Second Tour Bidding

Second tour bidding is a bit more complicated than first tour bidding. Instead of approximately the same number of jobs on the bid list as the number of members of the officer's A-100 class, there are several hundred jobs on your bid list, and it is your responsibility to read all of the rules your CDO (Career Development Officer) emails to you and try to find 30 bids that match these qualifications to fill out your list. Below is a summary of the rules that most affected DH.

Time in Training: Because of the World Cup being held in Brazil right about the time we were supposed to arrive, we were delayed getting to post until after it was over. What we didn't realize until the bidding instructions came out was that this made it nearly impossible for DH to bid on jobs with language training this time around. There is a maximum amount of "Time in Training" for a Junior Officer before it starts to mess with being tenured within the allowed time (FSO's have an "up or out" policy), so DH was only allowed two bids on his list that went over Time in Training. The likelihood that a CDO would give him one of these bids was extremely low. Also, there were very few bids on the list that DH would consider awesome enough to jeopardize his ability to tenure. In short, DH had to bid either English-speaking or Portuguese-speaking jobs, other than two jobs.

Get out of the Country: Say goodbye to most of the Portuguese-speaking jobs, because you can't serve in the same country you are currently in.

Consular/In Cone Bids: DH did his in-cone assignment this time around, so he had to focus on making sure all of his bids had at least one year of Consular duties in them. There were very few qualifying bids on his list that were not Consular, so this was not difficult. There were a few rotations, but most of them had language training or had bad timing.

Differential: Because we were at a low differential post this time (read: not terribly different lifestyle than in the U.S., not very dangerous, either), DH would be able to look over the whole list, but wouldn't get to bid on it until everyone with high differentials had received their assignments from it. So, we got to research everything, make a preliminary list, then watch posts get removed from the list and try to come up with different bids. Or so we thought. (More on that later.) Also, because of our low differential this time, 20 of our 30 bids had to have a 15% or higher differential. Not terribly difficult to do with this bid list.

ETA: There is an extraordinary amount of math to be done when working on bid lists. This is because the bids all come with an arrival date, and you have to figure out how much training time you have to do between your TED (date you can leave post) and the arrival date to come up with an acceptable ETA. This ETA can wiggle by one month of the date on the bid list, creating Perfect (same month) and Imperfect (one month difference) bids. The math part comes up because of Home Leave, Position Training, Language Training, and Consultations. Home leave has to be no fewer than 20 business days, and no more than 45 business days. Position Training isn't necessarily going to start at the optimal time (except Consular, luckily, which starts a new class every Monday). Language Training is the sticky one. They start at only a few different times per year. Then, add in up to five Consultation days to fill in any gaps (and actually do some consultations), and you have your schedule. Now do this for each different language/position combination on the list. That's what I had to do over and over again until I discovered there was no way DH was going to fit in language training and stay under his Time in Training allowance. Also, there was only one non-Brazil Portuguese-speaking job on the list, and it was way later on the ETA. So, we were down to English only.

Perfect/Imperfect: You must bid at least 20 Perfect bids. Yeah, right. After removing from the list anything that was absolutely impossible for DH to do because of the ETA, Time in Training, and Consular requirements, we came up with exactly 32 possible bids. However, there were fewer than 20 that were Perfect bids. By the time DH was allowed to submit his bid list, there were only 24 possible bids left on the list, and only 13 were Perfect. Among the Imperfects were two that went beyond Time in Training, just to add some things to the list. The CDO had a timely vacation during the final week of bidding, so the question of "what to do now" was never answered. DH submitted the bid list as it was, and I guess that was the right thing to do, because we got our #1 bid.

Rank Order List: Unlike the A-100 "high, mid, low" ranking system, this list gets rank ordered from 1-30. They also had the officer list reasons for why they put the job on the list, and explain the math that gets them there by their ETA. About half of DH's list said that the schools looked good, about 8-10 said he had some interest in that country, and the rest that didn't say either of those basically said that there was low interest in the jobs or the schools weren't accredited, so we'd rather not, thank you! Most of the time, jobs where you really don't want to go don't go on the list, so we were a little worried about their presence on the list at all, but not too much. We had heard that normally, people get a job in their top 5. 

The Results: We heard back in about two weeks from submitting the list. In case you didn't get the importance of the flag at the top of the screen, we are going to India (specifically, Chennai), in September of 2016, where DH will be a Consular Officer. Luckily, India was a place DH wanted to go, anyway, and would have been on the list, even if the list hadn't been decimated by his Time in Training restrictions. I have always been fascinated by books I read about India, so it wasn't hard for me to get on board. DH probably would have chosen a language-designated position in India over English-speaking, though. Why Chennai over New Delhi or Mumbai? Mainly because of its better air quality, the timing of arrival, and something about it just felt right. I'm happy that we will be getting to our next post without transferring schools twice, even though the kids will be getting there about 6 weeks after school starts. I'm sure I'll be dedicating a post to that issue sometime in the future! 

