For those of you who have been following this blog an apology is owed. There has obviously been quite a break in posts, particularly in the closing months of my Fellowship. We are all back in the US, are in the process of moving into a new home and starting school. There have been quite a few closing thoughts that I have wanted to get ‘onto paper’ so to speak about our experiences, Montenegro, and coming back. Over the next few weeks I will get these out and provide some proper closure to this blog. To the Fulbrighters who are making their way to Montenegro now, good luck! I have been in contact with some of you, and if others find this website and would like to get in touch please feel free to reach out to me. Similarly, in the Fulbright program’s spirit, if you are reading this blog and would like more details about Montenegro, the region, or the Fulbright Program (all seen through the lens of our experience of course) your questions and comments are also welcome.
Spring has Come to Montenegro
Spring has come to Montenegro; the long days of rain are beginning to break, though the Moraca River is still flooded more often than not. As the weather turns nice we are going through our final months here, trying to both prepare to leave and checking the boxes still unchecked from this year abroad. Spring teaching has been rolling along, and class topics this semester have included US History, World History, county fairs in the US, the Papacy, current events, the US Government, the US military, cover letters, interviews, resumes, democracy in action, etc. Attendance is still very light compared to the number of students registered for the classes. Though I had been warned to be prepared for this cultural norm by previous Fulbrighters and the school, it still frustrates me from time to time. In particular, the tendency of students to skip class on the weeks that they have an exam in any class often means that for two or three weeks out of the semester I end up sitting in an empty classroom working to keep it all in perspective. Those students that attend regularly are largely the same core that had decent attendance last semester. The students are interested and often willing enough to discuss issues (particularly large or controversial questions) or ask questions, but getting them to engage in effective role-playing is still a challenge. We are continuing our weekly WeeSing English language classes for children at the American Corner cultural center, and those remain very well-attended!
Religious Freedom Day Presentation
I gave my first public presentation two weeks ago. By request it was on the topic of religious freedom on the occasion of America’s Religious Freedom Day. Held at the American Corner cultural center, it was attended by the Metropolitan of the Church of Montenegro. The audience was considerably more mature than I anticipated (I was anticipating college students), but it went quite well. It was attended by Orthodox, Catholics, Mormons, Protestants and humanists (unfortunately, as far as I know no Muslims attended) from America, Montenegro, the Roma population, and abroad. Afterward the Metropolitan asked me to come to Cetinje (the historical capital) to give another talk at a symposium he would like to arrange for the occasion. Needless to say, I’m pretty thrilled. I have attached the slides from the presentation on the right side of this blog.
Christmas and the New Year
Christmas and the New Year here have come and gone. We celebrated Christmas on the Protestant/Catholic date of Dec. 25, though most of the country celebrates Christmas on the Orthodox date of Jan. 7. Christmas was a subdued affair for the country; there were a few decorations up on the streetlights and some in stores, but the season certainly was not the aesthetic event that it is in the US. We were invited to the Ambassador’s holiday party, and had an enjoyable evening at her residence with other Embassy personnel and Fulbrighters. Santa made an appearance, much to the girls’ delight. We could not get a Christmas tree, so we decorated some garlands with paper snowflakes and origami decorations. The girls had a Christmas breakfast tea with all the trimmings – it went a long way to capturing the magic, beauty, and excess of a Christmas morning. We spent the evening with several Embassy families; it was a good meal and another welcome time of brightness and conversation in the season. For New Year’s Eve Rachel and I got a babysitter and went out on the town, we found a local “English” pub and ran into some Montenegrins we had met earlier and several of my students. We danced, talked, and rang in the New Year to a wide array of Yugopop. It was a neat experience; Rachel and I like to dance, but had a hard time putting the local music to work for us. Our friends however really got into it, and it was fun to see the place really moving.
December in Montenegro
December has come to Montenegro, and it is a busy and often festive month. The first snow has fallen on Podgorica today, though it has been sitting high on the mountains outside the city for weeks now. The girls were terribly excited, and with Aria’s school delayed we have had a chance to enjoy warm porridge and the atmosphere of the morning. On Sunday we went to a ballet put on by a children’s company at the national theater house. It was a marvelous production, filled with fairies and flowers and marching soldiers. The day before the opera Rachel and I helped out at the American embassy’s table at the annual Christmas Bazaar. It was a much bigger affair than I had anticipated, held in the mall with tables set by most of the nations with a diplomatic presence here. Rachel and I took advantage of a photo op with the American ambassador, sold such American staples as peanut butter and Hot Wheels, and enjoyed the international bustle of the morning.
This is my last week of regular classes, though I am giving one ‘final’ to my graduate students next week. Attendance and participation as we have gotten close to the end of the semester has been pretty variable. One of my classes had only a single student show up to take the final – worth 20% of their grade; in another class nearly all of them came and did an admirable job of standing up in front of the class and presenting news stories in their best newscaster voices. Part of the issue may be the examination system here. Students can take an exam that can replace the grade they earn in a class, and while you can’t get an ‘A’ that way, you can pass…and you can retake those exams a half-dozen times if you don’t like the grade you got before.
Setting up for the bazaar
Andrew and Rachel with the Ambassador
The girls at the ballet
First snow in Podgorica
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to all reading this blog! We enjoyed an American Thanksgiving at the Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission’s house, complete with a great turkey and fabulous side dishes and pies prepared by those attending. There were about twenty five adults and a whole pack of children – it made for a great evening and a memorable Thanksgiving. Rachel prepared a traditional Scandinavian dish of carrots in a brandy-butter-cream sauce topped with smoked speck (prosciutto). It was enough to make one rethink the place of root crops in the hierarchy of foods! I made eggnog again, and this year the Happy Rover Brewing Company ran a Founding Fathers Edition. Our departed president’s recipe was definitely the most labor-intensive I have yet undertaken, and without a blender to boot! Details below:
George Washington’s Recipe
“One quart cream, one quart milk, one dozen tablespoons sugar, one pint brandy, 1/2 pint rye whiskey*, 1/2 pint Jamaica rum, 1/4 pint sherry*—mix liquor first, then separate yolks and whites of eggs, add sugar to beaten yolks, mix well. Add milk and cream, slowly beating. Beat whites of eggs until stiff and fold slowly into mixture. Let set in cool place for several days. Taste frequently.”
Take note- old George was so busy starting the country that he forgot to mention how many eggs were required. Cooks of the period estimated 12, which is what we have used here. Though nutmeg and cinnamon were excessively bourgeois for our rugged (and poorly paid) First President, feel free to add these seasonal favorites. Enjoy!
*Due to unavoidable commercial restraints, no rye whiskey or sherry was harmed in the preparation of this treat. Tennessee Bourbon and tawny port were used as substitutes. Our apologies to Mr. Washington. Please drink responsibly.
Trip to two monasteries and a national park
Several weeks ago we rented a car and got out of town for a trip north and east – our destination, Biogradska Gora, one of Montenegro’s famous national parks. The trip up was highlighted by a drive through an absolutely incredible gorge – hundreds of feet of sheer cliffs with a shallow, crystal-clear river rushing through the canyon far below. We stopped to try our luck on a cable-suspension foot bridge (sans children) and thanked our lucky stars that the roads weren’t icy yet. Before arriving at the park we stopped at the Moraca Monastery. Dating back to the 13th century, it sits in a beautiful spot over the river just a few kilometers beyond the canyon gorge.
