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.

The souls of dogs

Example of one of the many covered walkways on campus

Life at the largest university in the Amazon is unique in many ways. The most obvious and useful difference is the covered paths and sidewalks on campus because of the daily torrential rains and scalding heat from the sun. The second, more interesting difference, is the amount of stray dogs of every shape, size and color hanging out on the college grounds. They can be seen sleeping, attending class and trotting along on the paths between buildings as if they were students themselves on the way to their next exam.

Some of the "old souls" hanging out

I asked my students about these dogs and have now heard the same story told over and over. "Don't bother the dogs," they tell me. "We care for them and care about them because they have a history here. To us, they are the souls of former students who never graduated." And they do, indeed, care for the dogs. I see people feeding them dog food, pouring water into bowls and giving them plenty of attention.

Dogs cruising along on the walkways to who knows where

Brazil doesn't have a strong student volunteer culture so when I asked my students what kinds of things they do to help their college or community (we were talking about how to fill out U.S. college applications) they stared blankly at me. Finally, one girl ventured an answer. "Well," she said. "Sometimes a lot of students bring soap to school and we wash the dogs." I asked her if they liked the washing and she said that she guessed so but didn't really know.

"What about at the neighboring university (State University of Pará)?" I asked. "Do you wash their dogs too?" "No," she replied with authority. "They have cats there."

There could be some rather interesting reading in the form of application essays coming soon to a college admission's office near you.

Scattered sleeping dogs in between classes

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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

The souls of dogs

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