and pasting in Excel. You can also keep track of items you loan to people through the Friends category.

Aside from the categories, the next coolest feature is the ability to input items by scanning the bar code through your built-in webcam. I have been able to hold up a book, CD or DVD and it will read the bar code, then bring in all the information about that item. I was able to do all of Sicily's books in about 30 minutes, much faster than if I had typed the same information into Excel.

The main drawback is that it is really designed for books, games, software, toys, movies, music, gadgets, tools and clothing. If you want to capture your furniture you will have to put it under one of those categories. Right now, I see it as the start of a detailed inventory for those types of items (kitchen will go under tools) and then supplementing with an Excel spreadsheet, videotape or scribbles on a piece of paper.

We use the inventories for three reasons: 1. insurance replacement if it gets lost, damaged, stolen or eaten, 2. so that we don't buy duplicates of stuff we already have but forgot about because it is in another shipment, or 3. so that we know where to find that stuff we really need for our next post (winter clothes!). Documenting everything is a momentous task, but if you generally have enough information to help you with the three above that is more than enough.

Sicily helps enter books into the inventory.

More information on Delicious Library at http://delicious-monster.com/

Aloo Posto, a Popular Bengali Dish

2010-05-08T10:22:00.002+05:30

Krishna took it easy on me and started our lessons with Aloo Posto, a very addictive, tangy potato dish. In Krishna's opinion, Aloo Posto is the Bengali version of Aloo Dum, a popular vegetarian meal across India that has different spice mixtures depending on the region where it is cooked.

What makes this a Bengali dish is the liberal use of posto, or white poppy seeds. White poppy seeds have a different taste than the black poppy seeds that are more popular in the U.S. If you can not find them in the local grocery store, check with an Indian grocery store or find them online. After a quick search I found them at amazon.com and Penzeys Spices.

The other spices needed in this version that may not already be in your kitchen are:
mustard seeds
fenugreek (menthi in India)
cumin seeds
fennel seeds

Again, all available at Penzeys Spices, which has a Falls Church location.

Krishna cooks by intuition instead of fixed measurements, and the beauty of this dish is that you can add or subtract the quantity of spices to find the right balance you prefer. So all of the below is approximate(!) and optional items are listed in the directions.

Bengali Aloo Posto

2 tbs white poppy seeds
1tbs cumin seeds
1 pound small potatoes (or large ones can be used since will cut into pieces)
4 tbs vegetable oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (or powder if cannot find seeds)
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 chili powder
1 tbs lime juice

1. Begin by grinding the 2 tbs white poppy seeds and 1tbs cumin seeds into a paste. Set aside until step 10.

2. Cook and peel potatoes using your preferred method. We boiled them in water first, stopping while they were still firm, and then peeled them.

3. Cut the peeled potatoes into 1/2" or so cubes. If possible, try to get them all to be similar in size.

4. Heat 4 tbs of vegetable oil on medium heat, in a pan or pot with high sides since you will be stirring the dish. A karai is perfect for this, but mine wasn't ready when we had the lesson. We used our dutch oven.

5. If you are using fenugreek powder, I would wait to add it after the potatoes and not in this step. Put the 1/4 tsp mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds and 1/4 tsp fennel seeds into the hot oil and stir until they take on a golden color.

This mixture of seeds is also called panch phoran, a much-used Bengali spice blend. It typically has five different seeds, including nigella seeds, but Krishna makes hers without it. If you do want to use nigella, add an equal amount at this step.

6. Turn the heat to very low or a low simmer. If your stove is unable to maintain a very low heat, remove from heat and continue with the rest of the steps. Heat should be low enough to keep the mixture warm but not cause the potatoes to stick to the bottom.

7. Add the potatoes and stir until lightly coated with mixture. If you are using fenugreek powder instead of the seeds, add it in this step. You can also add chopped, roasted green chilies at this step, if desired.

8. Add the 1/8 tsp ground turmeric and stir to distribute and coat. This will give the potatoes a beautiful yellow color. At this point and with the ingredients added afterwards, the potatoes will start to break-up a little bit. That is fine, just make sure to not let the potatoes stick too much to the bottom.

A side note on turmeric which is very popular in Indian cooking, it is becoming increasingly known as a powerful antioxidant that may help prevent cancer. It is also used in India as an Ayurvedic cosmetic as well.

9. Add 1/4 tsp salt, and stir to distribute and coat.

10. Add the poppy seed/cumin paste made earlier in step 1. Stir to distribute and coat.

11. Add 1/4 tsp chili pepper, and stir to distribute and coat.

12. Add 1 tbs lime juice, and stir to distribute and coat.

13. Cover, remove from heat, and let the potatoes sit to absorb the spices. Krishna makes Aloo Posto before she cooks the chapatis or parathas that is traditionally served with the dish.

14. Add an optional 1 tbs fresh, chopped cilantro (coriander leaves in India), as a garnish if desired.

This dish is typical of Bengali, and Indian, home cooking, in that a lot of different spices and spice combinations as used to make simple ingredients like potatoes, cauliflower, fish and meat delicious. We have two kitchen shelves full of single spices and spices mixtures. These cabinets look like a ancient apothecary, which is the best visual confirmation that Bengali food can be very healthy, if you stay away from the fried food and sweets!

Thriving Overseas by Douglas E Morris

2010-05-06T08:27:00.001+05:30

I ran across this article on a listserv and thought it was great advice. Douglas E Morris is a trailing partner in the foreign service with a wonderful perspective. Enjoy!

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Community life is an important intangible that helps make a post fun and enjoyable. In numerous cases, the sense of community engendered from a post is more significant than the available cultural activities, historic monuments, culinary experiences, or shopping opportunities. For many, the connection to others at an embassy overseas can make or break a tour.

However, as we all know, each post if completely different when it comes to community life. In general, the divergence is between large and small posts, as well as between those in more developed nations to those in lesser developed countries. What many of us have found, is that — for of a wide variety of reasons — community life at smaller US embassies in lesser developed nations is tighter. Expat events are generally more frequent and well attended, and from that a sense of connection to others is at most times much more real than at larger posts in more developed nations.

The last place where my partner and I were located — Ankara, Turkey — was like that. There was a deep sense of community, a feeling that you belonged to something greater than yourself, just by your presence. You were welcomed and celebrated just by being there.

In our current post — Brussels, Belgium — on the hand, community life does not feel quite as strong. And for some, not having that instant access to the embassy community life can be rather isolating. Especially for the accompanying spouses. With their significant others off at work, and the kids off at school, each sharing in their own micro-community, the accompanying spouse is left to his or her own devices. And in a post like Brussels, sometimes that can be rather alienating.

Sure, Brussels has great museums, wonderful neighborhoods, scintillating arts life, and instant access to many different stunning locales in Belgium and around Europe. But if you are doing it all on your own, the colors seems faded, the food at the cafes bland, the chocolate less than scrumptious. And that’s not a good thing.

So what is a person to do? Mope around the house all day watching movies? Certainly not. In a large, developed world post such as Brussels — and for that matter in posts anywhere in the world — to really thrive instead of just survive you need to put yourself out there. You need to make that extra effort to fill your life with friends, activities, and community life. To do that, here are a number of different community-building options to pursue. All of which also apply to smaller posts in less developed nations, though they may not be needed.

Option One is to head to the CLO, the heart of and embassy community. The CLO is where many of the embassy events are organized and planned. With the committed assistance of the CLO, you will be able to help find ways to combat your sense of disconnection. Guaranteed.

Option Two is to follow a simple rule of thumb. For the first 6 to 9 months after you arrive do not turn down any invitations. None. Accept them all. Act like Jim Carey in the “Yes Man.” Say “Yes” to every invite. Well maybe don’t accept the invitation to bungee jump naked off the Eiffel tower, or is that another movie I am thinking of?

Option Three is to check out the embassy newsletter and any other local English-language periodicals on a regular basis for events and activities and pursue the ones that interest you.

Option Four is to consider volunteering. The CLO is likely to have opportunities for volunteering available, and if none interested you, then its time to try option five.

Option Five is to reach out to the extended expat community and find something you enjoy doing, or something new you have always wanted to try … and pursue it. Whether that is taking a drawing class, a wheel thrown pottery class, auditioning for some plays, joining a bike club or dinner club, there are tons of other expats in whatever post you are at who are doing all those things right now, and who would enjoy getting to know you through those activities.

God invented Google just for this purpose. Or was that Al Gore? I can never remember. Whatever the case, by performing a simple internet search, all sorts of possibilities will emerge. For example, why not look into the American Women’s Club? This organization is global are no longer exclusively for women despite what their title says — so guys don’t feel shy about contacting them — and they will usually have tons of fun activities all year round at which you can meet other expats,. Or what about joining a church? Even if you are not religious, churches are a great place to network for friends. When I was growing up overseas as the son of a corporate expat outside of the embassy community, my folks would drag us to church every Sunday as it was a great way for them to make friends.

However, if you still haven’t found what you are looking for try Option Six — create your own community. Say, for example, you love the arts, but you do not want to go to the theater or ballet or symphony on your own. What do you do? You create your own group — by advertising in the embassy newsletter, by putting signs up at the embassy and elsewhere — then voila, instant community.

At a larger, more cosmopolitan post like Brussels, you really have to take charge of creating your own community life. You have to put yourself out there, and take responsibility for your own happiness.

So, even though creating a connection to others in a large post won’t be as easy as instantly being embraced by a tight-knit embassy community as might be the case in smaller ones, in many ways the community life you will find or create for yourself has the potential to be richer, more rewarding, and loads more interesting.

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Douglas E Morris has lived abroad for over 18 years in 10 countries on three continents. He can be reached through his website – www.TheItalyGuide.com.

The World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards

2010-05-05T10:11:00.003+05:30

The San Pellegrino sponsored 2010 World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards were announced this April. If you needed confirmation that the best country for food is Spain, this list confirms. The top five are:

1. Noma, Denmark
2. El Bulli, Spain
3. The Fat Duck, UK
4. El Celler de Can Roca, Spain
5. Mugaritz, Spain

The two from the top 50, that are closest to us in India, are 28. Iggy's, Singapore, which was up 17 places this year, and 39. Jaan Par Andre, Singapore, a new entry.

They also list a second 50 to 100 best restaurants in the world, and Wasabi by Morimoto at the Taj Mahal in Mumbai is listed as number 54.

Image from El Celler de Can Roca

French Landscape Painting or Indian Countryside?

2010-05-01T21:10:00.001+05:30

Every time we head out into the countryside from Kolkata, I can't help but think of the similarities to French landscape paintings I have seen from the 1800s, and also think that it won't be this way for much longer.

Painting by Corot from www.lukespence.com

Scrub On, Scrub Off, Scrub On, Scrub Off: Seasoning the Karai

2010-04-29T21:26:00.003+05:30

Miyagi: First, wash all car. Then wax. Wax on...
Daniel: Hey, why do I have to...?
Miyagi: Ah ah! Remember deal! No questions!
Daniel: Yeah, but...
Miyagi: Hai!
[makes circular gestures with each hand]
Miyagi: Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don't forget to breathe, very important.
[walks away, still making circular motions with hands]
Miyagi: Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off.

Those were the words that went through my head when I saw and then cleaned my first karai, a wok-like pot used in Indian cooking. I could have chosen a brand new, teflon-coated steel one, or an aluminum one, but I went straight for the older-style iron karai.

After a recommendation to get an iron karai at the Gariahat Fish Market, I found a kitchen supply vendor that had stacks and stack of aluminum karai. When I inquired about iron ones, he came around to the front of the stall and pulled out a pot from under a wooden bench draped with a cloth. My karai appeared completely covered with rust. But at $3.00, I thought it would be worth the effort.

I took it home and then scrubbed and scrubbed - or rather wax on, wax off - until most of the rust was off with a mix of oil and salt, then water, dish soap and steel wool. It took several attempts to get to the silver-colored iron.

After the cleaning, I coated it with oil and baked it in the oven for one hour to set the first layer of seasoning. It was then ready to start using. I then felt worthy enough to start cooking Indian and Bengali food in front of Krishna.

Movie quote from The Karate Kid

What Do These Famous People Have in Common?

2010-04-28T17:39:00.006+05:30

Senator John Kerry

Actress Kathleen Turner

Actor Oliver Platt: West Wing, Benny & Joon, Indecent Proposal, Flatliners

Musician Stewart Copeland from the Police

Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner

Actor William Hurt

President JFK, recommended by EF'M: The Life of an FSO Spouse

They were children of Foreign Service parents.

From a discussion on the Yahoo group FSParent.

Turn Your Blog into a Book

2010-04-27T08:21:00.003+05:30

I usually ignore the messages in the right-hand column of the Blogger dashboard, but today one caught my eye:

Turn your blog into a book!
Blog2Print from SharedBook turns your blog into a soft cover or hard cover book. You pick the cover, add an optional dedication, then preview and you're done. Prices start at $14.95.

Looks like it only works with Blogger blogs. A 20-page softcover book is $14.95, hardcover $24.95. Extra pages are 35 cents each. I previewed a book from this blog with 47 posts and the cost was $24.95 for the softcover book. They also offer a PDF version for $7.95.

May be interesting for those who are blogging to keep a record of their experiences. Other options include:

Blur: Blog Books - Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, and WordPress

Do it Yourself with Tips on How to Print it Yourself at Home - Blogger

Where in the World is Kerala?

