Come Taste the Wine

This is the true adventure story of an American family living in exotic places – - Ethiopia, Malaysia, Cameroon, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. It begins with the author as a young US Foreign Service officer and continues with him as an international oil company executive. Times were different then. It was the height of the Cold War, American power versus Russian power. Terrorists were not interested in individual Americans yet. Globalization was off in the future. “Simpatico” expatriates could “taste the wine” almost anywhere.

The author learns that “any damned fool can make himself uncomfortable.” His wife, Nancy, masters living below and then above the salt, managing an extended family, and coping with wars and revolutions. Their children, Suzy and David, live in a former stable. They meet Haile Selassie’s pet lion. They grow up among many different cultures and languages. They attend 14 schools including a boarding school in Singapore. Because of their experiences, they find they are different from their homegrown cohorts. Sometimes, they feel more alien in America than when they are abroad. They are “Third Culture Kids,” amalgams of American and other cultures. They often feel more akin to kids of other nationalities who have gone through similar experiences than to other American kids who haven’t.

Their adventures are set in the historical context of the time with short political sketches of each of the countries. It is amazing to see how little things have changed since the Juges were residents. They take you on tours and camping trips; you meet their friends; you attend some picturesque parties and ceremonies; you share some extraordinary drinks and meals: and encounter some not just ordinary flora and fauna. You experience artillery shells landing in your front yard during a revolution. You see your house cased by a snake charmer and his cobra prior to a burglary. You meet an emperor and a king. Special attention is focused on raising children in exotic environments and on how the parents dealt with all sorts of challenges. Many of the issues parents face everywhere are addressed. Some of the means of coping this family found useful are familiar. Others may shed new light.

Peter Juge, a retired Mobil Oil Executive and former U.S. Foreign Service officer, lived with his family in Ethiopia, Malaysia, and Cameroon when he was in the Foreign Service. Mr. Juge was recruited by Mobil Oil to be the government relations advisor in its Nigerian affiliate during the Biafran War. His family accompanied him there and thence to Indonesia and Saudi Arabia with Mobil. Mr. Juge’s insights into his children’s experiences growing up abroad were sharpened by service on boards of two overseas schools and as a member of the Department of State’s Overseas Schools Advisory Council.