Yemen?

Hello! It's been a while and lots has changed so I thought I'd send a small update from the other side of the pond. I start a new job in September, working for the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer. After they train me to be a diplomat for a year or so here in DC I'll be headed ... somewhere. At the end of October I'll find out where the government wants me to go live, but it's a good bet it won't be the Embassy or any U.S. Representations in Brussels - more like Ouagodougou or Bujumbura. I'm going to be starved for visitors, though, so I'll let you all know where I'm going so you can plan exotic vacations!

And speaking of exotic vacations, I'm leaving to go to Yemen in a week. I'll be in Sana'a for three weeks visiting a friend and taking some more Arabic. Should be a good chance to unwind, though sadly my respect for local customs will prevent me from working on my tan.

Hope every single one of you is doing fabulously! I think of you all often and certain days - like this rainy morning! :) - make me miss Maastricht tremendously.

Take care,
Alison

Updates

Hi everybody,

Sorry for dissapearing for a while from the EPA blogosphere. I'm fine but busy. Lots of projects...

Recent developments - we bought an apartment in Brussels next to Koekelberg Cathedral (the one you can see from any point in Brussels). So in the upcoming months there's going to be lots of moving, painting, cleaning, decorating, etc. The good news is that we have much more space than we used, which means that we can accomodate any EPAist with much more comfort.

Other news - 3 weeks ago we were in Moldova and had our Orthodox wedding (the last one). For those curious to see the pictures of the event (+ Brussels apartment pictures [the state it was 2 month ago]) you can visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/popovici.

Work is fine, busy, but discovering lots of interesting things about organizational management & European affairs each day.

My side (hobby) project, called EuroBlog, is doing well too. For those of you who don't know about it, it's an information blog (in Romanian) containing articles from foreign media on Moldova. For those of you have access to The Economist, there is an article by Edward Lucas on Moldova there. Here is the link. Also, in last week's Economist I saw an article on German government, which mentioned Steinbrueck in it. I was pleased to see a name I could recognize (although it wasn't Anne).

That's it folks. Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you in Brussels. Our doors are always open to EPA guests.

Good luck with everything, and talk to you soon.

Lanaken Visit

A simmering summer day. A quiet place. Our little cabin in the woods of Lanaken. An afternoon spent reconnecting with Jens fresh from his visit to the gang in Brussels. Memories, food and drink shared. A peaceful pause in a troubled world.