It's Never a Good Sign

when two of the three places you're considering living in for the next three years are mentioned in National Geographic articles.  Perhaps if the articles were about Paris it wouldn't be so bad, but this being National Geographic, instead they are about venomous animals that will kill you in five seconds and herders living in incredibly remote cold places.
This cycle is Brandon's first non 'directed' which means that he gets to peruse the list of glamorous options and then try and convince people in those places that he would be the guy for the job.  Since we arrived at post in December, Brandon is a winter cycle bidder.  Most people in State move around in the summer, which means that the winter bid list contains irresistibly lovely jewels like Cotonou and Brassaville.
Brandon hasn't been very thrilled about lobbying because, after all, why squabble over armpit-of-the-world posts when you can just sit back and have someone assign one to you without any work on your part?  Some armpits, however, are less stinky than others, so he's talked to a few places and put in some bids.
The list is due Monday, and after that waiting to find out.  Wish us luck!