lulu13

If anyone has any questions about Oman, I'm a Fulbright ETA here now, and I'd be happy to answer any questions. Just PM me!

Does anyone know when ETAs find out their placement? Is it at orientation?

I just told the person I was dreading the most, and it actually went really well. I need to take unpaid time off, which is highly frowned upon (and I just took some in May for a trip), in order to go to the PDO. My boss (who helped me tell the other person) gave me great advice. She said to preface what you say with "I have some great news!" or something super positive like that. That way, they can't (hopefully) react badly when you tell them. You have to prime them to be happy about the news. It worked great for me! I got a "That's fantastic!" and a hug. Good luck to everyone who is dreading the big reveal. On to a different topic...is anyone interested in starting a Facebook group for the MENAers? (Please someone else take the reins!)

I know that the hotel is the Grand Hyatt Washington (1000 H Street Northwest, Washington D.C., DC 20001). They've posted a schedule on the PDO website: http://fulbright.sta...tation-schedule. I'm waiting on my lab tests too, but I'm hoping to get them tomorrow and finally get the forms sent in! I don't think they are keeping you (or me) out the loop while they wait for the forms. At least I hope not! I am really looking forward to getting more information!

Yes! Please start a Facebook group! (I'm at work and can't do it right now ) Also, does anybody know when we find out where we are going to be placed? (for ETAs)

Got an email that I got an ETA for Oman (switched from Bahrain), but no letter yet. See you all in DC!!!

Greetings from Japan!! I am so happy I have internet right now...my parents are checking the mail for me so I have to wait until I hear from them to find out if I got it. At least being in another country helps with the stress...I'm not able to go to the mailbox every 10 minutes (after driving to my parents' house after work lol). ALF MABROOK to all MENAers! I'm hoping to get my letter on Monday (unless it's a rejection, in which case, I don't want it at all!). Berlino--I'm so happy that you got it!!!! Hoping I get an email with good news from my mom tomorrow, inshaAllah.

I've got my fingers crossed for all of you too! I wonder if the other countries are getting their notifications too...my application was switched to Oman (wahoo!!!) BUT I'm leaving for Japan tomorrow for 2 weeks...so I'd really like Oman notifications to either get to me tomorrow, or be delayed at least another week (sorry CH). So exciting that the other ME countries are finally hearing!!

Have any other MENA ETA applicants heard anything about changing countries?

Ooooooh this makes me want to find out where Bahrain stands in the decision-making process. I can't believe Morocco people have started to find out! First in the region!

No problem--you don't need to email him. I don't want to bombard him either. I've only emailed him once before, but I know he's probably getting a million emails a day. And he probably won't have anything to tell us. [Your pessimism is bringing my pessimism out lol.]

Wow...I meant to respond to this earlier but was busy, and now it's 10 pages back already! It took some digging, but I found it. Thanks for the support! I hope you get it too. If anything, maybe I can come visit you in the UAE. Insha'Allah, things will cool down/get fixed so we can find out soon! I wonder if the Bahrain Fulbrighters stayed in the country or have been allowed back in if they've left. Last time I emailed Jermaine, he said they were trying to figure out what to do with the people in Bahrain, thus not focusing on the new applicants. There is a travel warning (updated as of 4/12) for Bahrain. I can't remember if someone said something about this before (since there are only 2 of us on the forum for Bahrain), but I just checked the travel warnings website, and it said this: "All travelers to Bahrain face increased scrutiny from Bahraini authorities, and the Government of Bahrain has refused to allow some U.S. citizens permission to enter Bahrain." That, and the 3 month state of emergency...I'm still not expecting to hear anytime soon. I still think that hearing at the beggining of June, at least in my case, probably won't happen. ETAs (at least for the Middle East? Or maybe it was just my country??) are not allowed to apply for CLEA. I tried (since the website did not say that I couldn't), and I had to re-submit my application without the CLEA part. Berlino-Have you emailed Jermaine? If so, can you share what he said? If not...I might email him just to see if the current Fulbrighters are still in the country. If so, I'd say that's a good sign.

Hi there, I'm an ETA finalist for Bahrain. I have an MA in Arabic (though that degree in no way matches my proficiency level, unfortunately!!) I don't think that having only 1 year will hurt your chances. If you made it this far, then that means they liked your application regardless of the 1 year of Arabic!

refrigerator raider

OK-so for that, I meant to quote the original post about the rejection for Bahrain. But I'm sure you guys got it, anyway. Reading what you guys wrote is depressing! I mean, I'm definitely keeping up with the situation over there, but seeing other people in my situation (or at least a similar one) talk about it is just depressing. I keep telling myself that if there are problems in Bahrain when the grant time rolls around, maybe they'll send me to Oman! (where I would have applied if an ETA existed there...) wait wait wait wait wait

I'm positive that that's an error. It said on the spreadsheet that I was rejected for Bahrain, but I haven't been notified yet. I'm sure that the other Bahrain person just hasn't fixed it from the last time the spreadsheet got messed up. Sorry--no Middle East notifications yet!

Can I just say that my heart nearly stopped when I got the email titled "Fulbright Resources and Notification Statuses"?! Haha, of course, I only saw the Fulbright notification status part. I didn't think I'd be this jumpy, especially since I know that we (MENA) won't be hearing for awhile. Back to waiting...

Oh, I'm lurking too...I check it several times a day in hopes that someone will have heard from Jermaine Jones. No luck so far. PS-If someone hears any news from him, please post!

It seems like M.E. applicants generally hear last, maybe May (if we're lucky!). I think that it might be a long wait with all the unrest in the region. I emailed Jermaine Jones awhile ago, and he said they were working to figure out what to do with the people who were currently in the countries before they were going to figure out about this year's pool of applicants. You'll notice that the M.E. applicants are pretty quiet on the forum right now--we've resigned ourselves to the fact that we probably won't hear for awhile. :\ What country did you apply to?

I was just laughing to myself because most of the MENA people are quiet on the forum. I think we've all resigned ourselves to the fact that we're not going to hear for a looong time. So now we're just sitting back and observing everyone else's trials and tribulations. Good luck to everyone!

I know what you're going through...I applied with the idea that my boyfriend and I would be married before we go so that he could go with me (we were on that track already, but getting the Fulbright would speed it up a bit). We would have to be married to be able to live together in the country. We'd have to be married for him to even be able to come and visit me. I'm still hoping that he'll just be able to come as a spouse if I get the grant, but I totally feel for you and your situation. Of course, if the program is postponed or canceled in the country I applied to...then I guess it doesn't matter! (Or if I don't get it...it won't matter. I am getting more patient because I don't think I'll be hearing either way for a long time.) Whatever happens with you, keep us informed! I feel like I'm personally invested in some of these situations after reading about them and offering advice!

I applied for an ETA to Bahrain. I can't even look at the news any more because it's making me nervous!

Eastern Michigan University has a good MA-TESOL program. http://www.emich.edu/worldlanguages/tesol/index.html#url Unfortunately, for some reason, most of the links are not working right now, but a few are. I can answer questions about the program, if you have any.

Ranita, I hope they keep it at least for this year so you can go. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you (and all others trying to go to the Middle East). Speaking of which...I wonder if I should email Jermaine about Bahrain? I didn't think things would get like this over there. The king declared a 3 month state of emergency, and the US is advising Americans to leave. That can't mean good things for the Fulbright there.

I applied to Bahrain. I'm driving myself crazy looking at the news everyday for what's going on over there, checking my email and mail for notifications, and checking this forum to see if anybody's heard anything!