arrivals

The new officers just keep arriving in droves. The Department has finally caught up with the astronomical increases in demand for visas in this part of the world and Chennai is staffing up. It is making an enormous difference. The changes that I have personally witnessed in the past year, both in organizational structure and in post morale, are truly amazing. Despite my new-found frustration with life in Chennai itself, things at work couldn't be going better.

We sponsored our first new arrival, which means that we get to take care of a new officer. It's like having a pet. My new pet's name is Kate, and she is extremely rad. We hosted a very big and fun cocktail party for her upon her arrival (a mere two days after we returned from Singapore and KL, which I SWORE I'd never do again after Rob's visit and which I just went right ahead and did anyway, much to my dismay). She is joined in her arrival by a couple of other new officers, Jason and Tyler. And we've got a new neighbor who is an American Citizen Services officer, Ruth. Our little crew is growing daily. Three more people are coming in the next month! This is great!

So welcome to all of the new people. We are happy to have you here. Please ignore all of the bad stuff I have been saying about Chennai. It's a really wonderful place to live.