Fulbright Program for the Middle East and North Africa: February 2018

Thursday, February 15, 2018

A Year in the Fulbright Life: Omnia G.’s Story

For the next year, Fulbright MENA will be showcasing a handful of students as they study in the United States with their new series, A Year in the Fulbright Life. Each month, spotlighted students will share an update as they continue on their Fulbright journey.

September 2017

“Recently I volunteered at the Heart of Ghent 10k race in Norfolk, Virginia. Ghent is a very beautiful city and I always see people run here, but in this race, they ran for charity. One of the charities helps homeless children in Kenya. It was very fun, and I met a group of very nice Americans who I volunteered with. My favorite moment was when a runner would say thank you for the water that I gave out, even though she was exhausted from the race. It was such a nice day, and I loved being able to spend more time in my American community.”

October 2017

One of my American friends, Taylor, recently took me to get ice cream at Coldstone so I could try homemade American ice cream! I’ve gone past the store a million times but never noticed the ice cream shop. Taylor has been a really great friend since I arrived. She introduces me to American culture, clarifies what I miss due to differences, and is also deeply interested in different cultures. I’m lucky to have such a great friend who helps take care of me when I need it!

November 2017

This month our program went on a field trip to the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services in Richmond. It was a two-hour drive, but the laboratories were amazing and definitely worth it. At the lab, they run experiments on bioterrorism, chemical weapons, food adulteration, and newborn screening. I really enjoyed my time with my classmates at the lab learning all about the work they do there.

“I went to the Hampton Roads Reptile Expo with my friend Taylor, where spiders, snakes, worms, and frogs were all on display. I saw plenty of snakes with gorgeous colors. Because of this experience, I was able to overcome my fear of animals and reptiles and even held a lizard! It was amazing.

December 2017

This semester I asked for a rotation in Dr. Anca Dobrian’s lab to gain hands-on experience working on endothelial cells! I learned a lot and met such wonderful people in this lab. Dr. Dobrain is an excellent primary investigator and Bronson, her Ph.D. candidate, was an amazing instructor. By the end of the semester, Dr. Dobrian invited the lab students and techs to dinner at a Greek restaurant. Many of the meals had Middle Eastern and Egyptian elements, and it was the perfect end to a tedious semester.

Omnia is from Egypt and is studying Biotechnology at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA.

Follow updates from Omnia and other Fulbright students on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Check back here every month for more updates on the blog and Medium Series to see what Omnia does this year!

You can view other Fulbright Life stories here: https://medium.com/@FulbrightMENA/

A Year in the Fulbright Life: Muhammad’s Story

August 2017

Egpytian Fulbrighter Muhammad recently arrived at the University of Arizona where he will be begin his Master’s studies.

He shared photos of his introductory event at graduate housing as well as photos from his tour of campus.

Muhammad with other graduate students at University of Arizona.

Stay tuned for more photos from Muhammad at he settles in on campus.

September 2017

“Since I arrived on campus last month, I participated in the Buddy Program at the University of Arizona. This program connects international students and American students to meet with new students and help them settle in and get to know the culture. We played pool and my favorite- table tennis. It was a great way to meet people from different cultures and get to know them more, especially since so many of them are interested in the science fields like me!”

October 2017

October has been busy here in Arizona. I attended my first football game and even though I didn’t know the rules, Arizona’s team was so good that I could not stop cheering for them! We won the game by a large margin.

We also had an “Egyptian Day” for students learning Arabic (Egyptian colloquial), and a friend and I cooked Kushari (a traditional Egyptian meal) and wore traditional Egyptian attire for students. Students and professors loved the food and atmosphere we created.

We have a small family of Fulbrighters who gather for coffee every once in a while and check on each other. They are majoring in many interesting fields and certainly making a change in their communities. This time’s theme was “Brazilian and Turkish (Arabic) Coffee” which was an amazing gathering.

November 2017

Among the many benefits of international education is the immersion experience, in which you are introduced to new cultures, traditions, and most importantly people. I “tried” to play American football with some American friends to understand why it is very popular here, but I guess it is not similar to soccer (our football) as I ended up breaking my glasses. Fortunately it was not too bad, but it was quite the experience!

