WORKING AT THE U.S. EMBASSY, RIO DE JANEIRO

WORKING AT THE U.S. EMBASSY IN RIO DE JANEIRO – Part I
C 2009 JoJo

I want to preface this blog by saying that all the events I am relating are true and happened as described, but like any responsible writer, all the names of the people involved have been changed.

After finishing College in England, I went back home to Rio de Janeiro, and spent four years working for the U.S. Embassy there (at that time, Rio was still the Capital of Brazil). I was just over 20 when I first started working there.

The U.S. Embassy was a beautiful, imposing building located on Avenida Presidente Wilson. Its entire outer surface was comprised of … glass. I could never understand the rationale behind having a glassed in Embassy, because whenever there were any internal problems going on in Rio, even though the U.S. was not in any way involved or responsible for them, inevitably irate citizens would come and vent their spleen by throwing rocks at the Embassy! Go figure! I reckon the U.S. Government kept many Brazilian glassiers in business!

Every morning, an Embassy car would come to pick me up, and would bring me home at the end of my work day. Boy was I spoiled! I didn’t have to strap hang on an overcrowded bus, pressed up against unkempt and often smelly bodies, like thousands upon thousands of other working people did, on a daily basis! No sir, I sat at the back of a nice roomy car, and rode into work in style!

On entering the Embassy, there was a big atrium dominated by a U.S. flag on a long pole mounted over a huge brass eagle. Very impressive and awe inspiring. Well, it never ceased awe inspiring me!

The Embassy is guarded by Marine Guards around the clock. In order to be allowed to enter the Embassy, I’d have to present my pass to them, and believe me, they insisted on my doing this even though they knew who I was, and where I worked – in fact, at the time I was dating one of them (I’ve always been a sucker for a guy in uniform! Lol).

I worked for a department of the Embassy called USOM – United States Operations Mission to Brazil. My first boss was a man named Mr. Manson, (a married man) who was caught canoodling with his locally hired very curvaceous assistant, Renalda in his office (not very discrete that). Now in most other work places, the assistant would’ve been fired, and the boss kept on, but I learned that this was not the American Embassy’s way of doing things, which impressed the dickens out of me. She was promptly transferred to another department, while Mr. Manson was assigned a post in Laos which, at the time, was a hot spot and not a desirable place in which to be. However, before he could go, he had a heart attack due to stress, overwork, (and possibly his activities with the fair Renalda) and died. I was immediately assigned to replace her.

Two weeks later, Robert J. Frisco flew in from Washington, and replaced the now defunct Mr. Manson.

The order of command in the Embassy was as follows: the Ambassador was first in command, followed by the Charge d’Affaires, then the Executive Office, namely my boss, R.J.

I had to have special security clearance for this job, and believe me, whatever department was in charge of securing it, they were extremely thorough! They traced me right back to the time I was born! I had letters and phone calls from people who’d known me from birth, telling me that they’d been required to vouch for me. The head of my College in England was also interviewed and had to provide them with a character reference, that I was an honest and reliable person. I even had a swearing in ceremony, where I had to place my hand on a Bible being held by Mr. Parrott, Chief Security Officer, stating that I would not divulge any information that passed through my hands to anyone at any time, or any place, so help me God. And it goes without saying, that I never have, nor would I do so even if I could remember any of it which I most definitely can not!

R.J. was responsible for every employee in the Embassy. He also oversaw two major health programs: malaria eradication and the inoculation of native Indian tribes against tuberculosis and other communicable diseases.

Native Brazilian Indians are fit and healthy but, not having been exposed to any diseases in their natural state in the jungle, they haven’t built up immunity to any of them. Once they come into contact with people from the “civilized” world, they die like flies, principally from tuberculosis. So teams of U.S. and Brazilian doctors would go into the jungle, to find tribes and vaccinate every one of them against tuberculosis, whooping cough, malaria and all other communicable diseases.

This was no easy task. There are no roads in the jungle, often there were rivers that had to be crossed along the way, with no bridges or ferries or boats. Accompanying them would be a team of carpenters to build rafts on the spot, to ferry the jeeps carrying all the necessary equipment, across these rivers. There would also be men armed with machetes and saws to clear a pathway on which the jeeps would travel.

As if that wasn’t arduous enough, when they arrived to the vicinity of where the tribe lived, they had to somehow win the trust of the Indians and not get themselves killed by curare tips blow darts before full trust could be achieved!

They always filmed these expeditions from start to finish, and when they returned, a memo would appear in my mail box telling me (and all the other employees) that their movie would be shown in the Embassy movie theatre on the ground floor at such and such a time. If we could be spared from our jobs, we were invited to go down and watch it. I always managed to be “spared,” because I was absolutely fascinated by the kind of problems and challenges these teams faced daily. Besides, who wanted to work when they could be watching a movie instead?

After arriving to where an Indian tribe was located, the team would have gifts laid out on the boundary between themselves and their future “patients.” Then they waited patiently, for the gifts to be accepted. Eventually the gifts (aluminum pots pans and knives, which were greatly desired and coveted by the Indians) would disappear, and the Indians would reciprocate with “gifts” in return – necklaces of beads created from dried berries and seeds, bows, arrows, feathered head bands – things that Indians typically created for their own personal use.

At this point, the Indian interpreter brought along by the team, would make the first approach and would enter into intensive dialogue with the Indian Chief. Still the team waited patiently, while getting devoured by voracious mosquitoes, black flies and all manner of insects. Eventually the Indian interpreter would return accompanied by the Chief and his henchmen. Introductions were made, and the team was finally allowed into their village.

The team lived with the Indian Tribe, participated in their activities and games, and gradually won their trust and friendship. They did nothing to interfere with the Indians’ practices or rituals. I remember on such ritual vividly, and frankly, it horrified me. A young girl had come of age to be someone’s wife, and a net was thrown over her by the man who was claiming her, just as if she were a wild animal. She was dragged to the ground and hauled off, amid the cheers of the men in the tribe.

Then came the hard part for the team – convincing the Indians to allow themselves to be inoculated. After the interpreter had explained the purpose of the shots, the doctor actually injected each other in the Indians’ presence, (probably with a saline solution or something equally innocuous) to show them how harmless it was and the interpreter told them it would protect them against the “evil spirits” they were convinced were responsible for the outbreak of illnesses that killed them off mercilessly, once they’d come into contact with anyone from the “civilized” world.

It was fascinating watching this dedicated team of doctors, vaccinate and inoculate the entire tribe – men, women, crying children and babies too. It was also intensely gratifying to think that this tribe anyway, would be immune to the diseases which killed off entire tribes throughout the Amazon.

Having accomplished their mission, the team then made their weary way back home.

There is too much to write about in just one blog, regarding the years I worked in the American Embassy, so I will split it into several blogs.

In closing I would like to add that the four years I worked for the U.S. Embassy were wonderful, productive and very happy. I remember them with great fondness. It was the beginning of the love that I’ve subsequently had for the U.S. and for Americans. Ever since that term of employment, when my every working day embroiled me in all things American, for some indefinable reason, I’ve always felt that America is my spiritual home.