The District Demarche

The District Démarche

И снова здравствуйте! / Ee snow-va zdravst-vu-yetye! / Hello again!

Hello friends, it’s been awhile.  Welcome to the first – and likely only – domestic version of this little home-grown rag.  And given that we’re now in a domestic assignment, don’t look for any more Russian or other funky languages, at least for the time being!

Your head feels better already, doesn’t it?

First Things First

What’s with the wacky title?

Well, since the field in which I now find myself is, you know, diplomacy and all, it happens that once in a while you come across jazzy words in foreign languages.  Hence the word démarche (the French noun for gait, step or approach in English), or other French words we use still today, since it was once the principle language of diplomacy (really the lingua franca of all international trade and relations) for quite some time, and in effect remains one of the working languages of international diplomacy today.  So our use today of said French terms is kind of a holdover to a bygone era of French geographic dominance, and as English began its inexorable march to take over as the worldwide language of choice for commerce and foreign relations, some words and phrases tenaciously held on.

In practical terms, a démarche is a formal representation of the official position, views or wishes on a specific subject, provided by one government or international organization and delivered to another.  A démarche can also register opposition or voice a complaint to another state.  Démarches are written and delivered, usually in person, to the receiving state or organization, and when from the U.S. a démarche can be delivered by anyone serving under the authority of the Ambassador or Chief of Mission.

I’ve never delivered one or been involved in drafting one or anything, but this little publication of mine delivers my thoughts and views on any number of useless and inane things from me to you, and I work in the District of Columbia, so there you go.  Plus it just sounds classy.  You’re free to disagree with my judgment on this matter, but you’d be wrong.

A Tale of Three Cities

No apologies to Dickens.  Evidently he was a grumpy old man anyway, so I have no plans to apologize to such a curmudgeon.  Actually, I have no idea if he was a grumpy old curmudgeon or not, but I’m still not apologizing to him.

Our return from eastern edge of freedom in 2017 brought the entire clan together back to the familiar soil of the Midwest, and once again Team Panetti spent a quiet, pleasant week in the north woods of Wisconsin on a beautiful lake in Bayfield County, outside of the little town of Iron River.

My family has more than a 100-year association with this town, as my paternal grandmother was born in Iron River in nineteen-hundred-aught-something to the town pharmacist, Alva Miles.  My father was born in Milwaukee but spent many summers as a child in the town, on the ballfields, and on the lakes up north, and spent at least part of one school year there in the 50s (probably 1952) in order to avoid the polio epidemic back in the city of Milwaukee, which killed several thousand people nationwide. 

When my brother and I were kids, our parents took us to Iron River many times as well, and we have done the same with our kids.  If you’re driving along U.S. Highway 2 across the northland and you blink at an inopportune moment, you’re likely to miss the little burg of about 800-odd people. (The town does have its share of characters!)

A week on Twin Bear Lake, a couple weeks back at the homestead in Bloomington to round out Home Leave, and I was off to D.C. for the start of Tour #3.  For a king’s ransom, we rented a comfy townhome in Arlington, VA, about midway between my job in Foggy Bottom and Kate’s job at the library in the city of Fairfax, in a nice little district called Ballston.  I would forgive you if you didn’t recall that the two of us have a three bedroom place – plenty of space for visitors – since our plan was that #1 daughter would be joining us here to find a job or an internship post-college.  Prior to our arrival but of course after we inked the deal on the rental, she changed her mind and decided to stay in the Twin Cities where she now has a nice apartment in a duplex with a couple of roommates, and two jobs with the Minnesota Historical Society.  Darn kids.

And so it is that Team Panetti is living a tale of three cities; we’re here in D.C. with Riley the Wonder Dog, Tommy and Jenna are in Baltimore (along with a new Wonder-Pup-Wannabe, Webster), and Sophie is making her way back in Minneapolis.

Maybe not the best of times, but certainly not the worst of times, either.  

Sophie’s place in South Minneapolis, and Webster the mini-goldendoodle Wonder-Pup-Wannabe.

Making a Hard Right at Europe

If you use your imagination a bit, you can easily see that it’s a pretty complex thing to employ 75,000 people to fill every single position for the State Department, both here in the U.S. and also in our embassies and missions in virtually every nation on earth.  Inevitably positions go vacant on occasion, for sometimes funding is consumed or cut, or maybe someone has left a job (for all the reasons a person might possibly leave a job or career), and sometimes positions “magically” appear altogether once funding is approved or what have you. 

On the Foreign Service side of the house, positions that are available to be filled immediately are often known as “Now” positions, which means just exactly what the two of you think it means.  These positions are made known to FSOs via unclassified cable, email from a Career Development Officer, word of mouth, or found simply by conducting a search using our specialized program online for bidding on jobs.