We reached the park in the afternoon and established ourselves in a small cabin (build with help from USAID). We had a great night and day at the park – we had a campfire, met some German backpackers, hiked around the lake, and enjoyed a moonless night sky the way that they are meant to be – studded with stars and filled with quiet. The park was pretty, but did rather pale in comparison with Glacier, Yellowstone, or the other great parks of the US. Still, it was a great experience, and a good re-charge for all of us.
The next afternoon we drove north for a couple of hours before turning back towards Podgorica. In that time we saw some stunning mountain scenery and visited a smaller monastery populated by a few nuns. It was a really good weekend, and I hope the following pictures captures some of it for you all.
Today’s Class
I had a bit of a ‘local’ moment today; not a single student showed up for classes. I was a bit miffed, as I had traipsed down despite not feeling very well; it turns out that the 2nd years were having midterm exams this week, and the norm is not to bother with classes during test weeks. Oh well.
Conference in Zadar
The conference in Zadar (though it was several weeks ago now) was a real success; the opening remarks and keynote address were delivered in a medieval church built on the bones of a Roman forum. We had a guided tour of several of the local sites, then spent the next several days in a lecture hall discussing the conference of Zadar and the associated historical circumstances. While a few of the lectures were delivered in Italian or German and were thus lost on me, those gave me a good chance to unobtrusively delve into the two books I picked up, one on clerical violence in the late middle ages and one on islands as sources of liminality. The other scholars at the conference were very personable, gathered from the Balkans, Germany, Central Europe, Italy, and England. One of the most interesting aspects of the conference was the deep familiarity with the primary sources exhibited during the discussions. I had some excellent conversations with the scholars and the other grad students there, and look forward to the next time!
Ruminations on the Bus to Zadar
This is a land that speaks with the voice of antiquity; I can hear the echo of Homeric sagas in the broken rock of the hills, feel the apprehension of the sailor in his humble craft at the restrained power of the Adriatic and the unforgiving coast awaiting his hubris and failure of judgment. It is a land dominated by thrusting crags of stone, and man now, as in ages past, clings to the valley, the shoreline, and the foot of the precipice – subservient to the whim and wrath of the stone.
Its olive and pomegranate trees harken back to the solace of Heroes; they are the reincarnation of that epic past in a way that the old towns, choked with tourists and trendy shops, fail to be. This is a land of struggle; a personification of man’s tenacity and long success in a place that would seem to possess all the characteristics designed to reject humanity and its agricultural instinct.
Babylon and Ur were the dawn of humanity, and it is their stamped cuneiform bricks, among the first recordings of the word by humanity, that seems to materially capture their soul. Here it is the olive tree that brings to mind Homer, heroes, and traders hugging this inhospitable coast in an expression of the irrepressible human mercantile drive. Today it seems cheapened, like those here have allowed themselves to sit upon the glories of their past and let the present slowly decay for want of attention and the will to properly dispose of cast-off litter.
Teaching
Now a brief segway to address a rather overdue subject: my teaching! Until this week, I was the only one of the three English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) in-country that had a regular teaching schedule. The upshot to Mediteran University’s extra organization is that I’ve been getting plenty of time in front of a class! I am teaching first, second, and third year students; fourth year students will be added some time this week. My job is to teach the English conversation portion of their class – different teachers teach different aspects of English, one teaches grammar, one translation, one conversation, etc. All together there are three or four teachers working together on each class. It’s a different system than in the States, and so far it seems rather clunky, but a few more months should give a better feel for how it works.
As a whole, my students’ English is already good, and even among the first year students they have no trouble following along with the class – which is good, given my near-total lack of Montenegrin. Getting class participation has been moderately challenging, but that has been getting better as they get more comfortable with me and the class structure. I tried to have them get up from their seats and do a large rotating group exercise the first day, and that was probably jumping the gun. Attendance has been about 60%, which is what I was led to expect. Given that my enrolled numbers are between 25 and 50, 60% attendance actually makes the classes more manageable.
I have noticed a few areas throughout all three classes where there seems to be considerable room for improvement. Critical thinking skills are not strong, something that was mentioned to me before I arrived. The local education system focuses on rote memorization, and it shows. One of my goals is to help these young citizens develop those critical thinking and analytical skills that will serve them far beyond the English classroom. It’s also pretty clear that sourcing information has not been covered in their education. They’re picking up the ideas quickly, and I have no doubt that they’ll have moved past reliance on Wikipedia by the end of the semester. Finally, and particularly noticeable to a historian, their knowledge of history is abysmal. In one class I asked for students to write me a very short essay in class about any event in Montenegro’s history before 1900. I had so many blank looks that I had to broaden the available topics repeatedly to eventually include any event in world history before 1940, and still ended up having to specify the Pyramids as a topic of default. They’re certainly not dumb, far from it, but their educational system has not given them a solid grasp of the basics of history that are so important for forming well-educated voting citizens. I’ll get off my historian’s soap-box now.
I have also learned that my enthusiasm for assigning homework must be matched with an enthusiasm for grading. Three classes x ~20 students x 500 word essays = a lot of grading! Herein lies the real work of the job! Overall, my first couple of weeks as a professor (all caveats for the title applied) have only reinforced that this is something I want to make a career out of. Hopefully I’ll feel the same way in June.
Heading up to Zadar, Croatia
As I type this I am on a bus [this was written on Sept. 26, though it wasn’t posted until after I got back due to internet problems in Croatia] winding its way along the Croatian coast headed for Zadar and a conference of medievalists. “As the Treaty of Aachen symbolically celebrates its 1200-year anniversary, the organizers of the conference invited a group of historians, archeologists, art historians and classicists to discuss the problems relevant for understanding the historical context of the situation in the Adriatic, Central, and Southeastern Europe around year 812. The aim of the conference is to explore this important, yet to a certain extent neglected, topic in international and interdisciplinary forum.” It promises to be a very educational three days, and exactly what I need to help me put the medieval history of this region into perspective. On a less scholarly note, it will also be my first academic conference, and I am very much looking forward to observing academics in their natural environment. (with, of course, the intention of getting one more preview of my future, and making sure that it’s a future I want as much as I think I do)
One of those unintended adventures has befallen me on this trip. Rachel and I woke up at 4am in order to get me out the door at ten to 5am for a prudently early arrive at the Podgorica bus station and a 6am departure. All started smoothly enough, but my overall bus itinerary was predicated on a very narrow window between the four hour bus from Podgorica to Dubrovnik and the eight-and-a-half hour one from Dubrovnik to Zadar. As it happened, the first bus pulled in nearly an hour late, far beyond the narrow fifteen minute window I had had. The next bus left at 3:30, giving me nearly four hours to explore Dubrovnik.
Based on the initial information that the medieval old town was within walking distance I headed out, only to ask further directions to the appropriate bus stop after having walked uphill for twenty minutes straight with no crenellations in sight. The local bus cost nearly three dollars, but dropped me off just outside the impressive late-medieval walls of the old town. I wandered through ancient streets, marveled at ancient crests above doors to overpriced shops, discovered a small playground in a more residential area off the beaten path, and found that the cats of the city seem quite content with their lot.
