I happened to arrive in Rwanda a couple weeks before a reception at the home of the US Ambassador here that was being held to introduce him to the American Ex-patriot community. He was appointed here by George W. Bush after being Ambassador to Djibouti and Niger in the past. Ambassador W. Stuart Symington comes from a well-known St. Louis family. When I went to the reception a few weeks ago, I mentioned to him and his wife, Susan, that Erin and I are moving to St. Louis in August and that her parents live there. Susan and the Ambassador were interested in the work I'm doing here, but also excited to hear that I will be moving to the Wash. U. School of Medicine in St. Louis where their daughter is a first-year medical student. In fact, they invited us to lunch this past Wednesday to take advantage of Erin being here. We had a fantastic meal and very interesting conversation. They invited two other St. Louisans (or is it St. Louisians?) to join us: Laura Hoemeceke--the IntraHealth director, and Christina Bryant--who is here working with Partners in Health. We played the name game a bit and realized that when we move to St. Louis in August we will know more people than we thought. The Ambassador and his wife have lived all over the world. How small a world must it feel to them?
From what I understand, one of the thousands of appointments President Obama had to make in his first week was reappointing Ambassador Symington to Rwanda. He and his wife make a great team. He is extremely passionate about the work he is doing and the work other Americans in Rwanda are doing. It was a wonderful opportunity. Erin's family is already familiary the St. Louis Symingtons and we look forward to getting to know them as well.
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