Catinca

So, shortly after Chris arrived in DC, we decided to look for a new friend for Wally. Since Tiger's departure, Wally has been a little extra needy (read, annoying) and so we started our search. Probably more accurately, Chris started the search. For those who aren't aware, Chris is a maximizer, so he put a lot of time into looking at cats online. Eventually, we agreed to go visit one who was in a foster home nearby. He was super cute and friendly, so we tried to adopt him. Unfortunately, the rescue group had some crazy conditions, such as feeding only wet, grain-free food to the cat, and when I said we wouldn't do that, we were doomed. After another week of calling every vet we'd ever been to, they told us we were denied because our cats hadn't been to the vet every 12 months. (Yes, I admit, sometimes it was more like 18 months between their vet visits. I'm an awful pet owner).

So after that awful experience, we decided to go back to the Humane Society, where we'd gotten most of our other cats. We went to one over in Virginia that had lots to choose from, and after our first visit, we hadn't decided which cat would fit best with us and Wallace. So Chris went back a few days later on his own and came home with the beautiful kitty below:

This is Catinca!

We named her Catinca to go along with Wallace's "The Fall" themed name. Catinca is the name of the actress who played the little girl in the movie (not many female characters in the movie...).

She has been an awesome addition to our family. She gets along well with Wally and she loves attention and cuddling. She was rescued from a house that was keeping her in the garage, where she had fleas and mange and wasn't in good health. Now she's happy and loved, despite the fact that we don't feed her grain-free food :)

Until next time...

Georgia on my mind...and French of course....toujours le français

So today was interesting because my future supervisor that I'll be working with in Georgia is in DC for a few days, so we met up after I finished French class today. It definitely reaffirmed for me that I am going to one of the most amazing countries and will have some great opportunities while I'm there, both for work and for play! I'm going to get to be involved in the whole process of program design, procurement, and implementation, as well as lots of opportunities for training and travel, both in Georgia and to other countries, for work! Not to mention lots of great places close enough to make for interesting weekend trips. Plus, my boss reminds me a lot of our friend, Matt Allen (yes Matt, I think you have a long-lost relative working for USAID). Plus, my two colleagues who have already made it over to Georgia have been emailing lots of info and posting great pictures. I can't wait to go!

Last week, I had my 12-week French evaluation. I got a 2/2, which is where I'm supposed to be at this point. I was so relieved to get it over with. Learning French at FSI has been...interesting. Particularly since it's not a language I'll be using once I get to my mission. I feel slightly disadvantaged because the others have a real motivation to learn since it'll be important for their everyday lives, not to mention their job. For me though, it's just a box I need to check before I can go out to post. I'm still trying to take advantage of the opportunity and get as much as I can out of it, but some days I have no motivation. I'm on my third teacher now. The teaching styles are quite different and can be very hard to get used to...I know some people have had teachers they've absolutely hated. I haven't had that experience (yet), but I can see how could happen. The whole system seems a bit strange...lots of people don't successfully pass their language test on the first try, which leads to additional weeks of training. And since USAID pays for our training by the week, it seems like it's to their benefit to keep us there a little longer than originally planned. I'm hoping that I can get my 3/3 on the first try, but I won't hold my breath. I still have a long way to go...