2010-04-24T18:02:00.001+05:30

I was just going to post, when I received an email from my mother-in-law about her recent visit with us in India. Her words are so descriptive, that I thought others might also enjoy reading it:

Where in the world is Kerala? It is India's southern most state and stretches along the West coast on the Arabian Sea. Our early morning flight on Spice Jet airlines via Mumbai (Bombay) was diverted further north due to the unexpected closing of Mumbai's International Airport for a "dignitary." By the time we refueled and headed back to Mumbai, we still managed to make our connecting flight to Cochin in Kerala.

From the air, Kerala looked like a blue turquoise and jade green jewel, thanks to its 44 rivers and 28 major lakes.

We landed about 5 pm, where our driver was waiting to take us to Kumarakom. It was early evening on Good Friday. The largely Christian population was walking, busing and motorbiking to the many neighborhood temples, shrines and churches that were around every corner. The VERY narrow, bumpy, mostly paved roads were lined with coconut palms, food, drink and trinket stalls, free range cows, goats and chickens, and a few larger red-tile roofed homes. It had a Mediterranean look. Sicily even spotted a bull with painted blue horns. Beyond this, the driver told us, are farms with coconut palm trees, cashew and banana trees, and groves of herbs.

The procession of women in beautiful saris, candle carrying alter boys, and pockets of drummers was a stunning site. The air was sweet with incense. This scene went on for miles, village after village. Where were all these people coming from? Cochin's population is about 1,000,000. Their homes, farms, houseboats and fishing boats are camouflaged in the distinct, quaint areas that wind through the "backwaters" that empty into the Arabian Sea.

It was dusk and the sunset sky deepened the colors of the rusty-pink roadside. A few hair raising encounters from meeting the big red buses on these narrow winding roads kept us on our toes. By this time it was dark. No street lights here except for an occasional light bulb lighting an "open late" food and drink stall. Walkers and bikers were still filling the roads and only a few had flashlights. Our driver turned right off the main road and drove up to a small, dimly lit dock. It did have a small sign that I didn't notice until our return on Monday in the daylight---"For Coconut Lagoon Visitors Only".

The final leg of our weekend destination was another thrilling adventure none of us expected. It began as soon as the driver let us out and drove away. A man (boat driver) with a flashlight came from the boat and assisted the four of us. We stepped up on the boat deck then down three deep steps into the lighted wooden boat where we got comfortable. It was beautifully varnished with white cotton covered seats lining both sides. We left the empty dock. The sputtering motor did not drown out our excitement as we navigated the serene beauty that we all felt and couldn't wait to experience in the daylight.

What a contrast with our arrival to the dock at Coconut Lagoon---a red and yellow hibiscus lined lagoon, with a well-lit dock, back-dropped with coconut palms, and staff in white saris with gold edging, to greet and seat us. We were handed cool, aromatic washcloths to freshen our face and hands and served a refreshing drink of coconut water from the large green/yellow coconuts. By the time we made the short lagoon lined walk to our bungalow, we were feeling the clean, simple, quiet charm and uniqueness of the place.

Our dinner was a Keralan buffet in the covered outdoor restaurant. Spices, scents and aromas filled the humid air. The surprises for the day didn't end yet. Back at the bungalow, I opened the heavy wooded door to the bathroom and showered in the outdoor, stone-lined, "room," that even came with a small friendly green lizard laying on the rocks. We feel asleep to the sound of crickets, frogs and swishing palms, and, oh yeah, air conditioning fans.

Saturday was equally exciting, but relaxing. Alan and Sicily went to the seaside pool for a morning swim. After Natalie and I checked out the "shop" for gifts and goodies, she directed me to the Ayurvedic Center. It did not take much encouragement for me to sign up for the one hour and 45 minute full body, hot oil massage and steam bath. Natalie left me and she went to take drum lessons! I don't remember much of anything after that! Later, Sicily told me all about the pool and the Butterfly Garden that she visited with Daddy.

Our "backwater" boat tour was from 3-6 pm. The four of us climbed aboard the very large "kettuvallum." In the past they were used as rice haulers, now converted to houseboats for touring and even as homes for some residents. They have other boats called chundus...very long boats shaped like the large hood of a snake, which may have up to 100 rowers. One of the two boatmen asked if we wanted tea. We made quick stop at a small dock in a village. He reboarded and quite a while later, served us spicy tea in small cups with hot, peppery french fries!

Later that evening, Sicily and I had a night time pool swim, and then we all attended an exhilarating outdoor performance of a 2000 year old tribal dance and drummer. His brightly painted green face and colorful costume was indescribable. After a room service dinner and movie back at the bungalow, Sicily and I went to sleep. Alan and Natalie had a night out at Coconut Lagoon.

After Sunday Brunch, we explored the lagoon on foot. A few small bulls and cows were tethered here and there to palm trees eating the lush green grass and also keeping it neatly trimmed. Large white heron-like birds floated in and out sight. We found a very long rope swing hanging high from a coconut tree. Sicily had fun sitting in the seat, holding on tight and having the swing of a lifetime.

The varnished wooden boat was waiting to take us back to Cochin. We returned to the small dock, this time in the sunny daylight. I can see why Kerala is called "Gods Own Country" and Cochin is the "Queen of the Arabian Sea." After a month long visit, you might be able to soak in the festivals, five century old temples, forests, waterfalls, beaches, and shop in the best antique and art shops in Kerala. I would go back anytime...

Our last night was spent in a beautiful hotel in Cochin. Sicily was happy to visit and feed the many live chicks and bunnies corralled in a large fence in the hotel lobby for Easter. Our return flight to Mumbai was uneventful this time, so we took advantage of our five hour layover. We taxied to a huge mall where Sicily had fun playing in a large climbing playground. At a restaurant called Nandos, we ate grilled corn on the cob, grilled chicken, and peri-peri fries. Peri-peri is some type of pepper. Refueled, we were ready to head back home to Kolkata.

The Mysterious Case of "This May Be the Last Time" and the Foreign Service Fifteen

2010-04-21T18:20:00.000+05:30

Some of you may have heard of the foreign service fifteen (a.k.a. FS 15), and then there are some of us who are more familiar with it than we would like to be. It is the typical pounds gained when leaving D.C., on R&R in the U.S., and now I have discovered it can also occur when leaving an overseas post.

In my very biased opinion, people in the foreign service community are in general more fit than the general U.S. population. My first guess is that it has to do with all the sorting, packing, cleaning, unpacking, cleaning and sorting that needs to be done every two to three years. Another factor is when posted to a new place it may take a week or so to resume a normal diet and find where those yummy baked goods are sold.

Well the This-May-Be-the-Last-Time started for me last night, when even at two and a half months out I thought, "this may be the last time I eat this food from this particular place." The hardest case is when you are in the U.S. from am overseas post and you haven't had something in a while or have been craving it from afar. Unfortunately those items for me are never low fat, low sugar, or low calories.

I looking forward to enjoying mangoes, Bengali sweets, kati rolls (from at least three different places), kabobs, aloo posto, beckti, dry chili chicken...I have to stop here and get a snack.

What Do I Do With the Mail?

2010-04-19T15:36:00.001+05:30

We were a local hire as residents of Washington D.C., so while Alan was in A-100 we stayed in our house. Being a local hire is a mixed blessing since you don't have to disrupt your life too much prior to moving to post, but you also don't get the full A-100 experience. You feel as though you are only half in the foreign service water during that time.

I now realize that another easy part to being a local hire is figuring out what happens to your mail. When we left D.C. for Kolkata, we forwarded our mail to our post's pouch address. It dawned on me last week, what happens to our mail when we leave post (which will have a month to travel round-trip if we are gone), then on home leave, then in Oakwood, then onto our next post? Whew!

Thankfully mail is becoming less and less important and the 80% we get is junk mail. Heck, the General Accounting Office just announced that the US Postal Service is not a viable business. But getting the mail still brings that warm, fuzzy feeling in my tummy, even if it is only credit card offers.

This is where I often digress into another topic...I have to add that the two things we did before we turned in our untenured officer bid list was decide on where we would live in the D.C. area and put Sicily on the waiting list for FSI daycare. We knew our next post would require a language, and with home leave requirements, we had a ballpark date for FSI.

The to-Oakwood-or-not-to-Oakwood decision was tough for us, since we are still D.C. residents. Tribal affiliations with living in NoVa, DC or Maryland are very strong in the area and living in NoVa just felt against our tribal rules. Well, add our new foreign service tribe and a toddler, and Oakwood seems like a good fit. So we decided to stay at Oakwood during our time in D.C. for training at FSI.

You can not reserve at an Oakwood until you have your PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders from your HR tech. You then need to notify HR/EX PCS Lodging that you would like to stay at an Oakwood. They interact directly with Oakwood to make your reservation from your approved PCS orders.

Luckily, we did this as soon as we got the orders and were able to get into the Oakwood of our choice. From the chatter on livelines, Oackwood filled up very quickly for the summer transfers, so we are happy that we got in.

Along with the request for our reservation, came instructions including the fact that Oakwood is not equipped to hold mail earlier than two days prior to arrival, so we should put a hold on our mail.

So back to, what do I do with the mail? The US Postal Service will only hold mail for up to 30 days, so if you consider stopping the mail that is being sent to post at least two weeks in advance since it takes at least two weeks to arrive, then at a different location for home leave, then on to Oakwood, we will surpass the 30 day hold.

Enter the Employee Service Center and their Mail Forwarding Services at the Department of State. They will hold or forward mail. You can hold, forward or update your address with the Employee Service Center in person at their office, by email, and through their web page on the Department of State intranet.

This in combination with changing our address (and a possible hold) with the US Postal Service, I can plan on several fun-filled hours of sorting, opening and shredding credit card offers when we arrive at Oakwood.

Image from about.com

Volcanic Eruption Under the Eyjafjallajökull Glacier

2010-04-17T05:49:00.001+05:30

A friend of mine in Iceland posted this image on Facebook. What an incredible photo of a very tumultuous event both in Iceland and for air travelers across the Atlantic.

Image from Civil Protection in Iceland via Stone

Cooking with Stella: Movie About Diplomats in New Delhi

2010-04-14T10:15:00.003+05:30

Just as I was about to start my Bengali cooking lesson with Krishna this morning, I saw a new post on livelines about the D.C. Filmfest and a movie of interest, Cooking with Stella.

Cooking with Stella is "a lighthearted, satirical, social comedy about an unsuspecting couple in the Canadian Diplomatic Service posted to New Delhi who inherit a household of Indian servants headed by the wily, charming... and totally inspiring cook - Stella."

I had to watch the trailer, and it looks hilarious. Will miss it at the D.C. Filmfest, April 21st and 22nd, but have to hunt it down once we get back.

Synopsis: "Stella Elizabeth Matthews has been a cook in the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi for 30 years. She is brilliant as a cook, and brilliant at creatively padding her salary - with a few pilfered items, some minor overcharging, and a special phone-order duty free business.

A newly posted Canadian diplomatic couple Michael and Maya arrive with their baby and, after an initial jolt when she learns that Michael will be staying home as "diplomatic housewife" while Maya goes off to work, everything goes swimmingly for Stella. Michael was a chef in Ottawa and he is longing to learn authentic Indian cooking. Stella agrees to be his "cooking guru".

But Stella's cozy domestic set-up implodes when Tannu, an honest nanny, joins the household, and threatens to expose Stella's deceptions. Eventually Stella wins Tannu's full cooperation (and then some!). This unlikely partnership embarks on a much grander, riskier scam, which seems to bring disaster.

An unexpected kind of justice is found, but not until the guru-student relationship between Stella and Michael has been sorely tested. Michael has learned many important lessons from his teacher ...including glorious traditional South Indian cooking. And Stella? Well... let's just say dreams sometimes come true in unexpected ways."

See the trailer and more at the Cooking with Stella movie website.

Building the DVD Collection

2010-04-13T16:32:00.000+05:30

One thing that has definitely grown besides Coco's weight since we have been in India is our DVD collection.

We had about six total before we left D.C., and now we have umm...more than a hundred. Over half of them are Sicily's collection, so having a toddler is one of the main reasons for the increase, but another is the cost of DVDs in India. New movie releases can be found here for about $4 to $5. The cheaper ones are VCDs and you need a DVD player that will play Indian region DVDs, but at $4 we went a little wild.

It also seems to be another part of the foreign service lifestyle, as many homes have expansive DVD collections for those posts with limited entertainment options.

Another source of cheap DVDs, that is available if you don't live in India but have access to a mailing address in the U.S. is familyvideo.com. They have a daily special that offers a DVD at a deep discount and a selection of used DVDs.

I have my eye on the complete Bosom Buddies series, but I will wait until it comes own in price.

Kolkata, the New New Hip Place for Tourists

2010-03-31T10:07:00.006+05:30

A couple of months ago, I noticed that there were more foreign tourists in Kolkata, in comparison to when we first arrived. Foreign tourists are easy to spot in Kolkata since the city is not as popular as New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Mumbai, Bangalore, etc.; and most have (myself included) pasty skin and look of bewilderment.

But the ones in Kolkata tend to stick out even more, since for some reason the tourists that are attracted to Kolkata are the crunchy-crunchy types or decide to discover their inner crunchy-crunchy when here.

