On good days, I can’t believe that two months have gone by so quickly. On bad days, I feel like I’ve been here for years.

I feel as though I’ve learned a lot in a short period – maybe that’s why I’m tired. Here’s a few of the highlights -

1) I am so glad that I decided to not even think about working for the first three months. I don’t know how I could have managed a job and getting the kids settled. It took me these past two months just to get all their school supplies. Hence my first lesson: there is no Wal-Mart or Super Target equivalent in Caracas. The closest thing I found to a Costco or BJ’s is a store called Makro and it is located on the outskirts.

2) Always allow for an extra 30-40 minutes when going somewhere by car. Traffic here is simply erratic. At first I was told it’s really bad on Fridays because that’s when people are getting ready to go away for the weekend. Then when it was equally horrendous the following Tuesday, I was told it was due to protests going on all over the city. Then when it was even worse on Thursday, I was told people were getting ready for the impending holiday the following week. Bottom line: traffic can be horrible at any time.

3) I need to relax. If I go to the store looking for something that I saw there the day before and it’s gone – too bad. No one there is going to go out of his/her way to find a hidden stash of my peanut butter or specific brand of paper towels and that’s OKAY. Life will go on. The more I get into this mindset, I find that other little things that used to bother me simply roll off my back. Therefore, I am a calmer version of myself (I’m sure my husband is enjoying that )

So, after two months, the patient seems to be very healthy.

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Back in December, I wrote about my candidacy to the US Foreign Service. My reasoning behind moving forward with my application even though I knew we might be moving was to keep our options open.

Well, after much thought and many unforeseen circumstances, I have decided to withdraw my candidacy.

While I was mulling over what to do, I realized that a lot of the other candidates were a lot older than me. I may be speculating as to the reason they waited to pursue this career, but one of the main reasons I felt it wasn’t the time is because of the kids. I couldn’t imagine making them move every two to three years. I know that there are kids who do this and end up successful; however, I don’t think my kids (or their parents) are cut out for that lifestyle.

Oddly enough, this wasn’t a difficult choice to make and it’s one of those times that I feel like it’s the right thing to do. I enjoyed the experience of applying for the position (I chose the Management Cone) and I feel much better prepared should I choose to try again in the future. As I described before, the process if quite long and in a way it gives you a chance to really think about the life you are choosing.

So, the plan for the next five to seven years is that there will only be one diplomat in the family

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