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.

Sharing

I've mentioned before that everyone shares everything here: food, drinks, rides home etc. True, we share things in the States as well but they take it to a whole different level in Brazil. Take for example the the check at a restaurant. Last Friday night a group of us went out for some drinks and snacks at an outdoor bar down town. I had a couple of beers and some fries but many others in the group had rounds of shots, plates of food and bottle after bottle of beers.

Carol (neighbor/friend), me, Kali (Loni's boyfriend), Loni (my roommate)

When the time came for the check, the waitress simply totaled everything up and divided the number by how many people were at our table. This is completely normal and has happened at every other meal/drinks I have been at so far. It only surprised me that particular night because of the extreme disparities between what some people consumed compared with others. This was only apparent to Loni and me, however; we were the only ones bothered by it and talked about it when we got home and emptied our depressing amounts of change on the table.

Watching some live music on the street to celebrate National Women's Day (which explains all of the female underthings)

I recall similar experiences in Chile and Argentina; when I would go out with a group of Chileans we would always share the bill equally. They call it "hacer la vaca" and it was the norm there as well. There is really no way around the current system without being rude or offensive, that I can see. It's not custom for waiters to keep individual tallies and protesting the amount one has to pay in the group would create a scene and is totally uncool. A tight-knit community who shares everything is great, but sometimes I do miss America's individualistic obsession.

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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

Sharing

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