Experience Fulbright

After successfully packing both of my suitcases I realized that one of them was an inch over the 62 linear inches size allowed without paying the oversize package fee. So…I repacked in a little bit smaller suitcase, leaving out a few of the items I had purchased to bring as gifts for various people I will be working with.

I had picked up some local MN products, like maple syrup and wild rice. I also asked the woman in charge of the team that’s helping me find an apartment and get my visas if there were any specific items that I could bring for each of them as a thank you. It turns out that two of them have studied in the US before, hence their excellent English. One asked for a bottle of hot sauce and the other wanted a bag of Chile Lime Doritos.

So, I’ve learned that they don’t really have spicy food there. I was warned by my friend, Jordan, who is a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant living in Tashkent, that the food there is bland and that I should bring my own spice blends if I want them. Being from Minnesota, I told Jordan that I am just fine with bland food. The joke in my house is that Minnesotans think ketchup is spicy.

So with only one week left before we leave, I’m feeling pretty good about where I’m at with preparations. I even forced my son to pack one of his two bags yesterday. I’ve got all the important documents printed out and ready to be put in my carry on bag. I went into the college and got VPN installed on my laptop and had them update any software that needed it.

In fact, I’m feeling restless and ready to leave now. With this government shutdown and talk of the TSA workers not being able to work (because they aren’t getting paid), the air traffic controllers suing over being forced to work without pay, and the pilot’s union saying they have safety concerns about continuing to fly given the shutdown (FAA inspectors are part of the shutdown) I’m not feeling great about our upcoming air travel. Will it be better or worse in a week?

ACK! Only two weeks to go and I do NOT feel ready. Seriously, I’m in a constant state of very low panic over all this. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited but I also feel like there is no way I am going to actually be ready.

I did start packing. I’m relatively sure that I could fit everything I need into one large suitcase, but it is likely to be over the weight limit. That means paying a luggage fee AND having one very full suitcase. Knowing that I will want to buy some items to bring home from my travels, I’m leaning toward packing in two less full suitcases. I realize that this will make the trek in and out of the airports more difficult. Normally I wouldn’t worry about that but since we’ve opted to break up our connections by spending a few days in London that means lugging the suitcases out of the London airport and onto the train both to the hotel and back to the airport. Ugh. I guess we will manage it though.

I was also just informed that there is paperwork I must complete to obtain my “conference” visa to attend the mid-year Fulbright conference in India. I think someone forgot to tell me about this because when I asked, I was told that the US Embassy in Uzbekistan was given all the information I need and I should contact them ASAP. Did I already say “Ugh”? I should have thought to ask about this sooner. So I sent off an email to my contact at the Embassy and expect to hear back once she is in the office on Monday. I’m sure it will all work out but Fulbright can’t purchase my plane tickets to India until I have the visa.

Oh, and I received the first installment of my grant money. That was nice to see. For grants that start in January, scholars have the option to get the first payment in December (the payment is typically made one month prior to your grant start date) or for tax reasons, in Jan. My accountant said that it would be better to wait to get the first payment until 2019 so I did, but I had to buy my plane tickets and pay for other items like our visas in December. I was happy to see my payment come through right at the beginning of Jan.

Speaking of money, I spend over an hour at my bank yesterday taking care of all the financial arrangements. For example, I needed to wire money to pay the tuition at the school my son will be attending. I also made sure my ATM card would work while overseas and got some cash for travelling.

The big task for this coming week is to print out any remaining documents I need and finish packing everything except my carry-on bags. With all my good clothes packed, I’m afraid that I am going to spending these last two week wearing my husband’s sweatpants and my old/ugly t-shirts. If you see me around town, you’ll know why I’m dressed like a hobo.

One of my big concerns right now is luggage. Just how much stuff do we really need to bring with us for a 5 month stay? Normally I’m a pretty light traveler but given the length of time and the fact that the climate will change from winter to summer while we are there, I’ll need more clothing than just a normal vacation. There’s also the Fulbright conference in southern India to consider as I’m sure it will be very hot there. Finally, I’m hoping to arrange a trip to Nepal as well, which will be yet other climate and terrain to consider when packing.

So, here’s the packing list I’ve put together based on several online sources, the Fulbright guide, and my own experience with travel.

