The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2020 61 Silver Linings in the Pandemic Mariya Ilyas ■ Amman When I was considering the U.S. Foreign Service, a mentor recommended I read Inside a U.S. Embassy: Diplomacy at Work (AFSA, 2011), a collection of narratives giving insight into the life and work of diplomats serving overseas. I read stories about the challenges of raising a family abroad, essays about pride and humility in serving our great nation, anecdotes of making friends from different cultures and expanding the concept of family and home, tales of travels in new and unfamiliar places—but the most poignant stories were diplomats’ reflections on responding to a crisis. An immigrant from Pakistan, I started my dream career in September 2018. Yet never once during A-100 orientation or tradecraft training did it occur to me that I would be plunged into responding to a crisis myself during my very first tour. Jordan was one of the first countries to implement a strict nationwide lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 14, its government announced the closure of airports and borders, shut down the public and private sectors (except for essential services) and enforced a strict curfew that prohibited movement of people and vehicles. The Jordanian government’s measures significantly helped contain the spread of the virus in a country of nearly 10 million people. The results speak for them- selves: As of June 1, there were 739 positive cases and nine deaths. When the health crisis became a global pandemic and airports shut down, U.S. citizens in Jordan began to panic. Emails and calls poured into the embassy, as people ran out of food, money, medication and—as the crisis dragged on—patience and hope. Our consular teamworked long hours to log and respond to more than 4,000 inquiries. Some problems were harder to solve than others, but no plea for help went unnoticed. While communicating with citizens and gathering data were the Consul General Bob Jachim oversees Embassy Amman’s consular reception station, which checks in Americans boarding buses to the airport for late-night repatriation flights. AMIABOU-BAKR first steps in determining the need for repatriation assistance, the repatriation process had many moving parts and multiple stake- holders beyond the consular section. Embassy Amman success- fully organized eight repatriation flights, helping more than 1,000 U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents reunite with families and loved ones back in the United States. As an entry-level officer, I have found being a part of the COVID response team a professionally rewarding experience. Yet the long hours eventually led to physical and mental exhaustion. The curfew forced us to rely on gro- cery delivery services and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air only from our windows or balconies (if we were lucky to have one). And while home confinement meant greater responsibility and heightened awareness for self-care, I found my health deteriorating. Exercise was no longer inherently built into my routine. Rather, I found myself hunched over my laptop, sometimes not leaving the couch for hours. I experienced a loss of appe- tite. The stress was compounded by a sense of loneliness as a single person in the Foreign Service. But Alhumdulillah , praise be Mariya llyas celebrates another successful round of consular efforts helping Americans board repatriation flights in Jordan with colleagues Olivia Sumpter (left) and Diana Madanat (right). MARIYA ILYAS