I have to briefly explain the crunchy-crunchy, crunchy-creamy, creamy-crunchy, creamy-creamy theory for describing a person's congruity or discongruity between how someone appears and how they behave and think. Using peanut butter texture as the analogy, being crunchy is typically sticking out of the crowd, having some eccentric qualities. Creamy is blending in, being normal appearance or behavior. From my experience with the foreign service, many are the creamy-crunchy type able to blend in with the many different social groups in appearance, but need to be crunchy on the inside to survive this lifestyle.

But back to the tourists. A majority come to Kolkata for ashrams, yoga, Mother Teresa charities, and to stay at the ISKCON temple better known as the international headquarters of the Hare Krishnas. But I have been seeing more of what appear to be regular tourists walking around in tour groups and discovering their inner crunchiness.

A good example of this was when we ran into a group of about eight older, Italian tourists at the flower market, all decked out in recently purchased clothes. Most had on patchwork, baggy salwar pants with crazy combinations of mismatched shirts, hats, bags and scarves. No Kolkatan would dress like this and you know they would not be allowed on the streets of Italy in these combinations, but when a tourist in Kolkata you are free to be a crunchy-crunchy!

But back to Kolkata as a travel destination. So, it is easy to gauge if there are more tourists out and about the city. There have also been more articles on Kolkata written in the U.S. press including:

India rickshaw pullers see 'pretty bleak future,' Los Angeles Times

India lags behind in sanitation facilities, Los Angeles Times

Mmm, Kolkata: Eats on the streets and off the beaten path, Washington Post

A Walk in Calcutta, New York Times

Oh! Kolkata!, the Atlantic

To add more fuel to the fire, travel-writer extraordinaire, Paul Theroux, just released his latest novel, A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta. The novel is based in Kolkata and features a previous Public Affairs Officer as a fictional character. A fun read to get a glimpse of Kolkata and see how Theroux uses familiar landmarks in Kolkata for the story.

So Kolkata may be the secret, up and coming tourist hot spot. It definitely is like no other city in the world.

Image from latimes.com

Making the Laundry Detergent

2010-03-27T16:05:00.006+05:30

We ran out of our laundry detergent supply a couple of weeks ago, so I took the opportunity to make some laundry detergent that was environmentally-friendly, since "green" laundry detergent hasn't become popular in Kolkata. I have seen what appeared to be lye soap in the market, but opted for a recipe that smelled a "little" fresher.

As we are unable to receive large amounts of liquid in the mail, only 16 ounces per package, I decided to try Soaps Gone Buys' formula of Fels Naptha Soap, washing soda and 20 Mule Team Borax.

The hardest part to making the stuff is grating the bars of Fels Naptha Soap, since the concoction needs to be fine to quickly dissolve in the water. After taking the bar to a cheese grater, I had a eureka and decided to use the food processor I got for Christmas. (Thanks Ruth!) In no time all of the bars resembled grated cheddar cheese. Since we can't get good cheddar cheese here, it was hard not to taste it and luckily I resisted.

After another round of fine chopping, I mixed three cups of washing soda with three cups of Borax to the six bars of soap I grated and it was done. You can order the bars of soap already grated but like adding eggs and oil to cake mix it just would feel like making something unless you had to do a little work.

Now if we are ever posted somewhere without access to good laundry detergent, I have a back-up plan!

Trailing Spouse Network Group on LinkedIn

2010-03-26T15:29:00.000+05:30

As someone mentioned on the livelines listserv today, there is a Trailing Spouse Network group on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=104868 with 198 members, that may be a good resource for networking overseas. There also is http://www.expat-blog.com/, which lists country related tips, blogs, discussions and individuals.

I don't have any experience with these two resources, so please let me know if you have opinions on them.

Finally Updated Diplolife's Layout

2010-03-26T15:04:00.000+05:30

We have been traveling, then I got really sick with a virus turned bacterial infection, so it has been a while since the last post, but we hope to be back in the swing of things in the next day or so. I finally got around to updating the blog layout with the new Template Designer in Blogger. Much easier than customizing it yourself. Read more at Blogger in Draft.

Fun in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark

2010-03-03T18:25:00.007+05:30

This weekend we headed down to Orissa, since we had heard so many wonderful things about the state. In two days we were able to pack in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark.

Konark is home to the Sun Temple, built in the thirteenth century, which resembles a large chariot with wheels.

It was a beautiful day and we were happy to start out early before the bulk of the crowd arrived. Here is a photo of others taking photos of Sicily.

After Konark, we took a beautiful drive down the coast to Puri, a popular beach town. Parts of Puri reminded me of Daytona Beach packed with tourists for Holi. We stayed to the less popular areas and Sicily was able to spend some time digging in the surf. We were accompanied by a life guard-type person, who took a liking to Alejo and Christian.

A perfect photo at the back of the Jagannath Temple. Non-Hindus are not allowed inside the temple, so we didn't get to see the temple but the scene outside was very captivating.

Lord Jagannath and his family are representations of universal love and brotherhood, and officially now my all-time favorite Hindu deity. This is a more traditional representation of the group.

How can you not be happy after looking at this image?

After Puri, we stopped by Pipli to see the famous umbrellas with appliques.

Bhubaneswar has one of the best zoos in India, which was a hit with Sicily. She got up close to a baby elephant and

the hippo exhibit was amazing. A highly recommended trip!

Traditional Image of Jagannath from Iskcon Indore
Floating Image of Jagannath from Hotel Diamond Palace

Two Foreign Service Blog Aggregators

2010-03-02T07:15:00.001+05:30

There are two blogs that are now aggregating posts from several foreign-service-life blogs:

this one is edited by hand and with personal commentary: A Daring Adventure
and
a systematic aggregator at: Foreign Service Blogregator

Time for the Overseas Seasonal Hire Program: Summer Jobs for 16 to 24 year olds

2010-02-24T14:49:00.000+05:30

Speaking of employment for EFMs, its that time of year when interested 16 to 24 year olds can apply for summer jobs at embassies and consulates. Contact the Community Liaison Office at post if interested. More on the program from the FLO internet site:

"The Overseas Seasonal Hire Program provides clerical and administrative support at the time of greatest need, during the personnel gaps of summer transfers and other times during the year. If your post of assignment has an Overseas Seasonal Hire Program, job opportunities for students of USG employees are sometimes a possibility. Eligibility: U.S. citizens who are 16-24 years of age and on the travel orders of a direct-hire employee are eligible. Children traveling to post under visitation travel of separated parents' authority, traveling at USG expense, and meet the criteria of the above are also eligible."

Starting the "New Gender Agenda" at Home: Interesting Opinion Article in the Foreign Service Journal

2010-02-24T14:42:00.000+05:30

The Foreign Service Journal has an interesting opinion article by Amanda Fernandez on the current state of Eligible Family Member (EFM) employment this month.

Chitrabani: A Center for Media Arts

2010-02-19T16:30:00.002+05:30

I had the pleasure of going to Chitrabani in Kolkata recently, a social communication center that has much to offer in media arts.

I was there to record voice-over narration for a video on life in Kolkata when I discovered what a gem it is. They offer classes in film making, animation, scriptwriting, radio broadcasting, puppetry and more. And have a photographic library of over 18,000 images of West Bengal.

Here we are making our way to the recording studio. I love the colors throughout the space, definitely create a mood.

Here is the director and sound engineer.

My view from the mic. The equipment was so sensitive I had to remain very still and stand in the same position for each take.

A Glimpse of Czech Creativity

2010-02-19T15:45:00.004+05:30

As our last months fly by in Kolkata, I have been wondering if Prague will live up to the adventure that Kolkata has been. Today's Praque's Daily Monitor delivered a glimpse of the culture with its headline, "Travel agency to offer unique trips for teddy bears."

Of course you want to read more. I am looking forward to a place that not only has the creativity to think of a business like this, but is concerned over whether the teddy is a teetotaller.

This is going to be fun!

2010 World's Most Livable Cities According to the Economist

2010-02-16T17:16:00.004+05:30

The Economist's Economist Intelligence Unit has released it's liveability rankings, which tries to quantify "the challenges that might be presented to an individual's lifestyle in 140 cities worldwide." "Each city is assigned a score for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure...whereas 1 is considered intolerable and 100 is considered ideal."

Cities in Canada and Australia are most liveable in the world, and Vancouver remains the world's most liveable city with a score of 98.0 out of 100.

Top 10 cities
1. Canada, Vancouver: 98.0
2. Austria, Vienna: 97.9
3. Australia, Melbourne: 97.5
4. Canada, Toronto: 97.2
5. Canada, Calgary: 96.6
6. Finland, Helsinki: 96.2
7. Australia, Sydney: 96.1
8. Australia, Perth: 95.9
8. Australia, Adelaide: 95.9
10. New Zealand, Auckland: 95.7

Bottom 10 cities
130. Senegal, Dakar: 48.3
131. Iran, Tehran: 48.3
132. Sri Lanka, Colombo: 47.3
133. Nepal, Kathmandu: 47.1
134. Cameroon, Douala: 43.3
135. Pakistan, Karachi: 40.9
136. Nigeria, Lagos: 39.0
137. Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby: 38.9
138. Algeria, Algiers: 38.7
138. Bangladesh, Dhaka: 38.7
140. Zimbabwe, Harare: 37.5

New Delhi was ranked 113th and Mumbai 117th.

These rankings are created for employers that assign hardship allowances as part of expatriate relocation packages, similar to:

Mercer's annual Worldwide Quality of Living survey
and
ECA International's Most Expensive Places in World for Expats report
both published typically in the summer.

Now the questions is, which is worst to live in a bottom ranked city in this survey or a city that wasn't even ranked? I will go with "ignorance is bliss."

Funding Opportunities for Trailing Partners and Spouses

2010-02-13T15:57:00.014+05:30

There are a few programs which aim to provide trailing partners/spouses with funds to start a business, support a volunteer project and further their careers. Below are three of them, with descriptions taken from the program announcements.

AAFSW Fellowships for Business Start-Ups
As a special commemoration of AAFSW's 50 years of advocacy and support to the Foreign Service community, AAFSW is offering a limited number of professional fellowships that can be used by EFMs and domestic partners overseas to set up small businesses. Subject to budgetary considerations, fellowships of up to $1,500.00 will be granted on a reimbursable basis for business start up costs. The applicant must also be a member of AAFSW at the time of application.

Proposals are due in AAFSW no later than April 9, 2010.

Application forms and more information can be found on http://www.aafsw.org.

J. Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust Project Funding
Established in the memory of J. Kirby Simon, a Foreign Service Officer who died in 1995 while serving in Taiwan, the Trust is committed to expanding the opportunities for professional fulfillment and community service of active Foreign Service Officers and Specialists and their families. In 2009 the Trust made its thirteenth round of grant awards, 44 in all, ranging from $550 to $4,500 for projects that fall under four topics: education, young people, health and safety-related, and micro-finance.

Proposals for projects to be funded during calendar year 2010 must be received by the Trust no later than March 1, 2010.

Further information about can be found at www.kirbysimontrust.org.

Professional Development Fellowship Program
The Family Liaison Office's Professional Development Fellowship program is open to spouses and partners of civilian direct hire US Government employees under Chief of Mission Authority [posted overseas]. This program is designed to assist those spouses and partners who are not in a position to pursue their career paths overseas to maintain, enhance, and/or develop their professional skills.

Fellowships of up to $2,500 will be granted on a reimbursable basis for enrichment activities. Selected applicants must fund a minimum of 25% of the cost of the proposed activities while the Fellowship stipend will cover the additional cost up to the $2,500 maximum. Activities can include, but are not limited to, continuing education and distance learning through an accredited university, professional development, participation in professional conferences, and dues for membership in professional organizations.

The proposal deadline for 2010 has already past, but keep an eye out for those in the future.

More information is at http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c25927.htm.

First Spam Email in Czech!

2010-02-13T15:19:00.003+05:30

Signed up for the daily email digest of The Prague Monitor, one of two English newspapers in Prague, to begin learning more about the country, and I received my first email spam in Czech! I had no idea what it said, but it was very exciting and also promptly deleted.

A Beautiful Day for the Park, and a Political Rally

2010-02-07T20:31:00.016+05:30

Taking advatange of the last weekends of cool weather, we headed over to the Indian Botanical Garden in Howrah, the district on the other side of the Hooghly river. The garden is known for being the largest and oldest of this kind in South East, nearly two centuries old.

It is also home to the largest Banyan tree, which is over 250 years old, with 2800 protuding roots covering an area of 1.5 hectares.

Sicily took her camera also and got some great shots:

And here is my photo of people taking photos of us.

On the way home, we ran into political rally traffic, people being bused in to attend a CPM demonstration at the Maidan. CPM is the Communist Party of India (Marxist) which has been in power in West Bengal since the 1970s, but has recently lost its standing.

The demonstrators not only get paid for their time but served a hot lunch from trucks parked around the periphery. This one had fresh puri with chick peas. Despite the traffic, the demonstrators were having a good time.

Foreign Service Tax Time Playlist

2010-02-01T18:06:00.015+05:30

With the tax statements starting to roll in, its time to start thinking about (or thinking about procrastinating) the filing of 2009 income taxes.

Being in the foreign service complicates taxes, unless you were already a Virginia resident. When you join, you have to pick a "state of domicile" which is typically the place where you vote, hold licenses, own property, etc. Since we lived in DC prior, we kept DC as our domicile, which means we pay DC state taxes along with federal taxes while we are abroad. If Florida or Washington is your state of domicile, you are lucky to not have to pay state income taxes.