Clothing

• Jacket: 3-in-1 winter coat with rain shell, inner liner that zips out
• Light weight long-sleeved shirts for layering
• Sweaters
• T-shirts and tank tops for layering and/or hot weather
• Pants
  • Dress pants for work
  • Lightweight hiking pants
  • yoga pants (for doing yoga of course!)
  • Jeans
• Socks – dress socks, everyday socks, and wool socks for hiking
• Tights for wearing under skirts/dresses
• Shoes
  • brown and black dress shoes for work,
  • walking shoes and hiking boots,
  • sneakers,
  • Hiking sandals
  • flip flops for the hotel pools and beach in India.
• Pajamas/sleepwear
• Underwear – I love the travel underwear from Patagonia
• Dresses and skirts for work
• Simple jewelry – I never travel with any of my expensive jewelry
• Safari/Sun Hat
• Scarves- dressy and a winter scarf
• Swimsuit and cover-up
• Umbrella

Toiletry Basics 

• Electric toothbrush and favorite toothpaste
• Hair brush, hair ties
• Deodorant
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Face lotion with SPF
• Avocado Oil (great for dry skin)
• Make-up
• Face wash and/or makeup remover wipes
• Night time Moisturizer/Lotion
• Lip balm with SPF
• Glasses and prescription sunglasses
• Prescription medication with the label/script so not to be questioned by TSA.
• Feminine hygiene products
• Rope to make clothesline
• Shaving kit
• Travel sewing kit
• Scissors, nail clippers, and tweezers

Carry-On Bag

• Change of clothes
• Toothbrush and small toothpaste
• Laptop
• Passport & other documents
• Copies of travel itinerary and contacts in Uzbekistan
• Cell Phone, charging cord, & flash charger
• Snacks & empty water bottle
• Travel Pillow
• Facial tissues and wet wipes
• Universal power adapter
• Russian Phrase book and flashcards for studying

So, is that all going to fit in one large suitcase, my carry-on bag and a purse? I’m skeptical but I’m going to give it a shot.

With my visa application in process and my plane tickets bought, I’ve turned my attention to apartment hunting in Tashkent. The team at the Ministry of Education is taking very good care of me. They’re doing all the leg work for me in the apartment hunting and sending me options via Telegram (a messenger app).  The plan is for them to narrow down a list of options for me based on my preferences, 2 bedrooms, AC, Wi-Fi and laundry.  They, being familiar with the area, will narrow down the best locations for me to live.

I wan’t sure at first if I was asking for too much but the Fulbright guide to Uzbekistan said that AC isn’t standard but that given the heat in the summer months, this is something that should be insisted upon. The same goes for the wi-fi. I’ll need reliable internet to do my work and communicate with my family back at home. The washing machine would just be an extra perk. 

My budget from Fulbright for housing is $1200/month but I asked the team to look for apartments for $1000 or less a month, just to be safe. Here are some examples of apartments for rent in Tashkent that they have sent me to consider.  This apartment looks really nice and is only $600! 

https://uybor.uz/en/listings/kvartiry-v-arendu-v-mirzo-ulugbekskom-rayone-id-611488 

I was really surprised by how nice a place you can get in Tashkent for just $600/month.  All of the apartments they have sent me to consider are very nice. They all range from $600-$800 so far. If these are my options, I’m even more excited to move to Tashkent. I had told Dillon that we need to be open minded and not expect our living situation to be like here in the US, but this will not feel like roughing it at all. 

5 weeks and counting…

With only 6 weeks left before we leave, things are starting to feel real. I’ve been busy with wrapping up my regular fall semester classes. We have one more week and then final exams. I’ve been focused on catching up on grading and preparing my final exams. I’m looking forward to the semester being over so that I can focus exclusively on preparing to leave for Uzbekistan.

The time I have spent preparing, has been mainly on wrapping my head around the details of my project. The woman that I’m working with at the Uzbek Ministry of Education asked me to put together some details on the curriculum. At first I thought she wanted to actual lesson plans and materials so I started to put that together. I sent her an 8 page document with just the first part of the curriculum. It turns out, that wasn’t at all what she needed. She wanted a PowerPoint presentation with an overview of the project. This confused me at first and I had to ask my husband, who works in the corporate world, what exactly a presentation of this nature should include. After a bit of consultation and a weekend of solid work, I had a nice overview of the project. Going through this was a great exercise for me because I had to really think through the timeline and the scope of the project. It was a good exercise for me to go through and one that I likely would have done when I originally applied, if I had applied to do this project. Given my unique situation of applying for one one country but being offered a different one, I had never formally written up this project. 

With that presentation sent over the the Ministry and my visa application in process, I decided to take the leap and purchase our plane tickets. For some reason I can’t get the routes I want using a website like Travelocity or Expedia but I can get them directly through the respective airlines. I opted to purchase the flight to Tashkent from London on Uzbek Airlines first. It took me several tries to get to the checkout screen with my tickets because of various errors messages on the page. I finally got there and entered my credit card information only to have the transaction declined. What??? A moment later a got a text message with a fraud alert. Duh! Of course a charge online in Uzbekistan would trigger a fraud alter. Why didn’t I think to call first and let them know about the purchase? One quick phone call and that will be solved but I’m taking the weekend off to relax. I’ll get this all sorted out on Monday. 