Normally, I just glance at these notifications, if I give them any attention at all.  But lately I’ve taken a keen interest in what’s out there, not only because I would be bidding for my next tour later in 2018, but also because my job here in Washington is kind of sedentary, and a little too free-form for me.  In addition, I have never worked in a cubicle farm before.  Not that I don’t enjoy it or the people with whom I work, but this position is also somewhat new, in fact completely new, and so there was no one to provide me with any handover documents or anything, no one to say “Here are your general duties on a day-to-day basis.”  Enter that double-edged sword of having a lot of freedom to make the job what I’d like, but also the freedom to not know exactly what it is I should or could be doing.  But they hire Foreign Service Officers to make things work and to use our brains to figure things out, and so I committed myself to doing just that for this two-year tour.

And then one Friday an email arrived.  A little more than two weeks ago, one of those “Now” positions entered my inbox consciousness.  And it looked good.  Really good, in fact:  An interesting job in an interesting place, and on the surface I appeared qualified.  Right now we’re a little out of the normal cycle of when jobs come available, so I felt that maybe I would have a real shot if I pulled the trigger and applied, since the number of people actually applying would be smaller right now than if I were to bid later in the spring or summer, when competition for available jobs would be greater.

Several somewhat frantic text messages and a few hours later, and Kate and I decided that there was no harm in trying.  The worst they could say is no.

So I applied.  Despite the preceding factors, I didn’t see that I really had a strong chance, but I knew I had something of a shot, and so I applied.  Paperwork completed, references submitted, application entered into the system, email introductions done, and I was officially a candidate for the job. 

Now the ball was in their court, for if they liked what they read then they would contact me and we might set up an interview over the phone.  If not, a pretty standard email would arrive notifying me that, while I was a strong candidate, unfortunately the relevant office found a candidate who better fit their needs at this time, thankyouverymuch.

Well, I hoodwinked them into setting up an interview a few days later, and another day or so after that I received an email just before I left for work.  It was a formal handshake for the job, and I readily and happily accepted the job!

And so now I will have a mid-tour detour, and in May 2018 I will leave my job as a Planning and Coordination Officer in the Office of Global Educational Programs in order be the Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer in the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. 

I’m about as excited as one can reasonably be when they just volunteered to go to Iraq.  Which in my case is pretty excited.  If you had asked me in 2008 where I’d be in ten years, well, I wouldn’t have guessed Iraq.

I won’t expect visitors. 

Empty Nexting

We’ve been working and living in the D.C. area since September now, and while mostly life continues as it would for anyone, we are able to take advantage of many of the events and activities of the region now that we are empty nexters, a term coined by dear friends John & Kate M.

You might not really care, but neither do I care that you might not, and so here’s a little snapshot of life in NOVA (Northern Virginia) or the DMV (clever initialism for the District-Maryland-Virginia):

Panorama of downtown Baltimore from Federal Hill Park, overlooking the harbor.  Tommy and Jenna live about ½ mile away on the far left, close to the Inner Harbor, the Raven’s stadium, Camden Yards and Jenna’s office.

Theodore Roosevelt Island is in the Potomac and is a very quiet and peaceful park surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city.  We visited last fall with some good friends we met in Moldova.

Of course Riley the Wonder Dog keeps us busy as well, and we are fortunate to have found a place to live that is but steps away from a bucolic park with this babbling brook running through the middle, straddled by paths for walking or jogging.  Come and visit and we’ll wander like we’re lost, even though we won’t be.

A friend visited back in the fall, and we enjoyed a nice rooftop drink before a delicious Afghan dinner in the District.  It was a bit strange to realize later that it was 9/11...

Baltimore sits about 45 miles from our place in Arlington, and one weekend we met Tommy and Jenna in Annapolis for brunch at the Iron Rooster, and then we walked it off with a visit to the Naval Academy and a wander around the harbor front.   The Maryland State House is quite lovely, and includes this statue of Revolutionary War hero, the German born Major General Baron Johann DeKalb.

Friends from Bloomington visited DC a little later in September to stage an exhibition of interactive art and photography on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  After a day in the heat collecting stories that “explore the meaning of peace, one story at a time,” we enjoyed brunch together and then spent the afternoon in the air conditioned Newseum, a fantastic place dedicated to the defense of the first amendment.   We are now members, so come on out to visit and we’ll join you on another visit.

A friend of Tom and Jenna’s was visiting that same weekend, and as things have a way of happening, she’s also a graduate of Prior Lake High School.  We enjoyed a hot afternoon at the Georgetown Food Festival, along with an ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s.

On October 9^th, the federal government observed a holiday for Columbus Day, and so of course we made an excursion to the National Museum of the American Indian, a wonderful relatively recent (2004) addition to the Smithsonian collection of museums.

One Saturday, the three of us (Kate, RTWD and me) hopped in the car and set off on a little marathon day trip. We visited several Virginia wineries, lunched on barbeque, had a short outing to Harpers Ferry, WV (small town and National Park of John Brown fame), and met Tommy and Jenna in Baltimore for dinner that evening. 

