Fulbright Global Food Security Seminar

The 2013 Fulbright Global Food Security Seminar in Raleigh, North Carolina was one of the best experiences I have ever had. In a period of three days we had an intensive schedule of different sessions including lectures, panels, site visits and networking with other professionals. We also participated in a community event by the program “Stop Hunger Now,” an organization with a mission to end hunger during our lifetime. During this event we packed 12,000 meals for hungry children.

In addition to this volunteer activity, we had the chance to have dinner with an American family and meet Fulbrighters from different cultures and different disciplines. I am so glad that I was able to participate in this Enrichment Seminar. I learned about new technologies and research done regarding food security. As a graduate student in nutrition, I have previously approached this issue from a nutritionist’s point of view, but this seminar gave me the opportunity to see food security from a broader point of view. The seminar also provided the chance to network with other professionals in the field, meet other Fulbright students from all around the globe, and last but not least, to visit a new city and have fun which was also great. My time in Raleigh was a great opportunity to add to my previous knowledge and to learn about new ideas about the issue of food security that I can take back to my home country Lebanon, which is currently facing the issue of food security. I would like to thank Fulbright, IIE, and each and every person who put effort to make this seminar a successful one.

Houry Babahekian is a Lebanese Fulbright grantee pursuing a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics at University of New Mexico.

A Visit to the Famous Texas State Fair

Even though it was cloudy and eventually rained, it didn't stop anyone from enjoying the rides and fried foods at the Texas State Fair. The Sponsored and Special Programs Center at University of North Texas organized a trip to the State Fair on what was supposed to be a lovely sunny day. But in Texas, the weather can go from summer to winter from one day to another.

Naturally, most of the students and families that went were part of one exchange program or another. Everyone was excited and talked about what they were going to do there. The American students with us were excited to see Big Tex (a large cowboy statue), which and been burnt a few years back, and was rebuilt this year. We couldn't wait to get there.

When we arrived, we didn’t know what to do first since there was so much to see and do. I really wanted to see the Mustangs, my friend wanted to eat, and another friend wanted to go on the Ferris wheel. We all ended up eating first. I highly recommend the chocolate-covered strawberry waffle balls (yes, they are exactly that: chocolate-covered strawberry waffle balls!). All of my Texan friends had told me that I will not experience Texas right until I had fried pickles, Snickers, or Oreos. Let me tell you, ANYTHING that can be fried WILL be fried in Texas--because they can. They have had an ongoing competition for the most creative things to fry, which has included fried Thanksgiving dinner, fried beer, fried butter, fried bubblegum, fried Nutella; the list is endless. You name it, they will fry it. I decided to stick with fried Oreos and it was the best decision I'd made since I got here.

We eventually got to the rides, which were fun like everywhere else. We wondered around listening to people talk about the State Fair and how amazing it was. We took pictures with Big Tex. We danced under the rain because we decided to accept it instead of hide from it. We listened to a country band play a song about how other people want to go to heaven, but they just want to come to Texas (Texan pride all the way!). I got to see the Ford Mustang car collection and talk to some owners. It made my day.

Overall, it was a very memorable day to say the least. Advice: please try fried Oreos. If you're worried about your diet, work out an extra half hour. But the pain will be worth it, trust me. I want to be able to say "Welcome to Texas!" just like my friends did.


Sandra Ziadeh is a Lebanese Fulbright grantee pursuing an M.Ed. in Counseling at University of North Texas.

My Three Month Adventure: Travels in the USA!

After completing my 2013 spring semester and packing, I embarked on a three month adventure. First, I started my trip with a visit to Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. In these two cities nestled away in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, I came across some of the most friendly and hospitable people I had ever met. From there, I went eastward to visit Denver, Colorado, Kansas City, and Saint Louis, Missouri. In Kansas City, I experienced hurricane force winds of up to100 mph while I was on my way to watch a WWE event. Luckily, I made it out of Kansas City unharmed! Being a big fan of the English Premier League, I enjoyed watching a soccer game between Chelsea and Manchester City at the Saint Louis Cardinal's stadium in Missouri. In Independence, Missouri, not too far from Saint Louis, I visited the American Harry Truman Presidential Library. This historical landmark was of particular interest to me because I enjoy American history and all of the politics associated with it. Continuing with my adventures in the American Mid-West, I then visited Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. For some of you who do not know, one of the biggest malls in the world is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although I spent nearly an entire day wondering around this mall, I still did not see every single store in it. I then traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and got to visit the Harley Davidson Museum.

