Word of the day is: PLENIPOTENTIARY

Plenipotentiary (from Wikipedia):
As a noun, it refers to a person who has "full powers". In particular, the term commonly refers to a diplomat who is fully authorized to represent their government as a prerogative (e.g., ambassador).

When you are sending a letter to an ambassador, that is what you must include in the title. This is something that I have learned at my summer job.

The other day, Leila and I went to drop off some dresses that she had borrowed from the wife of the Filipino ambassador. She convinced me to go along by telling me that this was the house that Imelda Marcos (of the thousands of shoes) had lived in. We went to the door, which was answered by a little maid in sweatpants, and were escorted to the sitting room. The ambassador's wife came to greet us, and we expected to simply thank her for use of the dresses, steal peaks around the corners of the house, and be on our merry way. However, when an ambassador's wife invites you to sit down and look through the scrapbooks she is working on, what can you do but comply? So we sat there, with orange juice and muffins, looking at her scrapbooks, one of the teas she's been to with the other ambassadors wives (which she confessed to us were rather boring) and the other one which made her eyes light up, full of the Broadway plays that she has gone to here. It is her favorite way to pass an evening while her husband fulfills his plenipotentiary duties. We chatted about plays and life and then went on our merry way. As we stood on the bus, Leila and I kind of looked at each other with this expression of-- was that for real? Yes, indeed, we had just spent an hour with the ambassador's wife.

Now, to some of you, that may not seem like a big deal, but to me this is such a trip because I've always wanted to be in that diplomatic world. She is such a cute lady, and so normal. However, as nice as the house was, as nice as it would be to go to fancy balls and teas and plays, I don't think I'm interested in the ambassador's wife role (sorry Jackie). I want to be the plenipotentiary myself-- I want the full power.

Now it's just a matter of which government I would represent-- my fingerprinting appointment for my U.S. citizenship application is next week!