While I reported to work for the first couple of days, Jen called the various options for short term housing in Arlington. We ended up at The Meridian at Courthouse. Ironically, this is the same building that our friend Emily lived in when we came to look for apartments four years ago. Her brother Brian had a furnished short term apartment that had almost the identical layout. Fortunately, this time the air conditioning works and we don't have to sleep on the floor...
Shift Work
I have been assigned by the State Department to work on the Task Force that was activated following the September 11th attacks. In response to every international crisis the State Department sets up a Task Force in the Operations Center (Ops Center) to monitor the situation 24/7. Three shifts of volunteers are tasked with coordinating all of the incoming and outgoing information. Naturally, evacuees often end up on Task Forces, much of the time filling the less-desirable slots. I've worked one midnight to 8am shift and one 4pm to midnight shift. Fortunately, I'm mainly on the day shift.
It's demanding work, but it's also a chance to make a difference and serve the country. Right now, the work is calm. I draft a situation report (SitRep) each day and sometimes have trouble getting enough interesting items. Our main job for the last two weeks has been to compile and update a huge table listing each country in the world and their attitudes/contributions to the international coalition against terror. That is a massive task that involves input from the entire State Department, but we have received high marks for our product. In fact, it was shown to the President and he was reportedly impressed.
This could turn out to be quite a career-enhancing evacuation. When or if things start to heat up, the Task Force is going to be the center of the storm within the Department, as the Secretary and every other high-ranking official looks to it to keep them up to date. I've already apparently impressed the Task Force management with my work, though I'm not sure what I've done that's so great. The Director offered me the opportunity to brief the President (for 60 seconds) about the Task Force when he came to visit the Ops Center. Unfortunately, that part of the W's visit to the State Department was cancelled, so I wore my suit for naught.
Jen Goes to Work
After a couple of days' calling around and working contacts, it almost sounds too simple: Jen got a job at the DC headquarters of AMIDEAST, the same organization that she works for in Yemen. Today was her first day and it went smoothly. She's going to be bouncing around doing all sorts of projects that they turn up for her, but it's a good way to pass the time--and the paycheck won't hurt. It'll also offer a bit of continuity since she had only worked for AMIDEAST for 2 and 1/2 weeks before we left.
Length of Stay
We know you're all going to ask, so we might as well answer: We don't know how long the authorized departure is going to last. As we mentioned previously, they are supposed to go in 30 day increments. There's a good chance that it will go for a second 30, but it all depends on how the "War on Terror" develops. If bombs start dropping, it's a good bet we won't be going back to Yemen for a while. If things just continue to not happen, your guess is as good as ours. Most embassies and consulates around the world are still operating normally, only a few are on authorized departure. But the Department is carefully monitoring the situation and has already kept some people from departing for posts in the Middle East to avoid them becoming evacuees in a few days or weeks.
Love,
Michael and Jen