There were three or four cruise ships in port, and I found myself rubbing shoulders with Americans, Scots, Irishmen, Englishmen, Norwegians, French, Germans, and those from the diverse nations of the Balkans. Getting away from the crowds wasn’t too much of a challenge, as tourists everywhere seem to be a lot like bison – prone to walking well-trod paths in large herds. Even moving a couple of blocks off the main boulevards reduced the congestion a great deal. Dubrovnik really was a beautiful city, and the twisting medieval roads, filled with their uneven joining, overhangs, steep steps and sudden fortress walls were a playground for the imagination. After a few hours, it was back to the bus station for the next, much longer, stage of my journey.
First Trip to the Sea
We took a day trip to Budva, a popular sea-side tourist city, a couple of weeks ago. We rented a car, had a nice drive (with some steep switchbacks falling down to the Adriatic!) and enjoyed the coast. We swam in the sea, strolled the boardwalk, and walked through the medieval old town. It was a delightful time, and the nippers were both fast asleep the whole way home! Here’s a few pictures from that trip:
Catching Up
It has been nearly three weeks since our arrival in Montenegro, and they have been rich, busy weeks! We have had success and difficulties and adventures both intended and coincidental. We are living in a two-bedroom apartment on the edge of Podgorica, just beside the Moraca River. It’s a quiet location, conveniently situated about ten or fifteen minutes’ walk from the two classroom locations where I am teaching. Taxis are ubiquitous here, and we use them at least twice a day to drop off and pick up Aria at her international school (Quality Schools International, Podgorica) across town. It costs about six and a half euros for each of those trips; we’re still trying to figure out if buying an old car for the duration of our stay here will be cost-effective.
Aria has been enjoying school – after her first day she rather memorably ejected that “Kindergarden is the best!” She’s been making friends and enjoying her lessons; thanks to Rachel’s hard work over the last couple of years, she is already reading well and is considerably further ahead in that regard than most of her peers. She’s also doing well in math and science/social studies, where they’re studying early man. Rachel and I have had our first PTA-by-a-different-name meeting, which was…about as much fun as we expected. Most of the teachers and administration at the school have been very helpful, though trying to communicate with Aria’s teachers has sometimes been challenging – it’s hard to figure out exactly what a kindergarten teacher is trying to get at sometimes.
Montenegrins’ impressions about money are one of the social distinctions that we are trying to adjust to. We are regularly told by locals that things are very cheap here, but by and large we have found most prices comparable to or slightly cheaper than in the US. There are some exceptions: alcohol and groceries are cheaper, but eating out, particularly if avoiding the cheap (but gluten-rich) pizza and pasta places, is comparable to the US. The biggest difference we have noticed is the near-total lack of second-hand stores here. Rachel asked a couple of people about them when we first arrived, and she was regarded with something akin to horror. The mentality seems to be that if you are not buying things newer, better, etc. (in an appropriately shiny store) than you’re failing. Rachel had a similar experience when asking about the farmer’s market. I should interject here that there are two, one inside a building attached to the Mall of Montenegro, and one in a walled-off section of lean-to’s that brought back some rather vivid memories of a similar market in Iraq. We have not yet been in the latter. Anyway, was discouraged by several of the locals from going to either market, and was told/hinted at that as a “rich” American she should be shopping at the supermarkets, even if she can get better local produce cheaper at the farmer’s market. Overall, this is taking some getting used to.
The Ferry Terminal, Part II
Andrew and I were separated for the first time in our travels at the rather industrial port city of Bari, Italy on September 6th. While his account of his experiences reads like a casual Hemingway maneuvering through the locals with a detached calm and scientific curiosity, I will attempt to accurately capture my culture shock, anxiety, embarrassment and of course utter thrill at the experience – and give each emotion their due. Shortly after being dropped off by our taxi with a mountain of luggage, we were informed by the ferry port’s ‘Information Desk Official’ that we had to go two kilometers away to a ‘Security Station’ I thought there was no way we would make the boat in time. As it came out that it was “really only necessary for one of [us] to go”, it was easily decided that Andrew would go and I would stay with the girls and the luggage. Only after he started preparing for a two klick run did the Info Desk Lady tell us there was a shuttle. So, we pulled out our money to pay for it, then to be told that it was free. Each consecutive piece of information was like pulling teeth and it quickly became obvious that one could make no assumptions that all information had been given. Andrew took all our passports (as required) and most of our money (as I insisted), gave me a kiss and said goodbye. The girls and I were left alone with the Info Desk Lady in the port station with the flickering florescent lights and peeling advertisements. We had drank all our water on the train except for the small bottle which Andrew drank in preparation for his run. I found myself with no identification in a very dingy concrete hallway with a not so helpful woman who insisted I sit down in her chair.
The first passengers then arrived and were staring openly at us. I felt quite embarrassed to be sitting in the official’s chair, but at first was trying to respond with gratitude to the only gesture of kindness she had shown me so far. She saved all her smiles for the children and, as we have now discovered is common here, was very physical with her adoration of them. When I tried to comfort them or communicate that she was just playing she insisted I sit back down in her chair. As I watched she pulled out every kind of office supply from her desk and offered it as toys to the children. The children were so good and said “thank you” and “oh wow” to every proffered gift (though I took some away under the glare of the Official) and when they became confused Aria just resorted to introducing herself again and again and Rowan defaulted to curtsying so that the official was nearly giddy with delight. Suddenly she turned and vanished down the hallway. I was mostly alone except for a high school aged girl that until now I had been able to ignore due to the activity of the children and the Official. Now we were alone and the kids slumped into the corner on the floor behind our luggage, exhausted. The girl continued to stare at me, taking in every detail, looking me up and down over and over again completely unabashedly. I smiled. A security guard then appeared and began to question me very rapidly and brusquely about the luggage, the children, and where the official had gone, where my husband was, etc. – though the finer parts of his questions were lost to me. I tried German, French, and some terrible Russian in addition to the Montenegrin we have learned and we managed to communicate a little. In the end it was the children who saved me again as they came out and introduced themselves in Montenegrin and melted his exterior. He pinched their cheeks (literally) and called them “leetle preencesses” and also started to play. The Official appeared again and they had a conversation that seemed to answer his questions more completely. She had brought a friend from somewhere – to see the kids. The girls performed and played with the official and the security guard and the new person. At this point when bid to sit down I refused with a smile and they shrugged it off. With my smile pasted to my face I tried to stay alert while forcing myself to move slowly and appear bored with the wait.
Several passengers had now come to wait in line (and stare at us) and many were taking interest in our luggage. Most of them had these tiny, rolling, weekender, hard case suitcases that looked like they would hold two pairs of shorts and a bikini. I overheard one of them use the word “moviestar” while gesturing to our pile of luggage. A woman approached me and gestured to our luggage and asked me a question in a language that wasn’t Montenegrin (I don’t think) I explained that we were moving to Montenegro for one year and repeated ‘one year’ in as many languages as I could while gesturing to the luggage and the kids. She seemed to understand, returned to the line and disseminated the information. One man approached the info counter even though the Official was obviously playing with the girls and stood as close to the laptop bag as he could, then put his own bag down next to it so they were touching, then when I looked over to check on the girls he must have bent down, for as I turned back he was rummaging through his bag with his hands an inch or less from ours. I walked over and picked up our computer bag and moved it to the back of the pile. He stopped rummaging, with nothing in his hands, stood up, smiled at me and walked back over to the line. When I turned around the security guard, holding Rowan’s hand, was running toward the doors 60 feet away! The doors slid apart at their approach. My heart went into my throat as I watched my little girl heading for those doors. I yelled out something – I don’t even remember what. He turned around switched hands with Rowan and came jogging back, all smiles. Adrenaline pounding, anger, fear and some embarrassment creeping around the edges, profoundly aware of everyone staring at me. I gathered my chicks and gave a hard look at the security guard and said in English “You went too far.” I replastered the smile on my face, leaned against the corner in my best casual John Wayne stance, forced myself to speak very slowly and with a casual all-inclusive hand gesture said, “So, where are you from?”
