From floun­der­ing to nav­i­gat­ing, this gefilte-fish-out-of-water sto­ry fol­lows the unortho­dox path of a Jew­ish woman work­ing for a Mus­lim gov­ern­ment.

​“Mar­ry­ing one woman is like eat­ing chick­en every day for the rest of your life,” the cul­tur­al attaché — a.k.a. my boss — warned the week before my Jew­ish wed­ding. I replied, ​“I like chick­en.” After final­ly set­ting a wed­ding date, to Tyrone, her beau of eight years, Jes­si­ca made the impul­sive deci­sion to move away, accept­ing an offer to work for the Con­sulate of Kuwait. The cul­ture was unfa­mil­iar ter­ri­to­ry — with a lot to unpack — she felt lost in trans­la­tion.

Adrift in life and at work, noth­ing seemed to go right. When the rab­bi refused to per­form an inter­faith cer­e­mo­ny, and her grand­moth­er warned, ​“You can’t mar­ry a Black man,” rather than speak up, Jes­si­ca found it eas­i­er to bite her tongue. But when she hears on the job, ​“Jews need not apply,” it shat­ters her faith in her­self.

While illu­mi­nat­ing the depths of anx­i­ety and love, Jes­si­ca must find the resilience it takes to persevere.