As we head to Oakwood and FSI this year and next, we have to consider our status in VA, but since we will be in the state for less that 183 days per year, we will still be non-residents and have to only file in DC for state taxes (hooray?).

Regardless, living overseas does have its tax benefit. You get an automatic two month extension from the IRS (if you owe money it is still due on April 15th). Now, you do not get an automatic extension from your state. And if your state income taxes are dependent on your federal taxes, you might as well just apply for an extension for them so that you can take that two extra months.

The American Foreign Service Association has a tax guide that is helpful, including a brief write-up on each state, if you are weighing which one to designate.

I would go into the complications of foreign earned income and whether hardship pay is taxed, but I believe it is time to talk about the fun part of taxes, creating your music playlist for while you are doing your taxes. Below was my playlist for last year. If you have any suggestions for this year's, please let me know!

Cash Machine, Hard-FI
Don't Stop Believin', Journey
Goody Two Shoes, Adam Ant
Got To Give It Up, Marvin Gaye
Help!, The Beatles
Help Me, Joni Mitchell
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, Ramones
I Keep Forgettin', Michael McDonald
I Wanna Be Sedated, Ramones
I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better, Tom Petty
I'm Going Slightly Mad, Queen
I'm So Tired, The Beatles
I've Been Trying, Greyhound
If I Could Turn Back Time, Cher
If Things Were Perfect, Moby
Mercy Mercy Me, Marvin Gaye
Miracles, Mambo Sauce
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, The Beatles
One More Heartache, Marvin Gaye
One Thing Leads to Another, The Fixx
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want, The Smiths
Policy of Truth, Depeche Mode
Save Up All Your Tears, Cher
A Season in Hell, Moby
Shout, Tears For Fears
The Show Must Go On, Queen
Taxes, Chris Rock
That's the Way of the World, Earth, Wind & Fire
What Difference Does It Make?, The Smiths
What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
Whatever It Takes, Anita Baker

Photo by Peter Carroll

Winter in Kolkata: A Time for Flowers

2010-01-26T07:00:00.001+05:30

We have been really enjoying the winter weather in Kolkata this year, with temperatures from the low 50s to the mid 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It is also the season for flowers, especially dahlias, roses, chrysanthemums and marigolds.

The gardeners at the consulate grow amazing pan-plate sized dahlias in many colors. The two photos above are of their beautiful work.

It is also the time for the annual flower show at the Agri Horticultural Garden, founded by William Carey in 1820. Again, amazing flowers especially the dahlias

and the roses.

Since the garden is picturesque, I asked our daughter to pose underneath an archway so that I could take a picture.

But before I could hit the button, there was a rush

and a flurry of photographers that jumped in front of me to take her photo. This is a common experience with expat babies in the city, lots of photos taken and lots of pinched cheeks. We won't be surprised if she shows up on an ad for someones small tea shop one of these days. Since we take so many photos of people in the city, it seems to balance out when people in the city like to take pictures of us.

Two Year Anniversary of Diplolife

2010-01-25T17:38:00.003+05:30

It is hard to believe that two years ago we started our Diplolife with the words: And We Begin Diplolife. Much has changed since then and more to come!

Saraswati Puja Time!: A Celebration of Education

2010-01-22T12:57:00.027+05:30

This past week Saraswati Puja was celebrated, typically held "on the fifth day after no moon night in the Hindu month of Magh." The goddess Saraswati is the goddess of wisdom and learning in Hinduism, and a very popular puja in Kolkata. She is often depicted with a sitar and seated on a lotus with a swan by her side (her preferred method of transport). Her four arms represent the four aspects of human learning: mind, intellect, alertness, and ego.

On the day of the puja, students take the items they use in school, (notebooks, pencils, etc.) for a ritual before the deity. Preschoolers are often taught to write on this day. A friend of ours took her two and a half year old to the puja with the mandatory small black board and chalk. He sat with the priest in front of the idol and wrote the Bengali alphabet. This was the ritual to begin his education, as he begins preschool.

Many children in Kolkata go to school in bicycle rickshaws or auto rickshaws as in the photo above. There is a great book called Going to School in India which depicts all the different ways kids get to school in India, from camel carts to a wooden cable swing over a river. Talk about a better, "when I went to school I walked two miles, uphill, both ways" story.

The book also shows different school projects and activities from across the country, which makes it interesting to compare with topics in American schools. There is also the related DVD, Going to School in India.

But back to the puja. In comparison to Durga Puja, this puja is celebrated in homes and neighborhoods, while Durga Puja is more of a neighborhood-based public celebration. Since it is a more personal puja - an expression of hope for the education of a child - there is more active participation in the rituals. With more idols and practice, there is more demand for the Hindu priests, who have very tight and demanding schedules.

A more intimate celebration of the deity in a home.

This pandal had a DJ.

This one had a beautiful head wrap made out of plants to rival Aretha's inauguration hat.

Children still enjoying their puja. They had written quotes from famous people on peace and respecting the environment.

A Fast Track to a Teaching Certification for Trailing Partners

2010-01-16T09:15:00.009+05:30

A popular career change for trailing spouses and partners in the foreign service is teaching, since many posts have at least one affiliated or recommended American-curriculum, English-speaking school to fill the needs of foreign service children. The barriers to this career change have typically been the cost and time for obtaining a graduate school degree and/or a teaching certification.

There are online programs that can be completed from anywhere in the world; and the FAST Train program at George Mason University is specifically designed for trailing partners.

I found another possible alternative in the NY Times, which may be a good choice for those that expect to do tours in Washington D.C., as well as abroad:

"...Career Switchers program, the Virginia-based program that requires applicants to pass an Educational Testing Service exam in the subject matter they want to teach, take an online course and attend a series of meetings to learn classroom teaching skills.

The program, which has helped more than 500 people earn licenses, costs $3,150 and takes about 18 months to complete.

Virginia has one of the most streamlined programs for career changers and is among the 47 states that accept alternative teacher training. Over all, about 600 such programs contribute about 20 percent of the country’s new teachers each year, according to the Education Department.

Like the Career Switchers program in Virginia, the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence offers an online program that costs $975 and has so far issued 1,900 certifications. They are accepted by nine states, including Florida, Missouri and Pennsylvania. The board says people 50 and older account for one-fifth of its participants."

Great Quote from Nehru

2010-01-14T18:25:00.000+05:30

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”

— Jawaharlal Nehru
(1889-1964); 1st Prime Minister Of India

Entering the Last Phases of the Cultural Adaptation Cycle

2010-01-12T11:45:00.016+05:30

This comic, again from State magazine, humorously depicts how many in the foreign service experience cultural adaptation between posts. The different phases of adaption are typically reviewed in A-100 and Spouse/Partner Training, but the focus is usually on the beginning phases and re-entry, since they tend to be the most dramatic.

We are entering the Pre-Return (and then leave again) Ups and Downs. Where did the time go? I haven't started all those cool projects I intended to do after we arrived in India. Can you believe we still haven't unpacked all those Ziplock bags full of items from our "junk" drawers in D.C.?

It's time to fit in all that was intended to do over the two years in the last several months. And then start the cycle all over again for our next post.

Chart from University of Calgary's Cross Cultural Living.

Washington Post: 'Hillary effect' cited for increase in female ambassadors to U.S.

2010-01-11T13:56:00.002+05:30

"There are 25 female ambassadors posted in Washington -- the highest number ever, according to the State Department.

'This is breaking precedent,' said Selma 'Lucky' Roosevelt, a former U.S. chief of protocol.

Women remain a distinct minority -- there are 182 accredited ambassadors in Washington -- but their rise from a cadre of five in the late 1990s to five times that is opening up what had been an elite's men club for more than a century.

A key reason is the increase in the number of top U.S. diplomats who are women, what some call the "Hillary effect.'"

Read full article at the Washington Post.

Great Finds at the Gariahat Fish Market

2010-01-10T13:26:00.025+05:30

The Gariahat Fish Market in Kolkata has the reputation for being the freshest fish market in town. During my last visit I brought my camera to capture the best season there, when both the fish and the vegetables are at their peak.

One of the entrances to the market in the Gariahat section of Kolkata.

We started out with crabs at Rs. 480 a kilo ($4.75 US a pound), that looked a lot like Maryland blue crabs except with much bigger claws. Krishna negotiated hard but when she found out that she could have gotten them from another vendor for about 50 cents cheaper later in the morning, she vowed never again to go this vendor.

One of the guys that will fillet your fish at purchase. Notice the boti, a much larger version than Aarti used in our kitchen.

We bought silver fish from this vendor. They are very small fish much like minnows that Krishna said was a common Bengali dish.

The ubiquitous fish market cat checking out our purchases.

The reason why there are so many cats in the foreign service. I was so close to bringing them home with me.

Krishna starts on the vegetables

Three varieties of eggplant are readily available. There is a debate over the origin of the eggplant some say China, some say India. Though, the humble cucumber's origin in India is not disputed.

We bought a slice of pumpkin from this guy for soup. Could he be more photogenic? Notice the way purchases are weighed.

It is hard to describe my reaction in words when I saw these: "What!!!! Squash flowers in Kolkata? How come I didn't know this? We got to buy these!!!" The are called red pumpkin flowers here, a little larger than the ones in the US but just as delicious. I had to immediately run home and make ricotta.

This photo captures the reason why I like to go to the market with Krishna. This vendor wanted Rs. 6 per lime (13 cents), but Krishna would not budge past Rs. 3 (7 cents). They argued for a while, then the vendor gave up. She could get them at another market for 3, so no need to pay more.

The reward, crispy fried silver fish over red pepper and green bean fried rice. Yum!

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Listserv

2010-01-08T08:24:00.004+05:30

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's listserv for product recalls is a great resource while overseas. Since our focus has been more on the Indian media since we arrived, the email alerts can keep you up to date with products purchased in the U.S. Lately there has been a lot of child product recalls, so it is handy for those with children. They have alerts in the following categories: child, sports & recreation, outdoors, household and specialty products.

Sign up at https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx

Looking for Books on College Street

2010-01-05T14:43:00.022+05:30

Last weekend we headed up to the College Street area of North Kolkata, to find some Bengali cookbooks and soak up the atmosphere. This academic area includes the Medical College (opened 1837), Calcutta University (1857), Sanskrit College (1824), Presidency College (1837) and Sadharan Brahmo Samaj (1897). Calcutta University was the first modern university in India.

I found two good books at Das Gupta's, open since 1886. The bookstores and stalls are not designed for browsing, you basically tell the salesperson what you are looking for and they will find it. The most popular book subjects in the stalls (at least the ones in English) seemed to be medicine, information technology and English literature.

We then stopped in at the Indian Coffee House on College Street for coffee and onion pakora. This coffee house is famously known for being the meeting place for academics and artists, including Rabindranath Tagore and Subhas Chandra Bose.

The menu. In case it is blurry, each coffee was 8 rupees (17 cents) and the pakora was 10 (22 cents).

Some other sights around College Street:

Large empty water tank that looks like it used to serve as a pool with a diving platform.

A snack stall

Hauling empty mustard oil cans

The Differences Between the Hardship, Danger, Service-Needs Differential and Hard-to-Fill Designations

2010-01-04T10:35:00.017+05:30

Since this topic has come up a couple of times in the comments of this blog, here is my attempt to explain the differences between these designations (subject to change, of course). Alison and I exchanged comments in The Entry Level/Untenured Bid List is Out, if you prefer that format.

The best source for up-to-date information on a post's differential and allowances is the Department of State's Office of Allowances in the Bureau of Administration. They are the keepers of these and the Foreign Per Diem Rates.

They publish the latest schedules on their website, divided into:
Post Cost of Living Allowance (COLA)
Post (Hardship) Differential
Living Quarters Allowance
Education Allowance
Danger Pay Allowance
Foreign Per Diem Rates

Their definitions for each of these is listed in their Summary of Allowances and Benefits.

You can also look at all of these by post with their Allowances by Location section. You can find this information through other sources during A-100, but it comes in very handy for biding on subsequent tours.

The first two of these four designations are pretty straight-forward (from the website):

"The Post Hardship Differential is meant to compensate employees for service at places in foreign areas where conditions of environment differ substantially from conditions of environment in the continental United States and warrant additional compensation as a recruitment and retention incentive. It is paid as a percentage of basic compensation in 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35% increments." To see which posts have a Hardship Differential just go to Post (Hardship) Differential and look down the list.

"The Danger Pay Allowance provides additional compensation for employees serving at designated danger pay posts. It is paid as a percentage of basic compensation in 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35% increments." To see which posts have a Danger Pay Allowance, just go to Danger Pay Allowance and look own the list.

Now the Service-Needs Differential and Hard-to-Fill designations are trickier. If you are in A-100 or an untenured officer, only the Hard-to-Fill designation applies, and only for your second tour bidding.

For example in our case, the Entry Level Position in Kolkata was designated as a Hard-to-Fill job at post. The benefit we received from this was an extra 5% differential during our second tour bid. The standard differential (hardship plus danger) for Kolkata was 25%, plus the extra 5%, gave us 30% differential for bidding purposes. And as I mentioned in The Entry Level/Untenured Bid List is Out this gave us a nice boost in the assignment order.

