Two Weeks Apart
I don't think anyone is going to be shocked when I say that two weeks apart from Jen has been pretty much as difficult as my last update foreshadowed. And it's going to continue for the foreseeable future. The State Department has extended the authorized departure, on the recommendation of the Embassy. In fact, the day before the decision had to be made, there was some kind of additional threat information that caused us to significantly draw down the staff that could show up for work. The consular section was closed in order to eliminate the crowds of visa-seekers out front of the embassy, traffic patterns out front of the embassy were drastically changed by the Yemeni government, nearly all non-American staff were told not to come in to work, as were some Americans (mostly the consular staff), and we started having duck and cover drills. Now I know what my parents' generation went through in school.
Sadly, I still had to show up every day. I joked in a couple of emails that this was the Yemeni equivalent of having to go to work while everyone else got a snow day. Everyone I wrote that to seemed to think it indicated a level of comfort with the dangers of Yemen that probably isn't healthy. Don't worry, I'm still being very security-conscious. It's just that if people are going to get to stay home from work--whatever the reason--I want in!
Too Similar
Two weekends ago, after I had spent most of the day unpacking boxes, my friend Carolina decided it was time for a day trip. She, Hamoud, Waleed, and I went to Bayt Baws, a tiny, ancient mountaintop village not far from our house. The village is actually quite close as the crow flies, but it's up a steep unpaved mountain track. Fortunately, Carolina has a big SUV, so we just powered our way up (after a little circling to figure out which path/road/donkey trail was the right way up.)
Bayt Baws is, as far as we know, the only mountaintop village around Sana'a that the military hasn't claimed and closed off. It's still inhabited too. There is a small suburb (?) across a ridge from Bayt Baws that was apparently inhabited by Jews before they left. The boy who met us when we arrived was very eager to show us the synagogue. I looked dutifully, but I'm not convinced. It looked just like the other six or eight houses--indistinguishable in every way. What I found most unlikely was that it had a kitchen. Now, I know that many synagogues now have a communal kitchen for holding events. But this building couldn't hold more than ten people at a time. And the whole time, each of those people would be no more than 15 meters from their own houses. If they wanted to cook a community meal, I just think they would do it at their own hearths and then carry it the few meters to the gathering. I suspect that the local kids have figured out that tourists think it's very interesting that Jews used to be here, so they have "converted" one of the houses into the synagogue because it makes for a good hook.
Two Chests
Last weekend, I had some good relaxing hang out time with a couple of embassy colleagues. On Friday evening, we decided to go to Bab el-Yemen, otherwise known as the suq. We didn't have any specific shopping in mind, just wanted to wander and look at the jambiyas, silver work, shawls, etc...
In one of the shops that Jen and I had stopped in a number of times, I happened to ask about the carved and decorated wooden boxes that we have our eyes on. That shop had them in the past, so I don't remember how it happened, but one of the brothers who run the shop invited me upstairs to see some of the other boxes they had there. The shop is in a traditional tower house, but in this case, the upstairs wasn't exactly where they hide the "good stuff." It was their storeroom/workroom, where they had broken items, new acquisitions that still needed cleaning, and the like. They also had one box there that was in very good shape, was the size I would want, and really was beautiful. Not one to let an opportunity slip through my fingers, I bought it. These guys don't bargain much, so I wasn't too hopeful. I knocked a few dollars off and called it quits. From my perspective, I didn't care--what they were asking was already a steal for such a beautiful piece.
After we struggled it down the steps (for a generally short people, the Yemenis build very large steps in their tower houses!), being good Arab merchants, they asked me if I wanted to also buy another one of the boxes that I had looked at before. On the price for the two together I was able to save some money, so I went for it!
If you want to see the chests and Bayt Baws, I have put a short slide show up on http://www.kolodner.com.
Two Jobs
I'm out of chronological order here, but I ended the last work week with some interesting news of a professional nature. It's actually a good story, too. On Tuesday evening, I had shut down my computer a little early so I could leave, knowing that Wednesday night I was going to pull an all nighter (more on this below). That meant I missed that flurry of last-minute emails that always comes at about five to five. So when I got in on Wednesday, pretty early, I had a message that the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM, the second-in-command at an embassy), Brad Hanson, would like to have a one-on-one meeting with me, before 10:00 a.m. I called up to his secretary and she suggested 8:30, since I was already there. She didn't know what the meeting would be about, which left me wondering. I went up at 8:30, but the DCM had been delayed by traffic and when he arrived, had to postpone the meeting in order to handle some pressing matters. I left the Front Office without thinking much of it, though still curious what the meeting would be about.
Not long after, my boss Russ, the Admin Officer, came into my office and began to close the door behind him. Since there were few people about (with the draw down) and we don't usually have the door closed, that meant either something "secret" or else something serious. As the door began to close, he started, "Now that you've had a chance to talk with he DCM..."
I cut him off, telling him that the meeting hadn't happened.
"Oh," he said, beginning to open the door again. "Then I guess we'll have to do this later."
I asked if he could at least tell me what the meeting was going to be about, so that I could prepare, rather than going in cold.
"No," he said, "I think this is something the DCM should tell you." And with that, he walked out.
At that point, I moved beyond puzzled into slightly scared. The DCM is charged, by the State Department, with managing all of the Junior Officers at post. Though he isn't my direct supervisor, he is pretty much responsible for professional development, nurturing, etc... It's never really been mentioned, but I would assume this means reprimanding as well. Not that I thought I had done anything wrong, but you have to wonder after a setup like that! Anyway, I continued to cogitate as the day went on. Sometime after lunch, Russ pulled me into his office quickly to tell me that the DCM would definitely find at least a few seconds to talk with me before the day was over (so as not to leave me wondering all weekend) and that it was not something I should be worried about. At least that put my mind somewhat at ease.
