By Alexandra Paucescu
If I had to describe her in one word, I would say ‘SOLAR’. She is pure joy, full of life and energy and you will definitely agree with me after you read these lines.
Christie Jones, the Peruvian specialized in Public Relations and Communications, who is as well a certified life coach, a nutritionist and a Zumba instructor, is also the wife of a US diplomat. And this is how our life stories change their course, after joining the diplomatic world.
‘I absolutely loved my career, I had so much fun with it. But the day I became a mom for the first time, I decided to also become a stay-at-home mom. My husband knew how much I enjoyed my career and has always supported me to go back to work and do what brings me joy. As life kept progressing and we were moving every few years, my vision of being a pillar for my family of 6 kept becoming clearer. I enjoy cooking, baking, reading, praying, practicing Pilates reformer and of course, traveling. I love learning and appreciating new cultures and people. I like participating in local charity work, supporting new families arriving at post and taking classes of my interest. I am passionate about food, what it does to our bodies and having a balanced life. I’m also passionate about mental health and the journey of growing into better versions of ourselves.’
Husband’s career took them for a few years to Portugal, Honduras, Bolivia, Washington DC and now Jerusalem. Before he became a diplomat, he was a US Air Force Officer, and they also lived in many places across the US, from Florida and Missouri to Las Vegas.
‘My favorite place would have to be Terceira, Portugal. Portuguese people are so welcoming and kind. We enjoyed all their traditions, wine and food. We had plenty of family time and become good friends with the locals. We miss that place every day. Having said that, we have enjoyed every place we’ve lived in. Some more than others, but they’ve all made me smile and they have all been a learning lesson. We also enjoy taking summer vacations in different places. For our first time ever, we will be going back to the same spot, two years in a row. I think we’ve found our vacation home forever in Greece!
I love to see the world, to try new foods, smell new places, see new colors, traditions and kindness in people completely different from us…to appreciate humanity. I love the childhood my kids are having. I love how they have a broader perspective of the world. Our 4th grader is learning about the Romans and the Colosseo, our 5th grader is learning about the Greeks and the Acropolis, they can both say they’ve been there already. We’ve lived in Tegucigalpa where, at the time, it was the second murder capital of the world and yet we had many happy times with lemon grass plants, avocado and lemon trees growing in our backyard. We lived in La Paz, the highest capital in the world, where walking sometimes could become a challenge, yet we went on hikes, learned about the Aymara culture and visited Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flats in the world. We’ve seen first-hand poverty and have also seen gratitude and kindness. We are living in a war zone right now, yet my kids have made good Jewish and Palestinian friends. We’ve been olive picking in the Mount of Olives and swam in the Dead Sea. To me, that’s beautiful.’
That is beautiful, indeed. However, Christie doesn’t forget to mention also the challenges that a life such as ours has, the challenges that not many see or acknowledge.
‘For sure we have plenty of challenges, like reinventing ourselves every few years in places where many times we don’t even speak the local language. Yet, we must guide our kids through this new “adventure” while everything feels so new and foreign to us. Diplomatic life can feel a bit isolating, but I’ve learned to branch out, to meet different people from different missions, organizations and try to make local friends. It has not always been easy, like now living through a war and having to run into our bomb shelter every time the sirens go off and ballistic missiles are flying over our homes; or when our youngest boys caught Dengue and Chikungunya viruses in Honduras, or when I used to sleep with an oxygen tank next to my bed our last year in Bolivia due to the high altitude and a heart condition.
We’ve had plenty of challenges, but the most difficult one would be now for sure. I never thought in a million years that we would be living through a war. There is so much pain around us. Our Jewish and Palestinian friends are suffering, the uncertainty of the war, praying and hoping it ends yet not knowing when we will have to run for shelter again, it can be mentally exhausting.
We’ve made our bomb shelter located in our basement as cozy and welcoming as possible. We have board games, food, water, mats, sleeping bags on the floor, lots of blankets and pillows. We play music for our little ones, Abba or Taylor Swift, so the sound of the sirens and the missiles being detonated above us won’t feel too strong. I thought my worst day had been when the war started at 7am on a Saturday morning back on October the 7th 2023, when rockets started flying over Jerusalem and for the first time, we had to run to our bomb shelter in disbelief, but it was not. It was back in May 2024 when we drove an hour away to Tel Aviv, to spend a day at the beach.
We were swimming and playing and my dear husband had gone to our favorite burger joint in Tel Aviv, about a 10-minutes from the beach, to get some food. Out of nowhere rockets were being intercepted above our heads, though the sirens hadn’t gone off. People froze, we all looked at each other and started running for shelter. The lifeguards started talking on the megaphones, I assumed they were telling people to shelter in the bathrooms, as they are the designated bomb shelters at the beach. It was all in Hebrew, which I don’t speak. I grabbed my kids and told them to run. It felt like a scene out of a movie, surreal. Once the attack was over, it felt so bizarre walking back to the beach, telling my kids to keep playing and enjoying the day, congratulating them because we had run like a team, and we had done a great job. Reassuring them we were going to be okay while I was feeling utterly petrified… that was tough! Waiting for my husband to get back to us felt like an eternity.’
I cannot stop picturing this scene inside my head now… as she describes it… taken out of a movie… but it is reality… and for many it is much worse.
She tries to keep calm and confident, taking advantage of every opportunity to make her life beautiful and meaningful.
‘I’m always trying to learn and become a better version of myself. Last year, a wonderful opportunity came to me that mixed my Life Coaching degree with my PR- Corporate Image experience. It was a part-time, remote job that I could do while my kids were at school. I felt passionate about it, working for a Tech – Education company as a Career Coach. I mentored young Palestinian IT Computer Engineers from Gaza and the West Bank on how to perfect their social skills before a job interview. It was fascinating! Helping these young men and women get remote jobs in the Tech Industry, where they could grow professionally and make a better living for themselves, was the perfect job for me.
Sadly, the war started, and all Gaza’s infrastructure was destroyed. We didn’t feel comfortable continuing the program with only our West Bank fellows, leaving the Gazans behind. Since then, I could’ve done the same job working remotely with the Jordanian Project but right now all my focus must be on myself and my family, while we navigate these difficult circumstances. I am prioritizing my mental health and doing things that bring me peace, like cooking, baking, practicing Pilates, watching Netflix, going for walks, going to the old city which never gets old to me, enjoying dates with my husband and small gatherings with good friends.
My proudest moment for sure is our family life, the life we’ve built together. Like we always say, we are not only a family, but we are a team. Seeing our kids successfully navigate through this expat life means the world to me. They are happy, we are happy. To know I have achieved inner peace and joy even in the toughest of circumstances is my proudest moment.
It’s all about the little things in life that really count, in the end!’
About the author:
Alexandra Paucescu- Author of “Just a Diplomatic Spouse” Romanian, management graduate with a Master in business, cultural diplomacy and international relations studies.
She speaks Romanian, English, French, German and Italian, gives lectures on intercultural communication and is an active NGO volunteer.
