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.

Titãs concert

On Friday night I ended up going to a Brazilian 80s rock concert of the band Titãs. The concert was just down the beach from my apartment and my students were able to get me the student price ticket so there was no backing out. I had had a really fun but busy and tiring week and all I wanted to do was put on my pajamas, crawl into bed and crash, but I'm trying to quit being lame and start being Brazilian.

To fully embrace the non-lameness and Brazilian-ness of the evening, I would have had to start getting ready for the concert at about 9:00 and pick out a killer outfit (the lower, the tighter, the shorter, the better) and spent some serious time on hair and makeup. My friends and instructed me to be at their house at 11:30 (concert started sometime after midnight).

Instead, I spent most of my evening in my pjs, in bed Skyping with friends and family; it was probably the highlight of my week. At about 11:15 I put on a sundress and flip flops and walked a few houses down to meet my friends. There was a group of six of us women and everyone looked stunning. Unfortunately/fortunately, I was the only one not wearing heels but even so I towered over everyone else. When we reached the beach, everyone laughed at how all of the girls' heels slowly sank in the sand every 30 seconds. In Brazil, beauty comes before comfort and practicality at all costs, no question.

The band finally started at around 12:30 and played until 2:30. The music was good but the lyrics were hard to follow. The crowd had some serious enthusiasm and energy and the group of us women found ourselves constantly dodging opportunistic hands and mouths. After the band finished I was already kind of excited to go home and sleep but I was surprised to see that nobody left the concert. Instead, everyone headed to the back for more snacks and drinks and the beach turned into a giant dance party with the addition of an impromptu reggae band on stage. As I've mentioned before, if there's one thing that Brazilians know how to do well it's how to party.

I finally made it home at about 4am very tired but also happy. The magic only happens outside of your comfort zone, right?

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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

Titãs concert

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