In Chicago, Illinois, I then met up with my parents. Put simply, Chicago is the most beautiful city I have ever visited. With my parents, I toured many parts of Chicago including the house that President Obama lived in while he was a senator for Illinois. We also visited DePaul University, where I did my MBA (in Bahrain). We then traveled to Boston, Massachusetts where we got to visit many attractions including the JFK Presidential Library. After that, my parents and I traveled by train to New York City. In the Big Apple (New York City), we did all of the tourist stuff including the Statue of Liberty and Times Square. Adding to the list, we also visited Ground Zero, Wall Street, and Central Park. During our five day stay in New York City, we also took a one day trip to Niagara Falls. Continuing on America's East Coast, my parents and I traveled by train from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The City of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia) was fun because my parents got to catch up on some shopping they needed to complete before heading back home to Bahrain. From Philadelphia, we then traveled to Washington, D.C. Being a political enthusiast, Washington, D.C. struck a special chord with me because I got to visit the White House, Congress and most importantly the AMIDEAST office where I met Hayley and Heather (my Fulbright team at AMIDEAST) for the first time. Not too far from Washington D.C., my family and I also visited the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

Although my parents left after Washington, D.C., I continued my trip and made my way to Baltimore, Maryland. I then went to Charlotte, North Carolina where I went white water rafting for the first time! I also took a day trip to South Carolina. I then visited Atlanta, Georgia where I went to the headquarters for World of Coca-Cola and CNN. Afterwards, I visited Nashville, Louisville, Lexington and Cincinnati where I got to tour their Country Music Museum and Underground Railroad Museum. I was slightly disappointed when I visited the Underground Railroad Museum because I thought it would be about transportation which is my interest. Instead, the museum detailed the harsh reality of slavery in America before their civil war. Nevertheless, the museum offered an incredible educational experience. I then visited Indianapolis, Indiana where I met with my friend. I then visited Detroit and Dearborn and got to tour the Ford Museum and celebrate the 4th of July. Making my way eastward again, I then visited Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls for a second time. Lastly, I visited my friend in Burlington, Vermont where we toured different parts of the state. Marking the end of my tour of America, I then traveled to Boston where I stayed for a night before traveling back home to Bahrain for Ramadhan.

Ahmed Al Saleh is a Bahraini Fulbright grantee pursing an MS in City and Metropolitan Planning at University of Utah.

A Great Achievement!

“All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights.” July 4. 1776

Since I was a teenager, I was always impressed by the above-mentioned opening statement of the United States Declaration of Independence. However, as a Middle Easterner, I was always perplexed whether this statement is applicable to all human beings or not. Growing up in a couple of Middle Eastern countries, where favoritism and nepotism are everywhere, and where people ARE NOT equal at all, I always questioned whether “all men” were indeed “equal.” Witnessing privileged people getting all of the opportunities with minimum effort, meanwhile, disadvantaged people are desperate to achieve their objectives regardless of the efforts that they may make, I was always confident that it is a matter of chance, not at all a matter of effort, and that only the lucky privileged people will have their dreams realized.

When I first started the program of Social & Applied Economics, I realized that it was a writing-intensive one. Papers are submitted on a weekly basis, the amount of extra reading is humongous, and for each course we have two textbooks and another four books assigned as extra readings. With my Middle Eastern “baggage”, I did not dream, even in my wildest dreams, to outperform the English native speakers. I was fully aware that no matter how hard I tried, I was not going to outperform any of them.

Despite being the only international student in the program, among all the students I was selected by the faculty members to be awarded the Economics Department’s 2013 Outstanding Student award. When I received the email to inform me that it was going to be awarded to me, I was positive that I could not be the one, and that it must have been sent to me by mistake, but it turned out that I am the one, and that my effort was appreciated. Obviously, determination is eventually awarded, and “all men” could be “equal “. For me, it is no longer a matter of chance at all; it is indeed a matter of effort. It is indeed that I need to “be the change” that I “want to see in the world”(Mahatma Ghandi).


Shlair Al-Zanganee is an Iraqi Fulbright grantee pursuing her M.S. in Social and Applied Economics at Wright State University.

Potlucks!