A Hard-to-Fill job at a post is defined as when less than two officers in grade and at cone bid on a specific job at that post. This typically refers to tenured officer bidding. State's Human Resources maintains a list of Hard-to-Fill jobs at posts. Your Career Development Officer is also a good source for this information, if you are in A-100 or an untenured officer.

Next up, Service-Needs Differential:

A post is designated as a Service-Needs Differential post when it is Historically-Difficult-to-Staff.

If you are a tenured officer and serving at a post qualifies you for a Service-Needs Differential, you currently get a 15% of your salary bonus for three years, if you extend your two year posting to three years. You have up to six months after your arrival at post to decide on taking the opportunity. If you curtail or leave post early, you have to return the 15%.

For untenured officers, since the first two tours are only two years each, you cannot volunteer to extend to get the Service-Needs Differential at a Historically-Difficult-to-Staff post. A Hard-to-Fill job may qualify for the Service-Needs Differential if it is in a Historically-Difficult-to-Staff post.

Here is the chain of events that leads a post to become designated as Service-Needs Differential:

1. Hard-to-Fill – when less than two officers in grade and at cone bid on a specific job at post

2. Most-Difficult-to-Staff – when more than half of the jobs available at a post where Hard-to-Fill

3. Historically-Difficult-to-Staff – when a post has been Most-Difficult-to-Staff for the 3 out of the last 4 years

That may of been too much information, but may be helpful at a later time. Please add to the above with comments!

Update: I added the tags "trailing partner" and "preparation to move" since the comments generated discussion on those topics.

The World as Seen from State

2010-01-03T17:10:00.005+05:30

As I mentioned in a June post: Kolkata is State Magazine's Post of the Month, State puts out a great internal magazine for employees. One of the best features is the regular cartoon in the back that really speaks to the foreign service life.

See more at http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/statemag/. This is one of my favorites.

Time to Get Serious About Bengali Cooking

2009-12-31T08:56:00.025+05:30

Aarti on the boti above - a traditional Indian knife used for cutting vegetables, fruits and fish. The user puts their foot on the wood plank and pushes the item into the knife. Aarti swears by it for its precision and won't use any other knife.

It is hard to believe that we have been in Kolkata for over 17 months now. The time has gone by so quickly. Sicily was 14 months when she arrived, so she has now been in India longer than she has lived in the U.S. During our time in India is when she really began to develop her palette for real food.

A couple of days ago I put a big bowl of rice and a bowl of dahl on the table with some small empanada-type pastries ("puffs" for English slang here). Sicily proceeded to put a huge amount of rice on her plate, make a hole in the middle and then start to spoon dahl into the hole. She then ate the entire plate. It was at that point that I realized, we really need to learn how to make the regular food we have been eating.

My current plan is to hang out with Krishna in the kitchen and write down what she is doing when she cooks a dish. She cooks everything from memory and is the kind of cook that - adds a little more of this or that - so it is going to be interesting. I also decided to get Bengali Cooking: Seasons and Festivalsas a primer and hopefully make a visit soon to College Street to see if there are any other English cookbooks around. More to come...

Sicily having lunch with her adopted Bengali family in the kitchen

Why We Love Our Car, the Ambassador

2009-12-29T16:04:00.018+05:30

Soon after we arrived in Kolkata, I posted about how we decided to wait on buying a car before we arrived, in Waiting and Deciding on a Car. We are happy that we did wait, since we ended up buying a 1994 Ambassador from an outgoing officer.

We had our eye on an Ambassador, since they are all over Kolkata and remind me of images from the Beatles' trip to India in 1968 (archived photos of course).

Before we took ownership, we once rode in the car as guests and the clutch fell out. We all got out, pushed the car to the side and walked home (luckily we weren't that far from home). A couple days later the car was back in service. Most people in the U.S. would question the sanity of buying a car after that experience, but is showed us that 1. Ambassadors are very easy to get repaired in Kolkata and 2. they are very cheap to get repaired in Kolkata. They also ride like a tank.

Well, our back axle broke a couple of weeks ago, and we got a glimpse into why they are easy to maintain. (Only Peter was in the car and he was unharmed since you can rarely go over 20 miles per hour when driving here.)

Back axle removed

Where the axle should have been

The broken part on top, bottom part is in normal condition for comparison

Part went into this thingy

That went into this thingy

Along with this thingy

I apologize for being a bit technical in my descriptions, but I hope it is clear that a multi-million dollar computer was not needed for the repair. And the best part of all:

Time to service: about one week
Cost to tow: $16 USD
Cost of parts: $22 USD
Cost of labor: $44 USD

We will certainly miss our Ambassador.

Update: We had requests for a shot of the engine and our driver, so here they are:

Sunday Afternoon on the Maidan

2009-12-27T21:02:00.014+05:30

The Maidan in Kolkata is often compared to Central Park in New York City, it is a very large park in the city that provides respite from the concrete and crowds. It is also a popular Sunday hangout for cricket players and families, as well as an everyday spot for goats, their herders and vendors capturing visitors to the Victoria Memorial.

It was such a beautiful day in Kolkata, low 70s and sunny, that we decided to head out to the Maidan. Below are photos from our walk. Enjoy!

Walking down the street to the Maidan

Three common sights on the Maidan across from Victoria Memorial: goats, chat vendors and cricketers.

Families gravitate towards other areas to picnic and play games

The drivers of our chariot ride

A vendor takes a break

A small statue watches over the entrance to a home

Tracking Santa's Visit to Kolkata

2009-12-25T05:39:00.011+05:30

Sicily fully grasped the concept of Santa this year, so we used NORAD's Santa Tracker to watch his progress until she went to bed. What a great tool to teach geography, although I am pretty sure she wasn't paying attention to my one minute lecture on how we live on a spherical planet called Earth. We were happy to see that he took a picture of his time in Kolkata.

Since we were in the U.S. for Thanksgiving, Sicily visited an American Santa while we were there. We stood in line, she had 15 seconds with him and then blanked out when he asked her what she wanted.

This is a sharp contrast to our visit with an Indian Santa a week ago. Santa was escorted by four body guards through a rowdy crowd of kids to take his place on stage. The crowd of kids then all rushed the stage to meet Santa. Santa gleefully shook hands, talked and danced on stage with the kids before he was escorted out.

Here is a picture of Santa I was able to take after the crowd moved on to a doughnut eating game. Looks like the Indian Santa had a much better time.

The multiple, different Santas confused Sicily a bit but she seems to grasp that Santa can have multiple incarnations in order to spread joy across the world. Much like the many different forms of Durga we experienced during Durga Puja.

Here is a picture of kids during the doughnut eating game. I need to find out where they got those great looking doughnuts!

And the Puja Season Begins!

2009-09-17T22:56:00.005+05:30

Today our maintenance and engineering staff celebrated Viswakarma, the God of engineering, with a puja, much like they did last year.

This year I took a video camera with me to record the priest in action.

The man in the lower left corner, was trying his hardest to blow the conch shell.

Here the priest is spreading ghee over sticks of wood and burning. Needless to say there was a lot of smoke in the room, but it was great!

Sunday Night Iftar

2009-09-14T16:49:00.013+05:30

After a hectic weekend of learning our next assignment, attending a wonderful iftar was a great way to end the weekend. An iftar is an evening meal in which Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. This year Ramadan is from August 21 to on or around September 19.

It was a small, intimate gathering with fantastic food. The event started with a date, then fresh fruits, then lentils and yogurt, then tasty chaat, then haleem, then biryani, then we left before more came out.

I went a little crazy over the fried eggplant, a battered thin slice sprinkled with chat masala, my new favorite spice mix. While enjoying the eggplant, I learned that Jains do not eat eggplants, since eggplants have a large number of seeds and a seed is believed to be a carrier of a budding life.

The most memorable moment of the night for me was when our very gracious host, in response to a conversation said (poorly paraphrased by me here): After you have been in Kolkata for a few months, you fall in love with the city and want to make changes; but when you try, you feel the pain of Kolkatans. Kolkata is a very unique place and I know we will miss it greatly.

And we are going to PRAGUE!

2009-09-11T23:55:00.003+05:30

At about 11:30PM our time, 2:00PM EST we received THE email, and we are going to Prague!

Waiting and Waiting

2009-09-11T17:52:00.000+05:30

On Tuesday morning we submitted our bid list to our CDO. It was due opening of business Tuesday EST. Now we sit back and wait, well not exactly sit back. Our waiting includes checking email every 5 minutes. There is a collective guess that we will find out sometime today. It is going to be hard to sleep tonight since close of business EST is 2:30 AM in Kolkata!

New Market in Kolkata

2009-09-03T21:22:00.012+05:30

I finally went to New Market with Krishna this week to watch her in action and see which specific vendors she buys from. I had been there many times before, but never with her. She has been going there for over 25 years, so she prefers it over the more modern stores. The New Market was originally built for the British in 1874. While we just went to food vendors, the New Market area has vendors that sell almost everything.

Since I was raised on a farm, it is only a little jarring to buy meat there. For those who haven't seen how a chicken gets to that nicely wrapped container in a grocery store, it can be an experience to remember. But you definitely know that your purchase is very fresh, since you can get it skin on or off in less than five minutes.

I didn't think beef would be available in India, but it is in Kolkata and on menus around town, mostly because of the large Muslim population here. You do not find this availability in all parts of India.

Here is Krishna buying a carton of eggs. I love how they check the eggs (and you can too!) with a small lamp. This was also how my family used to check our eggs on the farm.

Fish is selected, skinned and filleted right in front of you. No display counter in the way of communicating how you want the fish cut, and you can look at the quality as they do their work.

The vegetable vendor had tomatoes for about 20 cents a pound, potatoes for about 22 cents. Vegetables are very inexpensive in Kolkata although the prices have been rising recently because of demand and weather's influence on crop yields.

This is a picture of Anwar. He is one of the guys you can hire to carry your purchases as you roam around the market. After visiting just the vegetable vendor you can end of with 22 pounds, so Krishna usually hires him to help her out. She has been hiring him since he was 15 years old, so next time I can just find Anwar and have him take me around. Next time you are in Kolkata, ask for Anwar and you can too.

Tour of Kumartuli with Calcutta Walks

2009-08-29T12:15:00.025+05:30

We had a wonderful tour with Calcutta Walks again this morning. We started out at the Hooghly River watching the wrestlers on the river bank and seeing people doing their morning rituals. The mighty Howrah bridge in the background is where millions of cars and people cross everyday. At 6:30 on a Saturday it was full of pedestrians, families in carts, men pushing carts with goods, cars, trucks and buses.

We then strolled through the flower market. This picture is of marigold sellers. We learned that the marigold holds a special place in Hinduism, since flowers represent a blessing from a god and the marigold is believed to be 10 flowers in one.

Here was a cow that was just moving along in the pedestrian flow, like she has done many times before.

We went to visit a crematorium (just the outside!) and this was one of the many stores catering to the grieving. It is a photo studio were one can have a picture of the deceased made.

A lot of the laborers in Kolkata come from a Bihar, one of the poorest states in India that is also close to Kolkata. This photo is of a food vendor that specializes in the food from Bihar. There are grilled chick pea balls stuffed with spices on the grill. I loved his set-up. It looks like he took the clay from the river and made himself a very modern-looking shop.

Kumartuli is a section of North Kolkata that is home to the many artisans that made idols, mostly for the very popular Durga Puja festival, which we attended last October. The idols are made from a foundation of straw, covered and sculpted with clay from the river, painted and then dressed with clothes and ornaments. Most of the idols we saw were ready for painting and dressing since Durga Puja is less than a month away.

This photo is of an artist's studio floor.

Ifte told us of the history of Durga Puja, how the celebration really became a major one during the nationalism movement, since leaders saw it and other popular festivals throughout India as a way to demonstrate national pride and rally people together. Today over 200,000 people come to Kolkata to join the 13 million locals in the celebration. Take a look at some of our posts from last October to get a feel for the finished idols: At the Height of the Puja Season, A Pandal of Generosity, More Puja Photos, Durga Drums and Closing the Puja Season.

On our walk we ran into this building being demolished, Kolkata style.

No better way to end the walk that we incredible Bengali sweets. If I hadn't eaten a bagel for breakfast I would have consumed so much more.

Thanks, Ifte. If you are in Kolkata look them up or check out the new walking tours of India portal they are leading at walksofindia.com.

Related Post: Saturday Morning with Calcutta Walks

Bagels for the Bid List

2009-08-28T14:57:00.018+05:30

With so much energy spent the bid list, researching, talking, refining, reordering, I took on a project to distract myself for a few hours: making bagels.

We have yet to find a bagel in Kolkata. There are good bakeries - great chocolate cakes - but the closest bagel has been a package of frozen Lender's from the New Delhi commissary that cost about $8, after factoring in the shipping charges. So the challenge was to make bagels from scratch.

After reading a recipe from King Arthur Flour with the name "A Dozen Simple Bagels" and reading the bagel section in The Bread Baker's Apprentice,I got the courage to try.

The starter

The lumpy bagels after forming them by punching a hole in the middle of a dough ball with your finger and twirling it around.

The smoother ones using a circle cutter

The hot bagel bath

The baked lumpy bagels

The baked smoother ones

Now, back to the bid list. There have been several positions added, deleted and modified. Keeps you on your toes.

