Embassy Tour

A few weeks ago, we all went to tour the American Embassy.  That was something that Greg and I had wanted to do since we have been here.  It has not been particularly easy to arrange because when Greg is off, it seems that they are almost always closed-because they have a large number of Philippine employees the American Embassy here is closed on all American and all Philippine holidays!  The boys were out of school, Greg was actually getting one of his "off" Fridays, and so we just took Ashley out of school to go for a visit.

It was really neat but sadly I have no pictures to share because, for security reasons, they are VERY strict about no pictures!  The guy who gave us the tour was very nice and friendly, formerly in the military, and now works at the Embassy.  We were shown a fancy room-where press conferences are held and a special conference room.  He told us a lot of history of the Philippine/US relationship and showed us around where he was allowed.  They are so security conscious that we weren't even allowed on the same floor of the building as the ambassador's office.  I had shown the kids the ambassador's picture and told them a little about him.

Harry K. Thomas from Wikipedia

Harry K. Thomas, Jr. (June 3, 1956 in the Harlem section of New York City^[1]) is the United States Ambassador to the Philippines. A former United States Ambassador to Bangladesh (serving from 2003 to 2005) and Director General of the United States Foreign Service (serving from 2007 to 2009), Thomas was designated by US President Barack Obama on November 19, 2009 to replace Kristie Kenney as Ambassador to the Philippines—the first African American to serve at that post.^[2] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 19, 2010^[3] and presented his credentials to Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on April 27, 2010^[4]
Thomas joined the Foreign Service in 1984. In addition to his tenure as Ambassador in Bangladesh, his earlier postings included service in the US embassies in New Delhi, India; Harare, Zimbabwe; Kaduna, Nigeria; and Lima, Peru.^[3] He also served as executive secretary of the US State Department, director of the Department’s Operations Center, and special assistant to the then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.^[2] 
Thomas speaks Spanish, Hindi, and Bengali and is learning Tagalog.

I am impressed with his language skills-Greg was at a meeting where the ambassador spoke and said that he spoke quite a lot of Tagalog.  I had warned the kids that we would not get to meet him but was a little sad that we didn't even get to see the outside of his office.

The yard behind the main embassy building is lovely and according to our tour guide, extremely unusual, because it backs up to Manila Bay.  He said that they don't build embassies like this anymore-again for security reasons.  The building has been around since the 1920s and became the American Embassy officially on July 4, 1946.  There are about 250 American employees and about 1,000 Philippine employees.  The ambassador does not have a set term but serves 3-4 years typically.  There is also a Marine barracks at the Embassy where a few Marines serve a 3 year term.  I asked and was told that the Marines I saw at the American Military Cemetery Memorial Day cermony last year probably came from the Embassy.

It was a very interesting tour and we are glad that were able to go-first time for any of us to ever visit an American Embassy anywhere.