Your tax dollars at work

When Doug was hired by the State Department and we were put on the government's (read - YOUR payroll) I told you that I was taking that very seriously. So here's an update on how (some of) your money is being spent.

Doug is doing very well in his new job. He worked what is called a bridge assignment after he finished his initial training. He worked in the Bureau of Near East Affairs as the Strategic Planning Officer. Near the end of his five months working there, his boss's boss nominated him for a Meritorious Service Award. He won. He worked very hard for good people who recognize the efforts and successes of others. Needless to say his review from his work at that bureau was glowing.

He has now joined me in full time Russian classes though he is in a higher level class. This is interesting because it is the first time in our lives together that we are doing the same thing. We both work quite hard. Next week Doug will be in an emersion week that takes place at an Army b ase of some sort in Maryland. I'm hoping to use the undistracted time to catch up (if that is possible) in my own studies. Although I am working hard I am weak in understanding the spoken word and very slow at forming sentences. I can rattle off grammar rules and am pretty strong in vocabulary but I do need to be able to communicate!

Our housing is paid for while he is in training. It is not extravagant. (Read my December entry entitles "Our Apartment".) We are given a per diem for food that started higher than it is now and has periodically decreased over the months. I am still buying store brands (the ones I can stomach) and don't eat out much. Some of you may also be happy to know that I no longer (okay very rarely) buy stuff like Spagetti O's and Velveeta shells and cheese. I was cooking like a pro in the first few months. I do not have time to do that but I try to make something good for us once a week. Otherwise we survive on peanut butter and oatmeal (not together - Doug has the peanut butter, I have the oatmeal) for breakfast and turkey sandwiches for lunch. Dinner is always a surprise.

I know you don't need a run down of how we spend our money but I do want you to know that we are very conciencious of how we spend our (your) money.

In other news, you may have read or heard the news of Kyrgyzstan's president was ousted - he escaped to neighboring Kazikstan. This makes the general area in central Asia unsettled. There is talk of whether other countries will follow suit. The people of Uzbekistan tried a peaceful protest. The government's response was to send in the militsia with machine guns to shoot them. They then piled the bodies and burned them. This was in 2005. The same leader is still in office. Folks, we need to learn how to discuss religion and politics without anger being our only reaction to differing opinions. We need to do this now.

The doomsday gang must be having a heyday what with all the earthquakes, changes of leadership and volcano eruption - this following the swine flu epidemic or pandemic or whatever is wound up being. They are probably stocking up on pesticide for the locusts.