What Russ did not tell me was that the DCM was still going to drop a bombshell when we met. At around 3:00 I got a call that I had carved out a few minutes. After explaining that Steve, the Political Officer, was going to go home for about six weeks of leave and a chance to see his family (who have been evacuated from post for the last four and half months) Brad told me that he and the Ambassador would like me to be Acting Political Officer while Steve is gone.
For those of you not familiar with the setup of an embassy or the State Department, let me give a few key facts. First, the Political Officer is the third in the hierarchy of an embassy, after the Ambassador and DCM. Second, let's not forget that I don't work in the Political Section, or even in one of the related "substantive" sections such as the Economic/Commercial Section or Public Affairs. Third, the State Department is a very hierarchical organization, so my status as a Junior Officer is not something applied in name only. The Political Officer is quite a bit senior to me. Being asked to fill his slot is quite a jump. Apparently the Ambassador and DCM had heard very good things from Washington about my work there during the evacuation. (Perhaps slightly exaggerated things!)
Even had I wanted to, I couldn't exactly say no to this offer. Being Political Officer is just about the top job any Foreign Service Officer aspires to (except that tiny hope of one day being Ambassador). Fortunately, Brad and Russ had also worked out that I would not be adding Political duties on top of my job as GSO. I will be Political Officer (POL) about 75% of the time, with the remaining time going to some definable GSO projects to help out Russ and the Facilities Manager who will be splitting my duties (as they did while I was away from post.)
This is a huge professional growth opportunity, clearly good for my Foreign Service career if I should stay in it, and will hopefully be very interesting. It's "a chance to shine" as a lot of Foreign Service managers like to say. I just hope I don't burn up like a meteor...
I'm nervous, naturally, and on some level not 100% thrilled with this arrangement. I had just reached the point where I understand what I am doing in GSO and was ready to manage--really manage--my employees. Now I'm going to have to drop all of that and learn a whole new job again. Then in the Spring, when I come back to GSO, I'll have to go through that transition time once again. Actually, I've done that new job transition thing every month for the last seven: August start to learn GSO duties, September/October learn how to work on the Task Force, November learn to be Algeria Desk, December move to the Tunisia Desk, January return to post, February become Acting POL. I know people say that when you are out of the "comfort zone" is when you really do the best work, but this is a little ridiculous!
On the other hand, in my first year of work in the Foreign Service, I will have done a hefty percentage of the jobs that are out there. For an encore, I'm going to have to become Ambassador before I'm 30!
A Tale and Two Visits
My new job as POL also impacted planning for two VIP visits. On Wednesday night (actually Thursday morning) Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Bill Burns came to visit. As GSO I had to arrange and supervise the motorcades to and from the airport. Because he arrived at 1 a.m. and went down to Aden to meet with President Saleh, who winters there, at 6:30 a.m., I basically had to pull an all-nighter. That has its down side, naturally. But I had met his Staff Assistant, Cheryl Steele, when I was in Washington, so I was also looking forward to the chance to hang out with her.
Cheryl didn't accompany Burns to Aden because she needed to do some work in the Embassy. That meant that they had to link up for their flight out on Thursday to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They were originally supposed to fly Saudia, but the company wouldn't to hold the flight for them. Then President Saleh suggested that they get on the scheduled Yemenia Aden-Jeddah flight, which would make an unscheduled stop in Sana'a for Cheryl, drop its passengers in Jeddah and continue on to Riyadh with only Cheryl and Burns aboard. That plan also fell through.
We ended up sitting in the VIP lounge amidst a flurry of cell phone calls until President Saleh ordered a private plane for Cheryl. Punchy from lack of sleep, Cheryl, Russ, Brad and I had many laughs about the Steele Express heading down to Aden to pick up Bill Burns, where Cheryl would demand Burns' ticket. The ultimate punch line came at 1 p.m., when the plane finally boarded.
Cheryl was, indeed, the only passenger on the way down to Aden, with only Bill Burns boarding in Aden. There was a full staff of flight attendants to make sure they weren't neglected. And when the bus pulled away from the VIP lounge with Cheryl aboard, it drove her, not to some little corporate jet, but to a 727 from Yemenia's regular commercial fleet!
The second visit was today, by FBI Director Mueller. Because I'm going to be POL, I was deputized the "shadow control officer" for this visit. The control officer for a visit is the person ultimately responsible for everything visit-related. This time, instead of just managing the motorcade, I set the schedule, arranged airline tickets for those in Mr. Mueller's party not continuing on with him, made sure the VIP lounge was available, etc... But since the meeting was in Aden, where the real Political Officer went to take notes at the meeting, once the plane took off again from Sana'a, I was mostly off the hook. Next time there's a visit, I'm probably going to have to write the preparation cables and the reporting cables afterwards. That will be the real challenge of my new job.
Too Much Overtime
The upshot of these visits, my transition into and out of GSO, and the draw down, is that I have been working like a dog. Unfortunately, the culture of this post definitely tends towards overwork. Fortunately, I am eligible for overtime, which I have been racking up. I'm hoping that extra income will pay for my international phone bill. Calling Jen ain't cheap from Yemen! But it's the only thing that's keeping me sane right now.
Thank you all for your kind letters in response to my last update. It is always comforting to know that people out there feel for me. Too bad all of the good thoughts can't bring Jen over to Yemen (or me back to the States)...
Love, Michael Kolodner