After several years living stateside in Austin, Texas, my wife, Dana, has decided her life won't be complete unless she becomes a diplomat again. The astute reader of Kept: An American Househusband in India will recognize the rich irony: a million years ago it was my dream to be a diplomat, it was me who geeked out on foreign policy stuff, it was me who took the Foreign Service exam with (misplaced) confidence. I convinced Dana she might as well take the exam, too, and, well, I failed, and she passed with an almost perfect score. That's how I ended up following Dana around the world taking care of our three kids while she did my dream job. C'est la vie.
We live in India, France, Cambodia and Switzerland and, after many years, return to Austin and a normal life. Normal in Austin should be easy; despite the Keep Austin Weird t-shirts (now trademarked by Outhouse Designs), Austin hasn't been weird since Molly Ivins departed--or earlier--although you could make a solid argument that weird lasted as long as peace activist Leslie Cochran. At any rate, we find being normal harder than we thought, and so Dana has joined the diplomatic corps again. And where does the Foreign Service decide to send us? Ashgabat, Turkmenistan! - g
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