A visit to an embassy

Wow!

This is so cool!

I actually got to meet the U.S. ambassador to Brazil. He took time from his very busy schedule to show me his office yesterday (Oct. 6).

Amb. Clifford Sobel took me into his office where I got to see the office and learn about the kind of work he does.

Let me tell you a little about what an ambassador does.

The short and simple is that the ambassador is the personal representative of the president of the United States.

Back before reliable telephone lines and the Internet whenever a president wanted to communicate with the leaders of other countries, he would send a telegram to his ambassador and he (usually "he" in the past) would request a meeting with the king, queen, prime minister or president of that country.

But even at a time when the U.S. president can pick up the phone and call anyone in the world, ambassadors still have the very important role of delivering personal messages from the president to world leaders.

Some ambassadors -- like Amb. Sobel -- are from the private sector. They are often business or political leaders. They all have special skills or talents that the president thinks will help improve relations between the United States and the host country.

Other ambassadors are professional foreign service officers. Again, these people might have special skills as negotiators or have knowledge of a country to be named.

What both these groups have in common is that it takes the approval of the U.S. Senate to become an ambassador. So you can imagine it is not an easy job to get or do.

Ambassadors spend their days promoting American interests.

Some days it could be meeting with the president of a country in the morning and then with a group of students who want to know more about the United States in the afternoon.

Every day is different.

It sounds very interesting. And it is. But it is also very tiring. Amb. Sobel works very long days. Even when he is on vacation he checks in with the embassy staff to see how things are going and suggests meetings he wants to have when he gets back.

And speaking of the embassy staff, as with any large organization, the ambassador depends on the embassy team to get things done.

The job of running the embassy falls on the shoulders of the deputy chief of mission. In the case of the U.S. embassy in Brazil, that person is Lisa Kubiske, Dani's aunt. (That's her on the right with her driver from the embassy.)

There are lots of issues the embassy has to keep an eye on. Everything from local elections to military affairs to business deals to local arts and culture need to be covered and reported back to Washington.

Besides the embassy there are three consulates (think of them as branch offices of the embassy) that have staff to keep an eye on local things.

But it is the embassy that has the "big picture" of events in Brazil that are important to the United States.

Most of the employees are in the State Department but others work for the Commerce, Defense, Justice and Agriculture departments. Lots and lots of people are in this embassy -- and embassies around the world -- working to keep the U.S. government informed about what is going on in the world.

Pretty neat work. If you can get it.

I found out that the people in the embassy are from all over the country. (One woman is from northern Michigan. So much for the idea that only East Coast or West Coast people get in.) All they had to do is take a test and pass an interview. (Gee, just like any other job.)

And once they pass everything, they get training in languages and the skills needed to work overseas.

And then they get to live overseas.

How cool is that?

Here is the link to find out how to join the Foreign Service: State Department Careers

Well, gotta go.

I am going to be stuffed back into a box pretty soon and sent off to places yet to be determined. I have heard a lot of possibilities. One is even Iraq! Another is Peru.

I can't wait to see the rest of the world.