Diplomatic spouses add color and depth to foreign missions in DC

['Angelique Gingras', "Angelique Gingras Is An Associate Editor At The Washington Diplomat. She Is Currently Based In London Where She Is A Postgraduate Student In International Journalism At City St. George'S", 'University Of London. She Joined The Washington Diplomat In August As An Intern.', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Washington Diplomat 2025-07-30 13:01:54

From hosting formal gatherings to fostering connections across cultural divides, Washington’s diplomatic spouses live in an overlooked—yet vital—world of diplomacy. To better understand them, I interviewed five of the nearly 180 diplomatic spouses in Washington from Bahrain, Mexico, Estonia, Djibouti and Vietnam. The parents of four children, they’ve been in the United States since January 2016, making this their third diplomatic posting. Al Khalifa and Moctezuma belong to the International Friendship Club, Van Tran and Aouled are part of International Club 1, and Prikk is a member of International Neighbors Club 1. Photos by Jessica Latos, taken at LXIV DC, a private villa available for rent in Georgetown, Washington DC.