I finished finals the last day of school on June 11, and had to be in Washington DC for a Pre-Departure Orientation on June 13. I had to do all my shopping and packing on June 11th and June 12th. I took a backpack, and a blue Hawaiian suitcase as my luggage. I had to find gifts to pack for my host family, and pack my suitcase.
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I packed a lot of gifts for my host family; I would say probably half the weight of my luggage to Tajikistan was gifts. I packed a considerable amount of Masala Tea (courtesy of my mother), and soaps for my host mother and sister. I took a Penn State sweatshirt for my host brother and lots and lots of candy. Being from Pennsylvania, my original inclination was to take the iconic American, and more importantly Pennsylvanian candy- Hershey bars and Hershey Kisses. Unfortunately, with the weather being in the 100s, the chocolates would not have survived the trip. I took a considerable amount of gum and it was a big hit. Everyone there loves “American gum” because it lasts much longer, and it tastes better.
I would highly suggest buying an electric adapter (which I bought in the airport) to charge your devices when you’re abroad. I put all my chargers in a plastic bag, and put it in my backpack since it was easier to charge the devices when I was at the airport. I also carried a spare change of clothes in my backpack just in case the baggage did not arrive on time. Taking an album of home is a great idea as well. I had an album on my iPhone which proved immensely convenient. Every time I was asked about my family or hometown I would always pull out my iPhone.
Bring enough toiletries that can sustain you for a week (which isn’t really a lot of stuff). Keep in mind that most, if not all NSLI countries will have stores where you can buy what you need. Be adventurous and use something new. Try a local shampoo, soap, and shaving cream.
I finished packing by dinner of June 12, and went out with a few friends-I would see them when we started Junior year; I would be getting back from Tajikistan Aug 1, and leaving for India Aug 3. On Jun 13, when I was flying out to Washington DC, my parents were also flying out from State College to Nice, France. Our flight was delayed by two hours. Living in a small town does have its perks- we went to the most popular breakfast eatery in State College, the Waffle Shop, a nice last meal with my parents for the next seven weeks.
When I got to Washington, DC it was Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO). I was picked up in Dulles and taken to the Embassy Suites in the heart of DC. Here for the first time the NSLI Tajiki Scholars met and it was a great initial bonding experience. We had lectures on safety and what our language classes were going to be like, along with a survival class (which was especially helpful for me as a vegetarian) and we reviewed the Cyrillic alphabet. We also had a presentation by the Department of State on potential career paths with the DoS.
We flew out from DC after a three day orientation. We flew from Dulles to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Istanbul, and Istanbul to Dushanbe, Tajikistan. I sat next to some interesting people, and there was even a NSLI parent on one of our flights who recognized our group with our distinctive green shirts. We had a bit of time to spare in Frankfurt, so we went to a restaurant and ate lunch there. We were extremely tired when we got to Istanbul Ataturk Airport, so most of us just slept anywhere we could; we only had about an hour and a half in Ataturk Airport.
