“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far” - Theodore Roosovelt
On Monday afternoon we visited the U.S. embassy (the fortress I mentioned earlier). We gave up our passports to the guard at the desk in exchange for a visitor’s pass and went through a rigorous screening process to gain access to the grounds. The guard checked our bags and asked me to drink some of my water to make sure there wasn’t poison in the bottle. After passing the checkpoint, we stepped on the U.S. soil once more (on the embassy grounds all the laws of the represented country apply). We were ushered into a conference room and given lectures by the heads of the four departments: culture, politics, U.S. aid, and drug control. The lectures took about two and a half hours, but the subjects discussed were very interesting. We talked about the history of the U.S. intervention in the Western Hemisphere and how that history affects current political relationships between the U.S. and other countries. The head of U.S. aid talked about the projects that are funded by the U.S. donations. The head of the drug control department discussed the challenges of her job in a country that historically grows the coca plant. An interesting fact I learned: U.S. does not have a current ambassador in Bolivia because he was expelled by Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia. After our visit to the embassy, we went home to study for a test this week.
