Have I already mentioned that I’m a planner? I love to plan things; parties, events, trips, whatever. I actually enjoy the process of planning out every little detail of our family vacations.
One of the best things that the Fulbright program does is to bring all the new scholars to a particular region out to Washington D.C. in July for a three day pre-departure orientation (PDO). This was an excellent opportunity for me to get to know the other scholars and students heading to Uzbekistan, as well as, talk to alumni from the Central Asia region. I was really excited to attend this orientation and had a list of questions I wanted to ask Beth (she had just returned from Tashkent two weeks earlier) and the other alumni. This PDO is a planners dream.
Sometime in January, during the application review process, I received an email telling me to save the dates July 18-20 for the PDO, which I would be required to attend should I be selected for a Fulbright grant. This was a good thing because I found out about my grant very late in the process. I signed my grant details on June 13, about a month before the PDO. I hadn’t received any details about this PDO so I emailed Richard, my contact person at Fulbright, to ask about making the travel arrangements.
One thing I should say about the entire Fulbright program staff is that they are very responsive. Just like when I emailed the previous Fulbright scholars, anytime I emailed staff I received a response very quickly with the information I needed.
Richard responded the same day with an apology for the lack of information and said that the travel coordinator would be sending me information on how to register for the PDO and a link to book my flights. The entire process went pretty smoothly. Fulbright paid for my flight to and from DC but I was able to select my itinerary myself using their online booking system.
The PDO itself was incredible well organized. I’ve planned some smaller scale events similar to this one so I understand the hours of work that goes into something like this. It was held at the J.W. Marriott in DC, which is a beautiful hotel with views of the Washington monument.
They had sessions planned about everything you could possibly want and even some I hand’t considered, like how to tell your Fulbright story. (That’s where the idea for this blog came from.) We started with an opening dinner reception. At the dinner we were assigned to tables by country so I immediately got to meet the other people who will be in Uzbekistan this academic year. I sat next to Jordan, a recent college grad, who is going to Uzbekistan to be an English Teaching Assistant (ETA). We bonded over our mutual love of the same podcast and a Lululemon travel purse.
Over the next two days I learned about central Asia and specifically Uzbekistan from experts at the State Department and former Scholars from the region. We had sessions about practical things like signing up for health insurance and overcoming culture shock. Time was set aside for us to just chat with alumni from the region about whatever questions we had. I got to talk to Beth about the school options for my son in Uzbekistan, ask her about how to get my cell phone to work there, and discuss which neighborhoods would be good live in. She even told me the name of her favorite pizza delivery place! (Yes, apparently there is good pizza in Uzbekistan.)
I also made friends with some previous scholars who I’ve been emailing with since the PDO. One of them offered to help me put together a regional travel grant to Nepal. One of the benefits of the Fulbright program to central Asia is that they offer the opportunity to apply for a regional travel grant so scholars can travel to another central Asian country for 3-14 days. I’m working with Rebecca, who received a travel grant last year, to write up a grant to visit Nepal. I’ll definitely keep you all posted on that process!
Experience Fulbright 