The Foreign Service Journal, March 2003

I had to go to the U.S. just before Christmas, Washington was not the place I wanted to be. I have no fami- ly there. It took all day, but I got per- mission to go to my home leave address instead of Washington, with the understanding that I would have to be on leave since I could not report for work. After finally getting my orders, I raced home. I had about an hour to pack our bags before we had to leave for the airport. With no idea how long the evacuation would last, whether I would be working in Washington, or whether my son would have to start school in the States, I threw a jumble of items into the suitcases. I mainly remember packing all of my son’s Christmas presents. I did not pack any of the things I had thought I would pack in such a situation (like family photo albums, important docu- ments) because I did not think it like- ly my possessions would be destroyed in my absence, but I did take two big bags for each of us with a variety of clothes. We caught a charter flight as directed by the embassy, along with many of our colleagues. The char- ter put us into Kennedy International Airport at 4 a.m. in the morning. At that hour, the inter-ter- minal buses are not running, but we nevertheless had to go immediately from the terminal where we landed to a different one since our connect- ing flight was departing at 6 a.m. I still have a vivid memory of trying to push a cart loaded with four big bags uphill in very cold weather while at the same time holding onto my son’s hand. When he started to cry, mainly from the cold, but also from tiredness and fear, I had to stop. I unloaded the cart, unlocked each of the bags until I located his overcoat, bundled him up, then started out again. We made the connecting flight, but just barely. Exhausted, we finally made it to my mother’s house. We were lucky that I had a parent who was willing and able to provide us a temporary haven. I checked in with the office the following day, only to be told that it was likely that the ordered departure status would be lifted before Christmas, and we would then have a day or two to return to post. At that point, I rebelled. No way was I going to return to Tel Aviv just before Christmas, let alone on Christmas Day. In the end, we returned to Tel Aviv on Dec. 29. Despite the evacuation; despite the fact that Israel is the only post for which I have ever been issued a gas mask, atropine, and instructions on sealing my house in case of a biologi- cal or chemical attack; despite the fact that Israel is the prime target of sui- cide bombers and became even more of a target after the second intifada began in September 1999, Israel was designated a non-hardship post. I was, to put it mildly, surprised to learn that after three years of working in Israel and Gaza I was a “fair share” bidder. So it happened that after 18 years on the job, serving at six different posts, most of them hardship and one of them a danger-pay post, I finally got evacuated — from a supposedly non-hardship post. Julie Gianelloni Connor Counselor for Public Affairs U.S. Embassy Santiago, Chile M A R C H 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 53 At that point, I rebelled. No way was I going to return to Tel Aviv just before Christmas...