Me: 1; Job: 0

This may sound crazy, but after much deliberation I declined the job offer. It was a position that not only would be incredibly uninteresting, but also would be someone that many people in the embassy community would come to resent, as the incumbent would be the one approving or (more often than not) denying work order requests. Whenever someone has a problem with something in their residence they submit a request to have work done, and I don't want to be the guy who turns people down for something they're not happy with but isn't feasible from the maintenance department's perspective. I am positive that something better will come along.

I've also made a few more observations while out on the town. It seems to be a national pastime here to install metal items like bollards or light poles, and then remove them with a cutting torch -- because I see rings of metal everywhere in the sidewalks where there used to be something.

They also seem to really like to build buildings, whether or not there are any potential tenants. There are several buildings around town that are built but completely empty. You remember the building with the broken windows? I have since come to realize that it (and it's twin building next door) is completely empty. They are both completely dark at night. Must be creepy in there.

Well, we're in x-mas gift shopping mode now, since we have to be done early to have time to ship things back. If you have any requests for us to look for while we're out and about, let us know!