(Top) Plaque commemorating John Brown, whose raid on the arsenal in 1859 did not take place at this spot, but rather in the lower part of town, which is the National Park itself.  (Center) The point where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet along a portion of the Appalachian Trail and with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad bridge and tunnel off the left.  (Bottom) Downtown Baltimore in the Italian quarter.

The entire Team was together in late October for Kate’s birthday.  Sophie flew out and Riley joined us to visit one of our all-time favorite places, Shenandoah National Park.  We had several nice hikes, and at least one rather soggy one, and a very chilly and windswept picnic outside a Visitor Center.  But views like this from Miller’s Head Lookout made it all worthwhile.

One of the programs that makes up part of the Office of Global Educational Programs (the office where I currently work) is the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship program, which brings mid-career professionals to the United States for a year of non-degree graduate-level study.  A part of the Fulbright program, Humphrey Fellows come from a variety of nations not typically represented in other programs. I volunteered to assist in the big evening reception held in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the State Department, and while there met Andrei who hails from Moldova and is spending his academic year at the University of Minnesota.

November 10^th happens to be an auspicious date, as not only is it my birthday, it’s also the birthday of the United States Marine Corps.  As is our tradition in the State Department, we honor the USMC every year on or about this date with a black-tie event called the Marine Ball.  At the State Department itself this year, the USMC was celebrated with the recognition for all the Marines do protecting us when we are overseas; speeches were given, and recognition made.  Current and former Marines in the hall stood and sang a verse of the Marine’s Hymn (likely you know the “Halls of Montezuma” refrain), and the cake was cut and served.

Here is the 37^th Commandant of the Marine Corps General Robert Neller cutting the cake.  Moments earlier, in his speech in the State Department, he said “We (the Marines and his audience, FSOs and other State Department employees) live out our oath of office every day.”

Tommy had a birthday in November as well, and we celebrated in Philadelphia where we took in a Wild game against the Flyers.  Philly fans were largely fine despite the fact that we all had Wild gear on and the Wild beat up on the Flyers.  Some fans razzed us a bit, but we crushed them with our Minnesota niceness.

Being stateside means we can see family more than when overseas, and we were pleased that my parents made the drive out to DC from Milwaukee to be with us on Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately Sophie was just starting one of her jobs and had no time off, but she also spent the day with family back in Minnesota.  While my parents were visiting we toured George Washington’s Mount Vernon by candlelight.

Are we thankful?  Pretty darn.

In mid-December we participated in the annual effort to place Christmas wreaths on each of the headstones in Arlington National Cemetery.   65 semi-trucks full of wreaths from Maine delivered nearly 250,000 wreaths which were placed on grave markers by the largest crowd ever to participate, nearly 75,000 people.  It was a beautiful, cool and clear day to pay our respects in this annual rite, which takes place at more than 1400 participating cemeteries in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. 

It was crowded, but we highly recommend it.  Simply search for Wreaths Across America, donate a bit of money and then register in order to participate where you live next year.

We’ve had the great good fortune to experience some fantastic musical events this year, as well.  So far we’ve been to the Kennedy Center four times for a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra and to see the Book of Mormon, An American in Paris with our Dishy, and on New Year’s Eve with good friends for a humorous interpretation of A Christmas Carol called Twist Yer Dickens.  We also went to the National Cathedral for Handel’s Messiah, and best of all we had excellent seats to see Andrea Bocelli live.  So much great stuff here in the area!!

Schedules didn’t permit returning back to the snowy Midwest for a white Christmas this year, but happily the Team descended on snowless Washington and we celebrated with good friends and their little guy here in Virginia.  We recreated local versions of family traditions such reading from the Book of Luke in an old family Bible, and gathering to look out for Santa’s sleigh and Rudolph’s nose so the kids could catch him in the act of filling stockings.  Once again we had no luck, but Santa was certainly generous once more.  Our family is unquestionably blessed.

Early in 2018, I witnessed one of the first days in the United States for a group of 64 teacher leaders from around the world as they kicked off their participation in a year-long fellowship across the country.  The program (International Leaders in Education Program) is paid for largely by the State Department, and in the lead up to lunch that day, one Fellow from Uganda stood and expressed the feelings of all the Fellows in the room in an emotion-filled speech.  He thanked not just the organizers, but specifically all American citizens – whether they are aware or not - for supporting financially and otherwise their participation in this life-changing exchange.

So if you didn't hear it already, thank you.

Assane Sow from Senegal says "Thank you!"

In mid-January, we left balmy Washington and flew to icy cold Minnesota for Sophie’s birthday where we enjoyed a relatively quiet weekend home with our favorite daughter.  She gave us an extraordinary tour of the James J. Hill House, built by the railroad magnate of the same name and now operated by the Minnesota Historical Society where Sophie works.  We then celebrated her birthday dinner with family not far from U.S. Bank Field where the Vikings had just pulled of the Minneapolis Miracle.  Every minute spent in the Greatest State in the Union, and of course with our little girl wherever that may be, makes it all worth it.