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

This week was filled with preparations. I hadn’t fully appreciated how much paperwork would need to be completed prior to my departure. It seems like everything is coming all at once now that it’s November.

I needed to get medical clearance from the US Dept. of State so I went in for my physical. The medical clearance form is about 8 pages long. I had planned to just leave it with my doctor so she could have an assistant fill it in but she thought it would be easier to just go through every question with me at that time.  It took us extra time but I was able to leave with much of the form completed. What I didn’t realize was how many blood tests I’d have to have done. In addition to the normal cholesterol screening I expected, I needed to be screened for TB, HIV, and several other diseases I was sure I didn’t have. I also didn’t have my childhood immunization record so I needed to have a titer done to prove that I was, in fact, immunized against Polio, and MMR. All this added up to ten, count them, TEN viles of blood drawn. Oh and I also got my flu shot…

I’m happy to report that my blood passed all the tests (thank you super smart A+ blood) and I have been medically cleared for my Fulbright .

The next piece of paperwork that I am still in the process of completing is my visa application. Applying for a non-tourist visa is much more involved than the normal 30 day tourist visa. I received a link to the online visa application and was asked to complete it ASAP. Unfortunately, I don’t have all the required information. For example, I need to list my address in Uzbekistan, which I don’t have at this point. I also need my arrival and departure dates. Again, I don’t have those either. I’ve sent an email into my contact at the US Embassy in Tashkent asking for some help but of course its the weekend as I am writing this. The 10 hour time change also complicates communication because I’m usually asleep when they reply and they are asleep when I reply.

While I wait to hear back from the Embassy about my visa, I’m using the time to try to pin down my travel plans. I really want to arrange our flights with only one connection but that is proving to be quite difficult given that I have to fly on US carriers and would rather NOT spend $5000+ per ticket.

Finally, I’ve been asked by my contact at the Uzbek Ministry of Education to put together a PowerPoint for the head School Psychologists with information about the methods and activities I would like to use for both the teachers and students in the pilot schools. It’s not clear to me exactly how much detail they would like but since I’m generally an overachiever, I’m working on a fairly detailed plan with a menu of activities from which we can select the final ones.  Since I’m in country yet and have no experience with Uzbek culture, I’m not sure yet which activities will be the most culturally appropriate. My plan is to send a variety of possible exercises and work with the local school psychologists to select and adapt the best ones for their schools.

I’ve talked to several people in the past few weeks who have joked that they’d like to come visit me while I’m in Uzbekistan. At least I think they were joking. It would be great to have friends and family visit me though. When I first found out that I was going to Uzbekistan, I started looking online to learn more about the culture, food, and history of the country. One of the things that I’ve learned is that Uzbekistan is known for its wonderful food. Really, I’ve had this from many people who have visited or are from Uzbekistan.

A popular blogger named Mark Wiens recently made a video of himself visiting, and frankly, eating his way around Uzbekistan.

You can find the video on the We Love Uzbekistan Facebook page. But be warned, do NOT watch this video while you are hungry!

The British news outlet, the Telegraph, also wrote up a piece back in July of this year about why Britons should think about planning a trip to Uzbekistan. Take a few minutes to give it a read and pursue the photos of historic places such as Samarkand.

Read it here Uzbekistan: the most fascinating country you’ve never visited. 

If you want to read a quick overview of the country, see photos, and learn about its history going all the way back to ancient times, check out https://www.advantour.com/uzbekistan/index.htm

So, who’s up for Spring Break in Uzbekistan?

First, let me apologize for not getting this posted on Sunday evening like I usually do. It was a crazy week for me as we are approaching midterm exams.

I heard back from my contact at the Uzbek Ministry of Education that she liked my project proposal. Assuming that her boss approves my project, I will be based out the Ministry of Education in the capital city, Tashkent. I will be developing a positive psychology and stress management curriculum.  Then helping their school psychologists in several specially selected schools to implement this curriculum on a trial basis. If successful, they would plan to spread it to other public schools.

This project will certainly take more than 5 months in total to see it through. Now I wish that I had applied for a full year grant so that I could see this through over the course of an entire academic year. What I will be able to accomplish in just the five months is only the pilot project, and even that won’t cover enough time to really see if it is successful. The ultimate goal is to reduce teacher burnout and increase the psychological well being of students and teachers.

For now, that’s all I know. But it is exciting to see my project starting to take shape.