Alas, Wings!

For reasons not clear to anyone, chicken wings (alas or alitas) have become omnipresent across Guadalajara, with at least a dozen different chains and countless independent outlets vying for some of that sweet wings money,

I don;t really have much else to say about it, really. I'm not a huge wings guy myself and I don't really understand why this is such a thing.

When it Rains

 

Despite its many charms, Guadalajara has a big problem: the summer.

Or, more precisely, the months of March, April, and May.

At this point, the mild winter temperatures have given way to t=scorching Mexican heat. But not to worry, when the rains come, it'll cool everything down.

The rains don't arrive til June...

That means we have about 3 months out of the year when it is hot, dry, and exceedingly dusty.  Part of this is due to weather and part of it is because of the lack of tree covering for the city.

But last night it stoooorrrrmed and everyhting is much better.

How do you get a visa?

There's not a simple answer to that question.

There are many types of visas n the world.

Immigrant visas.

Work visas.

Student visas.

But if you mean a regular, tourist/business visa, here's the short version.

You must:

1. Not have any ineligibilities (past immigration violations, serioues crimes etc.)

2.   Overcome section 214(b) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA)

OK, so what the hell is that?

To put t as plainly as possible, you must visit the Consular Officer that you do not intend to misuse your visa. In other words, you must demonstrate that you have a good reason to stay in your country of residence, and not live or work without authorization in the United States.

How do you do that?

Well, the usual way is to show strong ties. A good job, family connections, a government pension.

All visa applicants are PRESUMED to be immigrants until they show otherwise.

Despite the rumors, there is no set rule about how much money you have t make, how many kids you need to have or anything else.

Happy interviewing...

Comida Tapatia: Birria

One of the lesser-known culinary greats you can get is Jalisco is birria.

A rich, warming and spicy stew usually made of beef or goat (goat is better).  Birria is terrific on the few cold nights of the year, though Jaliscenses will serve it no matter what the weather.

Birria is also an excellent celebration dish due to the ease of making large quantities. It is particularly popular at weddings.

Like many other Mexican dishes, the stew is usually served with diced onions, lime, and cilantro.

Meat cooked in the birria style (marinated in spices and chilis, then stewed) is also served on tacos.

Rethinking the Battlefield

With top State Department positions unfilled and the hiring freeze extended, it's nice to know there are people out there who get it.

I'd like to thank Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut for his Rethinking the Battlefield initiative, which seeks to xpand and strengthen America's diplomatic might.

Talk is cheap, but it can move mountains. Analysis and expertise are never to be devalued.

Guadalajarences?

For reasons that are not entirely clear, very few people from cities in Latin American have demonyms which have obvious origins.

People from Mexico City are chilangos.

From Buenos Aires, portenos. 

Bogota, rolos. 

And people from Guadalajara are called tapatios. 

The term apparently derives from an old Nahuatl coin or monetary unit, the tapatiotl. 

It is also a brand of hot sauce.

 

Why Join the Foreign Service? Part VI

“The life you have led doesn’t need to be the only life you have.”

– Anna Quindlen

No Bueno

Julia Ioffe has written a bleak description of a forlorn State Department in her latest piece for The Atlantic. “The cafeteria is so crowded all day” because “no one’s doing anything,” one official told her; another said her job “feels like coming to the hospital to take care of a terminally ill family member.” “I don’t think this administration thinks the State Department needs to exist,” Ioffe was told. “They think Jared [Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law] can do everything.”

Full article here.

The Foreign Service on the Page: Foreign Service Girl

The more things change...

Foreign Service Girl the tale of young Francine Dudley, a bright young woman whose dream is to be become a Foreign Service Officer. Of course, this is in the Bad Old Days when the diplomatic corps was very decidedly 'male, pale and Yale'.  Career opportunities for woman or minorities of any kind were decidedly limited.

After passing the Written Test but failing the Oral Assessment (there was no QEP back then - oh sweet time of innocence!) Francis decides to join as a secretary.

Her first assignment is to Oram, a vaguely Middle Eastern country which is something like a cross between Iran and Morocco. After serving her tour there, she is transferred to her dream assignment of Paris. There are some misadventures and cultural misunderstandings, but finally things work out happily (though somewhat disappointingly for modern readers).

Of course, some aspects of foreign service life have changed. The service is more diverse, attitudes towards the local staff are (usually) more enlightened, and women are no longer forced out when they get married.

On the other hand, some aspects of Francine's experience are remarkably current. Her bewilderment over being assigned to a little-traveled backwater, the stark difference in social life between a small hardship post and a large European capital, and the emotional stresses Foreign Service Officers undergo still happen with regularity.

We've come a long way. But the world can still be a very intimidating place.

Speak Up, but not too much

Word has been spreading about the 1,000 Foreign Service Officers who have signed a dissent cable protesting the president's recent executive order on immigrants and refugees.

But what IS a 'dissent cable' anyway? Well, let's break it down.

A cable is the method of communication between America's various representative's abroad - ambassadors, diplomats, and other members of the mission - and the 'home base' in Washington. These cables are usually assigned a marker indicating their urgency.

Dissent cables are different. They were created during the Vietnam War as a means for members of the diplomatic corps to express disagreement with official policy without risking their jobs. The most famous example is the Blood Telegram, written by the staff of Consulate General Dhaka (and named for Consul General Archer Blood to protest the Nixon Administration's support of Pakistan during the Bangladeshi war for independence:

 So, are dissent cables effective? That depends on who is in charge - some administrations are more open to different viewpoints. Others simply ignore them, or view dissent as disloyalty. No guesses as to what the current administration thinks.

The Foreign Service on Screen: Embajada Gringa

There are endless myths about how to acquire an American visa - what to say, what to bring, what not to admit etc. We FSOs try to take them in stride.

Freeze!

So there's a federal hiring freeze...AND a new directive to signifcantly ramp up our scrutiny of visa applicants.

Those two things will definitely work together.

Hypocritic Immunity

I realize I'm a bit late on this one, but it's still worth bringing up.

After years and years of shrieking about BENGHAZI BENGHAZI BENGHAZI and how Hilary Clinton LET OUR PEOPLE DIE, we get this gem of a bill from Ted Cruz and other Senate Republicans:

 A trio of GOP senators have introduced legislation that would cut security, construction, and maintenance funds for U.S. embassies around the world in half until the president moves the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Turns out our safety is nothing but a political bargaining chip for these people.

Oh yeah, and one of my colleagues was shot a few weeks ago (currently recovering well).

Shut Your Hatch

With a new administration coming in, us Foreign Service Officers are beset -from within and without - with questions about our opinions. How do we feel about Trump? Will we all quit en masse? What about the wall etc. etc.

Well, it turns out there's a thing called the Hatch Act. Passed in 1939, this is a law which restricts employees of the Executive Branch from engaging in certain political activities.

The origins of the Act are hardly noble - it grew out of opposition to the New Deal - but it certainly makes sense to try and prevent public officials from becoming instruments of partisanship.

In practice, of course, things are a little murkier.  Plenty of my colleagues maintain a social media presence and it doesn't take a crystal ball to divine their opinions.  But the question is - at what point do one's private opinions became a matter of public concern? I favor less control, not more. I'd rather people be allowed to voice their opinions, even if embarrasses the administration.