The last two weeks have been filled with more paperwork. I spent a significant amount of time working on my visa application for Uzbekistan. it took me several tries, but I was able to successfully complete the online visa application for myself and my family. The biggest snag was that the online system wouldn’t process our photos so I had to send them to my contact person at the ministry. This took several rounds of communication as the first set of photos I sent didn’t meet the requirements because they didn’t have the white background. now realizing these photos need to be like passport photos, I retook them against a white background. These photos would have worked but they got compressed because I sent them via the Telegram messenger app. Okay, on the 3rd try I sent them via email and this worked. Mostly. I guess I didn’t realize that my husband and son should have dressed up for their photo because my contact at the ministry sent me back new versions of the photos in which my husband and son are wearing suits. That’s right. He photo-shopped suits onto them! My husband has a closet full of suits. If I had known this was customary, they could have easily had their photos taken wearing a suit. Oh well. Now I know. I guess the sweater I had on was fine because I did not get a wardrobe change.
With my visa application complete and submitted to the Uzbek government, I started looking earnestly at my flight arrangements. Before I can purchase our tickets, I have to have the flights approved by my contact person at Fulbright. I’ve opted to fly to London and then continue on to Uzbekistan from them. This itinerary requires just one stop over in London and gets us to Tashkent with only 22 hours of travel. I submitted it to Fulbright and received approval, so I’m good to purchase the flights. Do you think Uzbek Airlines will be having cyber Monday sales?
I also got feedback on the project document that I sent to the person I’m working with at the Uzbek Ministry of Education. As it turns out, the 8 page document, which was just a start to see if I’m on the right track, was in fact, on the WRONG track. it seems we had a “lost in translation” moment and I wrote up the entirely wrong information for her. She said she wanted to know more about the “methods and tools” I would be using so I sent her the assessment measures I would use along with a sampling of positive psychology interventions. Turns out that what she really needs right now is a literature review. She wants an overview of the research that supports why my project is a good idea. This makes perfect sense now that we figured it out, but it took two weeks and several exchanges via Telegram. Boy I wish I spoke Russian.
Speaking of Russian, here’s an update on our progress in learning Russian. There’s been no progress. We were off to such a great start this summer with our Russian teacher, Natalia. She left in September to visit family in Russia and I never ended up connecting with the other tutor she recommended. I only made it through Lesson 2 on Rosetta Stone despite having the best intentions. Now I feel like I’ve even forgotten much of what I learned over the summer. We will just have to muddle through as best we can.
До свидания
Experience Fulbright 