The Entry Level/Untenured Officer Bid List Is Out

2009-08-25T20:57:00.012+05:30

Well, it has been out for four days now, or to be more exact, 113 hours and 49 minutes from when Alan heard the email arrive in the middle of the night. The instructions arrived on August 19th, so we knew the bid list would be out in a few days. Last Friday morning at 4:30AM, Alan tapped on my shoulder and said "the bid list just arrived." It felt like being woken for Christmas morning, and I promptly rolled back over to sleep. After another tap, "it's here," I finally jumped up to take a look.

The bidding experience for our next assignment is very different than the first in A-100. There are over 450 jobs on the list with many more factors to consider. The most constraining factor is timing. You have to have a certain number of bids that fit the available time between when you leave post and when the next job starts, with that available time used for home leave, language training and functional training. If you have gaps of open time or not enough time to do all the required home leave and training, then a job is not valid for your list. So you may not be eligible for many of those dream jobs on the list.

Also, the people currently posted to high hardship and danger posts get first dibs at jobs. Luckily, Kolkata is a 25% hardship and a 5% historically-difficult-to-staff post, so we will be assigned in the first of two rounds. Those at posts with less hardship will have a much more limited list to choose from.

The last four days have been full of strategy, research and refining lists. We were able to quickly narrow the list down based on: language training, working at an embassy (versus a consulate) and a possible rotation out of consular for a broader understanding of the foreign service. This brought the list down to about 90 jobs. We then evaluated which of those jobs had the correct timing, and then did research on those locations by looking at the posts' intranet websites, Post Info to Go on the OBC website (intranet only) and Tales from a Small Planet's Real Post Reports.

Before we got the list, we had been discussing our next post choices for a while, throwing out scenarios to understand what would be a good fit. But now that we have the actual list in hand, our choices will be nowhere near what we had discussed before. There are a lot of great jobs on the list and it looks like we will have at least 20 that we will be happy with. The hard part is the waiting. We have until September 8th to turn in our choices and do not know the date when we will learn our actual assignment. The excitement and anxiety is on the rise again and this will happen every two to three years!

Happy Independence Day India!

2009-08-18T18:07:00.009+05:30

We are a little late with our post, but the sentiment was celebrated on Saturday, India's Independence Day. Sicily waved the colors and handed out cookies she made, during the monsoon rain to the guards hard at work on our compound.

Getting the Big Girl Bed Made in Kolkata

2009-08-17T17:08:00.012+05:30

Two weeks ago, the time had come to transition Sicily from a crib to a toddler bed. Unfortunately we forgot to bring one in our shipment. I believe it was the hope that she would be in her crib for the whole tour that caused the forgetfulness. Also, the side rails that you can purchase to fit on a regular twin were too large for the pouch, so we set off to look for one in Kolkata.

After looking at a variety of furniture stores in town, we couldn't find a sturdy toddler bed with side rails. There are plenty of bunk beds available, or large, low beds. We then went to a few used/antique stores and found an Indian-sized single bed that worked with some modifications. It was outside of a shop, leaning against a wall with several months of dirt on it, but after some brushing off it showed lots of potential.

The shop had a carpenter that worked with us on the spot to understand how we wanted to modify the bed. After three days, I returned and saw the bed with the new rails made out of spindles from an old chair. It was then stained and polished, and two guys carried it to our apartment through the city streets.

With the bed finished it was time to find a mattress. Since the bed was now thinner than an Indian-sized standard bed for the rails, we had to get a mattress made, which is a common thing to do here. There is a section of town where you can go to get mattresses made (photo above).

After selecting a store, we picked out the thickness of the foundation which is made of fiber from hardened coconut shells, then the thickness of the poly-fiber topper (photo below) and then the fabric that would cover the mattress. It was then cut to size, the fabric was sewn and it was assembled in less than two hours.

Total cost of bed and mattress, with delivery: $91. Now lets see what else we can get made in Kolkata.

The Diplomatic Laugh

2009-07-30T16:19:00.013+05:30

About four months ago in a meeting with others in the State department, it dawned on me that most of the meetings I have been in always generated laughter. Yes, there were some extremely clever people making very witty remarks, but the laughter seemed to reflect a group culture that was different than the business world I had been a part of.

Then I ran into a piece of news on current laughter research that made sense of my observation. Laughter may be a large part in creating diplomatic ties.

"People are about 30 times more likely to laugh in the presence of others than alone, reinforcing the idea that laughter is a social phenomenon. And though we associate laughter with humor, a large proportion of laughs aren't in response to anything remotely funny. Rather, they are often just affirmations, communications, or expressions of joy. We laugh "to kind of grease the social wheels," Hudenko said.

Laughter mainly comes in two types, researchers think: voiced, and unvoiced. 'We need more research to be done to understand the function of voiced versus unvoiced laughter, but our best hypothesis is that unvoiced laughs are probably used more to negotiate social interactions, and voiced might be more linked to a positive internal state,' Hudenko said.

So voiced laughter — the prototypical, belly-laugh type, that sounds more like sing-song — is usually spontaneous. We create the sound with our vocal chords (hence the name), and usually laugh this way naturally and spontaneously. Unvoiced laughter, however, is more of a conscious expression. We make these panting, grunting, snorting noises when we are trying on purpose to laugh, usually for a social purpose, such as to ease conversation or make friends.

For adults, each type of laughter represents about 50 percent of the total. Young children may express more voiced than unvoiced laughter, as they haven't yet learned to purposely laugh. But strikingly, Hudenko and team found that autistic children almost never produce unvoiced laughs."

More at MSNBC News
Image of a Mumbai Laughing Club from National Geographic

New Resources Available for Trailing Partners at FSI Transition Center

2009-07-25T14:53:00.010+05:30

There are a few new online resources for trailing partners in the FSI Transition Center that look to be just as helpful for people considering this career as those who have started training. Since this blog has received several comments from trailing spouses in the process of joining the foreign service, I thought they were interesting to share.

Spouse and Partner Guide to the Foreign Service
Acronyms and Jargon
Thriving as a Foreign Service Spouse article
Spouse/Partner Orientation: agenda and now an online option if you cannot be there in person

The Spouse and Partner Guide to the Foreign Service has a Self Test: What Did You Know or Think Was True When You Signed Up?

Choose "Fact" or "Fiction:"

1. The Embassy/Consulate will find you (the trailing partner) a job which matches your qualifications.

2. Your housing will be paid for overseas.

3. The U.S. Government gives you an allowance to choose your own house overseas.

4. The house comes with a maid, paid for by the U.S. government.

5. Your partner, fiancé, or parent can go with you to post and have the same benefits as a spouse and children. (in the document is the old answer, but recently this has changed somewhat! See post Specific Benefits for Same-Sex Domestic Partners of Foreign Service Employees Serving Overseas)

6. American schools overseas will have the same curriculum as U.S. public schools.

7. Since you are with the Embassy, your children are guaranteed a place at the U.S. government sponsored school.

8. If you have a special needs child, you will be sent only to where there is an adequate educational program.

9. You will be included in the same language and area studies programs as the employee so you are adequately prepared.

10. If the situation is unstable at post, the U.S. government will always evacuate you right away.

11. The U.S. Government pays to transport your pets to/from post, regardless of the number or type.

12. You are entitled to Rest and Recuperation (R&R) and Home Leave trips.

13. R&R and Home Leave include both travel and per diem.

14. The Embassy or Consulate provides a concierge/tour director who will take care of your needs and wishes.

Answers in Spouse and Partner Guide to the Foreign Service.

Let me know if you found any big surprises!

Previous posts on other resources:
Diving into Informational Resources
Learning New Languages

The City with the Highest Quality of Living is...Vienna, Austria

2009-07-23T09:05:00.021+05:30

Mercer recently released its annual Worldwide Quality of Living survey results and Vienna topped the list, ahead of Zurich, last year's top city. Mercer is an international HR firm that produces reports for companies with employees on international assignments. The top 10 are:

1 Vienna
2 Zurich
3 Geneva
4 Vancouver (tied)
4 Auckland (tied)
6 Dusseldorf
7 Munich
8 Frankfurt
9 Bern
10 Sydney

Since bidding season has begun, this is another interesting fact to consider, as well as the Cost of Living report I posted last month.

Singapore tops the Asian cities, although it was only the 10th most expensive Asian city in the Cost of Living report.

In Central and South America, San Juan, Puerto Rico tops the list with Montevideo as runner up. At the bottom of the list in the region is Port au Prince. Santiago has the best infrastructure in the region, and the report emphasizes how much infrastructure affects the quality of living in a city:

“Infrastructure has a significant effect on the quality of living experienced by expatriates. Whilst often taken for granted when functioning to a high standard, a city’s infrastructure can generate severe hardship when it is lacking.”

The top 10 cities for infrastructure are:

1 Singapore
2 Munich
3 Copenhagen
4 Tsukuba
5 Yokohama
6 Dusseldorf (tied)
6 Vancouver (tied)
8 Frankfurt (tied)
8 Hong Kong (tied)
8 London (tied)

The top two cities in the U.S. on the infrastructure list were Atlanta at number 15 and then Washington D.C. and number 24. The top U.S. cities for quality of living were: Honolulu (29), San Francisco (30) and Boston (35).

Update: Also read the post on ECA International's Most Expensive Places in World for Expats report and The Economist's 2010 World's Most Livable Cities.

Photo of Vienna from www.foto-julius.at

Enjoying a -Fringe- Benefit

2009-07-22T14:02:00.014+05:30

Another great benefit of the foreign service is the ability to purchase bulky items overseas without the worry of how to get them back to the U.S. (when you do return and if it is within your weight limit).

Basharat John from Cheap John in New Delhi graciously came to Kolkata with 50 of his carpets and it was hard not to want to take all of the carpets home. Basharat's family has been collecting and manufacturing carpets for over three generations. He still has carpets that his grandfather collected for sale.

We saw wool, silk and tribal carpets. One interesting fact that I learned was that some tribal carpets like the popular ones from Afghanistan do not have straight edges, mainly because of the nomadic lifestyles lived by the weavers - they roll the carpets in progress and start again at the next settlement.

At the top left of the photo above, is a carpet woven by one man in his 80s. It took the man 2 years to make only this 2'x3' carpet. Most often families stick to one design, improving and refining the design over the years. Basharat has had the ability to watch the designs evolve over time.

A big thank you to Basharat for visiting us. And if you are ever in New Delhi, stop by and visit him in the American Embassy's shops or at 1-10, Jangpura-B, Mathura Road, New Delhi, 110014. You will be "Spoilt for choice!"

One Year in Kolkata

2009-07-12T17:41:00.012+05:30

Today is our one year anniversary in Kolkata.

Two images come to mind today, a photo I took of our daughter in transit from D.C. to Kolkata. She has this look that says, "where are we going, and why are you taking me?"

The other photo is of course of our daughter. A Sunday morning walk through the flower market near Howrah bridge, with Sicily in a backpack and a lotus flower given to her by a vendor tucked in behind her.

To me it symbolizes the friendly people in Kolkata, that you can find amazing experiences here, and that it has been a great first post for us. We look forward to the next year - and are already feeling that exciting but excruciating anticipation for the bid list's arrival in the next few months.

Understanding Local Ingredients at Post

2009-07-07T15:10:00.036+05:30

When we first arrived at post and went to the local markets, we quickly realized that although English is spoken widely in Kolkata, some items were called by their British names (lady fingers instead of okra); and there were things we had never had before, like the fruit called chickoo.

I went to a local bookshop and bought some children's books that illustrated fruits and vegetables so that we could understand the common names and use the pictures to point at if needed. They serve double duty as a book for our two year old, and hopefully they will be an interesting memento when she grows up and can't remember that she actually used to love lady fingers (sounds so much more appetizing than okra).

An even better resource is a series of books recommended to me by our very experienced and knowledgeable management officer, Linda Bladhom's guides to ethnic markets. Even though they are written to navigate ethic stores in the US, they are a great introduction to local foods. The series includes:

*The Indian Grocery Store Demystified
*The Asian Grocery Store Demystified
*Latin & Caribbean Grocery Stores Demystified

The The Indian Grocery Store Demystifiedhas sections on the different types of rice, dals, flours, spices, vegetables, fruits, snacks, sweets, teas and more. I found it interesting that parboiled rice is not the same as American minute rice. Parboiled rice is boiled and then steamed before it is hulled. The nutrients from the hull is absorbed by the rice kernel before it is removed, so it is a more nutritious rice.

You also see a lot of spice mixes in stores here. The book explains some of these mixes, for example, Kadhai Masala. "A kadhai is an Indian wok and this is a chunky spice blend for chicken or vegetable dishes...contains crushed coriander, fennel, mustard, fenugreek seeds, ground red chilies, cumin, black pepper, ginger, dry mango, cassia bark, and star anise." Whew! Now I am hungry again.

Happy Birthday USA!

2009-07-04T14:57:00.017+05:30

This is our first 4th of July in the Foreign Service, which was different than our previous ones. Instead of just being a day to celebrate the nation, living outside the country really makes one focus on how the US compares to your host country and how others perceive the US.

At many posts, there is an official 4th of July event with government officials, community leaders, etc., and a separate event for post's employees and their families. This year our post decided to not have a community event, since we are so small and the enticement of a full three day weekend off was so strong.

