The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2020

46 JULY-AUGUST 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL March 18, 2020 | Homeschool Begins As reports of COVID-19 grew, Alex’s school transitioned to online learning. Because our plan was to ride out the pandemic in Luanda, we set up a home classroom and embraced our new normal. Shortly after this photo was taken, Angola closed its borders to commercial flights. March 20 | Decision to Depart Luanda Following an Emergency Action Committee meeting, Pablo called me to discuss the idea of me and Alex heading back to the States. Though Angola’s borders were closed to commercial flights, Chevron offered their assistance to our embassy, providing seats aboard their chartered flight. We were given two days to pack; but, thankfully, delays bought us a few extra days together. The night before our voyage, we spent the evening building a LEGO sports car. March 29 | Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport Americans lined the entrance to Luanda’s international airport. Our consular affairs section was there to process departing American citizens, and our management team was there to ensure we were well taken care of. March 29 | Saying Good-bye to Dad The caption I used when sharing this image on social media was: “In our line of work, being essential sometimes means having to say good-bye to your best friend.” And while many will argue that it’s not really good-bye, that’s difficult for a 7-year-old to process.