What Diplomats Do

You may have noticed that I haven’t written a word on this blog since I joined A-100. Because I’m too busy, right? Well, there’s actually another important reason.

First Assignment: Berlin!

I could hardly contain myself as the announcer, speaking to a room filled with newly minted diplomats and 300 of their closest friends and family, began: “Berlin, Germany….” I buried my face in my hands as I muttered “there is no way I’m getting this” before jumping out my chair when my name was called, stumbling past my classmates and generally acting like an idiot as I progressed towards the podium where I received a little German flag.

FOREIGN SERVICE EXAME ADVICE FOR COL

Foreign Service exam advice for students: where to start, what to know, and what to expect.

12 WAYS TO WORK AT THE US EMBASSY

Jobs at the US embassy are not just reserved for diplomats (I mean FSO Generalists) – the majority of American employees in embassies are actually something else. So what types of hires are they? And how do you get a job like that?

HOW TO BECOME A DIPLOMAT

LIFE AS A DIPLOMAT& WORLD CITIZEN

Running in The Gambia: routes & tips

Note: this post is a work in progress! Because there’s little publicly available information about road running, or any running, in Banjul/The Gambia, I'm sharing my experiences and collating the snippets of information I manage to gather. I'm a happy amateur runner living in Fajara since August 2025. When & where to run in The Gambia Sports and fitness are common in The Gambia, but long-distance running doesn't seem to be a thing here. As far as my observations go, there are

Nov 94 min read

DETO realities: 3 months in

Well, I guess it’s time to talk about work! Since this is ultimately a blog about being a diplomat, I can’t get around talking about my work life for too long. Even though I generally find it much more fun to talk about my travel, hobbies, and daily adventures overseas. To recap: this is my third assignment as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer generalist and overall my eighth tour overseas. What makes this tour different is that I’m doing a domestic job, a “desk job” rather than

Nov 24 min read

Casablanca reconnaissance

I did not want to spend the night in Casablanca. I missed my flight to Banjul by almost an hour so I knew I would have to wait for 24 hours, but there was no way I was going to turn this extended layover into a sightseeing trip. I just wasn’t in the mood. It was 2AM, after all. But once I finally figured out how to get a new boarding pass and a hotel voucher, alongside a dozen other tired and confused travelers en route to Banjul, Dakar, Niamey and Dakhla (a surfer’s paradise

Oct 274 min read

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Welcome to What Diplomats do!

Welcome to my site! Like the title says, this website is for everyone who wonders what diplomats do.

Just remember that everything on here is just my personal perspective, not the Department of State's perspective, and certainly not the absolute truth.