Last Friday evening we attended an ISB Board of Trustees dinner at the Hotel Zira here in Belgrade, Serbia. Making a surprise visit was US Ambassador to Serbia, Cameron Munter. One of the board members who works with the US Embassy was leaving Belgrade and the board, and he was there to honor his work with the school. He was very nice and down to earth, even being happy to take a photo with us. Also in the picture is our friend Hido (far left), a husband of a colleague at work.
The Ambassador has only a few days left in his post in Serbia. He is off to Iraq to work on special projects. He was there in 2006 heading up the Reconstruction team. Munter is a career diplomat working in various European posts, such as Deputy Head of Mission in Prague and Warsaw. He is an intellectual also, having a doctorate in European History and being a former professor at UCLA. Everyone at the Embassy tells me he is great to work for and is a decent man. He has a tough job here in Serbia, especially when US government policy on Kosovo is in direct opposition to the opinion of the majority of Serbs.
It would be tough to be an Ambassador. His time is really not his, with so many events that he attends, he is often going from one engagement to another. The night he came to our function, he had two more that evening. It must be difficult on a family! He meets so many people and attends so many dinners, conferences, meetings, etc. Well, Ocean is up and crying, so I need to attend to her. It will be interesting to see who will replace him. It is a long process so we may not know before the year is out.
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