A Unique Experience: Fulbright, Cultural Diplomacy, and My Time in the United States
America is just fascinating. My experience in America is — as everybody’s experience I’m sure — unique. It’s even more unique because I was a graduate student and a Fulbright grantee from Gaza, the sunny homeland of unfortunate people. I remember applying to Fulbright during the summer of 2014. I was barely making the deadlines for the necessary paperwork to finalize my scholarship. The following summer, I was on a plane, for the first time in my life, to the United States. I am not sure I have fully absorbed the journey I made in America. One thing is for sure though: I had so much fun. Despite all the stress, the occasional depression, the many unfortunate personal losses, the distance, the situation back home, and the uncertainty, I can confidently say my experience was phenomenal.

What I remember most about my experience are the laughs. I cried a lot, but I also laughed a great deal. One time I was debating gun laws with a cadet at the U.S. Naval Academy during a student conference and he said that, as an Arab, I should be the last person to mock Americans for not having strict gun laws. After restless attempt to defend my nation, I had to agree that yes, we fire tens of random gunshots in the air to celebrate high school graduation (so weird) and weddings (even weirder). At the end, we both agreed that the government should be powerful enough to counter reckless behavior and regressive commonly-held conventions.

I remember one time I stopped by an Italian coffee shop run by a Chinese-American family close to my new apartment. All their customers were Arab-Americans, discussing the implications of local politics on their businesses. I used to shamelessly listen in on their conversations. One time a hipster-looking young man shared a table with me because the place was too crowded. The man felt that he needed to assure me he was not one of those Americans who think Arabs live in a tent, ride camels, and herd goats. To his shock, I was one of those Arabs who knows at least a dozen people who own camels, occasionally herd goats, and set up a tent with embroidered seats around a bonfire. It was always a pleasure to talk about my Bedouin heritage, the struggles of other Bedouins in Negev and Sinai, and my personal struggle as a women with a Bedouin origin experiencing modernity, citizenship, and globalization — especially in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In America, I fell in love with R&B, fashion, food, adventure, and sport. I learned a little bit of martial arts, a little mountain climbing, and a lot of dancing. Yes, with Fulbright I learned to network. I networked my way through the program.. The relationships I built, however, go beyond potential academic or career benefits. I have learned so much about life and people. I never knew we, as people from different countries and different circumstances, can relate on so many levels: the amazing Tatiana, who extensively schooled me on Hispanic culture and life in New York, Laila who tolerated my bottomless curiosity about Arab-Americans, Jen and Julie who are my role models, Angela who was the most elegant person to tell the story of naturalized U.S. citizens, Ruhama who taught me a great deal about second generation immigrants, Rick who was the most easy-going person to discuss U.S. foreign policy with, Daniel the most patriotic American I met, Sunny who was my source on Chinese food and culture, Fernanda who is easily the nicest, most generous Brazilin-American I know.’

Much like most Palestinians living in Gaza, I tend to lose my sense of self in the midst of the everyday hassle to grab what I can to survive life and provide for my family of seven siblings and my mom. I try to convince myself that I might be over estimating my qualities and abilities, and I will probably not make Gaza a metropolitan mega city in fifty years. But something more powerful than my best abilities keeps pushing me to inspire other people who might have better chances at making that crazy idea a reality. This, let’s call it personal commitment to advancing my society, is something I learned in America.

Manar studied International Relations at New York University and graduated in 2017. She is from Gaza.
