Meet the Fulbrights :: 07.19.04
Got back from DC a couple days ago. Fulbright flew everyone assigned to Eurasia in for a conference. There are four student Fulbright grants to Lithuania this year and the same number for professors. There's an environmentalist, a ceramicist, a linguist and me. The professors were in a different set of meetings so I only really met one who is a law professor. Nice guy, he's all disheveled and very excited to drink lots of vodka. Funny guy - smart.
Fulbright in general is kind of puzzling. The group as a whole is very intimidating since the large majority are academics. The whole thing started with a very formal round of speeches given by experts on the region. As each speaker came to the podium a long list of credentials would first be read about them, then they would launch into these twenty minute tributes to Fulbright which emphasized how great we all were and how important the progam is.
The next two days we spent hours in forums on our respective countries. These discussions were led by return grantees and who meant to prepare us for what's to come. The experts on Lithuania, turns out, don't know much. Since Fulbright Scholars keep a large portion of their US salaries plus over 20,000 in grant money (for a period of nine months) they aren't exactly living with the people. In fact, they're probably in the top 5 percent in Lithuania. So most of what they had to say was from a really privileged position that didn't have much to do with the Lithuania I know.
The students seemed closer to the ground, but I was still scratching my head. Fulbright carries a lot of weight, a lot more it seems than Peace Corps, but I can't see why. Fulbright is supposed to be an academic/cultural exchange. Peace Corps, officially, is supposed to be nation building, but I think they got it partly backwards. Peace Corps volunteers have no funding for projects, little or no material to do their jobs with, and very little money. The only thing you have is what's in your head. Fulbrighters receive at least five times more per month than a Peace Corps volunteer. Only stay for 9 months (versus 25+), have less language skill, and typically live in cities. I don't get all the hoopla for Fulbright, I'm glad I got one, but I think people have seriously overrated the virtues of the program.
On a lighter note, I discovered that there are cameras in airport bathrooms. I went into a bathroom stall to put my belt back on after going through the metal detector. I stepped into a stall with a funky lock and ended up stuck inside. I fiddled for a while then considered the options and ended up climbing over the top. It wasn't graceful, but I got through easily enough. I pulled my bag from under the door and that was that. Before I could get to the door there was a security guard inside who had obviously been in a hurry. He asked me if I was alright which threw me since he wasn't there when I climbed over, why would he ask me if I was alright or...oh damn there must be a camera in ...He changed the subject, complimented me on my glasses and left immediately looking guilty. Weird feeling. Next time I go to the airport I'm gonna read a copy of 1984 while I'm on the can. I wonder if they'll get it.
This page contains all entries posted in July 2004. They are listed from oldest to newest.
June 2004 is the previous archive.
August 2004 is the next archive.
Many more can be found on the main page or by looking through the archives.