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.

Manila

After enjoying island paradise for a few days, it was time to travel the 6 hrs back to Puerto Princesa and fly to Manila, the capital city of the Philippines and our last destination before heading back to China.

It was common to see many stuffed animals lined up on the dash or back windows of cars

Manila was a little dodgy and it was initially tough to find a safe place to stay that wasn't out of our price range. We checked out a few different hostels before finally settling on Hostel 1632 which I would totally recommend. The rooms are very small, but it's clean, safe and affordable.

Our first day we just walked around and checked out the sights near our hotel. Everything was pretty run down except for the giant new and modern shopping mall that was just down the street. The other thing that caught my eye was the crazy form of public transportation - the Jeepney.

Jeepneys are colorful, creative and artsy jeeps that have small routes all over the city. There are no official stops, you just flag them down. Each one is individually decorated and have a lot of character, to say the least. The Jeepneys are the heart of the public transportation system - there are a few buses and one or two elevated rails, but it's the Jeepneys that you see everywhere. I couldn't stop taking pictures of them because to me they looked like entertaining clown cars.

After walking for hours, we grabbed dinner at a Middle Eastern snack shop that was cheap and delicious and then went back to the hostel to enjoy the movie channel and crash after a long day of traveling.

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Sarah Sanderson

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Wanderlust

In Mandarin: 旅遊癮 (lǚyóu yǐn)

According to my Mandarin teacher, the term 'wanderlust' can best be translated as 'a travel addiction or craving'. In the above translation, 'yǐn' has several meanings such as 'a strong impulse', 'a longing', or 'a desire'.

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

Manila

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