The Foreign Service Journal, October 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2016 25 Pollution can lead to serious health issues, and dealing with that can be a bureaucratic nightmare. BY DEBORAH LYNN COVER STORY Deborah Lynn, a Foreign Service officer since 1998, served as cultural affairs officer in Jakarta from 2014 to 2016. She previously served in Frankfurt, Kyiv, Tbilisi, Moscow, Afghanistan and the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, and she was seconded to NATO’s Interna- tional Staff. She currently serves as deputy director for the Africa Team at State's Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization. The views expressed are hers alone and not necessarily those of the U.S. government. W hen I received word that my bid to be cultural affairs officer in Jakarta had been accepted, I was thrilled! I looked forward to finding a great school for my son and daugh- ter, doing interesting work in an important, Muslim-majority country, and exploring a country and region where I’d never served. To be sure, I understood the drawbacks to living in a megacity; the risk of contracting dengue, typhoid and other tropical diseases; and the horrendous traffic in Indonesia’s capital. But I was ready to take those challenges in stride. Indonesia, indeed, proved to be a fascinating place to live, work and travel—until nine months into my tour, when I came down with pneumonia. Running Ragged Prior to arriving at post in 2014, I had prided myself on being physically active. I frequently participated in races ranging from 10 milers to marathons, and hoped to do the same in Jakarta. My work schedule made that more difficult, but I fit in runs whenever I could—at the school track while my son was at evening Boy Scout meetings or around my neighborhood on Saturday mornings. In early June 2015, I felt myself fighting the hacking cough and upper respiratory issues that seemed to be making the MACCOATES/WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/49246618@N04/4715954965 BREATHLESS IN JAKARTA A CAUTIONARY TALE