We continued our tradition of a chili cook-off again this year, and had a fantastic turnout among our neighbors, and a good time was had by all.  Especially after the breath mints and antacids were passed out.

Until Next Time

When I joined the Foreign Service six-and-a-half years ago, I agreed to serve where the State Department needed me.  My mid-tour transition away from home, from family and from the United States will certainly be a challenge, but the people in the Public Affairs Section in Baghdad have an opening they need filled, I volunteered to fill that slot, and an agreement was made.  Lots of wheels are in motion at the moment, and the entire thing can still come undone for any number of reasons, although we don’t think that’s likely.  I’ll be there for twelve months, and one benefit of a tour there is three R&Rs, so I’ll have a chance to get away, most importantly for some wedding I have to attend this coming August.

Generally speaking, the State Department takes pretty good care of us, and in Iraq I’ll be (theoretically) safe and busy with lots of (hopefully) interesting and important work to do.  The rest of my Team will be here Stateside, and that will be difficult, no doubt.  I can’t say with 100% certainty that this will have been a good move for me to take this job, but I think it will.  What I can say with certainty is that I am forever grateful to my partner in crime, my co-captain of the Team, for agreeing to full-membership in this adventure, and for supporting this crazy thing I just volunteered for.

None of this would be possible without her support.

No shortage of twists and turns for us, I guess. But then again, we knew this when we signed up.  For us, life is good.  We hope you can say the same.

The Team.

The opinions expressed within are my own and not those of the U.S. Government.

Please do not disseminate widely without permission.

June Notes

Notes from a Small Country

 (I’m done apologizing to that Bryson character.)

Привет из Молдовы! / Priv-yet eez Mol-do-vye! / Greetings from Moldova!

Hello once again from our sunny little corner of Europe.  One of my favorite seasons is upon us, as spring has most definitely sprung here.  Our trees are dripping with cherries, and soon the other fruits (plums, apples, quinces, pears and strawberries) in our yard will be ripening as well.  It is indeed a beautiful time to be here in Moldova.

One of the many cherry trees
in our backyard

Just as in many parts of North America, however, springtime can also be quite fickle.  In a testament to Mother Nature’s tempestuousness, she sent a small snowstorm our way back in late April.  And when I say “small” I mean really big.  On Monday of that week, I saw a report forecasting snow for Thursday in the 12-20 centimeter range, or about 4.5-8 inches.  That’s quite a storm for this late in the spring, but the weather up until then had included many beautiful days in the 50s and 60s (upper teens and 20s Celsius), lawns were greening up everywhere, and in fact ours had already been cut once.  Flowers were in bloom all over Chisinau, and the trees had all started to leaf out.  I’m not sure many people believed it would snow at all, much less that much. 

Well, the snow started Thursday morning, and didn’t stop until Friday evening.  And it was a doozy, dumping at least 20 inches (more than 50 cm) on parts of the city and surrounding region (only an hour north of the city it was completely dry).  The United Nations Development Programme reported 400 local villages were without power, and the City Council in Chisinau declared a state of emergency after more than 3000 city trees came down, blocking streets and sidewalks, and knocking out power in many areas.  Emergency funds from the UNDP helped to provide generators, chain saws, fuel and other equipment to help clear the damage and restore access to power and water.  The embassy suspended operations as well, which is exceedingly rare.  (We never really close, exactly, as someone is always available somewhere, somehow, just in case.)

"But I can't help!  I don't have
opposable thumbs!"

 And then it warmed up.  By Monday afternoon, the vast majority of the snow had already melted, causing a host of other problems as a result.  For one insignificant example, the lowest point in our house is the wine cellar, and the massive and rapid snowmelt caused it to fill up with almost 8 inches of water.  Spring snows can be really helpful to agriculture of course, even that late in the spring, but I’m not sure local farmers were necessarily all that enamored with Mother Nature at the moment.

It was quite a storm.

PCSing and Home Leave

But alas, while summer is fast approaching, so as well is my departure from this quiet, peaceful country.  The end of my two-year tour is nearly upon us already.

When we State Department folks depart our current post as members of the Foreign Service, we often refer to the process as “PCSing.”  While not exactly grammatically correct, this stands for an upcoming “Permanent Change of Station,” and as you might imagine can be a complex process involving the move of not just little ol’ me, but also all of our stuff (including our car) and any family members present at post (including the dog), the wrapping up of projects in the office, preparations for the transfer from one Officer to another, and dozens of emails and phone calls and paper-pushing in order to move my little tanker-ship-of-a-family.  And this is done hundreds of times all over the world every year, for every permutation of family structure you can imagine (from singles to families with five or six – or more – kids).  While not always a seamless process, it’s quite amazing, honestly, that more doesn’t go wrong.

