The Foreign Service

The Foreign Service is starting to become a reality. It's strange because I turned my application in in February 2009 and then nothing for months until I got called in for my "oral assessment". How exciting but how terribly nerve wracking at the same time. When we were in Vegas I flew out to DC for the interview and 26 hours later I flew back. It was an incredibly intense experience. I interviewed for 5 hours and after the interview is over, they seat you in the waiting room while they talk about you and calculate your scores. Needless to say, I texted Eric while I was waiting saying "I did horrible" turns out I didn't do so bad! I passed! Now the three Ali's are in the process of getting medical and security cleared. This can take anywhere from 3 months to one year. Once you and the family get cleared you are assigned to an embassy for a 2 year assignment. I was told through the grapevine that the most common first assignments are in either Africa or India - lots of space to think about - that's for sure.