By Liz Twentyman (Feb. 23, 2002)

Every year when my mother sends Christmas cards to family friends, she sends one to Michael Mates, a family friend that we met in church when I was little. This year, she wondered if he’d even be able to get it – he’s a Foreign Service agent, and has been stationed in Pakistan for the last four years. Several times during the Christmas season, we wondered how he was, especially since we never got a card back. We got a call from him earlier this week. He’s now back in the Washington area and just got our card a couple of weeks ago. When he came over to visit with my family, I got to talk to him about his life in Pakistan.

Liz Twentyman: What was it like living in Pakistan?

Michael Mates: I’ve had two postings, first in Islamabad and then in Karachi. Some aspects of living in Karachi were unpleasant--it’s an ugly city, and it’s all made out of cinder block. Because there were several Americans assassinated there in the last several years, we had a lot of security. We had to drive around in a large armored vehicle. It only got about three miles to the gallon. 

There was also a pleasant side to living there. As a political and economic officer, I had tremendous access to Pakistani officials. America has considerable prestige overseas, even when we’re hated. Even mid-level diplomats can have great levels of access. I talked to their equivalent of Alan Greenspan several times a year.

I had a pretty busy job, working 12 to 14 hours a day, so I spent most of my time off sleeping. I spent a lot of my day outside of the office talking to people, and then I would write back to Washington. A lot of my job was trying to advocate for America and our business policies. There was a tremendous amount of writing.

Liz Twentyman: You mentioned having to drive in an armored vehicle. What was the security like?

Michael Mates: One of the most important rules in high-risk places is to have a variable schedule. I was picked up for work between 6:30 and 8:15 in the mornings, and I would go home when the work was done. In addition to having an armored vehicle, we’d have armed police following us.

Liz Twentyman: Did you notice much of a change in security after September 11?

Michael Mates: Our security was already wound as tight as it could go, so it couldn’t get much tighter. I noticed much more of a difference when I came back to the United States. There’s so much more security here. They have concrete barriers in front of the State Department.

Liz Twentyman: What was the most interesting thing you did while you were in Pakistan?

Michael Mates: One of the most interesting things I did was to cover the trial of Nala Sharif. I had a special seat and access to the defense because they wanted to talk to Americans and get their story out. All of their important political figures showed up at some time during the trial, and they wanted to talk to me as an American.

During the trial, I covered the conduct of the trial and saw that fairness was accorded to the defense. I wrote a five or six page cable back to Washington each day.

I was present the day he was sentenced to life in prison. They didn’t report this in the news, but when it happened, three of his female relatives stood up and said, "Long live Nala Sherif." It’s a pretty bad thing to say to someone who has just been sentenced to life in prison.

BBC and CNN came to the office afterwards to find what the American opinion was. It was interesting to see phrases that I used show up in Times. I’m convinced that it was a fair trial. I feel privileged to see that the terms of the law were followed. I covered both the trial and the appeal. That was probably the high point.

Also, as an economic officer, I got to look at their textile industry, which is their leading industry. I was doing some studies and would visit factories. I would be a privileged visitor there. At one point, I saw a kilometer long towel. As I watched, they shaped and dyed it, and at the very end, they had men with scissors cutting it into pieces and sewing up the ends. One sewed on a little tag that said "J. C. Penny, $19.20." That was probably two weeks wage for the guy who was sewing it on.

I also got to see them make Turtle Excluder Devices, for keeping turtles out of shrimp nets, from the beginning. I saw them design and make the TEDs, and teach steel workers how to do it. They put on a show for me. They stitched the TEDs into nets, then we went to see them fishing. All of the boats were wooden, and didn’t have steps leading up into them. I thought that was cool because my father had been a British mariner in Karachi. 

To be taken seriously there, you have to wear a black suit. Once, I was supervising on a wharf, and it was about 44 degrees Celcius (110 degrees Fahrenheit). I ended up folding up ice cubes in paper towels, then putting them in my knickers, near the waistband. Nobody could see them because of my suit jacket. If I hadn’t done that, I probably would have passed out because of the heat. I’d recommend doing that if you ever get stuck in a situation like that. It’s a fascinating job.

Liz Twentyman: Now that you’re back from Pakistan, what are you going to do?

Michael Mates: I’ve spent the past six weeks learning Romanian. I’m going to spend some time in Seattle with a Romanian there, practicing the language. After that I’m going to go to Kluge, Romania.