This morning, we were picked up from our hotel by an embassy car with three Foreign Service Officers, of whom two we got to know pretty well: Mary Sue and Dinah. They took us to an international school, Nido de Aguilas, where we presented to an eigth-grade science class about our trip. The students were attentive, although shy, but they were really curious about what we had to say.
When we got to the embassy in the afternoon, clearing security took longer than we had expected, but once we got cleared, we were escorted by Dinah to the Marine who traded us our passports for credentials and we went inside the building. The embassy is beautiful. It reminds me of the inside of the Wisconsin State Capitol, with marble and granite floors and walls. There were a whole bunch of official-looking people inside—more than usual, apparently, because of the presence of aides for Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden, who will be attending the inauguration of Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. One of the aides went to UW-Madison for his undergrad. What a small world.
We went to a conference room and presented to a crowd of at least ten embassy staff. It was really nice of them to come hear us because there were other really important meetings going on at the same time. They were all really impressed with our presentation and asked lots of questions. They also shared what their jobs were, and it was really interesting, for me especially, to hear about the overlap between science and diplomacy. The idea of being an embassy science staffer had already been in my head, but it is becoming more interesting to me.
From talking with the diplomats, I learned that there are ways in which I could do needful science abroad in collaboration with people from other countries. That experience also solidified my desire not only to live abroad, but to study science.
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