Happy 2012!

Since the last time you folks tuned in a few things have happened. My parents came for a visit. A and I met them in Delhi and took off on the tour of the Golden Triangle - the best of the best and most memorable that North India has to offer. Pictured above is Humayun's Tomb in Delhi. A beautifully restored UNESCO World Heritage site. Humayun conquered Delhi in the 1500s, because that was all the rage, ruled for about a year and died. His wife commissioned the tomb in 1562 and thanks to the efforts of the Agha Khan Foundation, it is a beautiful sight. The Persian architecture of this tomb serves as the model for the Taj Mahal.

 It was a good time all around. Aside from our own digital memories, pictures of our family grace many a facebook and physical albums of fellow Indian tourists. At one point, my parents sat on a platform at Agra Fort for a rest and no fewer than 10 families got a shot sitting next to them. They just shuffled through in a rather surprising calm and organized manner - it may have been the first time I saw this phenomenon. I think my parents were deeply uncomfortable with their new found celebrity status, but hey this is India and we don't blend in around these parts. They enjoyed hanging out in our apartment and going to Adequate...oops I mean Ideal Beach.

On 24 December 2011 there was a Hanukkah or Christmas miracle and we got our Ford figo. We named the new arrival the "phantom," since it took the Ford corporation a mere 4 months to manufacture the car, get our color, model, and price (prepaid 100%) wrong. The Ford Corporation also sent us a German diplomat's tax application as a "sample," and proceeded to lose our tax paperwork several times...but I digress, we are very happy to have our little "phantom." Sadly, my husband did not take up my suggestion of calling our figo - "red tape." The diver that we hired 4 months ago, who has been waiting so patiently, is also very happy the car finally came. I am thinking about our next sketchtastic destination and whether it is possible and legal to export our little bundle of joy - we shall see! Incidentally, our driver's name means "happiness" (contentment or delight). The three of us are very happy with the arrangement.

The auto drivers across the street and I separated amicably. They wave to me when I pass them in our "phantom" on the way to the office. No hard feelings, we still use their services when A wants to have a drink at a party. Just last night, we used an auto to go to a New Years Eve party at a friend's house.

Before wishing all a great 2012 I would like to give you a short rundown of 2011. I guess I need to reach a little further, since life changed for us dramatically in May 2010 a few minutes before we left for our graduation from SAIS, A "got the call" and by "the call" I actually mean an email inviting him to join the a foreign service training class. We got married a few months later, moved to Northern Virginia (which was really a lot less painful than anticipated), and A started his training. As A, began his training I became obsessed with my professional options and started a bridge consulting job in DC. My professional obsession helped me come out of my shell and reach out to many wonderful and interesting professionals working in DC and in South Asia. My interactions helped me gain a better understanding of India's economic and social history.

In 2011, I got an awesome job offer to work as an economist for a DC consulting firm with an office in - you guessed it - Chennai! SAIS mafia power. We both studied Tamil at the Foreign Service Institute. Many zip car rentals, exhausting shopping trips, and spreadsheets later, we packed up our life in the DC area. We saved up and went on our honeymoon in Spain. We moved to India. I learned to value access to an electrical generator and internet. I discovered that I have been under-utilizing my body's capacity to sweat. I went to Israel witness the marriage of a wonderful friend, met new friends and spent time with family. I spent a wonderful weekend in Dubai together with my best friend, who is currently based out of a much less prosperous and stable South Asian country.

After a rather shockingly short brush with Indian bureaucracy - getting a work permit six weeks after submission to the Ministry of External Affairs, is pretty much unheard in this country - I started a new job. I got to know wonderful co-workers and members of the diplomatic community. My work has taken me to Delhi to meet with senior members of the Indian civil service and industry experts. A and I both started doing yoga - A occasionally joins me for a practice. Yoga became my oasis from obsessively stressing about things that I cannot control as well as a gateway for a healthier lifestyle. My commitment to keep kosher has turned me into a de-facto vegetarian, which made for some interesting conversations. We hosted my parents' first foray into India and our little "phantom" arrived at our doorstep on Christmas Eve. All in all, a pretty incredible, challenging and fun year (technically year and a half).

Happy New Year to all! I hope your 2012 is filled with lots of love, friends, family, adventures, and of course good health! Since I don't believe in keeping New Years resolutions - I sincerely hope to be more consistent in posting to this blog and keeping up my personal research.

Reflections on Passover

Monday night was the last Passover Seder. Passover - Jewish holiday recounting the Hebrews' deliverance from bondage of slavery, and it holds a special place in my heart. Passover is my favorite holiday, despite the havoc it wreaks on my digestive system. I am part of a rather large exodus of members of the tribe from the Former Soviet Union. While some tribe members headed for the State of Israel, after a brief and intense altercation with representatives of the Jewish Agency for Israel my mother made up her mind that America was the place for our family.

My earliest childhood memories consist of celebrating Passover by watching our family's matzo emerge from an anonymous paper bag and several pillowcases. Matzoh secretly procured by my grandmother from the only functioning synagogue in Kyiv, the city of my birth, was not technically illegal, but getting caught with the bread of affliction bore dire consequences for its owner. In the privacy of our own apartment, my family gathered, ate way too much, drank the obligatory four glasses of wine, sang, and played while recounting the story of Exodus. I do not recall ever opening the door for the prophet Elijah, which would have most likely cost my parents and grandparents their jobs. So, not so different from how we celebrate Passover in America, well except for that part where discovery of my family’s celebration would have wreaked havoc on our existence in the USSR. 