Flowers

Here is a picture of our DD and some flowers at Jardim Botanico that I took on Labor Day (which is in May for most of the world, not September - extra holiday for us, yay!).

There is something about more temperate climates than MN that I just love. It is more colorful. In MN, there are about 4 months where there are flowers in bloom. Fall is absolutely lovely, with the change from greens to oranges and reds on the leaves. And yes, I do also see beauty in snow (that first hour before the auto exhaust hits it all and it turns black). An ice storm is a lovely thing to behold if the next morning is sunny. But the window for each event is so short, and they can be few and far between, leaving you in a grey, dismal world for long stretches of time. But in VA, the cold season was shorter, and there were bushes brilliant with colorful flowers I had never seen before that would never have survived a MN winter. Here in Brasilia, there are always new varieties of bushes and trees flowering, year around. This picture is just one small example. And look how it sports not only one, but two different colors on the same bush. Next time, I need to discuss birds. Or bugs. The colors here are really amazing, guys.

Traveling Teams - Softball

One of the interesting parts about going to high school overseas is that the sports teams and clubs travel for tournaments and conferences. DS2 recently flew with his softball team to the Big Four tournament in São Paulo. Our #10 was the starting pitcher, pitching all but one inning, and outfielding that inning. While the outcomes of the games weren't great, he did a great job.

We are proud of his efforts, especially as he has never been on a sports team, other than cross country running, until this school year. 

DS2 received two sportsmanship nominations from the opposing teams this tournament. 

What's Up?

I wrote an email to a friend from VA this morning, and I realized it is all stuff that could easily make up a blog post.

DS1 is enjoying missionary work. He is getting better at Spanish and is a senior companion now with his first transfer. It seems he is enjoying working with this companion more than the last, as they have similar feelings about how to work, so they are finding more people to teach.

He had starting dating a girl just a month or so before his mission, and doesn't understand now why, even though he prayed about it, he has still gotten hurt, as she quit writing to him a few months ago. We have been helping him understand that God doesn't keep us from pain, even when we make choices that He is okay with us making. The gospel is there to help us grow and give us peace, and sometimes that growth comes with a little pain.

The other kids are learning Portuguese. They had a month-long holiday break and return to school on Monday, but they have had language, math and music lessons to do each day. Changing math programs to Common Core was a little rough on them, as everything is out of order. During first semester, some units they already knew, and others needed information they hadn't learned yet. So, we use the break to fill in the gaps. Hopefully, when they return, they will only be ahead.

DH loves his job! He helped facilitate Joe Biden's trip here for Dilma's inauguration over the holidays, which was a lot of extra work, but his day-to-day job has been fulfilling for him.

DH and I were both part of a small vocal ensemble that gave a couple of Christmas concerts. It was made up of people from the UK and US embassies. We had a lot of fun!

Along with Portuguese studies for me, as well, I have been trying to clean up my diet. I seem to catch every bug that comes my way lately, so I cut out sugary snacks for the last two weeks and am feeling better. One more week to go without any for this challenge I'm doing with a friend from MN, and then I can ease back into the occasional piece of chocolate or dessert after dinner; not the daily overdose of processed sugar I was hooked on. I'm also trying to put more fresh veggies in our diet. I was really used to preparing frozen veggies in MN and VA, but they are terribly expensive here, while fresh veggies are cheap. It takes a lot more planning and preparation to buy the right amount and the right ones for meals without letting any go bad, so I have to get better at meal planning, as well. Lots to learn when you move to a new country, for the whole family!

Spread Across the Western Hemisphere

My family is spread across the Western Hemisphere this week. DS1 is in Riverside, CA, on a 2-year mission for our church, as I may have mentioned at some point. DS4 is in Pantanal, Brazil, and DS5 is in Minas Gerais. Both of them are on week-long school trips. DS3 will be leaving on Friday for the weekend to attend SPMUN, which is being held (as the first two letters indicate) in São Paulo. So, we look like this (or will on Friday, at least):

You can see what kinds of cool things DS4 and DS5 are doing on the school website, here: https://sites.google.com/a/eabdf.br/middle-school-trips/home/2014-pantanal

But I will mention that DS4 has already been piranha fishing and on a nighttime safari, just to get you interested. There is also snorkeling down a river in his future. Apparently, some of the kids on the trip have been a little unruly at times. DS4 assures me that he was in the other group. DS5's trip has been more of an historical adventure. I don't have a child on the Amazon trip, but DS5 should be going on that one next year, so you can see what is in store for him in the future, if you want to.

