happy 4th!

To celebrate the independence of our home country here in India, we made a pilgrimage to Temple Bay in order to take a little R&R. We numbered about 15 people. Generally speaking, it was the usual suspects, who you have been introduced to previously (even though I had to take all of the pictures of our Christmas party down because they were way to damn big. I'm still working on getting them back up. Sorry. I'm a moron).

The real new development for this fun-filled trip was the addition to our company of the summer interns. In true Foreign Service style and in keeping with accepted protocol, the interns were assigned specific duties and specific titles.

Jen is the Head Intern. She earned this title not because she is the oldest intern or the most experienced intern, but because she is not actually an intern at all. She, like myself, is an EFM (eligible family member) and is working here for the summer for a salary. She has earned the title of EFM by nature of the fact that her dad is an officer. She, through her job description, has authority to boss the other interns around at her whim.

Matt is the official Drink Mixer. The eldest of the interns, he is bound by duty to mix any drink that an officer or and EFM asks him for. He is here for the summer from Austin, where he is doing an MBA. He has rapidly become Chris' right-hand-man and my best-office-cubby-neighbor.

Sunil, an Indian American who was schooled in Madras, is the official Firecracker Lighter. I'm not too sure how he got this plum assignment. I'm gonna have to look into that. He is here from college in Arizona.

Sam, alas, by nature if her age, is the official Beer Wench. Hey. Everybody has to pay their dues. Like yours truly, she is a Barnard girl, though she actually still goes there and will most likely actually graduate from there, UNLIKE yours truly.

We had a truly delightful time, swimming in the pool, drinking cocktails, reading in the sunshine, lighting fireworks, and playing silly games. It was quite relaxing and served MOST of us well by regenerating our depleted energies. Unfortunately, the only person who left the weekend feeling crappier than ever was . . . of course . . . me.