Posting Concerns

Globetrotter!! A diplomat and his trailing wife are best described as globetrotter’s trotting around the globe, all their life in the service. Three years to know the country, settle, explore, make friends and then packup to a new destination, loaded with stories heavily freighted with emotions, symphonising to harmony and March on, ahead with the transfer orders.

It is off course exciting to start a new life in a country with new culture, religion, language, food and from zero to size larger than one can count in three years. Leave old friends and make new, with lingering memories of past posting and brushing the new today to a better shining white future.

Not only the transfer order affects mentally, emotionally and physically, but also tires and tears you in packing and unpacking a luxurious living. The anxiety of going to a new place kills you. Thank God!! Internet is a blessing it helps to mitigate this felling to a large extent, with vast information. Yet I had infinite questions, regarding everything which remained unanswered by the internet and my diplomat husband, which only could be excavated and discovered by myself.

I must confess a woman’s heart and mind are much different than that of a man; my husband is concerned about the Ambassador heading the Mission and his working staff with whom he has to consummate his diplomacy skills, whereas my concerns orbit around all other things, the kind of house we will be facilitated, the local culture and outlook towards women (its important coz I need to go around the city often alone for shopping and as I said I’m not an indoor person) the families in the embassy, coz one has to interact with them the most, the Indian shops and availability of Indian grocery, the cost of living, medical facilities, weather conditions, availability of maids and the list goes on. Well, children education is often the major concern for the diplomat globetrotters; though our kid is too young still to be worried about. So we our open to all X, Y, Z places, perhaps A, B, C postings.

Through all this I was preparing myself to move off this place, to which I’m already in love with. And while I work harder to mitigate this feeling I grow fonder for it. Spain is a beautiful country with warm, friendly and loving people.

Well, before I get deeper in my thoughts, the Foreign Service Board declares the vacancies, my husband asks for my opinions and with my limited experience of just one posting, my list starts and ends with all exotic tourist places but then the serious discussion follows, for days and hours, both of us in pensive, excogitative mood and finally concluding, to three options and crossing our fingers to be sent to one of our choices.

While I wait to hear our posting promulgation, and let any other thought bother me. I stay calm and quite and let my destiny play its role.

Ready Steady and GO.....