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U.S. Foreign Service Officer headed to Wuhan, China

The mission of a U.S. diplomat in the Foreign Service is to promote peace, support prosperity, and protect American citizens while advancing the interests of the U.S. abroad. The work that diplomats do has an impact on the world as they serve at one of any of the more than 270 embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions in The Americas, Africa, Europe and Eurasia, East Asia and Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia.

The duties of a Consular Officer include to provide emergency and non-emergency services to American citizens and protect our borders through the proper adjudication of visas to foreign nationals and passports to American citizens. We adjudicate immigrant and non-immigrant visas, facilitate adoptions, help evacuate Americans, combat fraud, and fight human trafficking. Consular Officers touch people’s lives in important ways, often reassuring families in crisis. They face many situations which require quick thinking under stress and develop and use a wide range of skills, from managing resources and conducting public outreach to assisting Americans in distress.

Melaka





Our last destination to check out in Malaysia was a city called Melaka which was two hours south of Kuala Lumpur on the West coast. Melaka is a smaller city with a population of about 650,000 and a popular spot for tourists because of lots of historical attractions along with a small-town feel. Melaka is a city which has passed through many hands: first the Chinese, then the Portuguese followed by the Dutch and finally the British. You can see remnants of all of these cultures left behind in the architecture and food of present-day Melaka. The mixture of all of these different people groups created the Pernakan people who are also called the Baba Nonya people. We were excited to try some of the Baba Nonya food which was highly recommended to us.


On Saturday we started off the day right by stopping at Krispy Kreme for donuts and iced coffees and then took the monorail to the inter-city bus station where we obtained tickets for the two-hour bus trip to Melaka. When we arrived, we hopped on a very rinky-dink local bus which coughed us up in the center of town. ($8 donuts and coffee, $3 monorail, $8 bus to Melaka, $1 local bus)


I instantly liked Melaka; the buildings were beautiful, it was small and easy to navigate and there were loads of little cafes, galleries and shops many which lined the river that flowed through town. I was especially interested in the Dutch influence and chose a cute little place called "The Dutch Harbor Cafe" for lunch. ($5 lunch, $5 coffee, $22 room)


We found a cheap triple room at the edge of town (Kota Lodge) but Daniel later upgraded to a nicer one after finding one too many ants on his bed. His new hotel had a sweet rooftop view and a perfect location in the middle of town which we frequented often to escape the busy small streets and alleys. ($11 dinner)


Melaka was interesting to explore particularly in and around Chinatown where there were many old buildings and mosques. Things got exponentially more interesting at night, however, when the weekend night market opened up and we were encouraged to attend a street performer show of the famed Ho Eng Hui, a Chinese man who broke the World Record for punching holes in coconuts with his finger in record time. Weird, I know. Daniel especially wanted to see this amazing feat so we made sure to stand in the front row at 8pm sharp. Ho Eng Hui was a character, to say the least, and entertained the crowd with wit, some kung fu, leather whips and nun chucks. Sadly, he only punched through one coconut but it was still pretty impressive. He spent the rest of the hour performance pushing his miracle cure-all spray and oils which the Chinese tourists couldn't get enough of. I'm not sure that the rest of our time in scenic Melaka will be able to compare with the thrills of this renowned kung fu master. Stay tuned. Total for 2 people = $63


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    Sarah Sanderson
    I am currently in Mandarin language training as a new diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service. Sean and I depart for Wuhan, China in November 2019 for my first tour in consular affairs.
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