The Foreign Service Journal, October 2008

A S MALL H ITCH My first assignment with the Foreign Commercial Service was to Lagos. I figured they picked me because I was an ambitious new officer who had lived in West Africa before (the fact that I had a pulse and they could direct-assign me may also have played a role). In fact, my wife and I had met in the Peace Corps about six years earlier, when we were both serving as vol- unteers in Cameroon. We figured that Nigeria would be similar in many ways, except this time we’d have a few perks like indoor plumbing and electricity. In some ways, that turned out to be true. Although we were unprepared for how lavish our housing and work environment were in comparison with what we’d had back in our volunteer days, the overall atmosphere of the city was familiar and comfortable to us. I ate daily with my Foreign Service National employees in local chop houses across from the consulate, and was even able to use the pidgin English I’d spoken in Cameroon to break the ice with counterparts and haggle in outdoor markets. But a key difference quickly became apparent. One weekend I was trying to get to the American Club to meet a friend for tennis. My wife had the car, and it was too long (and hot) to walk, so I did what I would have done on any given day anywhere in Cameroon: I stuck out my hand as a motorcycle was passing by and hopped on the back to hitch a ride. The driver took me right to the club, I “dashed” him the equivalent of about 20 cents, and he thanked me and zoomed off. The following Monday, I was called into the regional security officer’s office. Apparently I had been seen — and reported. Riding local transport was a big no-no in Lagos. My initial reaction was disbelief. Could the embassy really be this paranoid? I griped to my wife that evening, but complied with the RSO’s rules from that point forward. Though I’m still not convinced that taking a moto-taxi that day was grounds for reprimand, I do appreciate that approaching a Foreign Service assignment through a Peace Corps lens is not always appropriate. But those of us with that background can definitely draw on our vol- unteer experience to enhance our role as official repre- sentatives of our government. Incidentally, I have written a book (available via Amazon.com) for prospective Peace Corps applicants: So You Want to Join the Peace Corps: What to Know before You Go (Ten Speed Press, 2000). A second edition is due out in the spring of 2009. Dillon Banerjee Senior Commercial Officer Embassy Lisbon usu T HE N EED TO B E F LEXIBLE Based on my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Russia from 1997 to 1999, I would say one of the strongest similarities between the Peace Corps and the Foreign Service is the existence of high levels of ambigu- ity. Members of both organizations operate with varying degrees of uncertainty about their surroundings, roles, responsibilities and communities. In fact, comfort with this aspect of overseas life is probably one of the single best indicators of whether Peace Corps Volunteers and Foreign Service personnel will thrive and succeed. The biggest difference between the two organizations is the weight and inertia of the State Department’s bureaucracy. Getting a $500 educational grant approved as a Peace Corps Volunteer is easier than pitching a new idea — even a cost-free one — at an embassy or con- sulate. Stetson Sanders Vice Consul Consulate Chennai usu T HANKS , S ILVIA ! As a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Jamaica in 1988, I was on the mailing list for the monthly newsletter from Embassy Kingston. One issue mentioned that the Foreign Service Written Exam would be given in the USIS library and had instructions on how to register. On the appointed date, I rode my usual overcrowded bus to town and took the exam. At the break, I met a woman named Silvia, who told me she was the ambassador’s sec- retary. I asked her a plethora of questions, like “Do you have a car? A telephone? Air conditioning?” These were all things I missed, yet I knew I loved living abroad. She cheerfully answered all my questions and must have sensed a kindred spirit, for after the long exam was over she offered to drive me in her car (a rare pleasure for me) F O C U S 40 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 8