The first tranche of entry-level winter bidders got their assignments a few days ago, but there was another group of people who got their assignments even earlier. It was not my intention to join this group until recently, but the reasons seemed right when the time came. I wrote a personal statement, my supervisor wrote her recommendation, and I submitted three bids to the Priority Staffing Post list. And the result is....
Embassy Kabul!
I still can't believe it sometimes, but I am going to Afghanistan next. It will be a Political job at an embassy where significant things are going on, and those were my main two goals for the second tour. Now I'm starting a reading list, starting online Dari classes in the spring, learning about the usefulness of things like bulletproof sunglasses.....but mainly, I'm just praying very seriously for the ability to actually do this job well.