The info desk official turns out spoke more English than originally admitted and as she started to very loudly discuss her ‘ethnic Albanian’ roots I nodded and busied myself with getting coloring books for the girls and telling them with quiet, intense, maternal fervor not to move from their little nest. People in line continued to unabashedly stare. A newly-arrived friend of the high school aged girl spontaneously came over and said with practiced punctuation ‘um ‘you-have-a-beautiful-family” and walked away without leaving me time for response. The official continued to talk loudly and without pause about how she had worked as a school teacher in Soviet Russia, as though the girl had not even come over or spoken with me.
“…but things are not like that anymore, you don’t have to worry about not having your passport with you every moment..don’t worry your husband will be back soon with your papers.”
At that point a friend of the Officials came over to the desk and they began talking and laughing loudly and both of them left the desk. Then I saw that her computer had internet access. I had no wifi access on my tablet, no cell phone access, no passport, no identification, no water, no food, and no husband. Not only that but the girls had begun to complain about needing to go to the bathroom, wanting to play with the other kids in line and being hungry. Rowan had not had a good nap and was starting to cry because she had to use the bathroom. I asked the security guard, when he came around again where the bathroom was. He told me with a little waggle of his finger, I could not leave baggage unattended. At least I’m 70% sure that’s what he said. Resigned now that I was going to have to let Rowan wet herself, I settled in to await the inevitable and get out some plastic bags and clean pants.
The line for the boat was now very long (my audience had grown) and Andrew was still gone. The Official emerged from what looked like a breakroom with her friend. Her friend now had a couple of water bottles in her arms and coat pockets that looked much fuller than before. The Official said goodbye to her friend and came back over to the information desk. She looked at me and said with a thumbs up “you see I told your husband would be quick, everything is good- you see . Your husband is back,no?”
I told her that he wasn’t. She looked at her watch.
“hum, that is very strange.” she said.
And she sat down and began chatting with some other people.
Later, she looked up and pointed to several men coming in the doors.
“It’s ok, you will see, he must be on this shuttle.”
He wasn’t.
A woman approached me from the line asked if I was British. I told her, using my best Montenegrin, that I was an American. Aria jumped up and chimed in with the introductions and Rowan shook hands – still dry but upset. That was apparently all she wanted to know. She went back to the line, apparently disseminated the information and started staring again.
Two more shuttles left and came back without my beloved (or our passports).
To which my Info Official could only say, “hmmm that is very strange indeed, I do not know where he could be.”
It was getting late and the line was long, boarding was about to begin. I had watched many of the people in line leave for the security Station and come back again. But my Andrew was still not back.
It was time for action. First I needed an ally, then I needed a phone, an internet connection, anything. I also needed to talk to her quietly and keep her from shouting my predicament all over the port. I told the girls, on pain of no ice cream ever again, were they not to get up or stop coloring. “Just stay here and keep coloring.” I then approached the info desk and casually leaned in close. This allowed me to drop my voice pretty low and as people do she followed – much to my relief. I asked if she had any kids – she must, I said, because she seemed so good with kids. That was all the seeding the conversation needed. It allowed me to talk quietly yet gesture toward the kids and keep an eye on them. After a few minutes I tried to casually explain that I may need a phone or internet connection at some point. She insisted that these were ‘Official’ connections and that would not be allowed. I worked the conversation back around to family and hobbies and mentioned that my Mother-in-law had a friend who turned her hobby of jewelry making into a business. “…look here is some of her work” I pulled out my earings and showed them to her.
She said she really liked them!
I told her she could have them.
(Thanks for the earrings Mom, sorry to see them go but I think you’ll agree it was for a good cause….)
The earrings disapeared into her pocket. Suddenly she said she could make a call down to the Security Station – just to see what was going on. While she was waiting on the phone she ordered one of the deck hands to bring around a hand cart for our luggage. The Security guard came back around and she barked at him. Suddenly everything began to move very quickly. She said the security station would call her when my husband was done but even before she had hung up Andrew, my darling, beloved husband walked through the doors! The girls yelled “Daddy!” and went for a running embrace. We shared one of the best gazes of our marriage yet over their little curly heads. The luggage was packed onto the hand cart, the Info Officer gestured an offer for me to use her computer, (which I no longer needed) and the security guard clapped me on the shoulder and said “You a very good mother, strong” then he said goodbye to the “leettle preencesses” and pinched their cheeks (again, literally).
We were then ushered, railroaded, escorted and led quickly and enthusiastically by the security officer, the Info Desk Official and the deck hand past the entire line of waiting passengers (my audience), including an elderly blind woman and her husband. Our embarrassment was only tempered by our confusion and our dawning awe at the undeniable power of a well-placed trinket. Every time we would stop and gesture to the line or ask if it was the line to our boat we were encouraged onward. All we could do was gesticulate animatedly, look confused and follow our bags. We blasted through security (none of our luggage went through the scanners) and had to run to keep up with the baggage. We were the first on board. We only heard the other passengers arrive after we had settled into our cabin – Rowan made it to the potty – and were ready to go above decks. We took some photos (did some hugging and kissing) and, as Andrew kept insisting, reviewed the emergency escape routes and instructions for dropping the life boats. (Some of you may blame this behavior on the Marine Corps, but I thank the Boy Scouts) We made every effort to be kind and apologetic as we passed ‘those we had passed’ in the halls of the boat and were surprised that either they did not recognize us (not likely) or didn’t care. Perhaps preferential treatment of some by the authorities is routine in the Balkans, I guess we shall find out.
Getting onto the Ferry
Describing the events of September 6th, 2012…
The story of our adventures in Montenegro properly begins on the Italian shores of the Adriatic Sea, in the port city of Bari. Our adventures and experiences in Rome will wait for another day, but we are long overdue an account of the land of the Black Mountain. I fear that further delay will color the account of our first days with the developed experiences of later weeks.