During my first week when I arrived to America, the international students were invited to an event called a “Potluck” hosted by a local church. Many locals brought different types of food, sweets, and beverages, and we had games that helped international students and locals get to know more about each other. It was a really nice gathering and people were very welcoming and generous, which is often the opposite of what we hear about Americans. I have already been to two potlucks and have another one coming up!

These events are a good chance to meet more people, to try a variety of new foods, and to just enjoy your time.

Noha Andrios is an Iraqi Fulbright student pursuing an M.S. in Training and Human Resource Development at University of Wisconsin-Stout.

My Pre-Academic program Experience at Virginia Tech

It was my first trip to the USA, and travelling from a small island in the Middle East to a huge country like America definitely worried me at first and put me under slight stress before arriving. Fortunately, the Pre-Academic program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute played a major part in helping me get over that fear right from the first day. That is, of course, attributed to the kind and friendly people I met both on and off campus. Everyone seemed to be ready to extend a helping hand to a stranger who came from thousands of miles away. Not only had I managed to interact with people from different parts of the world, but I was lucky to make friends as well. In fact, I believe that those friends added happiness to my six-week stay in Blacksburg, Virginia. In addition, the Pre-Academic program added value in terms of improving my English language skills and knowledge, whereby I managed to complete useful projects and compose research papers both individually and in groups.

Despite the fact that my stay in Blacksburg was a short one, I must admit that I miss a lot of things there including Virginia Tech activities, the class group, and most of all I miss the new friends I met, interacted with and spent happy times with.

Layla AlTurabi is pursuing a Master of Health Administration at University of Scranton.

Ramadan in the U.S.

Ramadan, the fasting month for Muslims, is the time where the whole family gathers around a table full of delicious food and waits for sunset so they can start eating. Spending this month alone in a foreign country is considered unusual, however in my case it was a different experience.

On my first day, and here I mean literally my first day in the U.S., I received a compliment by a lady on Park Street in Boston while I was looking for a bank to open an account. The lady told me, "I like your scarf." I maybe have to mention here that I wear a head scarf, or as we call it, a Hijab. I was happy thinking that I have beautiful taste. But three weeks later, I received exactly the same compliment three times. On all three times I was wearing a different scarf. I realized that it is not a matter of taste, but rather a message to express the understanding and integration of different cultures, which I clearly felt later in school too.

In October of 2012, we had a religious holiday "Eid", and I was looking for a Masjed (Mosque) where I could celebrate this holiday. I was referred to the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (the ISBCC). It was a large beautiful Masjed with typical Islamic architecture including a dome and minaret. The Masjed was full of Muslim Americans who looked fully integrated, with an additional piece of cloth that women put on their heads. The majority of them spoke only English. They did not speak the language of their ancestors and they were learning Arabic as a second language. I decided to spend my time in this place during the holy month of Ramadan.

Since I am not home, but alone here in the United States, I spent the evenings at the ISBCC. It was a good opportunity for me to be in a spiritual atmosphere during Ramadan, meet students from different schools, eat delicious food at the coffee shop at the center, and have nice conversations with people.

Manal Benrajab is a Libyan Fulbright grantee pursuing an MBA at University of Massachusetts-Boston. 

Community Service Day at Washington University in Saint Louis

The Brown School for Social Work and Public Health at Washington University-Saint Louis hosted a community service day as a part of the first-year student orientation. Volunteers gathered at the school's Commons, got their t-shirts with the slogan “Be a Leaf in the Tree of Change” and then were divided into groups.

I went with my group to Tower Grove Park in Saint Louis to join the “Casa De Salud” booth (one of many booths) in celebration of the ongoing "Festival of Nations." Casa De Salud is a Spanish phrase which translates to "House of Health" which Lorine, the lady pictured in colorful clothes, explained to the group. The organization helps people who have no health insurance get access to healthcare by setting up appointments with physicians and referring them if needed for further assistance accordingly. They also held classes on healthy nutrition, offered Zumba dance classes, and had attendees go for a one mile walk called "Walk the Healthy Mile."

Lorine gave us a brief orientation and handed us a collection of colorful tags to wear on our shirts, and we helped her by introducing people to "Casa De Salud" and distributed cards and brochures to encourage people to start a healthier life.

It was such an enriching experience, not only on the Public Health student level, but also on a personal level. The peace, mutual respect, and understanding between people is very nice! Witnessing the "Festival of Nations" was an overwhelming experience and I hope that I can witness peace soon in my country.