I was fortunate to be invited by my host family to Thanksgiving dinner. I got to know more about them and the culture and how and why it is celebrated. The food was traditional and amazing and the company was exquisite.

December 2017

I visited a neighborhood called Winterhaven where they have a Festival of Lights that started in 1949. The houses are decorated with beautiful lights in various shapes and sizes and compete for best decoration and humor and other categories. Hundreds of people visit the neighborhood to enjoy the light festival. I realized that there is more to Tucson than just what meets the eye.

My host family has visited Egypt and told me they yearn for the traditional food. As a devout Egyptian epicure, I could not help but invite them to a most traditional meal: Koshari. They invited some friends and family and it was a fabulous night of sharing stories about traditions and cultures in the Egypt, United States, Pakistan, and China.

Muhammad is a first-year Fulbright student at the University of Arizona where he is working towards an MA in Islamic Studies. He is from Egypt.

Follow updates from Muhammad and other Fulbright students on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Check back here every month for more updates on the blog and Medium Series to see what Muhammad does this year!

January 2018

I returned to playing squash this month. To say the least, this is one of the most amazing sports out there. It also happens that Egyptians are ranked the highest internationally in this game J Embracing the stereotypes!

February 2018

Among all the mid-terms, papers, and assigned reading chapters, we should all take a moment and enjoy the simple things. This was my view from the balcony where I enjoyed the view of mountains and (thankfully) far far away snow :)

March 2018

I was asked to give a presentation about what it means to be a Fulbrighter (including sharing my culture with them) and encourage students and Faculty to apply from the University of Arizona to the Fulbright Program. I met U.S. Fulbrighters, as well as others from many countries and it was a delightful day to share my experience and listen to theirs.

My host family invited me to join them to visit some tourist sites around Tucson. We visited some museums and churches but my-all-time favorite was San Xavier del Bac (or the White Dove of the Desert) located on a Native American reservation. The architecture was European and the paintings and statues were brought from Spain. It was phenomenal!

April 2018

I visited the Tucson Desert Museum. It was a lovely experience to know more about the Hispanic history of Tucson and more about the local culture. Many of the things I saw reminded me of the Egyptian countryside- striking similarities which accentuate the global brotherhood of nations.

May 2018

I was invited to a family dinner at my friend’s place, and met this amazing steel statute and we became good friends by the end of the dinner. She (the statue) is a locally hand-made exquisite piece of art.

You can view other Fulbright Life stories here: https://medium.com/@FulbrightMENA/

A Year in the Fulbright Life: Mai E.’s Story

“My second year in the United States started as my first year did, with the attendance of a Fulbright Gateway orientation seminar. But this time, instead of being a participant, I was invited to be one of the panel members and speak to incoming Fulbrighters about my experience over the past year.

his was a great opportunity for me to reflect on my past year, be part of another Gateway seminar in a different way, and as always, meet new amazing Fulbrighters!”

September 2017

I visited Chicago and met many other Egyptian Fulbrighters over Labor Day weekend. It was great to catch up with friends and get a break from my normal routine.

In a big city like Chicago, there is something for everyone’s taste. While I enjoyed visiting the popular attractions, like the Willis Tower and the Shedd Aquarium, my favorite was the not-so-famous Lincoln Park Conservatory, where I saw a variety of plants of dazzling beauty.

Overall, the trip was a success, and I look forward to exploring more cities during my time in America.

October 2017

During the last weekend in September, I got a chance to go back in time to the mid-1700s when I attended the Feast of the Hunter’s Moon, which is a re-creation of the annual fall gathering of the French and Native Americans that took place at Fort Ouiatenon.

All around I could see people dressed in the 1700s style, food being cooked over the fire, and several booths demonstrating activities from that era.

I went to the feast with some members of the Purdue Fulbright Association. My Fulbrighter friends from Indonesia and Pakistan joined me for a tour around the feast, where we tried fire-cooked turkey legs and dressed in 18th century clothes! This was my first time attending a reenactment themed feast, and it was very fun to live in the past for that afternoon.

A week before that, I was at the event’s venue, volunteering in setting up the booths. A lot of people were volunteering, including entire families. It gave me an idea about the hard work and dedication from the local community to set up such an event, and it made me appreciate it more.

