We totally neglected to check in from DC. Still, the time stateside was nice. Andy went on long runs along the canal in Georgetown. We are lucky to be assigned to the same post as a tandem couple. Actually traveling to that post at the same time would be too much to ask. If you see him, you might want to avoid asking his thoughts about that. Luckily for him, dads traveling with kids get treated like kings by everyone they encounter.

I sure have been. For now, here are some photos from a temple and area called Mylapore. The grocery store I visited even had Coke Zero and not just Diet Coke; these Coke Zeros even tasted like real Coke Zeros, not the flat and unsatisfying ones we found in Benin. A churro stand churning out these fresh goodies to order….

So that will be fun to deal with from afar! Plus much, much more. But now, we must finally accept that the end is near. We must accept this because we finally have tickets for the plane that will take us away. The other is going soon too. Flynn is done with school.

Our last trip was over the Fourth of July weekend. And hanging out some more.

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And so did the other two families. So we had nine adults looking after five children. But trust us, Guadalajara is incredible. Come if you ever can! Well, most of us.

We spent a whirlwind three days recently in the lovely town of Oaxaca, Mexico, right before the teacher protests turned violent and the U. Department of State forbid us employees from going. When we were there, we saw plenty of signs of non-violence protest: Our thoughts are with them all. Quick, casual and delicious, so perfect for those traveling with kids! We chose to stay down by the Zocalo, thinking it was the center of town. Nearly every house you pass has a loom and a small display selling their goods.

We got invited into several real homes to learn how the rug making magic happens.

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We had the chance to buy from these women, but not to really shop much more. So, I headed back to the town again in a private taxi. And indeed it was! My driver took me to private homes, small shops and larger operations too. Another must in Oaxaca is chocolate. There are stores all over making chocolate right before you.

Mayordomo is the most famous. There are several branches, but this one has a play area in the back for kids—take note! Try the hot chocolate or the malt they can make for you on the spot, and buy some mole for the road! There are so many day trips you can take from Oaxaca.

Because we were traveling with young children, we chose to stay fairly close and only went to see the ruins at Monte Alban , about a 20 minute drive away. We took a popsicle break, of course. And of course, ate street food. Aside from the market already mentioned, the area around the Zocalo is your best bet for street food like this.

Most stalls have little tables and stools set up even. And ate well, very well. A great starting point for your mole exploration is Los Pacos, which has this sampler platter of all seven moles.

This will help you find which you like most so you can focus on those the rest of your trip. We were in Playa del Carmen a few weeks ago and I was trying to get Flynn to play in the swimming pool at our hotel.

You just have to jump in all at once, like ripping off a band-aid. He stood on the first step of the pool, trapped between his desire to go play on the pirate ship in the middle of the water and the comfort of the warm sun. And we like it here. We put Guadalajara at the very top of our list when we were bidding three years ago, but that was a last-minute change. Because we were bidding off of a special list for those posted in DC, we knew there was a good chance we were going to get our first choice.

Instinctively, almost without thinking about it, we threw some of the more glamorous posts in the top few spots. Did we want Rio or Sao Paolo? Which one was closer to the beach again? Which one had hipper high rise apartments? Will we be there for the World Cup and the Olympics?

In the end, cooler heads prevailed. We ultimately made our decision based on boring things like commute, proximity to the US, and what language we wanted to learn. The day before our bid list was due, Guadalajara found its way to the top.

When we got the official word that we were heading to Guadalajara, there was some disappointment. Making practical decisions just feels so… practical. Nonetheless, we learned Spanish while also learning about mariachis and Mexican politics. We convinced Flynn that moving to Mexico would be exciting, while sort of trying to convince ourselves of the same thing. Our housing is great. The city has a lot to offer. Our boys have a great nanny. Flynn is speaking Spanish like a pro.

On top of all of this, though we had heard about the grind of consular work, we both really like our jobs. Without a doubt, we would stay another year if they would let us. We even hypothetically talked about what school we would send Flynn to next year. But the fact is that we will not be staying another year.

We have a new adventure waiting for us in a part of the world neither of us knows, but that we are both optimistic about. Transitions are a fact of life in the Foreign Service. Meanwhile, we still have a little over two months here in Guadalajara. We make our grocery lists more carefully, knowing that buying two bottles of Coke Zero might be a good idea, but that three for one sale on jumbo peanut butter jars could be a waste. When a light bulb burns out, we are more inclined to just let it be our bathroom is super dark now, Alex reminds me.

This part says that when it is time to move on, then it is time to move on. This is the part of me that wants to just rip off the band-aid. The water was too cold and the sun too warm and inviting. So instead we walked over to the small bar and grill near the pool and ordered a pair of sweet, frozen, chocolaty drinks, the same ones we ordered the day before.