And in fact Kate has already returned to the US with Riley the Wonder Dog.  She departed post on May 20^th, and spent a very long day wringing her hands and stressing out about the health and safety of our little pooch, tucked away in the cargo hold of the plane and going through a transfer himself in Istanbul.  It’s stressful enough to fly, but doing so with a pet seems exponentially tougher, especially when traveling such a long distance. (More on that later.)

My departure is not imminent, but rather will occur later this summer.  As you both might recall, I will be working in Washington in the Office of Global Education starting in September.  I depart post in early August, shortly after my replacement arrives, and will then spend the month of August in Minnesota and Wisconsin for Congressionally mandated Home Leave.

The Foreign Service Act of 1980, as amended, requires that Foreign Service employees take a specific kind of leave (called Home Leave) after the completion of a posting abroad and before starting the next tour of duty.  There are some exceptions within the law, based on circumstances, but generally speaking this is not an option.  The idea is that we represent the United States, and after serving abroad for two-plus years, we need to reacquaint ourselves with our own country in order to better serve it once overseas again.  Since it’s required by law, the State Department pays for our transportation back to the US.  Other than incidental travel in or through another country (as long as it does not include an overnight stay), Home Leave must be taken within the United States or its territories.  At first glance this sounds awesome, right?  A required vacation with tickets home paid for, all well still getting full salary and benefits?  Pretty sweet.  And it is, although like many, many things, it’s not always quite as simple or as “sweet” as it seems on the surface.

Quite often, those of us in the Foreign Service return home to the United States after a tour with no “home” to return to (many colleagues either sold or never owned one in the first place), and so rely on the good will and lumpy basement couches of family and friends, or spend lots of money on hotel stays.  Often we have no cars, and so have to borrow transport or rent.  If one has no home in which to prepare meals, lots of cash is spent on eating out.  Visiting family who live hundreds or thousands of miles apart can be problematic, not just in terms of travel time and cost but in terms of fitting in the visits while also needing to prepare for the next tour and taking care of necessities like doctor and dentist appointments.  And with regard to preparing for the next tour, sometimes wardrobes need updating or replacing (needs are different in Pacific or Caribbean islands than they are in Scandinavia, Yekaterinburg or Vladivostok, for example), and one needs a place to collect the new wardrobe before shipping it out to the next post.  And we also tend to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars stocking up on consumable supplies for use during our follow-on tour, often astonishing onlookers by filling shopping carts with a year’s supply (or more) of non-perishable items like one’s favorite peanut butter, salsa, breakfast cereal or local delicacies unavailable at the next post. 

So after about 20-40 work days of Home Leave, we have often maxed out our credit cards, traveled in a frenzied manner to see everyone who wanted to see us while we were back in the US, slept irregularly and have gained a few extra pounds in the process.  Imagine this process for a single person in their 30s, and then compare to a family of six.  Yes the tickets home are paid for and salary and benefits continue, but it can be a strain on emotions and the family budget.  We are very fortunate to have kept our home in Minnesota and so have fewer of these pressures and concerns.

I can’t wait!

In the meantime, we’re busy looking for an apartment or house to rent in the greater DC area, and are excited about the prospect of living and working in Washington the next two years, even though we’re suffering from a bit of real estate sticker shock (housing is not a covered expense as it is at overseas posts).  Most people in the Foreign Service aren’t very enthused about moving back to DC because of the financial hit, and while we also will take that hit, we are thrilled to be there since Tommy is posted at Fort George Meade, outside of Baltimore and about 45 minutes from Washington, until 2019, and Sophie may join us in DC after her graduation from Gustavus.  The job in DC wasn’t our first choice, but it is the right choice at the right time, and we’re also looking forward to lots of visitors – so fix up the Family Truckster and get ready for the Panetti Personalized Capital Experience!

RTWD:  From IDOM to DDOL

The process of preparing to move back to the US started months ago, mostly in small bits here and there as we began sorting things and deciding what could go and what would return with us.  We also had a wine cellar full of beer and wine, and a fair amount of consumables to either use up, sell or give away.  To that end, we hosted a Sexto de Mayo-themed party (yes, yes, I know it’s called Cinco de Mayo, but it was on the 6^th, ok??) at the house, and combined it with a going away party for Kate and her work partner Kristina.  Nothing like having 60 or more people over for a party on a nice spring evening to make a sizable dent in the supply of booze!

The bigger concern, however, was Riley the Wonder Dog.  We debated a long time, but decided ultimately that Kate and Riley would head back to America a little early, and on our own dime, as it’s safer to fly with a pet when the air temperatures are not so hot.  Many airlines won’t fly a pet when temps are too high (or cold) as they can sit on the tarmac for some time before loading into the climate-controlled hold of the plane, and that can be dangerous.  (Little dogs can fly in their crate and can be seated with their owners, so many of our concerns wouldn’t apply to them.)  This kind of traveling with pets can be really stressful, even though it’s likely they sleep most of the time (or so we’re told) while in the airplane.  It can also get very expensive, as (understandably) the State Department doesn’t pay for these kind of expenses. 

