This afternoon I attended the Embassy Town Hall Meeting to discuss the closure of the U.S. Embassy Association. About 70 people attended, one-third of whom were spouses of Embassy personnel. To my surprise and delight, every single American Embassy family who had a child(ren) at the preschool attended, and I was also able to escort in a family who isn't part of the Embassy, but has a child currently attending the school. It was a very long meeting, lasting well over 1 1/2 hours, with a majority of it devoted to parents speaking out about the sudden closure of the school. Every aspect of it was hashed out; from the surprise to the teachers, parents, and international community, to how we can proceed from here. While we never received concrete answers, we did get the agreement from the Ambassador and Management Office that they will do everything in their power to help with the privatization of the school so it can continue to run in the 2008 - 2009 year. It was a very small victory.
One victory that didn't happen - the return of the $300 deposits made to the Embassy Association upon arrival at post. Due to the incurred debt, the Association is under severe financial constraints and doesn't have the ability to repay each family when they depart post. Let's just say that that discussion was not well received.
We had our own personal victory this morning. Both girls slept in until 7:45 am. Of course, we capped off the evening with Sheridan falling asleep at the dinner table at 6 pm. It's not looking good for me tomorrow morning. Hello 5 am, I'm sure I'll be seeing you.
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