All of the Fulbright ETAs were invited by the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, Vilma Socorro Martínez, to tea at the ambassador’s residence.
Before being appointed by Barack Obama to this position, she was a lawyer, civil rights activist and diplomat. Born into a Mexican American family in San Antonio, Texas in 1943, she was discouraged to pursue college, but she went on to study at the University of Texas at Austin and then on to law school at Columbia. She’s the first female to be the U.S. ambassador to Argentina!!
It was very kind of her to make time for us, and she was a very down-to-earth, personable woman. The best moment for me, however, was when she started talking about her trip onboard an aircraft carrier. One of the Fulbrighter’s boyfriends (in the plaid shirt) who joined for the tea party is an army pilot and was sitting right next to her. Not only was it interesting to hear about how planes are catapulted up into the air since they have a much shorter runway, etc., but to me, it was also a kind of special moment where the politician meets the person who actually carries out U.S. policy.
Check out the photos of where the ambassador lives…she actually lives on the third floor, which is more modern and practical, but how great would it be to saw you lived here??
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