Our Consulate celebrated its official 4th of July on July 2nd, with a large event at a very nice hotel. All American employees, with FSNs and other local employees, worked the event. It was a great showcase of team work at the Consulate - employees from different sections working together to make sure that the event went well and that all guests were having a great time.

As the official 4th of July event is typically the biggest event of the year at US embassies and consulates, it will be interesting to compare this experience to July 4th events at future posts, which will have a high bar to cross in comparison.

Some tips we picked up for working the 4th of July event:

*Pick your shoes carefully, by the end of the night your feet are guaranteed to hurt. One officer had the brilliant idea to switch shoes several times during the night to minimize the aching.
*Eat a snack before the event. Since guests should come first for the food lines, having something in your stomach will prevent you from staring at some one's plate instead of them when chatting.
*Study the guest list ahead of time, so that you get an idea of who may be invited from other sections.
*If you are drinking stick to clear beverages, like white wine. This tip came to us by a very smart officer who was bumped into in the past and had to wear her drink for the rest of the night.
*People standing by themselves typically appreciate someone talking to them.
*Think of a few general questions to ask guests prior to the event.
*Enjoy yourself!

Image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Our Consumables Arrive!

2009-06-30T21:59:00.029+05:30

Kolkata is a consumables post, we get up to 2,500 pounds (for a two year assignment) of things that get used up or eaten shipped to post. You have up to a year to send the shipment after you arrive, and we decided to wait until after we arrived to have a better understanding of what we needed.

If you are already at post, you can work with a company to buy the things you want, work with a friend or family member, or use your time on R&R in the States to shop and monitor the packing, which is what we did in April.

We made our list and checked it twice, but we still threw in impulse items when shopping – and aren’t those Trader Joe’s Salt and Vinegar Pita Chips awfully good?

When the crate was opened, the packing by the U.S. company wasn’t wonderful, and included discarded lunch packaging from the shippers, but at least the pita chips arrived intact!

We only used 800 pounds of our shipment, mainly since we love the local cuisine and do not have many American brands that we are dedicated to. Sometimes the commonly imported items for a post are listed on the post’s Post Info to Go page (there is one for Kolkata). If not, sometimes the Community Liaison Office (CLO) has one if you contact them. These lists describe what may be hard to find at post considering American preferences.

Our shipment included, which will tell you more than you wanted to know about our habits:

*Bay leaves – a similar spice is available but not as pungent
*Tomato paste – more expensive in Kolkata
*Canned tuna - more expensive in Kolkata
*Resealable bags – hard to find and more expensive, but perfect for keeping roti fresh
*Zatatain’s crab boil
*Vanilla extract, the good stuff – synthetic is easy to find in Kolkata
*Peppermint extract – because we love peppermint ice cream
*Pita chips and tortilla chips – arrived safely and now we wish we shipped more
*Children’s Tylenol and Motrin – even though similar medications are available for children, we feel more comfortable with the U.S. brands, since we know how exactly how to use these without seeing a doctor first
*Neosporin – found a much cheaper, just-as-good Indian alternative after we bought this
*Children’s party supplies – also available in Kolkata, unless you want a specific character like Sesame Street or Tellitubbies
*Hair dye – no wait, I don’t use hair dye
*Deodorant – yes, we use deodorant and for the types we like they are cheaper in the US
*Toilet bowl cleaner – widely available and much cheaper in Kolkata, but our housekeeper strongly prefers US brands, and we are happy when she is happy
*Toilet paper – because I am a Scott fanatic and they do have a softer version
*Diapers and wipes – Larger sizes are hard to find, since most kids are potty trained by 18 months, but Sicily is almost there. Also, we prefer the chemical-free wipes which haven’t caught on here yet, but other types of wipes are widely available.
*Paper towels – we didn’t use paper towels much in the US, but our cook loves a US brand, and we are happy when she is happy
*Dog food – we were able to get a discount by buying in super bulk
*Dog treats - more expensive in Kolkata
*Trader Joe’s toasted O’s - more expensive in Kolkata
*Goldfish – haven’t found in Kolkata yet
*Kid’s sunscreen – prefer the super screen, 50+ or more
*Olive oil - more expensive in Kolkata, higher quality oils are hard to find
*Balsamic vinegar - more expensive in Kolkata
*Sun-dried tomatoes - haven’t found in Kolkata yet
*Roasted peppers - haven’t found in Kolkata yet
*Whole-bean coffee – we heard of a vendor that sells whole-bean coffee in New Market after packing up our shipment
*Nutella - more expensive in Kolkata
*Cake mixes - more expensive in Kolkata
*Pre-made frosting - great for an instant toddler activity “making sprinkles”
*Jams and jellies – we prefer low sugar and natural, and it wasn’t until after our shipment that I found a whole bunch at 1/3 the price in Kolkata!
*Pasta, pasta, pasta - more expensive in Kolkata
*Chocolate chips and white chocolate chips - more expensive in Kolkata
*Powdered sugar - haven’t found in Kolkata
*Tapenade – another impulse buy but we ended up buying at least 10 jars
*Evaporated milk – haven’t had a need for it yet, but seemed like we might
*Condensed milk – ditto
*Brown sugar - ditto
*Marshmallows – rice crispy treats seemed like a great idea in the grocery store
*Rice Krispies – and the jumbo ones made it seem like genius
*Magic erasers – for our white walls
*Tabasco sauce
*Margarita mix – definitely an impulse buy, I think we had some later that day
*Pickles – have not found certain varieties in Kolkata and they are more expensive here
*Capers – more expensive in Kolkata

As you can see from our list, it is hard to find imported items in Kolkata, since we have such a small expat community here, and if you do the item can be very expensive. I remember finding a small package of Philadelphia cream cheese in a store once, looking a little sad and costing $9. The consequence of this is that it pushes you to find local alternatives and satisfy your cravings with new foods. Luckily, Kolkata is a wonderful place for experimenting with food.

Coco was not as excited as we were to get our consumables

Plenty of space for more food!

Calling all TDYers: The Arlington Rap

2009-06-23T05:20:00.010+05:30

Can't help but laugh at this performance, especially after you experience the communities around FSI. Embarrassingly, Alan and I both have brown flip-flops.

Change to Post: I later tagged this post with "dog" and "resources" since Brooke asked a great question about dogs at post. Please see comments below, in full post:

Visiting Mighty Mumbai

2009-06-22T17:14:00.003+05:30

We were in Mumbai recently for an Entry Level Officer (ELO) exchange. The State Department provides great training opportunities for new officers; one is the ability to exchange positions with an ELO at a different post. This allows you to see and compare how they do things elsewhere; side benefits includes exploring a new location and seeing the housing.

After our research during A-100, we listed Mumbai lower on our bid list than other cities in India, mainly because of our dog Coco. We believed it would be harder in Mumbai, with the possibility of living in a high-rise apartment and lack of green space. But after the exchange to Mumbai, we see it is no more challenging for large dogs than Kolkata. In Kolkata, you rarely see people walking their dogs. There are too many stray dogs and obstacles in the way. In Mumbai, walking a dog (yellow labrador retievers seem to be most common there) is a frequent sight in the neighborhoods where Consulate employees live.

View from the TDY apartment where we stayed

Interior of the TDY apartment where we stayed

Sicily gauges possible storage opportunities

New highway being built in Mumbai to solve traffic congestion

Specific Benefits for Same-Sex Domestic Partners of Foreign Service Employees Serving Overseas

2009-06-19T16:20:00.005+05:30

A statement from Hillary Clinton yesterday revealed the specific benefits:

"The Department of State intends to provide the following additional benefits and allowances for declared same-sex domestic partners of eligible employees serving overseas:

* Diplomatic passports,
* Inclusion on employee travel orders to and from posts abroad,
* Shipment of household effects,
* Inclusion in family size calculations for the purpose of making housing allocations,
* Family member preference for employment at posts abroad,
* Use of medical facilities at posts abroad,
* Medical evacuation from posts abroad,
* Emergency travel for partners to visit gravely ill or injured employees and relatives,
* Inclusion as family members for emergency evacuation from posts abroad,
* Subsistence payments related to emergency evacuation from posts abroad,
* Inclusion in calculations of payments of overseas allowances (e.g., payment for quarters, cost of living, and other allowances),
* Representation expenses, and
* Training at the Foreign Service Institute.

The Department also will work with foreign governments to provide same-sex domestic partners, to the extent possible, with diplomatic visas, privileges and immunities, and authorization to work in the local economy."

Read the entire statement on state.gov.

Executive Order for Unmarried Partners Federal Benefits to be Signed Today

2009-06-17T08:55:00.008+05:30

From 44: The Obama Presidency, a Washington Post blog:
Obama Intends to Extend Federal Benefits to Unmarried Partners
June 16, 2009 at 9:23 PM

President Obama will announce tomorrow that he is extending federal benefits to include unmarried domestic partners of federal workers, including same-sex partners, White House officials said tonight.

Obama will sign an executive order implementing the change in the Oval Office, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid upstaging the president's announcement.

The move would give partners of federal employees access to health care and financial benefits such as relocation fees for moves. The State Department announced a similar extension of benefits last month, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calling it "the right thing to do."

Read the full blog post.

Kolkata is State Magazine's Post of the Month

2009-06-15T07:43:00.006+05:30

Download the issue.

From the website: "State Magazine is published to facilitate communication between management and employees at home and abroad and to acquaint employees with developments that may affect operations or personnel. The magazine is also available to persons interested in working for the Department of State and to the general public.

State Magazine is available by subscription through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, 866-512-1800 (toll free) or on the web at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.E-Mail Us."

The Most Expensive Place in the World for Expats...Luanda, Angola

2009-06-14T07:49:00.020+05:30

ECA International, a HR firm located in Hong Kong, releases a cost-of-living report every year on the most expensive places for expats, and this year Angola again tops the list. Cities in Japan increased greatly during the past year, mainly because of the strength of its currency:

1 Luanda, Angola
2 Tokyo, Japan
3 Nagoya, Japan
4 Yokohama, Japan
5 Kobe, Japan
6 Copenhagen, Denmark
7 Oslo, Norway
8 Geneva, Switzerland
9 Zurich, Switzerland
10 Basel, Switzerland
11 Libreville, Gabon
12 Bern, Switzerland
13 Stavanger, Norway
14 Helsinki, Finland
15 Paris, France
16 Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
17 Manhattan NY, United States of America
18 Abuja, Nigeria
19 Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
20 Baku, Azerbaijan

See more of the report here.

The Most Expensive Cities in Asia were:
1 Tokyo
2 Nagoya
3 Yokohama
4 Kobe
5 Beijing
6 Shanghai
7 Hong Kong
8 Shenzhen
9 Guangzhou
10 Singapore

At the bottom of their list were the large cities in India, with Kolkata placing 49th.
41 New Delhi
42 George Town
43 Mumbai
44 Chennai
45 Bangalore
46 Hyderabad
47 Pune
48 Karachi
49 Kolkata
50 Islamabad
51 Ulaanbaatar

Another facet to consider when bidding and planning.

More about ECA and the methodology for the report can be found in the article.

Update: Also read the post on the Worldwide Quality of Living report by Mercer and The Economist's 2010 World's Most Livable Cities.

Image from igougo.com

(Re)Starting from Scratch

2009-06-09T17:23:00.016+05:30

At a "hail and farewell" party - held for officers when they arrive and leave post - last weekend in Mumbai (more to come), I immediately bonded with a woman who makes her own cheeses. Luckily enough, multiple people there also had brought their home-brewed beer. Although good beer and cheese are available in Mumbai, the prices can make you seriously consider making your own. And when you factor in the long term considerations of a foreign service career, being able to make the foods that you crave when resources may be limited, making cheese and beer is definitely a prized skill.

Another benefit of living in India is that you can easily get raw milk in the cities. In the US, many state governments have regulated milk production so that raw milk is not available to the consumer unless you keep your own cow (get that one by the home owner association). Since I was raised on a dairy farm - which since the 80s my family has no longer been allowed to use the raw milk from our own farm to make cheeses since it was not regulated by the state - I was elated when I realized I could make ricotta cheese like my grandparents had before.

The milk available in Kolkata is very fresh and rich, so much so that I only recently realized that my daughter has been drinking water buffalo milk for the last year! But boy is it delicious, and it also makes a delicious mozzarella!

Leeners looks like a good option for starting your food making endeavors. They have some great kits to try, or you can just find recipes online.

Here is my version of a ricotta, great for use in a lasagna or on a pizza:

1 gallon whole milk
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if you are going to use for sweets)
Cooking thermometer

1. Place milk in large, heavy pan on medium heat. Add salt (if desired) and stir briefly. Allow milk to heat up slowly.

2. Just before boiling temperature, take the pot off the burner, add the vinegar and stir gently for only one minute. The curds will form immediately. Let sit undisturbed for a couple of hours.

3. With a slotted spoon, ladle out the ricotta into colander or cheese cloth. Place so it can drain freely. Let it drain for two hours or more depending on how dry you want it to be.

4. Place in container and refrigerate. The cheese should keep for up to 7 days.

Enjoy!

Coco's Increasing Weight

2009-06-09T16:53:00.007+05:30

Coco's weight has been steadily increasing since she has been getting rounds of leftover roti daily. This started when we went on R&R in April and left Coco in our nanny's and cook's care. They did a wonderful job but she expects, and demands, her daily "good morning" and "good night" rotis ever since.