Taking the ferry from Bari across the Adriatic to the Montenegrin coastal town of Bar was a decision based upon a desire for a diversity of experiences, necessity, and cost. The ferries run every few days and ‘require’ that you check in three hours before sailing – or your berth can be given away. Three hours prior to a 10pm departure only gave us about an hour to get from the train station to the ferry, assuming that the train ran promptly and remained on schedule. The Italian rail service did their jobs well, and we arrived in Bari’s rather ugly train station as expected. Given the mountain of luggage we had (one checked and one carry-on bag per person when only half the people can carry their weight made for what was, for Rachel and I, a barely movable mountain) I accepted the offered help of a taxi driver waiting on the platform – a known risk, and asking to be over-charged, but we didn’t have the time for alternatives. As things turned out, he was an expensive but helpful chauffer, hauling our luggage with us for the several-hundred meter jaunt from the station to the taxi and from the taxi near to the ferry terminal. (here we paused for about ninety seconds for me to catch my breath and Rachel to snap a few pictures)
The fun began in the ferry terminal. The Montenegro Lines booth was closed, and a woman at the information desk asked us if we had our security passes with us yet. This was my deep-harbored fears coming to life. A bit of paperwork, unknown to me until this very late hour, only to be acquired two kilometers away (“you can take the free shuttle and leave your bags here”) and the clock ticking to our scheduled hour of departure. Remember the word “scheduled”, it will play a role again. Seeing no alternative, I bid farewell to Rachel and the girls, took our passports and most of our money, and having no means of communicating with them during my absence, left them sitting on a mountain of luggage in the industrial edge of this small Italian town…
Rachel’s story at this point is hers to tell, and she will post it when she gets a chance, because it really is both amusing and engaging. As for me, I took the white van-shuttle two kilometers down the now-dark road to a large parking lot with permanent awnings along two edges. Perched under those large steel-and-canvas awnings were a row of semi-permanent modular offices alternately lit like last year’s strand of white Christmas lights. The line to the Montenegro Lines window was short, but the wait was long, and as time stretched on I could see that the process was fairly straightforward, assuming that they had your ticket confirmation on file. We were not sent tickets, and the confirmation email was, apparently, the one reservation that I had not printed out. I kept my fingers crossed, prayed, and waited, hoping that the silently ticking clock had not run out on us, and that the girls were okay. When my turn came at the window my fears were banished, my papers were issued, and I was on my way.
I returned to a relieved Rachel and some happy daughters to find that a port employee was waiting for me with a hand-cart. Our bags were largely loaded up, and he ushered us right past the queue of several hundred waiting passengers, including an elderly blind woman at the front of the line, and got us and our luggage first on board. We tried to look as uncomfortable as we felt, but couldn’t escape the conclusion that our efforts to make a subtle and good impression for the United States was being delivered something of a public body blow by this very preferential treatment. Either it wasn’t as big a deal as we thought, those getting on were used to this kind of thing, or the other passengers were intimidated by the quantity of our luggage 😉 because all of the conversations we had on board subsequently were very congenial.
View on Arrival
Layers of knife-edged hills backing the brilliantly blue Adriatic.
August 22, 2012 – A Montenegrin-American’s Take on Montenegrins
Spartans. A rough, honorable people who fought off the unstoppable Ottoman Turks, whose women and children are sacrosanct in a culture that has only recently given up blood feuds. Rachel and I had a chance to sit down with a friend who was born in America to Montenegrin parents, and who spent a great deal of time both as a child and adult living in Montenegro. His perspective was an echo of historical accounts of the land of the Black Mountain, an honest peek into the culture of a country that is doing its best to present nothing but glossy beaches and picturesque parks online. He described a culture that seemed to have escaped the writers of guidebooks and previous Fulbrighters alike, and to little surprise. The Fulbrighters we have met and talked to so far have been gregarious, smart, and committed – wonderful representatives of the United States, but they have also been cut from a similar bolt of cloth, and it is not the cloth that the Montenegrins of the mountains wear.
The people described to us valued their society in which men were men and women were women, and in that odd juxtaposition that is common in many societies, women are both expected to do the overwhelming share of housework, it is acceptable for men to hang out with the guys, sleep in, and expect his wife to attend to all but his occupation; given that, women are immune to the fraternal harassment, teasing, and aggression that seems to characterize male relationships. A man needs to be able to take a joke, or a punch, or both, and give just as good in return – but step inappropriately around a man’s wife or children, and things suddenly become serious. Montenegrins love their guns and their military – the novel Gates of Fire about the Spartans at Thermopylae, has been translated into Montenegrin. They are, to use an overused phrase, a proud and fiercely independent people. Parents want their sons to be soldiers, and education – leading to professional occupations, is prized.
We were advised to be discreet about our background and accomplishments; our marksmanship, martial arts and military background will be very well received, but bringing it up in a way that would be perceived as bragging will not be. He advised us to pick an element of our heritage that fits with the Montenegrin psyche and focus on it – not hard, as Rachel and I take great pride in our Scots/Irish and Irish/Scandinavian heritage, respectively.
We also received good advice about interacting with the Montenegrins. Giving small gifts is acceptable, but avoid shows of ostentation; when visiting someone’s home bring flowers for the lady and some alcohol. Be prudent about accepting gifts, so as not to give the impression that you are accepting a bribe. Don’t go places alone with members of the opposite sex, as rumors fly thick and fast. Be careful about having study sessions with students in our home – along with gender precautions, you don’t want the accusation leveraged later that your grades were influenced by favoritism. Children are loved, and often parented communally – while this is something we will have to feel out, it’s something for us to expect – this is also the second or third time that we’ve heard this.
Crime directed against us should not be a concern, though we were advised to not stop for people on deserted stretches of the road and avoid angering gypsies. General prudence and being a hard target seems like the order of the day – par for the course as an American overseas. Overall, it was a very informative chat, and gave us a much better feel for the culture of the people we’ll be living with for the next year. We’re excited to get going – only a few frantic days of packing left!
Packing and Start Dates
Time draws short, and brings stress, excitement, success, and oversights. Packing the house while trying to keep it presentable for potential renters was challenging, and with great joy we have finally found a very nice couple to rent our home to. Now the whirlwind can commence in earnest. Too many projects, boxes and friends wanting to meet one last time for the days left – if you are among those friends, know that it is for want of time and not lack of affection that those visits are pushed off.
A bit of an embarrassing revelation came to light over the last week or so. One of the peculiarities of the Fulbright process has been the lack of a definite start or end date – no one has given a hard day by which we must arrive in or leave the country; I suspect this is because those dates are largely determined by the schedule of each person’s host institution. In my case this is the first year that a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant has been posted full-time at Mediteran University, hence the soon-to-be-disclosed issue. We were encouraged, by the system, to arrange transportation early, as our first payment is not issued until we have bought tickets and said tickets get more expensive the closer to the departure date they are bought. This being the case, I canvassed opinions for when we should arrive from the Embassy, past ETAs, etc. and was rather uniformly told that an early September arrival in preparation for a mid-September start was the way to go. None of the information I had received from Mediteran specified differently, and I foolishly (in retrospect) failed to ask them for clarification. All tickets bought, we will arrive in Montenegro on Friday the 7th – and I just found out that Mediteran starts classes on the 3rd. I contacted them as soon as I suspected the discrepancy (I was digging through their website and came across an academic calendar) and they have assured me that it is no problem, and that I’ll soon be caught up. Nevertheless, this is not at all how I wanted to start things off! So my advice to you who follow after me – plan backwards, and try your best to pin down your start date with your institution (especially if it’s new to the program) before buying tickets.
Tickets and Training
The last couple of weeks have been filled with milestones on the path to Montenegro. Purchasing tickets made the theoretical a reality – several thousand dollars (even if a fair bit of it will eventually be compensated) goes a long way to solidifying what is happening. Given Montenegro’s small size I scoured every possible flight permutation between airports near the DC region and near Montenegro. The one stipulation I had to follow was that the flights had to conform to US Government regulations, which require us to fly on either US flagged carriers or EU carriers that include a stop in an EU country. While I imagine those restrictions may be more constrictive to people flying to Asia, for me it just ruled out Turkish Airlines, which despite their low prices, their reputation had already taken care of. Future Fulbrighters: keep in mind that Iceland Air is not an EU carrier; I’ve heard at least one horror story about that mistake. We will be flying into Rome then making our way across Italy to Bari, where we will ferry across the Adriatic to Montenegro. I look forward to posting pictures of the first few days, Rome, and the Italian countryside!
