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.

Early morning commute

One of the huge problems in Brazil is transportation. Buses are unreliable, roads are terrible and traffic causes hours of back-ups daily. Since I live in Pontal, I have to cross a bridge every day to get to the downtown area and beyond. Because of all the traffic, getting across the bridge can sometimes take hours which is frustrating on a hot, overcrowded and over-priced bus already.

I live on the left side of the map, near the airport - note the bridge we have to cross every day

Because not everyone has a car, the public bus system leaves much to be desired and also because the university is in between two cities (Ilhéus and Itabuna), the university offers free coach bus transportation to its faculty. This is fantastic news for me with the only downside being that the bus picks me up in the morning at 6:30 am (!!). The early pick-up is because the first class at the university starts at 7:30 and also because if the bus were any later we would be caught in hours of traffic getting across the bridge.

Sunrise view from my balcony at 6am before heading to work

Most of us sleep on the way to school, which is about a 45-60 minute commute. Buses back to Ilhéus leave at midday, early afternoon and late in the evening. I'm not a huge fan of getting up at 5:30 am but I like the fact that there is an option of taking a free, reliable, air-conditioned bus to work every day. As a bonus, it's nice walking to my bus stop in the cooler morning weather before the sun and heat really get cranking.

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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

Early morning commute

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