Let the Bidding Begin

We have been here in Clolmbia a year now. A few weeks ago we went through the process of saying "goodbye" to people who were rotating to their next assignment. We have one more year left. Each department does their bidding process slightly different. I have been reading notes of friends around the world who have recieved their assignments for next summer. Med is a bit slower than the other departments. Last night Chad walked in and handed out our bid list. We sat around the table discussing the possibilities. With pen in hand, we immediately crossed off all unaccompanied posts - been there, done that! We then crossed off the Washington posts, preferring to work over seas while the kids are with us. Chad then knocked off a few more before we were left with a list of about 10 embassies. Working from the other direction we then circles the ones that sounded interesting to us. "This one sounds cool!". "I would love to live here!" "Imagine all the places we could visit." These were the phrases we tossed around the table. In Med we have to pick 6 posts - any of which we would be willing to go to. We submit them in Sept and will receive our assignment in Dec. This morning I got up and spent several hours at the computer scouring web sites. Are the schools good? Do they have the Interenational Bacloreate program the girls wish to continue in? What is the weather like? We can't go to a hot place because Maddie really struggles in the heat with swelling and rashes. That killed another 5 posts By early morning I had three solid possibilities. Now to settle on the last three. In the next few weeks emails will be flying as Chad requests more information on specific posts to help us in our decision. Then we wait. I'm actually glad we don't know our next post yet because we live here, in Bogota. This is where I want my mind and energy to be focused. There will be time in the new year to anticipate and plan for the next city. In the mean time we will sit back and enjoy this second year of being settled here in our home. - Kris