I'm not really sure what an appropriate title would be for this blog entry. It's not my usual "hey, check out what life is like over here" entry.
New Delhi is the second largest US Embassy, right after the one in Afghanistan (who knew?). But that being said, it's still relatively small. I can walk from one end to the other in a matter of minutes and you slowly get to recognize all the faces of the personnel working there. People move from embassy to embassy and sometimes meet up with people they knew from previous posts. This being our first post, we haven't run into anyone yet but several people we know have already moved on to their next post.
This past Tuesday, on the 11th anniversary of September 11th, two of the US Embassies were attacked - one in Libya and one in Cairo. This comes shortly after an attack on an armored embassy vehicle in Peshawar. The US Ambassador and four others were killed in the attack in Libya. The US Consulate was set on fire. The US had an amazing show of support from the people of Libya. Their armed forces stood with the US forces in fighting the attack and the next day there were protests from the people of Libya condemning the attacks on the US... on a country that helped fight against Muammar Gaddafi. The US Ambassador to Libya was a man who was not only passionate about his job but firmly believed and supported in the cause of Libya. As Secretary Clinton said "he was the right man for the job" as Ambassador to Libya.
When we lived back in the states and heard about attacks on the embassies, I'll admit, it didn't register very high. Now that we're part of the embassy community, you realize how tight knit and close the embassy people are. We're a nation spread across many countries around the world. We're angered when we hear of attacks and we mourn when we learn of deaths.
Today was a somber day as we lowered the flags to half mast in memory of Chris Stevens and the four embassy personnel who were killed. We read statements and emails from our Ambassador, Secretary Clinton, and President Obama. And we all felt a tad bit more vulnerable.
New Delhi is the second largest US Embassy, right after the one in Afghanistan (who knew?). But that being said, it's still relatively small. I can walk from one end to the other in a matter of minutes and you slowly get to recognize all the faces of the personnel working there. People move from embassy to embassy and sometimes meet up with people they knew from previous posts. This being our first post, we haven't run into anyone yet but several people we know have already moved on to their next post.
This past Tuesday, on the 11th anniversary of September 11th, two of the US Embassies were attacked - one in Libya and one in Cairo. This comes shortly after an attack on an armored embassy vehicle in Peshawar. The US Ambassador and four others were killed in the attack in Libya. The US Consulate was set on fire. The US had an amazing show of support from the people of Libya. Their armed forces stood with the US forces in fighting the attack and the next day there were protests from the people of Libya condemning the attacks on the US... on a country that helped fight against Muammar Gaddafi. The US Ambassador to Libya was a man who was not only passionate about his job but firmly believed and supported in the cause of Libya. As Secretary Clinton said "he was the right man for the job" as Ambassador to Libya.
When we lived back in the states and heard about attacks on the embassies, I'll admit, it didn't register very high. Now that we're part of the embassy community, you realize how tight knit and close the embassy people are. We're a nation spread across many countries around the world. We're angered when we hear of attacks and we mourn when we learn of deaths.
Today was a somber day as we lowered the flags to half mast in memory of Chris Stevens and the four embassy personnel who were killed. We read statements and emails from our Ambassador, Secretary Clinton, and President Obama. And we all felt a tad bit more vulnerable.
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