"I belly-crawled across the floor after a bomb exploded outside our garden in Yemen...I had tea with Barbara Bush in the Yellow Room of the White House...I drove blindly into the midst of an anti-American riot in Venezuela...I joined in a folk dance led by Queen Margrethe in Denmark and I ate dinner with a prime minister in Israel." Patricia Hughes gives us a candid, tough-minded and fun look at living abroad at the behest of our government. She expresses the frustrations and concerns of a mother and wife while accepting with good humor that the Foreign Service acquires "two for the price of one." She reminds us of a dedicated group of patriots that are often forgotten--the diplomats. This book presents a remarkable range of experience, emotions, people and places that influenced her and her family during 35 years of government service. From terrorism and a civil war to lunch in a palace; from demonstrations and groupies, presidents and princesses to life-long friends--these are The Royals and The Roaches.

Robert Kipping was a Sailmaker and Forman at Thomas