The Foreign Service Journal, November 2015

42 NOVEMBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL nous initially: they had no instructions to get to the house, no cell phone or map and one child had already gotten sick all over the side of the car. Fortunately, tides turned and the next year was spent exploring and falling in love with the country. Faber takes readers on the family’s journey while interspers- ing tidbits of New Zealand history, suggestions on places to visit in various cities and observations of the country’s culture. Faber recounts her daughter’s first traditional Maori kapa haka dance performance and the family’s experience adapting to a society that practices more conscious living habits, such as composting. Kristen Faber is the spouse of Foreign Service medical officer and RMO Chad Faber. Her first move was to Togo, when her children were 4 years, 2 years and 4 months old. Faber previously volunteered with the nonprofit organization Women at Risk, to which 50 percent of the profits from each purchase of The Long White Cloud will be donated. My Way: A South Texas Rancher in the Diplomatic Service of the United States Ernesto Uribe, Xlibris, 2015, $29.99/ hardcover; $19.99/paperback; $3.99/Kindle, 292 pages. Ernesto Uribe entered the Foreign Service by pure luck. Born into a ranching fam- ily, he had every intention of continuing the business. On a whim, he applied to and got into Texas A&M College, where he became a track star. After being told he was too young to join USAID as an overseas agriculture specialist, he took the Foreign Service exam instead. He heard little until he was contacted about joining a new programwith USIA as a student affairs grantee where he would conduct youth outreach in Guayaquil, Ecuador—his first posting. In Uribe’s words, he found his way into the Foreign Service world “only because I was at the right place at the right time and was the right age to fill a need.” From these humble beginnings, he proceeded to overseas assignments where he experienced eight coups d’etat and some bloody takeovers. He describes run-ins with bosses and problems with the bureaucracy. He applied his journalism skills in his role as counselor for public affairs in several countries and advocated for increased hiring of Hispanics. As the title of the book implies, during every stage of his career Uribe did things his way, and without shying away from confrontation. Ernesto Uribe joined USIA in 1962 and spent a 33-year career serving tours in seven Latin American countries as well as Wash- ington. He retired as a minister counselor in the Senior Foreign Service in 2005. He is the author of The Unforgiving (2011), Rumors of a Coup (2009) and Tlalcoyote (2001). Tales from Tripoli: An American Family’s Odyssey at a Libyan Boys’ School Kirsten I. Russell, CreateSpace, 2015, $11/paperback; $0.99/Kindle, 287 pages. In December 1951, Ray Eugene Russell, his wife, mother-in-law and three children, all under the age of 7, began their journey to Tripoli. A newly minted FSO, Ray was embarking on an assignment with a new U.S. Foreign Service program as director of the Vocational Agriculture Training Cen- ter, a Libyan boys’ school. His daughter, Kirsten Russell, spent most of her childhood at VATC, and in Tales from Tripoli she describes the extraordi- nary experience of growing up American in a foreign land while coping with a troubled home life. Through family letters, Russell uncovers the notable work her father did at the school, what it meant to the students, what it cost her family and how her family bonds survived. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Libya was one of the poorest countries in the world seeking development assistance. Russell chronicles her childhood impressions in absorbing detail—of Americans and Libyans, as well as the hopes and disappoint- ments of her hard-working, idealistic father. Today, the VATC has become Libya’s foremost educational institution, the University of Libya. Kirsten I. Russell has worked in the publishing field in New York City and Florida. She resides in central Florida and has served as a freelance copy editor for the University Press of Flor- ida. She received the 2012 Marinus Latour Outstanding Volunteer Award for her services to the Florida Historical Society as a copy editor for FHS Press books. The Magic of Dreams: An American Diplomat’s Journey Eleanor Lopes Akahloun, Xlibris, 2014, $29.99/hardcover; $19.99/paperback; $3.99/Kindle, 362 pages. In The Magic of Dreams, Eleanor Lopes Akahloun shares her inspiring personal journey from humble beginnings in a tight- knit Cape Verdean community in Mas-