Bina and Krishna bring any leftover roti they have from their dinner the night before. We believe Coco will have the hardest time leaving Kolkata, with all of this loving care. This in combination with her daily lunch of rice and dahl, means we don't have to give her as much dog food anymore. And definitely no dog treats.

Since there are currently no doggie daycare or boarding facilities in Kolkata, when we go on trips our cook and nanny look after her, which is a big relief for us. This is a common arrangement for those with pets in Kolkata.

We Finally Have Another Post (and Pizza)!

2009-06-02T13:52:00.023+05:30

Time has certainly slipped by since the last Diplolife post. Travel, visitors, and then waiting for that great topic to come up, all prolonged us from writing. Well, today's event definitely warranted one.

I held a pizza workshop for seven Indian cooks employed at the Consulate. Some had made pizzas before, for some it was the first time. These cooks are fantastic at what they do - fish and chips, Shepperd's pie, coq au vin and superb Indian dishes cooked with both hands tied behind their backs. It was the yeast and the pizza dough that made them want to learn more.

We focused on yeast, the right temperatures, forming the pizza dough and the variety of American pizza styles. We did hand-tossed, deep-dish and a fruit pizza. It was interesting watching these cooks who can make chapati in their sleep, switching their technique to be more gentler with the pizza dough.

We discussed typical American ingredients and I learned that fresh basil is available at a particular store in the market. Many of the ingredients for American style pizzas are available, but some are not available in Kolkata (need to get in Delhi, Mumbai, etc) including: anchovies, sun-dried tomatoes, instant yeast, squid and pine nuts. Pack them in your consumables, if you want them and get a consumables shipment.

In discussions with others also at posts that qualify for a consumables shipment, the common denominator that is missing from the local economies tend to be certain cured meats, cheeses and Mexican food. There are two companies that people here have ordered hard cheeses through the pouch with success, including The Wisconsin Cheeseman and Hawkeye Dairy, but the recent arrival of Auroville cheeses in Kolkata is my favorite choice (only to other cities in India).

At posts where there is a low to none availability of Western breads, cheeses and specific types of foods, one choice is to start making things from scratch, a topic for a future post. In the meantime, its time to start planning our next workshop, Mexican food!

We Have Pumpkins!

2008-10-27T16:39:00.015+05:30

Not quite the Halloween event of rollicking around the pumpkin patch to one pick out, but we now have pumpkins for Halloween. Krishna pre-ordered them at the market last week, since they are not a popular item this time of year. They are beautiful!

They put us in the mood to start our Halloween decorating with our supplies ordered from Oriental Trading about a month ago.

Change to Post: I later tagged this post with "trailing partner" since Anonymous Attorney comments may be thought provoking for others. Please see comments below, in full post:

Closing the Puja Season

2008-10-15T22:22:00.008+05:30

On October 9th most of the pandals were broken down and the goddesses taken to the Hooghly river to honor and send off until next year. Here is one large one pandal that we visited complete with kid's rides and food stalls.

We are looking forward to next year to experience once again the creativity of Kolkata.

Durga Drums

2008-10-13T23:17:00.004+05:30

We heard this one from several blocks away.

More Puja Photos

2008-10-09T08:58:00.007+05:30

This pandal stood out for two reasons: the kids inside were having a great time and the sculptures looked like they were carved out of solid milk chocolate, yum!

The outside of the pandal

Lights hung around the neighborhoods

A Pandal of Generosity

2008-10-08T22:33:00.006+05:30

Another Durga Puja display that stood out, was cared for by a older couple that appeared to open up the front door to their house. The two of them hung out by the statue and greeted those who passed by with handmade sweets and friendly banter.

At the Height of Puja Season

2008-10-07T21:30:00.011+05:30

October 5th through 9th is the most popular time of the Puja season in West Bengal, a celebration of Durga Puja. The holiday is celebrated in neighborhoods around the city with the creation of very elaborate displays or "pandals." Walking around from pandal to pandal in your new Durga clothes is the thing to do, especially on the third and fourth nights of the festival.

From the website www.durga-puja.org, "Durga, in Sanskrit means 'She who is incomprehensible or difficult to reach.' Goddess Durga is a form of Sakti worshiped for her gracious as well as terrifying aspect. Mother of the Universe, she represents the infinite power of the universe and is a symbol of a female dynamism. The manifestation of Goddess Durga is said to emerge from Her formless essence and the two are inseparable."

Tonight we made our way to a neighborhood to take in the sights. After a quick ride on the metro for about 9 cents each way, we headed towards the music and lights. We had yet to see so many beautiful saris being worn in the streets - ones with gold and silver embroidery and reflective decoration to light up at night.

Photos from my favorite pandal of the night:

More posts on Durga Puja:
More Puja Photos
Tour of Kumartuli (where the idols are created) with Calcutta Walks
A Pandal of Generosity
Durga Drums
Closing the Puja Season

Octoberfest in Kolkata

2008-10-05T21:15:00.013+05:30

Unpacking our HHE took only about three days, it was the cleaning, organizing and finding places to put things that took much longer than expected. When packing up in D.C., we took all of our drawers that had been stuffed with odds and ends and dumped them in large Ziplock bags - a real time saver. But I am now wondering if we will ever go through them while here or will the bags stay for several tours?

And now for something different... We recently we attended the Taj Bengal's Octoberfest. It was a different event from those we had been to before, they recreated a German beer hall. There were wood tables with benches, small kegs on every table and a brass band flown in from Germany.

The food was traditional Bavarian fare - wursts, potato salad, spatzle, and liver soup. The good cheer was provided by the German consulate, the guests of honor at the event with a very long conga line and many rounds of Ein Prosit.

Our HHE (Household Effects) Arrived!

2008-09-25T15:30:00.013+05:30

At 8:00am on Tuesday morning, we got word that our HHE was entering the compound. I looked outside the window and saw the truck covered in blue and orange tarps and said, "Wow, this is going to be easy." Then Alan pointed to the white tarp-covered truck right beside it.

The crew stacked boxes in the various rooms. They also opened the boxes, removed paper from objects and hauled emptied boxes and paper away.

Living room after emptying boxes.

I became an expert at straightening and stacking paper while unloading the kitchen items. Otherwise, I would have been engulfed with it.

Sicily is content with the arrival of her high chair. Yes, those are boxes in the background. We are still unpacking on day three and will probably be still unpacking into the weekend.

Update: Save some packing paper! Krishna kept a bunch of paper and used it as shelf lining in our kitchen cabinets. About a year later she, threw out the old paper lining and put in a new set. It also came in handy for wrapping fragile objects and art paper for Sicily. If you can keep that fabulous packing paper, I highly recommend it!

Beginning of Puja Season

2008-09-17T11:21:00.011+05:30

Durga Puja is one of the most popular festivals in Kolkata, an annual celebration of the goddess Durga. Durga is the mother of Ganesha, a form of the wife of Shiva and is depicted as a warrior with ten arms who rides a lion or a tiger. The Durga Puja will begin on October 5th of this year, but it is also the time of year to pay respect to other gods as well.

Today, the city was celebrating a puja for Viswakarma, the god of engineering. Many cars and taxis were decorated with flowers and banana leaves.

Our engineering and maintenance staff created a puja for the consulate. Hand tools and clippings from around the compound were displayed in front of the deity for blessings. A priest chanted Vedic rituals making sacrificial offerings (such as ghee and oils) in a pit of fire and sprayed holy water on the plant room and heavy duty equipment, including cars, for smooth and efficient functioning throughout the year.

The engineering staff spent time preparing the fruits for the ceremony, including cutting out coconut meat from its shell, cracking fresh water chestnuts and plucking the pulp out of large pommelos. This bounty was then served to the celebrants after the ceremony.

Tomorrow the image of the deity will be taken out for immersion in the river, a ritual dipping.

I also went to a meeting in Salt Lake this afternoon, the high-tech center of Kolkata. There, the puja music was flowing between the IT campuses, Viswakarma was having a great day.

Waiting and Deciding on a Car

2008-09-11T13:52:00.010+05:30

The one part of foreign service life that can be tricky to navigate is owning a car. Country import restrictions dictate what kind you can ship into the country. Some countries have restrictions on the age of the car, not allowing cars older than two years. Some right-side drive countries will not let you import a left-side drive car. And in some of those countries, it is not a safe choice to bring a left-side drive car!

Our last car was the leased Mighty Mazda 5. We decided not to purchase the car at the end of the lease but to transfer the lease to another FSO, who was in Washington D.C. for training. We made this decision mainly because India is a right-hand drive country.

Prior to leaving, we researched purchasing a right-side drive car from a handful of Japanese export companies. Some that were recommended by other FSOs included: Papera Traders Ltd., Autorec and japanesevehicles.com. These companies have a decent inventory at a good price. The shipping is comparable to the cost-construct amount.

Another option for purchasing a car is from other diplomats at post, including diplomats from other countries. It is not uncommon for a -buy my car- email to be sent around the diplomatic community when someone is leaving. Larger posts have ads in their CLO newsletters. Many CLOs will add you to their email newsletter list prior to arriving.

The State Department does allow you to store a car in the U.S., but this will preclude you from shipping another one to post. You can only do one. I remember one livelines discussion well, someone was trying to decide if they should keep their current car in storage and arrange for post transportation locally. The best response was to evaluate how much value the car will lose sitting in storage. Is it better to sell it now two years younger or wait to see if you can use it two years later while you pay for a different car or transportation at post?

We decided to wait until we arrived in Kolkata to decide on a car. If you are single or without kids you may be able to get by with taxis, the metro and autorickshaws. They are a good deal. But it has come time for us to get a car.

Taking a look at the local car market as well, Tatas and some other Indian brands are more expensive than we expected; except for the classic and grand Ambassador. About the price of a Vespa scooter in the U.S., the car is looking like a great option for us. Thank you India!

Image from Hindustan Motors

A Brief Recount of the Written Exam, Oral Exam and the Register

2008-09-10T13:09:00.025+05:30

This post is a special request for Brent in Maryland. I thought others would be interested in the answers to the questions he asked, so it turned into a post.

In writing this I realized how much I know about the process, and I am not the officer! It is more anxiety-ridden than applying to your dream university but the experience is similar - taking the big exam, painfully waiting for the acceptance email and completely opening up a world of new opportunities.

Preparation for the Written Exam
As you may have heard, the exam recently changed, it is offered more frequently during the year and it is computer-based. There are more questions related to your previous personal experience. But it is still very tough!

You should keep up-to-date with current affairs by reading newspapers, both national and international, for a while prior to taking the test. There are some preparation classes in the Washington D.C. area that you could consider taking. I would also recommend practicing writing short essays on a subject with a time limit.

Passing the Written Exam
The exam is pass/fail. Your score is not considered in the subsequent steps. Passing the written exam feels like a tremendous achievement, and it is. Few people pass. But it is still only one step in a many step process. Still up on the list: passing the oral exams, getting your security clearance, getting your medical clearance, and getting your number called off the list.

Preparation for the Oral Exam
The oral exam is like one long job interview. The best preparation is really some introspection about what you have accomplished, how you accomplished it and what you want to do with your life. After figuring those things out, practice clearly articulating those ideas to others.

Passing the Oral Exam
There are three different components of the oral exam: group exercise, structured interview, case management study. The evaluation criteria for each of these components is based on 13 dimensions, such as judgment, communication, and leadership. At the end of the day, you will learn which sections you passed, be given a total score, and told if you passed the oral exam. This score determines your position on the hiring list.

Getting Additional Points for a Language
After passing the oral exam, you can test in a language to get additional language points added to your score. This is helpful since it will place you higher in the rankings. Additional points are also given for military service.

You can test in more than one language, but you will only receive points for one language. Different languages have different points associated with them. So if you have skills in more than one language, choose the one that will earn you more points -- so long as you're interested in serving in a country that speaks that language. These tests are conversational and taken over the phone. The conversations may cover a range of subjects. The common Romance languages tests are harder than most people expect.

But don't despair if you don't pass the initial language test, there is another opportunity to test again after you start A-100 to see how much additional training you may need for an assignment. You get up to two opportunities for language study before tenure: one full language and one top-off language.

Getting the Call
After passing the oral exam, you must pass your security clearance, medical clearance and final suitability review before you are officially placed on the list, also known as the "register." This can take a while, so you want to make sure you get everything in as soon as you can. Once these three steps are complete, you then get placed on your chosen cone's list and ranked by your score and the date you were placed on the list.

For each class, a number of slots are selected for each cone. The administrators work their way down the ranked lists, making offers until all spots are filled. Many times people at the very top know they can pick their preferred class, so they may defer until a preferred date.

Classes vary in size, and some can be pretty small. So the previous numbers and rankings are no indication of how many will be called and how far they may go down the list. There is a list-serve dedicated to those on the lists, and some very generous people spend their time keeping unofficial rankings. Any member of this list is supposed to report in when they get the call, so that people will know how far they have moved down the list, if any one has passed, etc.

You can stay on the register for up to 18 months waiting for a call before you must start the process all over again. During this period, your rank on the register will fluctuate as people come and go off the list. And whether your number is called depends on the size of the classes, your rank on the list, and how many people defer for a later class. There are many variables, such as federal budgets, so the experience can be a roller coaster.

And if you can start your household inventory and scanning in all your important documents as soon as you pass the written exam, you may get it all done before you leave for your first post!

Best of luck!