Morocco RPCV Stephanie Hallett will soon travel to Saudi Arabia, where she will issue visas to Saudis wishing to come to the United States - Hallett will work in Jeddah at the consulate headed by Oman RPCV Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley



Morocco RPCV Stephanie Hallett will soon travel to Saudi Arabia, where she will issue visas to Saudis wishing to come to the United States - Hallett will work in Jeddah at the consulate headed by Oman RPCV Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley

Preparing for the Saudi assignment

by Megan Roarty

Hatchet Staff Writer

Published: 4/18/2005


Caption: GW alumna Stephanie Hallett will soon travel to Saudi Arabia, where she will issue visas to Saudis wishing to come to the United States. Photo: Ben Solomon/Hatchet photographer

[Excerpt]

GW alumna Stephanie Hallett will soon travel to Saudi Arabia, where she will issue visas to Saudis wishing to come to the United States.

Stephanie Hallett recently had her first dream in Arabic. The language did not come easily for Hallett, who has been attending intensive language study at the State Department's Foreign Service Institute in Virginia for the last five months.

But after five hours of class every day, plus an expected two or three hours of additional studying, she is starting to become more comfortable with it.

"It's a complicated language. It's counterintuitive," Hallett said. "But then somehow, it clicks."

Hallett, a Florida native and 27 year-old GW alumna, said she considers Washington her home. She will soon be uprooted and sent to Saudi Arabia, where she will represent the United States government as a Foreign Service officer.

For now, Hallett's full-time paid position is dedicated to learning the Arabic language and about Arabic culture in preparation for her departure to Saudi Arabia. At the end of her intensive Arabic language session in July, Hallett will leave for Saudi Arabia to work at the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah - a tall, blonde-haired woman in a Middle Eastern country.

Hallett's job will include issuing visas to Saudis who wish to come to the United States. Hallett said it was important for her to pay her dues as a consular officer in a place where she believes it really matters.

"Most of the 9/11 visas were issued in Jeddah," Hallett said, referring to the fact that 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia. "Will I give a visa to someone I probably shouldn't have? Maybe. It's a huge responsibility and I think about it a lot."

According to Saudi culture, it is not customary for women to show themselves to men other than their husbands. So, when women come to have interviews and photos taken for their visas and cannot be seen by male consular officers, this poses obvious problems. As an Arabic-speaking woman, Hallett will have the opportunity to spend time with Saudi women in the absence of other men.

Hallett acknowledges there is no doubt she will face hardships in Saudi Arabia. Aside from adjusting to very different standards of a society where women are not permitted to drive or show their faces in public, she will be confined to staying at home or work, and will be driven in an armored car.

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April 17, 2005: This Week's Top Stories The Coyne Column: A Peace Corps Writer Discovery 17 Apr Chris Van Hollen supports Peace Corps budget 17 Apr Joseph Goldstein founded Forest Refuge 17 Apr Judge Flemming Norcott wins community service award 16 Apr Wangari Maathai meets with Kenya Country Director 15 Apr Simon James says corps' days numbered in Uzbekistan 15 Apr Peace Corps not heard anything about Uzbekistan 15 Apr Novak says Chris Dodd attacking anti-Castro officials 14 Apr Taylor Hackford not pleased with content editing 14 Apr Activist W. Retta Gilliam dies in DC 13 Apr Alberto Ibargüen studying newspaper options 13 Apr Christopher Hill says Korea nuclear talks can work 12 Apr DNA undercuts verdict against Jerry Marks 11 Apr Tom Bissell discusses recent events in Kyrgyzstan 11 Apr Chris Gobrecht named Basketball Coach at Yale 11 Apr Glenn Ivers does "Splash for Cash" in icy waters 11 Apr Chris Shays says Delay should step down 10 Apr

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April 17, 2005: Special RPCV Events RPCV Kent Island Family Weekend on May 6 - 8 Joseph Opala speaks in Rhode Island on April 19 South Carolina RPCVs to see off PCVs on April 18 Terry Deshler speaks in Wyoming on April 18 Cameroon RPCVs selling special Pagne Bush proclaims National Volunteer Week RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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RPCVs and Friends remember Pope John Paul II Tony Hall found the pope to be courageous and capable of forgiving the man who shot him in 1981, Mark Gearan said the pope was as dynamic in person as he appears on television, Maria Shriver said he was a beacon of virtue, strength and goodness, and an RPCV who met the pope while serving in the Solomon Islands said he possessed the holiness of a man filled with a deep love and concern for humanity. Leave your thoughts here.

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