Then violence escalated. In the past year my opinion changed as extortion, kidapping, and murder victims changed from faceless people in the news to my co-workers, in-laws, and friends, including innocent children.

While I still think the violence is overstated on websites and in the news, I finally decided it was time to get out. I left Juarez a month ago and now am back working in the US.

The risk was finally outweighing the rewards of that international assignment.

It’s funny, Pakistan has been deemed “dangerous” by many sources, but in spite of the legitimate security risks I still enjoyed living there. You’re right, if we can feel comfortable in our surroundings and have local knowledge, it makes it much easier to adapt.

One of the most dangerous things in most of the world is the roads! Will you drive there? Are you comfortable with roads without rules? Do you have any idea how to react if you suspect that you are about to become the victim of a carjacking? Prepare yourself, mentally and with some appropriate training.

In my experience, while the US embassy does its best to keep US citizens informed and to protect us and our interests overseas, in true crisis situations, like the three I mentioned above, the US embassy is very reluctant to order evacuations. This is very very costly for them, and if you are not part of the privileged few who have evacuation as part of their compensation package, it is very very very expensive for you (I heard $60,000 per person for the evacuation from Albania).

It is much less expensive to evacuate yourself and your family before the situation becomes a crisis.

Crisis situations develop in an atmosphere of misinformation and rumor. It is very difficult to know what is really happening, how serious the threat may be, and how long it will be before you are suddenly unable to extricate yourself from the situation by normal means.

The EU country embassies are usually quicker to decide to get their citizens out than the US, perhaps because the US community is sometimes among the largest, and therefore the most expensive to evacuate. Tune in to your French, Dutch, British, German friend networks when things get dicey.

After saying all that, I live in Nairobi now, sometimes considered the second most dangerous city in the world after Joberg, and I love it. Learn your way around, be smart, rely on local knowledge, and you can adapt to living almost anywhere!

–Meliha