Me: Are Mrs. C. and Mr. C. were related?

Her: I don’t think so.

Me: Why not? They have the same last name.

Her: Well, Mrs. C. is brown and Mr. C. is pink.

Me: Oh, okay.

Now, I have gone out of my way to keep her from using the societal labels of black or white, so everyone is either pink or some shade of brown. I was glad to see that her impressionable mind still hadn’t been tainted, but I also wanted her to know that people within the same family can be different shades; heck, even different colors.

So, the conversation ended like this:

Me: It doesn’t matter if they are different colors. They can still be family.

Her: WHAT!

Me: Yup. They can be brother and sister, cousins, or husband and wife.

Her: I don’t think they’re married.

Me: thinking *I’m not going to go there right now* Okay, well maybe they’re related in some other way.

Her: Maybe you’re right. I’m going to ask them today.

*sigh* I guess at some point I’m going to have a more in depth conversation with her about race. But until then, brown Mrs. C and pink Mr. C will have to do

At what age do you think it is appropriate to explain American race relations to children?

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June 2009 à Took the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT)

July 2009 à Notified that I passed the FSOT and needed to submit my Personal Narrative Questionnaire (PNQ) within three weeks

July 2009 à Submitted my PNQ’s

September 2009 à Notified that I was invited to the Oral Assessment (OA) and had 30 days to schedule

September 2009 à Picked February to take the OA

I’m sure the next logical question is: how does this all fit in to your plan of moving to Caracas?

Hmmm, it doesn’t. Well, sort of…

The plan is, if I pass the OA in February, my Top Secret Security Clearance can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months (sometimes 1 year) and given the amount of travelling I have done, I am banking on at least 6 months. That takes us to August 2010. Then, if I make it past adjudications, I will then be placed on the register waiting to be called for the next A-100 class (orientation for all Foreign Service Officers). At that point, I have the option of being asked to be placed on the Do Not Call list for up to 12 months; therefore, potentially being called off the register in August 2011. By then, we will have been in Caracas almost two years and will consider our options at that time.

Why the self-induced torture? I think I went through the process 1) for the experience and 2) to keep our options open. Makes sense, right?

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Q. Is this a good thing?

A. Yes, it’s a very good thing. My husband has received a great promotion – one for which he has worked hard.

Q. Do you speak Spanish?

A. No, but my husband does and he makes a great tour guide .

Q. Why Venezuela?

A. That’s where hubby wanted to go and it’s not so far fetched - there are strong historical ties with Haiti.

Q. What are you going to do there?

A. Learn Spanish, help the kids get adapted, learn the culture, eventually find a position with an NGO, and of course – write on this blog .

Q. For how long will you be there?

A. Not sure. We are planning on five years, but I have learned to be flexible with our plans because ya never know.

Q. Are the kids excited?

A. Well, my two year-old has no clue. But my daughter (7 years-old) is very happy about the opportunity to learn Spanish.

That’s all I got for now. Let me know if you have one that’s not listed and I will gladly answer.

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So, my choices for Caracas were two American schools and one French school. I knew the children would be exposed to Spanish regardless and since they are both in English only schools now, I considered not disrupting this in the transition. However, the American schools were insanely expensive and the French school’s program is very similar to my daughter’s previous school and I think my son would easily adapt at his age.

So, after examining our choices, I am opting to place them in the French program. I had the opportunity to visit the campus while I was in Caracas a few weeks ago and it looks promising. My only concern now is that they might not get as much exposure to Spanish since we will mainly speak English and Haitian Creole with them at home. Hopefully, they will make friends outside of school, as well which will give them an opportunity to speak Spanish uniquely.

Would you have made the same decision if you were in my shoes? If you had to pick 3 languages for you or your child(ren) to know, which would they be?

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For years after that, I thought that my international bug had fizzled and I had become more realistic about my priorities. Well, lately I’ve started getting that itch again – and for some reason this seems like the right time.

Only now, my concern is how my children will grow up. Already, it is difficult trying keep a healthy amount of Haitian culture in their lives (hence, this blog ), and now I would have to juggle three or more cultures. I would like them to remain assimilated to the American culture while away, but I wouldn’t want them to stay completely shielded from the culture of the “host” country. You would think I go around looking for trouble!

Well, I am hopeful that I can achieve this balance. If you have any ideas/success stories on how to do it – please share. If not, I will know that I will be the Neil Armstrong of cultural harmony .

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