My life has been full of surprises since May 7th 2004. It was when I was selected to be a diplomat in the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.
But the best surprise so far was when I was told that I would be posted to New York City to serve my country in the United Nations.
It is really strange that I cannot remember the date. It was on June 2006. It was a crazy day. I felt that there was something weird going on in the air that I could not understand.
I was working as a protocol officer then. The Chief of Protocol His Excellency Makram Al-Qaisi asked me to discuss a certain protocol duty with the Secretary General of the ministry His Excellency Mr. Khaldoun Al-Talhouni at that day. At the end of our discussion Al-Talhouni said “You will go to a good post, do not worry Samar.”
I received the news with a great satisfaction; I was certain that I would be posted to the Big Apple.
I informed my best friend Anas Al-Oran immediately. I whispered that I would be posted to New York. He was suspiciously silent.
Half an hour later. I received a written note informing me that I will be posted to New York. I shouted happily while my tears were rolling down.
I hugged my colleague Sinan Al-Majali, who was working with me at the same office; I never did that to any man in the ministry. And I thanked Al-Qaisi for all of his efforts to achieve what I wanted.
The news was already spread out to my colleagues, who knew their posts at that time as well. Al-Oran called me, he said you made it girl. He called me Pocahontas in a follow-up e-mail.
Al-Oran informed me that he was worried about me if I would not get New York.
“I am proud of you,” he said. He told me that if I want something I simply get it.
At this moment, I felt that I arrived to the end of the tunnel, and light was the only thing waiting for me. I was so proud of all the hard work I had done to achieve what I wanted for a very long time.
I thought that the story had finished.
Being a diplomat from the Middle East in the United Nations in New York has held many more surprises than I have expected.
3 comments:
Hey,
Wonderful post! I was just curious why your best friend was "suspiciously silent." Was he jealous of your post or is there something more to this story?
I'm sure you will post more about this but I really want to know "a day in the life of a diplomat at the UN." I don't know anyone else who has access to the building and it would be so interesting to read about what goes on inside the walls of the building.
Also, I've heard that the restaurants around the UN are the best for authentic ethnic food because they are so frequently visited by foreign diplomats. Is this true? Could you recommend a few places for us?
My friend was suspiciously silent because he thought that I was trying to believe that I would be posted to the UN. He was worried that if the news would be otherwise. I would be upset.
I wanted that very much. I worked hard for a year to get it .
As of the day in the UN. This will be part of my next post. I will shed the light on food as well as part of my daily schedule.
I alwyays find reading about life transitions really interesting. Why were you so happy to get a post in NYC? Was the transition difficult in anyway? Curious to read more
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