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.

Reunited in Rio

I'm interrupting my Chapada Diamantina National Park posts to write a little bit about my time in Rio. This year, Fulbright gave us the incredible opportunity (and funding) to be able to attend conferences around the country that we were interested in. I registered to attend a big linguistics conference in Rio de Janeiro and it worked out that Sean could fly in from Michigan and meet me there. After finishing my classes for the week at UESC, I flew from Ilhéus to Rio on Thursday night and happily reunited with my husband at the Vila Carioca hostel in the neighborhood of Botafogo.

The conference starts on Monday so we have been taking advantage of the weekend to do some sightseeing. While I am attending the conference, Sean will be taking some intensive Portuguese classes. On Friday we explored the downtown and visited some of the free cultural centers that the city has to offer. A few other ETAs are in town for either the conference or the big music concert Rock in Rio and a group of us went out to the Lapa neighborhood on Friday night for drinks, dancing and lots of music.

Today, on Brazil's independence day, there was a crazy amount of strikes, demonstrations and violence in the city center so Sean and I took it easy and stayed in our neighborhood. We headed to the top of a mall for some panoramic views of the city and checked out the nearby beach. I can easily see why the nickname of this place is "the marvelous city" because it's incredibly beautiful. There are green hills and jungle mixed in with historical buildings and interesting architecture. Everybody here is ready to have a good time and the vibe is contagious. The downside? Rio is easily the most expensive city in South America and we are constantly warned about our safety while we are out and about.

For me, however, I've been riding on a pretty amazing natural high since I not only get to be in such a cool city but I get to share the experience with someone who I've missed desperately the last few months. Sean, I'm so glad you're here!

Read More 2 comments | Posted by Sarah Sanderson

2 comments

The De Jager Family on September 7, 2013 at 10:29 PM

Yay! So glad you guys are re-united! Have a wonderful time together. :)
Linde on September 8, 2013 at 11:26 AM

Yay! was my first reaction too :) Glad to hear you are both happy and well together.

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

Reunited in Rio

2 comments