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An extra-ordinary life

I have known since adolescence that I didn't want what I think of as an ordinary american life: spouse, house, job, kids... going to work in an office everyday, weekends at the soccer field. It doesn't sound that bad, in fact it could be very fulfilling. But in that life something would be missing for me. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly what, but it boils down to adventure, change of scenery, risk. I want something extra-ordinary. And so, this has led me, and my family, to the Foreign Service.

Ok, I am not in the Foreign Service, at least not yet. But I am tagging along for the ride. I do have some trepidation about this new life; I worry that it will not actually be extra-ordinary. One of the reasons I didn't sit for the Foreign Service Officer Test, other than being in the early weeks of pregnancy and not wanting to vomit throughout the exam, is that in reviewing the various tracks and options, a lot of it sounded pretty run of the mill... in terms of going and sitting in an office reading and writing memos all day. Having done something similar for ten years, I know that is not fulfilling for me.

In reality, a run of the mill day in the Foreign Service could be worse than not fulfilling. I could be doing a boring office job in a place with far fewer amenities than in the U.S. A place where the power isn't reliable, the water doesn't run all the time and the air is a potpourri of toxins. In other words, I could have an ordinary life in a really crappy place to live. But that, I suppose, is not an ordinary life.

Tomorrow Greg leaves for initial training and the new adventure begins. The pages of this blog will be the evidence of our life and my hope is that they will be extraordinary.


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