Life as an American ex-pat can leave one feeling more than a bit out of the loop, and under-appreciated by good old Uncle Sam.

I understand that many will think those of us who've opted out of life on American soil don't deserve much in the way of yankee perks, but we are entitled to certain things, most of which many of us never bother asking for.

One thing citizens abroad count on, however, is an embassy to process paperwork ... passport renewals and stuff like that. Unfortunately, the embassy in Seychelles closed shortly after I moved here. (I was assured at the time that it was a State Department cost-cutting measure, not a personal affront, but I haven't really recovered.) Seychelles was incorporated into the embassy in Mauritius, but opened a tiny office here to help with some things, although anything of import required a two and a half our flight headed south and a couple of days in Port Louis.

(That office closed a while back, so we're really a backwater now, and heaven forbid anyone actually needs anything.)

Along with an embassy, we rather like the idea of an Ambassador. I say we like the idea of an Ambassador, as that's all we've had of one for a great deal of the last few years. Since Mark Erwin, the last appointed by the Clinton administration ... a wonderful man who almost ran for Jesse Helm's seat in North Carolina after he left here ... we've had one, John Price, who served a couple of years and has now been gone at least that long.

Miracles of miracles, however, a new Ambassador has now appeared, and he's in Seychelles this week, ostensibly to present his credentials to the President and bring a sense of security and comfort to all of the wayward Americans here. Or not.

We all had an email a couple of weeks ago announcing that Mr. New Ambassador ... I don't know his name ... was going to show up, and that we were all invited to a 'meet and greet' on board a US ship that was to be in port tonight, the 22nd of November.

I immediately felt the rightness of getting together with other Americans on this date, as the anniversary of JFK's assassination is an occasion that should bring us together.

Continued ...