JEDDAH: The US consul general in Saudi Arabia, Rachna Korhonen, caught the attention of Saudi people on Monday when she visited a sheep market in the eastern city of Al-Thuqbah to buy sacrificial meat for Eid Al-Adha, which will take place next week. Korhonen congratulated Muslims at the market and concluded her message by saying “Eid Al-Adha Mubarak” in Arabic. In addition to taking a selfie with the cattle, the consul general wore an outfit matching the local traditions — a modest long dress with long sleeves. Earlier Korhonen visited the Safari Bakiq festival. “I was very happy to attend these events that perfectly reflect the customs, traditions and folklore of the Kingdom and its people. The equestrian events emerging from the heritage of the desert caught my attention,” she said. Korhonen, like her predecessors, is keen to visit events in the eastern region, the most recent of which was a musical concert ending festivities at the Association of Culture and Arts in Al-Ahsa. She expressed her admiration for the “beautiful Arabic music” and joined in events that accompanied registering Al-Ahsa as a world heritage site, located next to the Caesarea historical market. Korhonen worked with the US Foreign Service and joined the State Department in 2004, serving in Riyadh, Kuwait and Mumbai. She was the political chief at the Provisional Reconstruction Team in Kirkuk, Iraq, in 2009 and 2010, a time of turmoil in the country. Korhonen was a management counselor at the US Embassy in Colombo from 2014-2017. She has been both acting deputy chief of mission and charge d’affaires ad interim when the ambassador and DCMs were unavailable.