Home At Last

After settling into our new home down here in Juarez, we were able to enjoy our first dinner at the new place, a great big bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and a glass of water.  Not very exciting, but after a week in the car, a simple bowl of cereal sounded great.  Thankfully, most posts around the world offer a "welcome kit" of pillows, blankets, silverware, plates, etc., to make you somewhat comfortable while you wait for your stuff to arrive.

Which brings me to another interesting part of foreign service life; waiting for your belongings to get through customs.  Generally, all of your stuff is packed up into three separate categories: (1) what you can carry with you, (2) your unaccompanied air baggage (UAB), and (3) your household effects (HHE).

First, you pack the things you want to have with you the moment you arrive, such as clothing, a couple of suits, and maybe some basic kitchen items.  We were fortunate in that we were driving to our first post, which meant we could completely fill our car with as much stuff as possible.  Most people flying to their first assignment only have their suitcases. 

Second, your UAB arrives about ten days after your arrival at post.  A family of two people is given about 400 pounds of cargo that will be flown to your new home, which meant Sarah and I had to spend some time before we left Arlington deciding whether to pack the vaccuum, extra clothes, or whatever we wanted to arrive in the speedy UAB delivery.

Finally, your HHE arrives, or at least it's supposed to.  I say that because Sarah and I have been in CJ for about a month and a half, but our HHE shipment has yet to clear customs.  This is to be expected, but it is still a bit frustrating, since we live in a giant three-bedroom house with no pictures on the walls, no rugs on the floor, and only a fraction of our clothes.  But we have faith that the rest of our stuff will arrive someday.  Until then, I'll be wearing the same seven ties to work.