Every year, I think of how my mother and I left the Soviet Union. Our exit visas were creative in their wording. My mom was ceremoniously stripped of her citizenship; I was not old enough to hold citizenship. My mom and I packed our lives into two suitcases, a maximum of suitcases allowed by the Soviet government for the two of us. Blankets, pillows and sheets took up one of these suitcases. The government allowed us to take only $150 USD. Going through customs border patrol officers searched both our suitcases and persons. My mom lost an extra can of coffee during the search. I am not sure how the officer that confiscated the can of coffee survived to live another day, as my mom describes herself as a coffee addict. I am pretty sure, the officer in question made a lifelong enemy. We’ve lived in America for 21 years, but for my mom the coffee can episode feels like it happened yesterday. So there we were, stateless, pretty much penniless, I mean let’s face it $150 was not much in 1989 either; the very definition of refugees. 

While I am leaving out a lot of details of the history of how I became a proud American, I will leave you with the following thoughts. I am proud to be an American, as the country singer croons. America accepted my tiny family and gave us freedom, protection, and opportunity. Instead of making me feel small my teachers encouraged and supported my budding talents and skills. I went to a first rate public high school where I thrived. I received scholarships and government backed student loans to study at NYU. I studied, worked, volunteered and thrived. I paid off my undergraduate debt, saved and was accepted into one of the best graduate programs in the country. Yay for SAIS Hopkins! I plunked my entire savings into my graduate education. In addition to recieving a first rate graduate education, I met the love of my life. I love my life. 


It is funny, that I think about this pretty much on Passover as we read the Haggadah; which documents the story of the Hebrews’ Exodus from Egypt. With each succeeding year I recount more and more wonderful things that would not be possible had my mom and I not lived through our very own Exodus. I am so grateful for my chance. In Hebrew school we learn from the book of Exodus to: “welcome the stranger,” “protect the stranger,” “have one law for the stranger and the citizen among you” because “you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” As our departure swiftly approaches and we pack up our lives, I think about my first Exodus. I think about becoming a stranger in a strange land, well not in the same way that Robert Heinlein put it, well you know what I mean. It is a funny feeling packing up your life. I can’t help but think about how my mom did this all by herself.

On a lighter note... or on second thought not so much, I submit this Passover themed strategic post “God as a General: Passover’s Lessons for Warfare.”

Writing in the shadow of a government shutdown

Please note this post has very few original ideas, but I posted a few fun things at this not so fun time.

As Congress haggles over the last six months of this year’s budget and a government shutdown looms – oh and I love DC – the District is crawling with government shutdown pick up lines. You can find shutdown pick up lines tweeted here.

The Huffington Post also has a list of the best government shutdown pickup lines which you can find here. 

Personal Assistant needed: Federal employees only (Washington DC)

Are you a Federal employee shocked at being furloughed? Does Ron Paul's advice that your landlord will understand not apply to you?

Starting Monday, April 11th, I will be in need of the following from a down-and-out Fed:

Duties to include:
~Gentle waking up (preference for a returned Peace Corps Volunteer who can play an "ethnic sounding" musical instrument)
~Breakfast preparations (omelets, assorted fruit from local organic grocer)
~Drawing of bath water/temperature measurement
~Carry my bag to work for me
~Possibly carry me to work
~Preparing press clippings from the "eye openers" and "Lookout" section of the Express
~IT duties to include help with Angry Birds or Words with Friends (must be proficient with Android OS)
~Lunch truck analysis and delivery of goods
~Scheduling of off-site meetings (to include daily 10:00am, 12:00pm, & 3:00pm coffee and cigarette breaks with the friendly HR staff)
~Preparing of evening television schedule, to include highlights of non-scary news stories and at least two (2) back-to-back episodes of Criminal Minds
~Rocking to sleep and promises that this will never happen to us non-federal employees
Finally:
~Providing daily updates, no later than 7:00pm, if you will be coming back the next day to do it all over again

The ideal candidate will possess the following abilities:
~Strong communication skills (i.e. calm, soothing voice reassuring me I'm right and my boss really was just promoted to get him/her out of the way)
~Attention to detail (does this tie go with the money I’m still earning?)
~Proficient in Microsoft Office, Facebook, and on-line coupon search engines
~Sharp elbows for creating sufficient space on metro platforms and trains
~Must be able to lift at least 20 pounds (for moving of furniture and vacuuming duties)
~Ability to laugh at the fact that while you aren’t getting paid, Congress sure is, all the while knowing they aren't beholden to you DC-ites anyway!

Salary & Benefits Details:
Commiserate with years of government service and level of clearance, or along the GS-5/Pay Band H/FP-9 scale, whichever is lower
401k matching of up to 0.01% (after six-month probationary period, and two years of employment in order to be "vested")
Generous sharing of stories from my day at the office

To Apply:
Please email resume and saddest picture of your clothing that you cannot afford to dry clean anymore.

Last but not least, in preparation for Passover here is a quirky card from Aish Center:

Google Exodus - please follow this link. I tank my friend E. for bringing this to my attention.

Enjoy and have a nice weekend!