Last week I also attended the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) training in DC. There were 32 ETAs in attendance; the countries represented included Ukraine, Azerbaijan, the former Yugoslav countries, Macedonia, Belarus, etc. – smaller countries without the in-house resources to conduct the training after we get overseas. We spent two and a half days learning teaching techniques and lesson planning, and I am pleased to say that it was some of the best training I have ever received. I had expected death by PowerPoint, and instead found myself solidly engaged for the entire time. The venue was sufficient and satisfactory, though reflecting the budgetary constraints that are an inescapable reality these days.
I really enjoyed meeting my fellow Fulbrighters – it was a real pleasure to be surrounded by other young (okay, all but one were younger than myself, and none of them had kids), energetic, well-traveled and intelligent people. I have never before done group work where everyone so consistently pulled their own weight. Wednesday night about half of the total group gathered in one of the rooms stayed up, shared libations, and talked. Travel stories, Fulbright stories, and personal-histories-in-brief made up the bulk of the conversations, though I did hear “declension” used in a sentence. Gregarious and charismatic nerds, all of us. By 12:15 we had all drifted off to bed; coming in from all over the country many were wrestling with jet-lag. Thursday night we walked about forty miles (or so it seemed) to a very enjoyable dinner in Adams Morgan. For next time: get someone to call around and make reservations at lunch time…trying to find seating for 18 with no notice, even on a Thursday evening, is asking a lot in DC. Rachel was able to come down on Thursday and join us for dinner, and she fit right in, had a great time, and made a lot of new friends.
I was a little apprehensive about how my military background was going to be received, and like similar concerns I had when I started school in 2009, it was unfounded. Though my fellows were by and large a left-leaning lot, there was clearly a separation between their political feelings and their opinion of me as a former Marine. I answered a lot of questions and was able to provide a few pieces of advice based on my wartime experience. All in all, it was a great three days. To my fellows, if you’re reading this, I’ll see you soon!
Fires Threaten Ancient Montenegrin Forest
This story is from The Associated Press.
Montenegro wildfires threaten ancient forest
Published: Today
PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) – Firefighters in Montenegro are struggling to contain wildfires that are threatening an ancient pine forest in the northeast of the country.
Fires have erupted amid extremely high temperatures in the Balkans, reaching around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in Montenegro in the past weeks.
Fires have destroyed hundreds of acres of forests and about a dozen houses and stables. Officials say the blaze has reached the outer rim of the Crna Poda forest, where some of the pine trees are 400 years old.
Emergency official Radomir Scepanovic said Monday that “we will stay to protect (the forest) until the rain falls.”
Firefighters have been using planes and choppers, but efforts are hampered by hilly terrain and occasional strong winds.
The forest is located within the UNESCO-protected Tara river canyon.
Upcoming ETA Training, US and Montenegro Competing in the Olympics
Just a quick update, I will be participating in the Fulbright ETA orientation and training for Europe/Eurasia next week. A three day crash course in DC designed to give us tools to take to the classroom overseas. The ETAs I’ve spoken with so far found it very helpful and I’m looking forward to it.
A bit of Olympic news: the US and Montenegro are both in the “B” bracket for men’s water polo, they will face off on July 29th! Want to know more? Check out http://www.london2012.com/water-polo/
Rachel and Ariella (Aria) at Great Falls Park on Father’s Day
Kids and an Online Orientation
This first paragraph is for you parents looking to move overseas with little children.
One of the great parental challenges is understanding and empathizing with your children. Guided by what you remember from that age’s memories which have grown hazy and contextualized over time, you are also faced with the differences of personality and circumstance of your children. The process can be quite a challenge, and it can also bring about some interesting surprises. We’ve been talking to Aria (our oldest daughter) during the process of preparing to move and trying to figure out what her concerns and anticipations are. First, foremost, and repeatedly cross-examined was the issue of birthdays. Aria’s sixth birthday is in October – would she still have a birthday? Would there be balloons? Presents? Cake and candles? (in that order :)) Only after many reassurances that she would have a birthday with all the trimmings did that over-riding concern get laid to rest. We were packing up Christmas boxes for storage and we asked Aria what she thought was the most memorable thing we had in the house at Christmas time; the answer, no matter how we asked it, was always lights. I remember being in love with the interwoven shadows cast on the ceiling by our Christmas tree’s lights when I was a kid, so I suppose hers wasn’t as unusual an answer as it first seemed to be. She’s excited about starting school, and probably won’t realize for years how unique her first year will be – kindergarten in Montenegro! She’ll be attending the QSI Montenegro international school (http://montenegro.qsischool.org) with a class of about six! Many thanks to QSI Montenegro’s board for awarding her a very generous scholarship to help with the tuition costs!
My Fulbright paperwork finally came a few days ago (via email, to my surprise). A few forms to sign and fill out, but not much in the way of new information. The Fulbright people are putting on a pair of online webinar-type events next Monday and us English Teaching Assistants meet here in DC in a couple of weeks for three days of training. It definitely seems that the Fulbright program is pushing to conduct the vast bulk of its orientation and training online – presumably a cost-savings measure. This de-personalization of the process is one more reason to make sure that you reach out and try to talk in person with current or past Fulbrighters or others who have lived in the area to get as much first-hand knowledge as possible before leaving. As they say, knowing is half the battle!
Skype, Climate, Teaching, and More
Skype. ‘Till now I have to admit that it was no more than an esoteric tool of the more computer-literate than myself, but a couple of calls have confirmed that 1) Skype is easy to use and 2) talking to Central Europe for free rocks! Rachel and I executed a pair of mid-day (us)/evening (them) calls to Jennifer, one of the outgoing Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETAs), and the board of QSI, the international school in Podgorica (the capital of Montenegro where we’ll be living). Both were very valuable, and we are hoping to follow up with a call to the other outgoing ETA in a few weeks.
Jennifer passed on some great thoughts, including (in no particular order): Podgorica in the summer is hot!! Apparently it’ll very likely be in the 90’s+ during the months around our arrival and departure; the beach is a source of relief but is often busy with tourists, especially in August. We are adjusting our packing lists accordingly. The winters in Podgorica are apparently relatively mild, and sound similar to our rainy Virginia winters here. It seldom snows there, and even last year, which was a notable exception, Jennifer told us that things still ran smoothly: many places of work were closed but there were no food shortages or issues of that ilk. The mountainous northern part of the country has a cooler and snowier climate, but Podgorica itself appears to be fairly mild.
Safety is naturally a concern for us, particularly as we will be living with children, and it was very reassuring to hear from Jennifer that she has always felt safe, even when traveling alone at night. While we’ll take all prudent precautions, Jennifer’s very positive review has allowed us to rest easier on that front. On a related note, Jennifer mentioned that there are a lot of children in Podgorica and that in her experience Montenegrins are very child-friendly. She’s seen a lot of “village raising a child,” where adults around children will collectively keep an eye out for them. I suspect that that will be both a comfort and a bit of cultural difference that we will have to adapt to.
