The Foreign Service Journal, March 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2021 67 An hour later we arrived in Qoornoq. In the 1950s, it had been a thriving fishing town with 1,400 workers. But now it was largely abandoned, reduced to a cluster of seasonal cabins. We walked the decrepit buildings where fish once hung in nets to dry, as icebergs floated by. A child’s doll sat naked— inexplicably—in a rusted chair, watching our every move. Back on the water, we fished for cod with rope and a spindle. My colleagues lowered four bare hooks and hauled up four fat fish. An underachiever, I only got three.