heat wave!

There's been a heat wave here all this week. Temps were around 97-98 yesterday and today with high-ish humidity, making it just delightful to walk around outside. We get notices about Gold Day Alerts at work, which is when the facilities are maintained using less energy where possible (raising the temperature a few degrees, turning off monitors and computers where possible, etc.). Personally, I think they could raise the temperature inside by several degrees every day and save a lot of energy.

I passed my Nationality and Passports exam yesterday, and today we started in on Immigrant Visas. There's a really cool simulation area where there are several consular windows set up in a room to mimic the consular section of an embassy. We used them yesterday to practice some of the software applications. Further down that hall there's a simulated jail cell that we'll use later when we do the ACS (American Citizen Services) module of the course.

Last night I tried out kickboxing instead of Thai boxing. It was a challenging workout. I am so thankful that I'm feeling well enough to take part. I could tell I was a bit out of shape, but I'm working my way back. I also need to learn to wrap my own wrists/hands better. By the end of the class one of my wraps was coming loose. It was my first time trying to wrap them myself.

Time is flying these days. I have my routine down and feel like I'm involved enough at work and church that I have a "place" here finally. I know time will fly even more once I get really close to leaving. There is so much to do, but I can't work ahead, since I have to wait on receiving my travel authorization before I'm allowed to contact anyone at post or apply for my visa or diplomatic passport. Good thing I've been working on learning patience! :)

This week I got a plane ticket to go to Champaign over the 4th of July weekend. We have Monday off, so it'll be a short weekend, but will be nice to see the family (minus Joanna) one last time before leaving the country. It'll also be nice to make it to the 4th of July potluck at Mattis Ave. I'm generally a strong contender in the watermelon seed spitting contest!