An interesting tidbit came out by way of QSI and the Embassy staff: Montenegro does not have a US Marine Security Guard detachment, but there are enough prior-service Marines in the Embassy that they still gather to celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday every year! For those of you unfamiliar with the Corps, its birthday is a big deal, and celebrated wherever Marines (current or prior) happen to be on November 10th. Want to know more? Check out: http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Customes_Traditions/Birthday_Celebration.htm
Switching gears; for you Fulbrighters-to-be, I still have not gotten my official welcome-to-Fulbright packet that I have been expecting ever since I got word that they received my medical paperwork. Yesterday I received an email from the State Department informing me and all of the other outgoing ETAs that the packets were coming, really, there were just some technical difficulties and the rush of returning Fulbrighters to deal with. In the interim we were encouraged to complete the online orientation process and wait just a bit longer. Patience is a virtue! My advice to you if you find yourself in similar circumstances: just keep plowing ahead with your preparations and the government will get to you when they get to you.
I have also heard back from Dragica Zugic, my contact at Mediteran University (where I will be teaching). I will be teaching 4 or 6 sessions of two classes a week; the classes themselves are Modern English 3 and 4. A couple of times a month I will travel to satellite campuses to work with the students outside the capital. My job is to run writing and speaking practices of my own devising and to administer two essay tests and two oral tests (which I will have assistance evaluating). She gave me the title of the textbook, but my class syllabi appear to be largely mine to create – an exciting and intimidating prospect! If you’re interested I’ve posted the general syllabi for the overarching classes that they sent me on the side of the site. Dragica’s update fit what I had been led to expect by the current ETA’s and relieved me that the work I’ve put into class outlines so far hasn’t been in vain!
We have solidified arrangements for an apartment in Podgorica, it has housed Fulbrighters for several years now, and we found it through a Fulbright Scholar who is finishing up her time in Montenegro. It’s located on the edge of the city and is run by a Montenegrin who came to the US on a Fulbright in the early 1980’s! We had honestly wasted (term used only with 20/20 hindsight) a lot of time trying to sieve through online apartment listings. We had decided that we were going to need some help from boots-on-the-ground when this just kind of fell into our lap. Further poking around the Fulbright program’s website has revealed that a ‘multiple-generation Fulbrighter apartment’ such as this is a tried-and-true method for finding decent housing in a foreign city (especially one with as sparse an online presence as Podgorica). Point of cultural difference: there was no lease to sign – the details were settled between the apartment manager and myself via email. Upside: no red tape! Downside: don’t make your landlord angry! (a co-worker of mine who lived in Bosnia for several years had a similar experience there)
Lots of Flickr Pics of Montenegro
Are you looking for some ground-truth pictures of Montenegro? Try Flickr. Here’s Flickr with a “Montenegro” search already entered: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Montenegro#page=0
Also, I have had it confirmed that I will be teaching at the private Mediteran University. I should know more in a few days, and I will put a more complete post up with my class schedule, the usefulness of recon via Skype, and more!
Montenegrin-born American Olympic Athlete
There is an amazing story on the Team USA site about a Montenegrin-born boy who was adopted by an American family and is now going to London to compete in the Olympic Judo competition. We know who we’ll be cheering for this summer! Want to know more? Check out http://www.teamusa.org/News/2012/May/29/JUDO-Delpopolo-May-29-2012.aspx.
June 1, 2012 – Yugoslavia in “WWII in HD”, Montenegro’s Environment, Mining, Historical Handguns, and the Fulbright Application
In WWII Yugoslavia’s communist guerrillas, known as Tito’s Partisans, fought the occupying Axis and local collaborating or puppet governments. As part of a deal to receive arms from the Allies, Yugoslav partisans helped move downed allied flyers back to friendly lines; such an incident is vividly described in the “Striking Distance” episode of WWII in HD. Want to know more? Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Front and http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-2/battles-and-operations/.
Viewed through the lens of the internet, Montenegro’s environment is incredible and some research shows that their ecological resources are more than skin deep! According to the European Union’s Environmental Agency, Montenegro has one of the highest rates of biodiversity in Europe and one of the highest per-capita freshwater outflows of any European nation. Migratory birds, large mammals, endemic fish and more make of some of Montenegro’s faunal attractions. Want to know more? Check out http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer/countries/me/soertopic_view?topic=country%20introduction.
While Montenegro sees its future in tourism, mining, particularly for aluminum, is a significant component of Montenegro’s GDP. The Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica (Aluminum Plant Podgorica) is Montenegro’s aluminum processing site. They have a website in Montenegrin and English. The intersection between industry, environment, and tourism is one of the issues that I would like to explore with my students over the coming year. How do young Montenegrins feel about these issues? How focused on tourism should their economy be? What is the line between environment preservation and development that will best serve their country, and how do they get there? Want to know more? Check out http://www.kap.me/index.php?lang=2.
One of the 19th and early 20th century cultural icons of the Montenegrins was the firearm. Travelers frequently commented on Montenegrins’ love of guns (a love born of necessity – both their neighbors and the Turks were a constant and evolving threat). In particular, the much-beloved King Nicolas (r. 1910-1918) declared that “Every male citizen of Montenegro is a member of the Militia, and therefore not only justified but also obliged to possess at least one Gasser Pattern revolver.” These massive pistols were chambered for 11.25x36mm rounds, which is like Dirty Harry’s .44 magnum, only bigger. These hefty pistols feature prominently in The Land of the Black Mountain: The Adventures of Two Englishmen in Montenegro, a 1903 travelogue which can be found in the public domain, and is free for Kindles. Want to know more? Check out http://www.gundigest.com/gun-collecting-firearm-collecting/the-revolvers-of-montenegro.
Some of you hopeful future Fulbrighters would no doubt like a bit more information about the application process. First off, the application process is long, but no more arduous than applying to a graduate program. Compared to the possible outcomes: a year abroad to focus on study or teaching, the honor and privilege of representing the United States, considerable financial outcome, and the ability to put such a renowned fellowship on one’s resume, the time spent on the application is time very well spent. The first thing to do is consider this (and other prestigious fellowships) as early as possible. Though the applications cannot be submitted until the fall prior to the start of your desired fellowship, you can begin making yourself a good candidate as early as possible. Fulbright committees are looking for leaders, for good examples of US citizens, academic capability, and interest in the mission of the program. If you have the chance to go abroad, do so. Learn a foreign language – if you want to go to most places in Western Europe you’ll have to be fluent to be placed. Look at the Fulbright country lists and see what the host countries are looking for – they’ll tell you who their ideal candidate is. Here’s an example, the Montenegro posting: http://us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/selectedcountry/107. If you want to be an ETA then try to get some kind of teaching experience under your belt.
Look through the countries and try to match your interests, qualifications and needs carefully. For example, I wanted a country in Europe where they would allow me to take my family (and that had a high enough standard of security and stability that I was comfortable taking my family), that did not require me to be fluent in the language (I know some French and Latin, but I am not fluent in either…not that Latin is much of a conversational help!), were looking for students with my background (history), and had an element of its history that I found appealing. I started by looking at the countries that were specifically called out as those in particular need of applicants; I found most to be places that I wasn’t comfortable bringing two young daughters, but would still advise starting off an evaluation with those countries. When I was done, it had come down to Montenegro and a few other Central European and Mediterranean countries, and after some research into the respective cultures, environments, and histories, Montenegro was my winner.
