Hello President Obama

This past week was APEC week in Manila. For the rest of the world this doesn’t mean all that much but for us is Manila is was all consuming.

What is APEC? Well I’m glad you asked. I was voluntold to appear in two videos ‘All About APEC’. Every time I appear in one of these, I swear it’s going to be my last. But here you go, for the sake of learning I’ll share.

APEC Primer

and here is some more on APEC….

All About APEC- Scholarships

Ok, so now that you now more than you ever need to know about APEC on we go.

So what does APEC week in Manila mean? It meant that 21 world leaders and all of their entourages descended on Manila. This included President Obama. Which means the Embassy has focused on his visit for months.

Working at the Embassy and especially in the public affairs section dealing with Press definitely has it’s perks. I got to be involved in so much of the visit and learn so much.

It also meant I got an APEC delegate badge and I was able to use the APEC lane, which was a-ma-zing!! Traffic in Manila is bad on regular days, let alone when 21 leaders and their entourages come to stay.  Traffic was so terrible and I felt terrible for all those that waited in traffic for hours and hours but thankfully I was not one of them! I actually got home quicker than on normal days.

It also meant I had a chance to assist with media for an event President Obama hosted on Trans Pacific Partnership. Sorry, we don’t have a video on TPP.

This one was pretty exciting! I was pretty close and this event included 11 other leaders! Since all i have is this fuzzy Iphone picture, I’ll follow it up with a professional photo that the media took.

Thank you Daily Mail.

Then to add some excitement on my way back to work I crossed paths with the Philippines President, Ninoy Aquino.

It was a long week and I missed these two like crazy but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for sure! More on the boys meeting the President coming up soon!