Ready-Set-Sit

Day 1 was somehow quite exhausting. I jumped on the shuttle, which was packed, sat next to a career officer who was full of stories and advice, grudgingly heading off to a week long retreat.
Once we made it to the compound we were herded around to the proper welcoming room to get started. Meet and greet to swearing in to starting the briefings on policy, etc… my class is the largest orientation class of its kind, with over eighty of us, I am one of ten in my position. The unexpected highlight of my day – we had a short lunch so I headed to the cafeteria, which was also packed, grabbed what was left of the salad bar and snagged the nearest seat next to a guy that just so happened to be a graduate of Pepperdine, he was talking to the woman across the table and just after I sat down her husband joined us, who is the former ambassador of Honduras. Ahhh, that is what I call a lunch break! The day ended up with the much anticipated bid list…feel free to vote on which one you like the best, I turn in my bids in a week.
Day 2 was somehow entirely more enjoyable, I think my brain has decided to settle into learned helplessness as it is continually bombarded with a flood of new information. Lunch today I sat with a man from the country of Georgia who has been contracted to work in Iraq and an Iraqi woman who is currently on contract in the US as an Arabic instructor at the training center. According to my instructor the “goat rope” will continue for the next two and a half weeks we do get to take a couple of tours to other departments in DC which I’m sure will prove to be interesting.
As for now I’m just enjoying one of my top five things I wanted to do while in DC, experience a real live thunder storm – let me tell you, it sounds like someone is shooting buckshot about five feet from me head – if I were polytheistic I would be convinced that the gods were very very angry, all the car alarms are crying.