Colleagues from Moldova (well, I met them only once the evening before they departed post, which happened to be about two hours after I arrived in-country), had a very large dog (or small pony, to hear some tell) which weighed in at 200+ pounds, and stood at least 5 ½ feet tall.  (It’s possible I may have exaggerated the height there, but not the weight.)  Reportedly, they spent $20,000 to ship their dog from Moldova back to the US and then to their onward post, as the dog had to be shipped using a private shipping company as he’s way too big to carry in the hold of an airliner.  That’s a lot of milk bones!

Fortunately, the Wonder Dog weighs in it at just a shade under 100 pounds when including his crate, and so qualifies to be shipped via most airlines as “excess baggage,” the canine equivalent of extra suitcases.  As such, his “ticket” was less than $300 to go from Moldova to Istanbul and then on to Chicago.  Of course, he’s not a very demanding passenger, having no need for in-flight movies, mini-pretzels or soggy cheese sandwiches.

Complicating travel plans with the dog were his vaccinations.  Moldova is not part of the European Union and is a high rabies country, and when traveling into the EU he needs to have everything up-to-date.  In and of itself this isn’t a problem, as he gets regular tune-ups and would meet EU rules without too much trouble.  So we thought.  The easiest flight plan would have been from Chisinau to Bucharest, then on to Amsterdam and home directly to Minneapolis.  However, despite having a three-year validity on his rabies shot from the US, the EU requires that he have a titer blood test prior to entry into the EU, and that he enter the EU no sooner than 30 days after that test.  We had the titer done in Moldova, but only about two weeks before his departure, and so according to these EU rules he could be turned around in Romania and returned to Moldova, if a customs officer decided to check his papers and then enforce this rule.  (By the way, having black diplomatic passports would not allow us to get around this – or really any – rules.)

And so as a result, the route through Turkey was determined in order to avoid this EU complication, and we purchased tickets out-of-pocket for Kate and the woofer (whereas on the other route Kate’s ticket would have been paid for by State), and she and the International Dog of Mystery flew Turkish Airlines from Chisinau through Istanbul to Chicago.  She rented a car and drove the final leg to Minneapolis in order to avoid one more airline transfer and flight for him, and now our loving doggy is adjusting to his newly renewed status as a Domestic Dog of Leisure. 

Racking Up the Miles

It’s been quite a year, for both Moldova and Team Panetti, and we’re only just now in June.

As you might have noticed over the last year-and-a-half or so, living in Europe has afforded us quite a few interesting travel opportunities.  Just this year we’ve had five international European trips between January and April!

In January, Kate and I flew to Paris, rented a little car and drove to the coast of Normandy.  The winter weather was most definitely cool and windy, and yet the Norman coast was still surprisingly green and beautiful.  As an added bonus it was very quiet in the region, and we were often among just a few people visiting such sacred locations as Omaha Beach, Pont du Hoc and the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  Everyone – American or not – should visit such sites.  

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

Omaha Beach

Pont du Hoc

Mont Saint Michel

(Interested in more on this, check out my page of photos from January 2017.)

A short time after our return from France, Kate met Sophie in Amsterdam for a weeklong visit during Sophie’s winter break between semesters.  While there they went to the Rijksmuseum, took a canal tour, and visited the Heineken Brewery and the Anne Frank house.  They had a great time in this beautiful city and staying with good friends from Haiti who are now at the Embassy there.

Amsterdam!

Kinda self-explanatory

February saw Kate visit the island of Cyprus to meet with some other good friends from Haiti, now stationed there.  Even more friends from Haiti flew in from London where they are currently posted, and they all had a week of fun, hiking, good food, loads of laughs and reminiscing, and the making of new memories. 

Church-cum-mosque in Cyprus

Sophie had Spring Break in March, and off flew my girls once again for a great mother-daughter trip to London and Scotland.  They had a pint with their chips and meat pie, visited Edinburgh castle and city, and enjoyed a bus trip to the Scottish Highlands where they saw Stirling Castle (childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots), walked the ruins of Urquhart Castle (which played a role in the Wars for Scottish Independence) and the Culloden Battlefield (important for some reason), and toured the Dalwhinnie whisky distillery and Roslin Chapel (made famous in recent times from the Da Vinci Code).

Edinburgh castle

Urquhart Castle

At the Culloden Battlefield site

Roslin Chapel

I was feeling a little left out after all that travel by the ladies (not really), and so in April Kate and I flew to Italy for a short trip to Bologna. 

