So it's been a while since I've written anything, but considering some impending major life changes, I figured I'd start again.
Beni's imminent arrival from Cape Verde and our new married life together, as well as the possibility of employment with the State Department, leads me to believe that there may soon be opportunity for adventure, amusement, hilarity and hijinx in our lives, and I thought the process might be worth chronicling.
Over the next few months Beni will be learning English and adjusting to a new life in Texas, away from her family, friends, culture and countrymen. It's an experience I went through as I adjusted to life in the Peace Corps, but something tells me it's going to be harder on her than it was on me. For one thing it's a lot harder to learn English than it is Kriolu. Also, I had an entire town teaching me the culture, customs, language and layout in Cape Verde. Beni is going to have...me. (And the support of my tiny circle of family and friends.) Aside from that, there's the fact that she has spent the entirety of her 29 years on a desert island the size of Travis County, with one paved road. Everyone in her village knew her and she them. Soon she'll arrive in America where she knows...me...and I don't even know my neighbors. Although our "trial run" in January went well, I imagine she'll be suffering from a little culture shock when she gets here for good. In any event, I'm going to do everything I can to ease her transition, and I'm confident she's got it in her to be a happy, healthy, successful Texan...er...American.
Concurrently, I've got the next few months to fret and obsess about my chances for a career as a United States Foreign Service Officer. (If you're not sure what that is you can look here.) I'm already about 90% of the way there. To get to this point I passed (last November) the written test and a series of submitted essays, passed (in January) a qualifications review panel, flew to Washington and (in March) went through an excruciating day-long oral exam and panel interview, and was ultimately made a "conditional offer of employment." Conditional being the operative word there...on my successfully passing an extensive medical and security background investigation, receiving a top-secret government clearance and ultimately passing something called the "Final Suitability Review Panel." Last month I received my Worldwide Medical Clearance from State and I, along with about 50 friends, neighbors, former-employers and other people from my past and present, were recently interviewed by a member of the Diplomatic Security Service concerning my top-secret security clearance. At this point, it's out of my hands and I can only sit, wait, and hope that any past sins in my life will be forgiven. (And let me just say this about that...It is a very strange and discomforting thing indeed to sit with an FBI agent and account for every indiscretion in your lifetime.) Anyway, given the length of time I lived abroad and the fact that I married a foreign citizen, this stage of the hiring process is likely to take months, and it could easily be December or later before I hear anything, one way or the other.
So it is in this state of limbo and the unknown that I fly to Boston next week to pick up Beni and begin my married life at last. It's been a LONG nine months apart from her, and with the exception of the day I first set foot in Cape Verde, it'll be the most exciting, life-changing day of my life. (Although we've been hitched since last July, this will be the first time we've gotten to live together as a couple, and I'm kinda freaking out from the excitement of it all). My sister has graciously allowed us to stay with her until December, so Beni and I have a cushion for a few months while we sort out what we'll do if I don't get the job with State. It's an awful feeling to have so many eggs in such a tiny, precarious basket, but it is what it is.
So, TXCALVIN is, obviously, a combination of Texas and our names. It's common custom in Cape Verde for parents to divine names for their first child using parts of their own, thus an ELENA and a JORGE are almost assured of christening their firstborn as ELORGE. (You can read more about this here.) In a long-ago conversation between the two of us, Beni said that if we ever had a son it must be called CALVIN, and that's something I just can't abide...so I'm using it here to prevent her from seriously considering it.
Anyways, if you are ever very, very bored, and if our adventures in Americanization, the English language and/or possibly international travel interest you, this is where you can come to hear about it. Also, there will be pictures.
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