Ambassadors and FSO

Almost two years ago the Arab Spring started in Tunisia when Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest of harassment.  Just one month later the government was overthrown. Countries across northern Africa and the Middle East quickly followed suit.  Small and large protests happened in eighteen different countries lead to changes and overthrow of several governments.

For the past year, many of these countries have disappeared from the news.  Unfortunately, late last night and this morning, two of these countries hit the headlines again.  In Egypt, the walls of the US Embassy were breached and the US flag taken down by protestors.  In Libya, rocket propelled grenades were shot into the US Consulate in Benghazi.  In this attack, the US Ambassador to Libya and three other diplomatic officials were killed.  This is only the eighth ambassador, and first since 1988 to be killed in office.

You may be wondering why I'm writing about this, but it hit a little close to home for me.  I started the long road to joining the Foreign Service Office (FSO) this past summer with my first attempt at the FSO Test.  While I didn't pass (and didn't expect to), I am still eager to try again.  In order to get invited to the FSO I must first pass a test, then write five short essays, then go to DC for a day long interview with other FSO hopefuls, before spending months passing medical and security clearances only to sit on a register waiting to be asked.  I can only be on the register for eighteen months, so if my number doesn't come up I get to start the whole process from the beginning.  From taking the test to being invited to the FSO can be two years, assuming everything goes smoothly.

A Foreign Service Officer works in embassies and consulates around the world in a variety of capacities: facilitating adoptions, managing embassy operations, analyzing host country political events, and working with foreign governments on environmental, technological, and trade issues just to name a few.  When (hopefully) I am invited to join I would spend time in DC learning a language and learning more about FSO requirements.  I then get to spend one to three years at each post working with locals, experiencing a new cultural, and hopefully becoming at minimum conversations in a new language.

I knew there were risks since the US has embassies and consulates in places like Kabul and Tripoli, but the low frequency of deaths in the service can lull a person into a false sense of safety.  However, the deaths of these four officers only strengthens my resolve that when traveling it is important to work hard at understanding the local culture, being tolerant of others beliefs, and providing a positive and respectful image of America.  Hopefully I will get to do this as part of the FSO in the future.

Remembering

It was the first week of my senior year in a brand new high school.  I was sitting in French class, Monsieur at the front of class.  The lesson that day was about food, we were actually sitting in the back of the Spanish classroom in the kitchen.  All of a sudden, there is an announcement form the principal.  This is bizarre, we rarely hear from him.

It was September 11, 2001 and he was announcing the first of the two planes to hit the World Trade Center towers.  I honestly didn't quite know what to make of it.  It didn't really impact me personally because I didn't know anyone in New York, Washington DC, Pennsylvania or on the flights, but at the same time it was deeply troubling.  Since this was the first year in the new high school, there were still kinks being worked out - including the televisions.  So I didn't see any video or images until fifth period calculus when my teacher and another student jury rigged an antennae from a metal desk and a wire.  That's when it started to sink in - the destruction and chaos that was happening in New York City.

I have been to New York several times since the attacks and each time I have visited Ground Zero.  During each trip I have visited Ground Zero, watching the memorial being built and the new towers rising up into the skyline.  This last trip the first part of the memorial was opened to the public.  It is really amazing how powerful and peaceful the memorial is.  The reflecting pools sitting in the footprint of the original towers are impressive.  Not only for the size and sound, but to see the thousands of names around the pools.  I believe it truly shows the diversity of America - each name next to another regardless of ethnicity, gender, or beliefs; each person with their own story.

I can't wait to see the museum when it is completed.  I'm sure it will be a difficult journey through the halls - looking at photos and artifacts, watching video, hearing the sounds of the horrific day, but I still feel that it is important to visit at least once.  From what I have read, the 9/11 Memorial Museum is being built in a similar style to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. (perhaps the most powerful museum I have visited thus far).

All photos taken by me except the center photo