So, the house is a little quieter here this week. Today, DD & I walked to the produce stand after she got off the school bus. After we made our purchases, I saw the pile of coconuts the gal was selling, and asked how she opens them. She showed me a cool tool, similar to an apple corer, but with a sharper point. She said they cost around R$20 (about USD $9). She proceeded to open the coconut with it at the core and stick a straw in the hole she created. She gave it to me, and said we didn't have to pay for this one. I'd say that was a good move. She will have a return customer. I found coconut water to be pretty gross when I tried it from a container in the grocery store, but DD and I liked it fresh. As I understand it, we can open up the coconut and eat the flesh when we are done drinking it. We'll see if we have a knife sharp enough to handle the job.

We still await our HHE shipment. It has been at the 8 days to delivery stage for a week and a half now, so hopefully we are getting close. DH's boss was supposed to be getting hers this week, but was just told that isn't happening. She has been here for five months, and has been at the 8 days to delivery stage for over a month. I'll chalk up some of her delay to the World Cup, but it really isn't looking so good for us right now, is it? I guess I can hope for sometime in October.

***Update***

I just looked at Find My Friends, now that it is evening and DS4&5 should be in their hotel rooms for the night. This is cooler than the earlier map I made, even though it doesn't have DS1 on it, and DS3 hasn't left for São Paulo yet.

How do I Organize a Pack-Out?

It has occurred to me that there are a lot of things a new FSO family doesn't think about when packing for the first move to DC. I believe I described the allowances for HHE and UAB and airline baggage elsewhere, so I will leave that for you to find elsewhere on my blog. Here are some tips I just gave a newbie on Facebook:

If you don't know where you are going, that can make this more difficult. You want to consider what electronics you would and wouldn't be willing to run from a transformer if at a 220 post (things with heating elements should go in boxes marked to stay behind at a 220 post, and make sure the movers don't mix in anything else). Try to make sure those things you might want to leave behind are in boxes separate from other things. We lucked out because in Brasilia they converted many houses to 110, and we got one of them, because our movers packed things together that otherwise we would have wanted to leave in storage. Ice skates packed with rollerblades is fine if you are in a cold climate, but not in Brazil...Also consider if you get assigned to an apartment, will you want your gardening supplies and snow shovels? Make sure they don't pack them with your standard tool set, or you will have to take it all when the time comes. Also, confirm in advance a second HHE shipment on your orders for when you leave DC, as you are bringing stuff in your minivan, or else you will have too much stuff to go in UAB. Sometimes I hear that it is tricky to convince them to do it if you have only a short stay in DC. We had 11 months, so it wasn't a problem for us. Finally, watch your packers! Insist on a small crew so you can see what they are packing and make your own inventory list, as theirs won't be nearly detailed enough. Set your pack-out date for at least 2 weeks before your move so you have time to put your foot down and reschedule if they don't want to cooperate with agreed terms. If you feel rushed by them, you will cave, and then you will regret it for years when you discover stuff is in storage that ought to be at post. (End of FB post)

I have been thinking a lot about things I wish had come in our UAB and didn't, due to our rush at our last move, as well as due to the fact that we were moving into an apartment initially. Here are things I want to remember next time.

Laundry baskets

Small rugs

Trash pails

Panty liners

Crock pot (or buy one immediately if at a 220 post, but if shipping, make sure it is in its original box)

Shark

Sandwich baggies

Ziplock bags

Get Out of Town!

Last night, we took the kids to the embassy for happy hour. I had read in a recent CLO (Community Liason Officer) email that there would be a happy hour, but I had ignored it. I'm a Minnesotan; happy hour is where single adults go to drink and meet people where I am from. But when the kids came home from school, most of them (without even hearing the others tell me) told me that their friends were all going to happy hour, and could we go, too? After our youngest daughter, age 6, asked, we finally realized that there must be more to happy hour than drinking.

Sure enough, the soccer and basketball courts and the playground were full of kids, so we stayed a couple of hours and let the kids have fun. DH and I talked to other parents, and while we were there, I received an invitation to go shopping to a market out of town with another EFM (Eligible Family Member - what all of us spouses and children of people in the mission are called). So, this morning, we took off at 9am and arrived in Paranoá about 20 minutes later.

I finally felt like I was in another country. The town looked a lot more like what I had seen in Santiago, Chile, a couple of years ago. The stores we went two were little, crowded shops, with incredible pricing. I spent the equivalent of $35 USD on groceries that would have cost double or triple if I had gone to one of the local grocery stores. I'd say that the prices were even better than in the U.S. I got 8.25 lbs of apples, 2.25 lbs of bananas, one large avocado, three ripe tomatoes, and several pounds of baking potatoes at the produce market. From the butcher, I got 4.4 lbs of ground beef, and on the street there was a rotisserie chicken vendor, and I got one large chicken from him. $35 total. I'm going back every Saturday, now that I know about it.