Embassies...From Qatar to Africa

I took a friend to the U.S. Embassy in Doha yesterday to get her passport renewed. It was a new experience for me and tortuous, too, as I had to leave my camera in the car, ("no cameras", said the sign). That's a stock photo from the Internet on your right. Because I didn't have an appointment, I couldn't get past the "holding cell" which was a prefab trailer with Arabic style sofas lined up. So, only my friend got the privilege to go up to the "big house". As peaceful as this country is, I was glad to see that there were security measures in place. However, I would have felt a little better if I would have seen a few AK-47s strewn over the shoulders of the guards. You never can be too safe. It is an Embassy for Pete's sake and the "crazies" do love U.S. Embassies, which did cross my mind as I was chatting with a fellow American awaiting my friend's return. Speaking of Embassies, my oldest son, Shea, is headed that way via the U.S. Army. In just a tad over two weeks, he's traveling to a country in Africa to take on a post at a U.S. Embassy for a six month stint. According to the CIA World Factbook, it's one of the poorest countries in the world, and one of the hottest to boot. Oh joy, and from what I gather, it's not on a list of countries to vacation to, if you know what I mean. Albeit, Shea is looking forward to it, as it is a "cushy" job with lots of pool monitoring. That's what he says, anyway. His tune might change rather quickly when he gets there. David and I may possibly meet him in Germany, where he will be briefed before heading on to his final destination. So, let's say a prayer for Shea and all the other young men and women that are not in the safest places in the world. May peace come everyone's way.

I was going to include a picture of Shea, then ran across a rare picture of the four kids together at Christmas. David and I weren't there and are so grateful that they made sure they got a pic together, before going their separate ways.


To read comments, please click on the thoughts box above. Thanks!