Rick Steves’ says that Bologna isn’t really worth a stop, but on this point – and so far on only this point – we disagree with Our Man Rick.  We quite enjoyed our time there, and had perfect spring weather for walking around this beautiful old city.

Of course Bologna isn’t Florence, Rome or Venice, but there is quite a bit to see there for a long weekend.  We enjoyed walking the narrow streets of the Quadrilatero, an area of several city blocks near the main piazza in the city center, which was once the ancient mercato of butchers, fishmongers, goldsmiths and jewelers hawking their wares.  Today it’s still filled with shops and fruit sellers and restaurants, as well as the sights, sounds and smells of the old center of trade.

The Basilica di San Petronio is an imposing structure on the edge of the main square (Piazza Maggiore), is the largest church built of bricks in the world, contains 22 separate chapels within, and boasts of a long meridian line inlaid in the floor dating from 1655, which is highlighted by sunlight coming from a small portal in the dome. 

Basilica di San Petronio (right)

We visited other beautiful sites, including the Santuario di Santo Stefano (a massive complex of seven churches, many nooks and crannies, and several peaceful courtyards); the two towers – le due torri – of Bologna (both of which have an obvious lean, are the symbol of Bologna, and which we did not climb); the Saturday market of trinkets, cheap electronic goods and clothing for sale; and we joined a crowd of locals in the Cattedrale di San Pietro (just across from our lovely hotel) for part of an evening service on Holy Saturday.  And of course there was an abundance of tasty wine and delicious food!

Santuario di Santo Stefano

Santuario di Santo Stefano

Santuario di Santo Stefano

Le due torri of Bologna

Saturday morning we ate a hearty breakfast at the hotel and set off on foot to visit the Sanctuario di Madonna di San Luca (built in 1723), a bit more than five kilometers from the city center.  It was Holy Saturday, after all, and so we thought it would do us well to reflect on life a bit as we hoofed our way under one of the world’s longest porticos (a roofed arcade with 666 arches), passing the Stations of the Cross along the way, ending at this holy site.  (Although the current building is not quite 300 years old, a church or chapel has been on the site for a thousand years.)  I’m certainly glad that I had that extra chocolate croissant for breakfast, for about two hours into our walk we realized this was no easy little walk in the park, for it’s not just a nice, flat 5k walk to get there; it turns out the last two kilometers or so is a rather steep climb of almost 300 meters in elevation along a winding path, all still under the portico.  Periodically I’d stop to wipe the sweat from my brow and, in between large inhalations of much needed oxygen, gape at my loving wife with that look which says “What in the world have we done??”  As we schlepped our way up the hill, marveling at the bicyclists and runners passing us as if we were standing still (well, maybe we were, actually), we would notice a blind corner up ahead, and, like a mirage in the desert, hope that just around it would be the sanctuary.  After being disappointed five or six times at each corner, we finally arrived at the church, sweaty and out of breath but ultimately no worse for the wear. 

Was it worth it, you ask?  Yes, certainly it was.  Although there was precisely zero chance I was going to pay 5 euros for a ticket to climb to the top of the sanctuary itself.  That was waaaaaaaay too steep a price to pay.

Will it never end??

A Station of the Cross

Sanctuario di Madonna di San Luca

Beyond Bologna, we set off in our rented orange Jeep Renegade to explore the countryside.  The picturesque town of Ravenna is not to be missed, if you’re ever in the region.  From the 5^th to the 7^th centuries CE, Ravenna was the center of Western civilization during the decline and after the fall of the Roman Empire.  Featuring a small and eminently walkable city center and beautiful Roman and Byzantine architecture as well as the tomb of Dante Alighieri, we spent the day taking in several of the eight UN World Heritage Sites located there.  Clear skies greeted us and the sun warmed our shoulders as we spent a quiet and enjoyable Easter Sunday visiting many sights of ancient Christianity and Byzantium. Highlights included the historic, 1400 year old Basilica di San Vitale and its fantastic mosaics, dating from the time of Justinian the Great.  On the same site is the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, which – like many of these ancient structures – sports a deceivingly plain exterior.  The mausoleum has three sarcophagi, but they are actually empty.  However, the interior has the most stunningly gorgeous mosaics, probably more beautiful than any we’ve ever seen. 

Basilica di San Vitale

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

Mosaic in the Mausoleum

Mosaic in the Mausoleum

We enjoyed a pleasant picnic lunch of bread, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, cheese, sausage and of course red wine (one of our favorite ways to take lunch) in the small but pleasant piazza Duomo facing the most ancient monument in the city, the Baptistery of Neon (also known as the Baptistery of the Orthodox, which dates from 400 CE) and the big, Baroque house of worship – the Duomo itself - and it’s Chapel of Sant’Andrea.

Delizioso!

Our last stop for the day was the sixth-century Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, built on the foundation of the palace church of Gothic King Theodoric around 500 CE.  Its features include a long hall bordered by columns and arches, both sides of which are topped with more fantastic mosaics of haloed virgins on one side and a solemn procession of martyrs on the other.  Quite something, really.

Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo

Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo

Haloed virgins in Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo

The three Magi in Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo

 

Our guide book to Italy is pretty dog-eared after five or six trips in the past two years.  But I’d go back again in a heartbeat.

Mr. Tom’s Big Year and a Pretty Big Day

So not only has this been quite a year of travel for us (let’s be honest, two fantastic years of travel), but there were several other major milestones reached by Team Panetti in 2017.

Back in the late fall or early winter, Number One Son began inquiring about the potential of an engagement proposal to the Number One Girlfriend.  Over the intervening months he asked us for some help in making arrangements, and managed to corner the parents of Number One Girlfriend in order to ask for her hand.  (Don’t you love that??  Perhaps not 100% modern, maybe, but still…)  They reluctantly acquiesced (not really), and then the planning began in earnest.  He bought a ring over the phone/Internet/mail from a goldsmith in Milwaukee who is an old family friend, and picked a date, which coincided with Spring Break for the girlfriend, as well as the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington. 

How to actually make the proposal in a fun yet meaningful way was a bit trickier, given his initial ideas.  So a call for help was put out, and the Team enlisted half-a-dozen experts to put in the field and lend a hand.  The reality is that I have a decent number of friends and colleagues currently living or working in the greater DC area, and when my request came, they answered the call.

So Tommy wrote out six notes to Jenna, and mailed them to each of my six Foreign Service colleagues the week before she flew out to visit him in Baltimore.  A seventh friend would be the photographer, following Tommy and Jenna incognito as they meandered along the Tidal Basin northward from the Jefferson Memorial. The Six were stationed in roughly equal intervals along the pathway, and at opportune moments each would approach them with some song-and-dance line such as “Hi! Are you Jenna?  I found this for you!” and then hand her a note.  The entire group gathered at the final station for a champagne toast, more pictures and a lot of laughs, and then all went their separate ways.

Like clockwork, and with Mother Nature smiling down on Tommy Panetti and his Grand Plan, everything came together perfectly.  Of course Jenna knew something was up, for Mr. Panetti the Younger evidently doesn’t have a very polished poker face.  But to top everything off, a TV crew in DC all the way from Japan witnessed the proposal and called them over for an interview!

And just like that (well, that’s how it feels to this old guy), they are engaged, Tommy rented a small apartment in Baltimore, Jenna graduated from college and just this week moved out to be with him and where she will soon start her new job as an accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

And of course, this is as it should be.

Tommy, Jenna and The Six (and Tim).  And two dogs.
You can never have enough dogs.

(Engagement photos credit:  Tim Bertocci)

The Dish

And Number One Daughter has had quite a year herself, if I might be permitted to brag a little more.

I’m not actually bragging though, when I say that she is one supercalifragilisticexpialidocious writer.  Several of her works were published throughout the year, and then in two literary journals this spring.  Her poems “Blackberry” (page 18) and “Love Song of Chernobyl” (page 86) were published in the spring edition of Firethorne, the literary and graphic arts journal of Gustavus Adolphus, and then her poems “Word Games” (page 10) and “Ash and Ember” (page 33) were published in the spring edition of Michigan State University’s Red Cedar Review.  Have a look at them and you will no doubt agree that she is one talented poet. (All are available if you click the hyperlinks above.)

Seemingly out of nowhere (well, to me anyway, since I live 5000 miles away and don’t see her nearly enough), she developed a couple of hidden talents by joining a hand bell choir and a cribbage club on campus.  Besides these creative outlets, she’s also been running for fitness over the past several years.  However, I don’t think she’s ever run a competitive race before, until this spring.  One weekend she ran a 5k in St. Peter, and the very next weekend she completed 10k in New Prague.

And then there’s, you know, college.  This year, again, she was named to the President’s Honor List, and as a result of her hard work over the past four years completed her college experience by graduating magna cum laude from Gustavus Adolphus College a couple of weeks ago.  She’s the complete package, this one:  Brains, beauty, compassion, wacky sense of humor and smarts.  Nope, we’re not proud of her at all.  Plus she’s now gone and got herself ordained and will officiate the wedding of two very good friends from high school later this summer.  Such a slacker. J

Sophie with one of her favorite professors

Thanks for Playing!

Well, you’ve come to the end of another edition of Notes.  I hope you’re still awake.

It’s been a busy several months for the Team, and in these final two months at post there is a bit more wine to drink, a few more sites to visit, and a few more events to attend.  Plus, you know, there’s that work thing.  I have to say, however, all of that is made much easier now that Moldova has officially made wine a food, and so I completely expect that I’ll be swamped with visitors in these next months.   

For us, life is good.  We hope you can say the same.

The opinions expressed within are my own and not those of the U.S. Government.

Please do not disseminate widely without permission.