Her Excellency, Marie Damour, ambassador to Figi et al

Monday

I heard Chris taking a shower so I got up. It was quarter of nine. I got my stuff together so that when Chris got out, I could get in. We got dressed and went to the 8th floor for breakfast. Cecily, Al, James, Becca and William were already there. We got plates and partook of eggs, bacon, potatoes, oatmeal, etc. There was a lady behind Becca that looked amazingly like Michele from the side.

After eating and socializing, we said goodbye to James and Becca and William. They checked out while we went back to our room. I read e-mail for awhile and then we packed up to check out. Chris put our luggage in the car, but we took our laptops to Al and Cecily's room.

I played on my laptop while Chris played on his phone. Al had lunch. Cecily probably worried. Kelly came by, but we were really boring. Around 1:30 we got ready for the van. Marie met us downstairs and ushered us in.

The van took us into Washington to the main state department building. We had to show ID's to get in, and get our purses scanned. Mike brought a package of bottles of water, and Chris carried a load of champagne through the scanner. We followed Marie into a building where we were given badges that said 'must be accompanied by escort'. We went into the briefing room and put down the beverages. Marie took the women to the restroom and back. We unpacked plastic champagne flutes, then sat around talking while others arranged the drink table. Marie handed out her new business cards, then gave us a short tour of the floor of the building.

At 3 we all took our seats. After a brief introduction, the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink made a speech, saying great things about Marie and about the U.S. Mission in Figi. He was standing in front of a row of 6 flags; America, Figi, Tonga, Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu. They were not labled so I had asked Marie and she wasn't sure which was which. When he was done, Marie spoke, and quite eloquently. She addressed the ambassadors in the room. She thanked family and friends for coming. She thanked her brothers for bringing her sisters, which her mother never did (ha!). She also spoke about working together to further good relations etc with the islands.

Then the speeches wrapped up. She and the asst-sec signed some form and he shook her hand as the new ambassador. Somebody started pouring champagne and a nonalcoholic version. Chris quickly found people to talk to. I kind of stood in the back. I noticed a man standing alone, so I introduced myself and tried to start a conversation by asking if he knew the country of each flag. In a deep voice, he said “The second one is my country of Figi” and then he listed all the rest. Oops. I didn't realize I was talking to the ambassador from Figi! Nice guy, though. He was greeted and moved off while I found someone else to chat with.

Later, as I was conversing with two nice gentlemen from the state department, Marie rounded us up to go back to the van. On the way, we had to hand back our badges. Then we went outside and waited for a bit for the van to get to us. With Marie sitting up front, we were taken back to the hotel. We went to Al's room to get our laptops and coats. Then we said goodbye to everyone. They were taking the van to Marie's house.

We got in the Olds and he started the GPS. He pulled out into traffic and the GPS went kaput so he had to reboot, with a few choice words. However, he was able to wing it until the thing was back in service. We did run into traffic, but no rain. We could see that it had rained earlier as the streets were wet. John texted me a few times during the trip, which made the time go by faster.

We got into Chester around 7:15. Chris had trouble with the house key, but we finally got in. After bringing our stuff in, we ate some lunch stuff for supper. Then we retired to our laptops. It was kind of weird being in Cecily's house without the TV on, or her to tell us what to do. I wrote my blog post for today and posted the one for yesterday. I found a wikipedia page on Marie.

Chris sent me a weather report for Dugway. Looks like it will go down to 30 by tomorrow morning. Sigh. So close and yet the garden will freeze before I get to pick it. I read telegram messages for an hour or more. Chris packed his suitcase so I packed my mine. I finished my blog and posted a pic on Becca's page, then went to bed.