Mai volunteering and helping to set up a tent

November 2017

Walking around Purdue’s campus in the fall is a really nice experience-the colors never cease to amaze me! After such a walk on Halloween (and after a tour looking at the craziest costumes that people decided to put on), some friends and I decided to get our pictures taken with the statue of John Purdue (founder of Purdue University) only to realize later on, that October 31st was John Purdue’s birthday!

November/ December 2017

“Celebrating American holidays is one of my favorite parts of the Fulbright experience, and this is especially true when it comes to Thanksgiving!

Since this is my second Thanksgiving in the United States, I knew what to expect and I was looking forward to it. Why Thanksgiving? You may wonder. For me it’s because it’s in the fall (my favorite season), the food factor is there (can’t get enough of those turkeys), and because of friends!

Pictures below are from one of the Thanksgiving dinners I attended this year organized by Purdue Chi Alpha.

January 2018

This year we had a white Christmas in West Lafayette, Indiana. It was a magical moment opening the blinds in the morning and seeing all that snow fall!

A couple of days before Christmas, my friends Samantha and Andrew invited me to their house to help decorate it and get it ready for Christmas. It was my first time decorating a Christmas tree, and I had a lot of fun doing so. It was also great to feel welcomed and included.

Then on the day after Christmas, I went once more to my friend’s house but this time for outdoor snow activities. With the help of my friends (and 2 gloves wrapped around my freezing hands), I made my first snowman, and a snow angel! We also snow-tubed down a nearby hill.

February 2018

Winter in West Lafayette, Indiana can be cruel, especially when you come from a warm country. This didn’t deter us at the Purdue Fulbright Association from making the most out of it and organizing a day at the skating rink. Those who participated that day were from Egypt (myself), Cambodia, Turkey, the Philippines, Paraguay, and Colombia. Most of us had little to no experience with ice-skating, so slipping and falling on ice were inevitable! Nonetheless, it was a fun day, and we all managed to improve our ice-skating skills.

Photo credit: Ivan Henares

March 2018

March was an eventful month for me, since there was the spring break and the Fulbright Re-entry Workshop.

The workshop was eventful and memorable as with all the Fulbright workshops, orientations and seminars. It was a time to meet old friends and also make new ones. This time it was also a time to say goodbye and try to get mentally prepared for going back home. There were various speakers throughout the workshop with AMIDEAST, Department of State, The Fulbright Association, and also a panel of Fulbrighters who were done with their program and went through the experience of going back home.

I would honestly say that Fulbright orientations and seminars are an integral part of the Fulbright experience. I have attended three such events throughout my stay in the United States and they were all amazing in different ways.

After those eventful three days in DC, I went back to West Lafayette, Indiana to catch up with some work. Then I headed to Chicago to spend the last of my spring break there, which also happened to include a Saint Patrick’s Daycelebration (apparently that’s a big thing in Chicago!). The day starts with the river dying event and it was just amazing how green the river gets! I was also amazed by the amount of green everywhere and by the people’s costumes (it was like Halloween but in green!). Next on my agenda was attending the Saint Patrick’s Day parade. The parade was so long that I ended up just attending half of it….but only after I got a lot of green beads and candies that were thrown from the people and floats participating in the parade.

April 2018

The Purdue Fulbright Association (PFA) organizes a “Farewell Dinner” at the end of each year to honor and say goodbye to Fulbrighters graduating that year. This year it was the 9th annual Farewell Dinner, and since I am on the PFA board and finishing my master’s degree at Purdue, I participated in organizing my own farewell event, and so did two other board members!

Also, this month I had the chance to cook an Egyptian dinner for my friends and they loved it!

May 2018

Finally, it’s here! The day I have been anticipating for 2 years! Officially a master’s degree holder from Purdue University!

I am grateful to Fulbright for giving me the chance to study at such a great university, and I am grateful for the experiences, the friends and the connections that I have made along the way.

Mai is a second-year Fulbrighter from Egypt who is working towards her MS in Computer Science at Purdue University.

Follow Updates from Mai and other Fulbright students on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Check back here every month for more updates to see what Mai does next this year!

You can view other Fulbright Life stories here: https://medium.com/@FulbrightMENA/