All volunteers met at the Commons again and after a short speech from the Dean, a member of each group briefed their experience. You may enjoy pictures posted by students in documentation of this nice day on Instagram with the tag #WUSTLBROWNSCHOOL.

Hind Neamah is an Iraqi Fulbright grantee pursuing a Master’s of Public Health at the Washington University in St. Louis.

The Beginning of My Fulbright Journey

The idea of being selected for the Fulbright program has always been the spark that set my academic zeal aflame. No words can so faithfully describe my happiness when I was admitted into this program, and I was equally glad to have the opportunity to take part in a pre-academic program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute before joining my host university, the University of Indiana-Bloomington. The three-week program in Blacksburg, Virginia was just a preview of the future academic experiences that are ahead for me.. The program at Virginia Polytechnic was a once-in-a-lifetime experience – moments with that will be indelibly etched in my memory, as I came to meet people from all over the world and from countries that I had never thought existed before! True, we were different; however, we all cherished a single dream – the dream of excelling academically and professionally, and we all shared the same goal: expanding cultural connections and expressing willingness to accept others, for all the differences that might exist between us. And like all farewells, ours was heartrending, but as the saying goes, “Never be sad that it ended, be happy that it happened.” We will go on our journey, forever carrying each other in our hearts, and hoping that our paths will cross again.

Ikram Hili is a Tunisian Fulbright Grantee conducting research for her PhD at University of Indiana-Bloomington.

Gateway Orientation in Pennsylvania

During my first two months interning with AMIDEAST, my only interaction with our Fulbright students had been via email. Part of my duties included reading and entering all of their program information into our databases, and I saw that they already have accomplished so much in their lives! So, when I was invited to attend the Gateway Orientation designed to welcome Fulbrighters from around the world, I was a bit nervous to meet them. My colleagues Bart Kassel, Que Newbill, and I embarked on a road trip to Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to meet eight Fulbright students from the Middle East and North Africa along with 40 other students from around the globe.

As part of the Gateway Orientation, all of the Fulbright grantees and orientation staff volunteered at the local food bank. Que and I signed up to help sort cans of pork and beans for distribution to local families the following day. Our task was quite simple: dispose of any bad cans and label each unmarked can “pork and beans.” During the volunteer activity, each of us took turns playing our favorite music. Our student from Lebanon had an awesome collection of music from all around the world, and we also played songs by Shakira. A Colombian student told us about a foundation that Shakira had set up near the student’s school back home. This led to a discussion about the importance of community service in everyone’s respective home countries. It was really interesting to learn about the social stigmas that may be attached to doing community service in different cultures. For example, one Fulbrighter explained that many young people simply do not volunteer since it is frowned upon to do work without pay. Other grantees mentioned that it is uncommon for young people to spend their free time helping others because it is a fairly new concept in their country. Que and I shared stories of our experiences of giving back to our communities while growing up and encouraged the students to participate in these sorts of activities at their host universities in the United States. A group of children also joined us to volunteer at the center. This began a discussion about how instilling the habit of giving back to those less fortunate at any early age can have a positive effect on creating more understanding within communities. It was amazing to hear everyone’s ideas about how their lives and relationships would have been different based upon the charitable activities of the community that surrounded them.

I’ve learned a lot from my internship at AMIDEAST, but these conversations with our grantees have probably made the biggest impact on me personally. It was great to share this experience with our students, and I hope that they will go on to give back at their host universities and then in their home countries when they return.

Kelly Kirk is a summer intern on the Fulbright team at AMIDEAST. Kelly is completing her Bachelor’s degree in International Studies at University of Oregon.

Giving back to the community: The Blood-Donation way

Since I have come to the U.S., I was always thinking about giving back to the community that generously provided me with the Fulbright scholarship. I thought for quite a bit of time about different volunteer opportunities nearby since not having a car limited my options. Meanwhile, I remembered that the Student Union has always hosted Red Cross Blood Drives, and I immediately knew this was the best way to express my gratitude. I checked their schedule for the next blood drive so I could attend. The day of the donation, after a long, but necessary medical screening process, I finally donated one complete unit of blood. Afterwards, I felt immensely satisfied and happy that I was finally able to return the favor, at least to some degree.

Ali Alsaqqa is a Fulbright Grantee from Gaza studying Physics at the University at Buffalo.