Remember, you are not competing against every other applicant, just every other applicant to your country. From what I can see, Western Europe tends to be more competitive, but when you compare the actual acceptance rates the differences are not as great as they first appear; there are far more applicants to France than Montenegro, but there are more spaces available too.
The essays are the heart of the application, and my advice is: be yourself, but remember why you are writing the essay. I wrote my essays (with a lot of help from my wife), and got input from my school’s Fulbright adviser and the writing center. I knew what the purpose of the Fulbright ETA program was, and knew that it fit into both my past and what I wanted out of my future. That being said, the essays probably went through six or seven drafts. Take your time and start early, get plenty of eyes on your work, and really remember to tie your essays to the purpose of the program. Unlike some other fellowship programs (I had also applied to the Marshall), there are no interviews. The essays, letters of recommendations, and your record is all you have, so take your time and make it good. With regard to letters of recommendation, develop a relationship with your professors well before you ask them for a letter. If you haven’t stopped by just to chat, if you haven’t been to office hours, and if you haven’t done well in their class, then you probably shouldn’t be asking them for a letter. Finally, be patient. I found out in Jan. that I had made the first big cut, but I did not find out about my final acceptance until April 17th. By then, I had been accepted into two graduate programs and had to do some quick decision-making. In the end though, that’s the kind of tough choices that you can relish in life! Want to know more? Check out http://us.fulbrightonline.org/.
May 23, 2012 – Introduction to this blog, Fulbright, Montenegro, and us
[caveat: this blog is not a product of, nor does it speak for, the US Government or the Fulbright program]
The land of the black mountain. Montenegro. Its name invokes nineteenth-century travelers and Tolkienesque vistas alike; this blog is one family’s story of journey and diplomacy in that intriguing Balkan state. I am Andrew Pedry, and a few weeks ago I was informed that I had successfully completed the long application process and been awarded a Fulbright fellowship as an English Teaching Assistant to Montenegro. I imagine this blog serving several purposes, most importantly, I hope it can clarify the reality of a Fulbright experience for those interested in becoming Fulbrighters, and I hope that it serves as an educational platform to expose Americans to this little-known, newly sovereign and Western-leaning country.
First off, a little about the Fulbright program, Montenegro, and us.
The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the US Department of State, is actually a collection of programs designed to facilitate the exchange of students, scholars and ideas between the United States and foreign countries. Fulbrighters are not employees or official representatives of the US government, but are private citizens who retain all academic and artistic freedoms that would be given a member of a US educational institution; that being said, Fulbrighters are carefully screened during the application process to ensure that the Program’s primary purpose of improving the US’ image abroad and facilitate cultural exchange takes place. Fulbrighters are ambassadors as well as scholars.
The Fulbright English Teaching Assistanship (ETA) is a fellowship that places US college graduates in foreign countries as assistant English teachers. The application process is very similar to that for a student scholar fellowship, the main difference being that in an ETA application more importance is given to prior teaching experience and demonstrated interest in education as opposed to a research project outline. More details on the application process later. Once selected, the host nation decides where to place an ETA – they can be used at any level of the education system, though the host nation’s general intent is included in their country brief. Montenegro, for example, only uses its ETAs in their universities. An ETA spends an academic year abroad, and the details of that experience – how much time is spent in the classroom, how much oversite or curriculum freedom they have, what outside projects they engage in, etc. is largely dependent on the school they are placed in and their level of personal motivation and interests. Conversations with ETAs currently in Montenegro indicate that they allow considerable freedom to teach in the classroom – less of an assistantship and more of a full teaching role.
Before I began research for my Fulbright application I had only the vaguest notion of what this country was or where it could be found. I was fairly certain it was somewhere between the Czech Republic and Turkey, but beyond that I was woefully ignorant. I won’t bore you with the laundry-list of details (I’ll direct you to a good encyclopedia and the CIA World Factbook for that), but here are the highlights: Montenegro is about 5,000 square miles (population: ~625,000) and sits on the shore of the Adriatic: as my wife cleverly put it, “if the boot of Italy were to kick strait back it would hit Montenegro.” If the boot ever did so kick it would be a shame, because Montenegro has some beautiful beaches which are backed by rugged mountains that are still prowled by wolves and bears. Tourism is one of Montenegro’s biggest, fastest-growing industries, and they are quickly trying to reorient themselves to appeal more to affluent Europeans and less to the Serbian family vacationers that made up their tourist base in years past. From what we’ve read, Montenegro really is a country undergoing a rapid change. Formerly part of Yugoslavia, Montenegro played a limited role in the Balkan wars of the 1990s and separated from Serbia by peaceful democratic decision in 2006. Want to know more? Check out http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/travellers-guide-montenegro-7808657.html.
Historically, Montenegro has been a fault line between East and West; the boundary between the Eastern and Western Roman empires ran through here, and the Venetians controlled part of the coast for centuries. Most formatively though, Montenegro successfully held out against the Ottoman Turks for around five hundred years, and that fight is stamped onto the national consciousness. According to all sources the Montenegrins have a strong warrior tradition and historic love of firearms. To put to work an overused phrase, they have long been “fiercely independent.”
I am hoping that our background will help up fit in when we get to Montenegro. I spent ~6 years overseas as a kid (Moscow and Paris) as my dad was with the embassies. I was a Boy Scout and completed my Eagle Scout project just a few miles from the American Military Cemetery in Normandy. After high school I spent two years studying wildlife biology at the University of Montana before I dropped out and joined the Marine Corps. I spent four years as a Marine, two years as an infantryman in a small boat company and two years as a scout-sniper. While in the Corps I was deployed to the South Pacific in 2001 and Iraq for the invasion in 2003. Half-way through my enlistment I married my high school sweetheart, Rachel Smith. After the Corps we moved to Seattle, taught kung fu for a bit and lived the life of starving artists. We came to the Washington DC region doing some contract work; when that unexpectedly ended I found work at a large government contractor for about four years. Drowning in PowerPoint and corporate memos, I went back to school in 2009 on the Post-9/11 GI Bill and have just graduated magna cum laude from George Mason University with BA dual-majoring in History and Religious Studies. During all of that our two amazing daughters were born in 2006 and 2009. After we get back from Montenegro I plan on continuing on to graduate school (U. of Toronto has deferred my acceptance into their MA in History program for a year) and hopefully I will end up in a tweed jacket teaching about the Middle Ages one day. That’s me in a nutshell.
Rachel was born and largely raised in Montana, near where the movie A River Runs Through It was filmed. She is a capable outdoorswoman, spending a week in the Bob Marshal Wilderness with only a daypack when she was 14. President of the High School Art Club, Rachel is a galleried artist who works in acrylic, oil, watercolor pencil, ink, and sculpture. Also an accomplished marksman and martial artist, she taught me how to shoot handguns before I went into the Marine Corps (I went on to qualify expert with a pistol). She worked in city government, in a veterinary office, and for a DC area contractor before our daughters were born. Since then she has been raising our two wonderful girls and working constantly on beautifying our home and improving our community. Montenegro will be our family’s third and longest trip abroad, the first two being vacations to the Czech Republic and Jamaica.
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