Walking shoes

Everyone who knows me knows my small stature comes with very small feet but yesterday I surprised even myself in my search for flats that don't slip on my heel bc they're too big....I left with kids size 2 and 1/2. $10 each pair...


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Visa secured :) get started early

In case anyone else was pretty nervous about me getting my visa less than three weeks before leaving for argentina , I did in fact get it on Wednesday. For those of you Fulbright students interested in knowing the process, here you are (I wish I had someone to tell me what's up in the fall...)

1. Get a copy of your birth certificate so you can get an apostille. In north Carolina, it must be a birth certificate printed in the last few years by the nc vital records office. $25
2. Get your fingerprints done. Send them off to the FBI for your criminal record. $15 for fingerprints and $30 for record.
3. Once you get your birth certificate (this took two months for me so don't wait) and criminal records, get them translated in Spanish. I didn't realize this so this made the process more difficult. Technically, it should be an official certified translation but rumor has it that a simple translation will suffice.
4. Get an apostille of each of these documents at the authentication office. In NC, I dropped the documents of and was able to pick them up the next day. $20
5. Wait for Fedex package from Argentina. You aren't supposed to open it.
6. Call the closest embassy that you put down earlier in the process and ask for directions. Ask for names, be persistent and don't get off the phone until you know what you need to do.
7. In my case, I was told to send in the documents and I'd be able to get my visa that way...then after no response from my package of documents, I learned I did in fact have to come to d.c to go to the embassy. So it might be more efficient just to make an appt early on and just get it over with.
8. Go for your appt which varies from person to person. I didn't have to wait at all and it took them only about 20 minutes to process my visa. Obviously bring your passport and documents if you didn't mail them ahead of time.
9. Visa is several documents stapled into your passport. It's not a student or work visa, it's a Fulbright special visa. The embassy told me to be firm at border crossing so should be interesting. Will let you know...

Headed to D.C. for my visa...

Seeing as my flight leaves in less than three weeks, I'd feel a lot better if I already had my visa. However, it has been a long, strange trip to get this stamp (which I've heard from other Fulbrighters is lamination with info written with permanent marker under it). I've also heard that they're issuing visas for strictly eight months, which is a few days shy of our grant. I foresee it being difficult to complete the grant without being in the country, but that's just me.

Wish me luck--I've already sent in the documents but I may have to get some translated in Spanish. For future Fulbrighters in Argentina,  I will clarify in a future post on Washington, D.C. Argentine embassy requirements and ask my friends to comment on the other embassies. I'm also meeting today with Erica, the ETA Fulbright student who was in Mendoza last year, so I'm very interested to hear her perspective....

Snow forecast for D.C. today...as if I wasn't already scared of D.C. traffic. So excited for the road trip with my college roommate--we're also staying with our friend who lives in D.C. :) Nothing like good friends.



She's such a good sport.



Raleigh needs to follow suit and get an aquarium bar like D.C.



Hesitation increases in relation to risk in equal proportion to age. ~Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. I wish men still dressed in 3-piece suits on a regular basis. Although I like Hemingway better, I'm bringing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button & The Great Gatsby with me to Argentina for the English Lit class I'm helping with b/c they're shorter and have better film adaptations.

22 days until I leave for Mendoza, and reality still hasn't set in that I'm moving to a country where I'll know less than five people and I won't speak the language fluently. I will admit that some anxiety has set in at certain times. My favorite is when people underscore possible anxieties for me (although all have the best intentions).

Even though I did not set out on this trip consulting God, I truly believe and have the peace that Argentina is where I'm supposed to be and that's an overwhelmingly calming feeling. Today was my last day of work in the U.S. and although it's difficult to walk away from a job in this economy, God has a plan and I'm over-the-top excited about moving abroad. Not to mention that my colleagues basically sent me off with every possible survival tool (see below) so I feel pretty prepared. My favorite is the freeze-dried macaroni.

Fulbright: The Government's Best Kept Secret

If any of you are like me and are extremely intimidated by applying for grants and scholarships, please don't stop reading. Before the Fulbright, the only things I had applied for were basically jobs at mediocre restaurants (if you count Applebee's as mediocre...), unpaid internships and college. Spending hours writing an essay in hopes you MIGHT win a few hundred dollar scholarship that may or may not be legit was not appealing to me.

The Fulbright is different. If you'd like to read the official, approved, more eloquent version, visit the site here:
However, I always prefer the unedited version. Here's a quick overview...

Senator William Fulbright founded the program in 1946 to promote mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries. The U.S. Department of State funds 2,800 U.S. Fulbrighters to study, teach, conduct research, and exchange ideas with non-U.S. citizens in other countries for approximately eight months to a year. There are other programs for non-U.S. students to come to do the same in the U.S., but I'm not really familiar with any details for that.

How the Fulbright is Different from Other Grants
You don't have to have a Ph.D. to participate in the U.S. Student Fulbright program. If you have a bachelor's degree or will have a bachelor's degree by the program start date, you're good to go. You don't have to have a specific background. The program encourages applicants from all disciplines to apply. You can apply to research anything: from dance to biology, research is research. In fact, our program advisor told me when I was applying that the committee likes to see creative project ideas. One Fulbrighter's project was to study the bread-making process in Greece. You can travel to almost any country in the world to complete one.
Things You Should be Aware of Before you Apply
The process is long and arduous. You work on the application in late summer/early fall. You turn in the application in early October and then have a short interview with three panelists a few weeks later. At the end of January, you find out if you were recommended to your requested country and finally in March, you find out if you received the grant or not.
It's not over. Then in late April/early May, you receive terms for your grant and start the paperwork. At this time you must sign and commit based on the following knowledge: what country you'll be in and what you'll be doing (research, teaching, etc) it takes a small leap of faith but so far all has worked as promised. Paciencia y fe