The End of Planning

On Saturday I will do something I haven't done in 2 1/2 years: Go on vacation without the thought that I might be called back to South Africa on a moments notice.

For the last two years, South Africa has been holding its breath.  Every time Madiba went to the hospital, the whole country readied itself for the inevitable.  Plans were dusted off, the rumors cranked up, and shrines would pop up all over  in some of the most strange places ever.  (My favorite was in the still undergoing renovation part of a local mall.  All the walls had been painted white, and tributes suddenly appeared all over the place.  One was hilarious: "Thank you Madiba.  If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be on a date with a white girl.")  I'd get a phone call from the Embassy requesting a large meeting to go over our plans which we never talked about in the open.  We'd review them, make recommendations, and then we'd wait to see what happened.

When he was in hospital for a few months earlier this year, we were sure it was time.  The President was visitng, and rumors abounded that the family was waiting for the President to come to say goodbye before letting Madiba go to his ancestors.  In fact, all during the visit that's what I kept hearing.  But, it didn't happen.  Soon, Madiba was moved to his home in Houghton, and things quited down.

Last week the press kicked up again overseas.  Mandela's daughter had said he was on his deathbed.  Strangely it didn't make much noise here in South Africa.  Everyone said that it was just awkward phrasing and that of course he was on his deathbed, but no one got worked up.

Then I got a call at 11:30 pm on Thursday night.  He'd died and I needed to activate the plan.  I called the people I needed to (one person actually) and didn't get any sleep the rest of the night.  Oh, and I was acting Consul General again, so I had more emails to answer.

A visit from the President is a carefully crafted thing.  It usually takes months to do, and people show up weeks in advance to ensure ever little detail is ready.  No such timing on this.  The Advance showed on Saturday night, everyone else came in on Sunday and Monday, and Tuesday was the day it all happened.  No time for hurt feelings, no time for running around crazy.  This was go time in the shortest amount of time possible.

Once again I was hotels, so my job was assembling the best team I could to work with the President's travel folks.  As I've said previously, I've got a GREAT team here, and the team started moving as if they'd been working together for years.  Rooms were assembled, people placed, offices set up, and everything just started clicking.  All the planning was falling into place, and even a few glitches would throw us off.  I did have to call and get the blue drapes set up in case an emergency happened and a press briefing was scheduled.  Oh, and I had to try to contract for the hot air balloon that is right across the street from the hotel.  The woman never returned my call, but it rained all day so the balloon stayed down, so she really lost out on a sale.

The day of the event, I arrived at the hotel at 6 am with Lovely English Lass.  We were each assigned a task.  Mine was to hold open a door in a stairwell and help point people to their rooms.  (It was a dump of bags, quick shower, dressed and back out kind of day for these people, and the more help given the better.)  Almost everyone walked past me.  LEL was in charge of moving the Bush's from their car to the elevators to go upstairs.  Meanwhile I was standing for two hours pointing Eric Holder to his room, and making sure the Clintons got to their proper place.  (Bill shook my hand on his way up and thanked me for what we were doing.)

Afterwards we had to move everyone going back down to the motorcade, and when it was time send them off.  While the President moved to the stadium, I bought lunch for my little crew,  took LEL back home to spend time with the kids (because their school was canceled for the day) and head back to the hotel to prepare for their arrival back from the memorial service, and departure from South Africa.  By this time most of us are on only two hours of sleep, but it's still moving and so are we.  Finally, we get word that the motorcade is heading out, and we wait to hear about wheels-up.  About 90 minutes later the email comes: They're off.

My staff heads home, with the ringers off on their phones.  One told me that he didn't even remember talking to me on the phone shortly before he got home.  I stayed to clear up some issues, had a drink with some of the remaining staff from Washington, and went home.  I was then awakened at 11:30 pm by a phone call that should have waited until morning.

Today I have to catch up on my actual job and get the rest of the travel team out of here.  Then I need to pack, and get ready for my R&R to England which begins on Saturday.

Two years of planning went by in less than 6 days.  From the day his death was announced, until the Memorial Service, it was 5 days.  When I got down or tired, I remembered that I was doing this to show proper respect to a hero.  Mandela is George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, FDR and Martin Luther King all rolled into one for South Africa.  People all over the world wanted to show their respect, and my team and I worked tirelessly so that the representative of my government, The President, could do that.  As the President said, Mandela was one of his heroes, so his being here was important to him.  My staff helped make that happen.

In closing on this experience, let me say I've thought a lot about Madiba during my adult life.  I remember seeing the photos and news from Johannesburg when I was growing up, but I very much remember going to GW and seeing "Free Mandela" written in the concrete.  When they re-did the area, they supposedly dug it up to preserve it, and it is displayed in a garden showing GW's commitment to protest.  (Truth: This isn't the same one.  It's different.  Trust me.)  Throughout my career in the Department, I've thought about him, and South Africa.  And now that I live here, he was always on the mind of everyone.  This is now a strange time for South Africa.  Where does it go from here?  Well, I'm here for 6 more months so we'll see, won't we?

Happy Birthday LLG!

I can't believe it's been 7 years.  Just seems like yesterday that she was a little baby girl learning to walk.  When we were in Luxembourg, I'd come in through the door from work, and she'd run up to me, wait for me to take off my hat and coat, and then give me a big hug.  It was something that I looked forward to everyday, especially as I worked for a, shall we say, difficult person at that time.  In fact, during that time I had her giggling as my ringtone, because I knew it would put me into a better mood prior to answering the phone, which I really needed a that time.

She's been through so much in her little life.  Three moves, three continents, entering into a mainstream school.  She goes about her day learning, complaining about having to go to therapy, and if I thought it would make her life more enjoyable I'd let her stop.  But she needs it, and through little things we get that it's helping.

LLG LOVES Hello Kitty, but it's a weird obsession.  I can't explain it, but you'd just have to see it.  Since it's a very normal obsession for children her age, we're not too worried.  (Heck, at least it's not unicorns.)  Plus, I know grown women who are just as obsessed, so it can't be that different, can it?

There are things I wish I could do differently for my little girl.  I wish she didn't have so much anxiety, but then again I'm her father so I understand it.  One of her therapists said it would probably help the anxiety a little if we could start talking about where we're going to live next year.  Lovely English Lass responded with, "Yeah, it'd help my anxiety too."

One of the largest issues we have is that she is just so darn tall.  She's the size of an 11 year old now, and will probably get taller.  It's difficult enough being different, but when you look like a tween and you're only 7, it's downright impossible sometimes.

She definitely has her quirks, my little girl.  Sometimes you can tell that she just puts up with me, but then there are times when she still definitely shows she's my little girl.  She also still tries so hard, that I'm amazed she has the strength to keep going some days.  Saturday we went to the park, and they have these obstacles set up.  Balancing things, and other stuff like that.  She was trying her best, even though her body sometimes doesn't cooperate.  Everytime she would complete one, she had to make sure we saw her.

You know, she's a fantastic little kid.  I'm so very happy to have her in my life, and I know that there is just a wild trip waiting to happen that she'll take us on.  Hopefully one day she'll read these and know that I always believed in her, and that I love her with all I do.

Happy Birthday Lovely Little Girl.  You've got a busy year ahead of you.