But we were reminded of something a few weeks ago by our neighbors, who, possibly in a slight exaggeration, said that our blog was the reason they joined the foreign service hi guys! Sorry about the sorry state of our lawn. We know blogs were really important to us when we were going through the process to join. With this in mind, I wanted to write a post about mid-level bidding that is, bidding for your third tour and beyond. While there are some differences between bidding on your first tour and on your second, the process is largely the same: Then, over the period of a couple of weeks, somewhere in an office deep beneath Foggy Bottom we assume , HR makes the assignments based on your preferences, the preferences of your fellow officers, and the needs of the Service.

Bidding on your third tour is a different beast. Instead of sending a list to HR who will make a decision, you basically job hunt: Leading up to the day that official offers can be made knows as handshakes , posts may contact you strongly hinting that they want to offer you a job known as a wink and asking if maybe you like them enough to consider accepting a hypothetical offer. If you wink back, then all you have to do is wait until handshake day to get your official offer and then post the news to Facebook.

Nobody is left without a job. We know officers who have gotten great assignments after handshake day and we know others who avoid most of this and only begin bidding once the first round of handshakes come out. As a tandem, we not only had to go through all of those steps listed above, but we also had to make sure that everyone knew we were a package deal. And the State Department has started a new initiative to find ways to simplify and shorten the process while still meeting the needs of the service and allowing officers some degree of agency in their assignments.

Bidding worked out well for us this time, with both of us getting jobs in our cones at the same place. We do still have more than half a year left in Guadalajara. Have you even heard of Chennai? But, who are we kidding? We probably became those people a long time ago. Despite the benefits of this job and lifestyle, there are challenges too. We get some say in where we wind up, but only so much. Or would a sleepy, safe post somewhere else in the world be better, even though there they would have to take malaria meds with unknown long-term consequences?

These are the kinds of things we Foreign Service Officers weigh, not whether we would prefer waffles in Belgium or baguettes in Paris. But some people are. Please keep the people of Chennai in your thoughts. With Flynn officially part of his own soccer team or Mexican Football, as he calls it , I had been thinking it was time I took him to a soccer game. As luck would have it, not only were they in town, but kids got in free that night.

So I headed down to the stadium and bought tickets.

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With that in mind, we set out to the game, both decked out in Chivas red. The game was exciting and Flynn paid more attention than ever.

He stood up and cheered when Chivas scored. He liked looking at the section where everyone was waiving flags and he told me that the goalies were wearing different shirts so no one would kick them when they went to pick up the ball. There was pizza and hot dogs, popcorn and chips, but not much else.

Especially not the ice cream I promised Flynn. The wonderful thing about soccer games is that from start to finish, they are over in two hours. The game was winding down at just about the time that Flynn decided to lay down on the seats. We grabbed a taxi and headed home, Flynn happily spilling his potato chips in the back of the cab, and me determining that I was going to buy Flynn a real Chivas jersey one day.

When we found out we were coming to Guadalajara, I had visions of jetting off to Puerto Vallarta on a pretty regular basis. It looks so close on a map, after all! And it will be so close once the currently under construction super highway is completed, but in the meantime, the trip involves quite a ways on a windy, one lane mountain road where getting stuck behind a truck can turn your 4.

So, finally, we went. In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I bribed Flynn with cotton candy to let me take this shot. We searched for seashells by the seashore. Will we return again during our stay in Guadalajara? Manzanillo is just way easier. TRAVEL ORDERS Tales of a Foreign Service Family Skip to content. Home 88 flag day stories us. Posted in India , Life in DC , Personal , Tandem Issues 4 Comments. Posted in FS Life , Mexico , Tandem Issues 2 Comments.

Posted in Kids , Mexico Leave a comment. And did I mention the house came with a private chef? A good time was had by all. Except maybe that inflatable whale. Posted in FS Life , Holiday , Kids , Mexico , Travel 5 Comments. And fancy galleries like this. And of course, carpets! Mostly, we just walked around and took photos.

I will leave you with one last lovely carpet. Posted in FS Life , Mexico , Travel Leave a comment. Posted in FS Life , India , Mexico Tagged assignment , FS Life , guadalajara , india , mexico , travel 2 Comments. Posted in FS Life , Tandem Issues Tagged bid list , bidding 7 Comments. Posted in FS Life , Personal , Public Diplomacy , Tandem Issues 1 Comment. Posted in Kids , Mexico Tagged Andy , flynn , mexico , soccer Leave a comment.

Flynn discovered a love of boogie boarding. And giant water slides. We soaked in some street scenes. There is no greater joy than a two year old about a throw a fist full of sand. Jonah tired of my photo taking. We met baby sea turtles and then watched them being released out into the sea.

We embarked on a pirate ship. And met crazy creatures. And went on a treasure hunt. And of course, spent time on the beach.

We even shared our ice cream! And came home with loads of seashells. Posted in Kids , Mexico , Travel Tagged beach , vacation , vallarta Leave a comment. Subscription Fill out the form below to receive an email update with each new post.

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