NJ to DC: My 2-Day Tajik Visa Trip
DAY 1: 5/24/18
It didn't seem like it was near, but after those dreaded two weeks of AP tests flew by and my second driver's test came and went in a blur, it was Thursday, May 24. The first day of my visa trip!
My dad drove my mom and me to Newark Penn Station. I hugged my mom bye and boarded the Amtrak train. Here we go!
After more than 3 hours of 1) working on getting AP Lang final project examples 2) napping 3) worrying I missed my stop (spoiler: it was the last one), I got to Washington Union Station a little late, around 12 pm (instead of 11:30 ish). An American Councils staff member was holding a NSLI-Y sign to greet me! After some banter about food, cities, and APUSH (don't ask), we took an Uber to pick up another student from the airport. (psst: I left out names so I wouldn't make anyone uncomfortable. If I do/if you have concerns, please let me know.)
We headed to our very fancy hotel, complete with an iced fruit water dispenser in the lobby - Avenue Suites. There, we met another student who had flown in earlier! For the next three hours, we wandered the 85 degrees DC streets…. Fast forward some walking, we've walked by George Washington University (maybe Georgetown?) and the other guys picked up some Korean food at Bibap. I had actually eaten half of the sandwich I'd gotten from AC staff, so I wasn't feeling hungry. BUT I did buy some gelato - crème fraise and milk chocolate. It was delicious! (though I got a chocolate stain on my white shirt… whoops.)
We had walked about two miles once getting back to the hotel, so we were beat. AC staff picked us up, and we walked to the American Councils office. The room we were in was spacious at the front, with a counter with snacks and refreshments (I am a sucker for Ritz cheese cracker sandwiches), and a table for us in the back with a projector for information sessions. There, we met two other students who had just come in!
Cue information session/icebreaker session ("Hi! [name] [state] [grade] acrostic poem about interests: V! Very interested in linguistics/languages. A! Academically inclined. N! not athletic (but I like dance). E! extremely excited to go to Tajikistan. S! Singing!! S! forgot. A! Artistic (writing). )
After two pizza mishaps and talking about the NSLI-Y meme group that I just joined, the Domino's finally came in (I got barbecue chicken pizza and vegetable pizza). Some more stalling later, our last student flew in! Whoo - 6 of us are here! We took a group pic (that is currently posted on FB :P)
We headed over to the White House - by now, it was nearly 8:30 pm, so the sun was nearly set. We took a group photo, some of our own photos, then walked back to the hotel. I know people say it's underwhelming to see the size of the White House in person vs. its grandeur in pictures, and this reminded me of that yet again. After helping figure out the other room's key card, my roomie and I settled in (and surfed through TV channels - by coincidence, we left CNN open for the rest of the night). Our room was SO big - when you entered, it was a big room with sofas, a TV, desk, and eating table. A kitchen branched off to the side, and a separate room for the 2 queen sized beds (another TV too) and the nice bathroom. I worked on my physics final project for a bit, then turned in around 11:30 pm.
DAY 2: 5/25/18
I woke up around 7:30 am, and we got ready - I wore a dress. It was totally coincidental it was in red, white blue - patriotic colors in DC. Roomie and I nipped down to grab breakfast (Chobani yogurt, bagel, and orange juice. I was very pleased.) Fast forward to 8:45 am, and all of us were ready with our luggage in the lobby. Fast forward 30 minutes, no one was there to pick us up… after this mishap, AC staff found us. 3 of us headed to the AC office, the other 3 went to the Tajik embassy but soon came back, since the dude wasn't there. Cue information session about health, staying safe (including talk about it being safest walking about with some guys… sigh.) Then….
EMBASSY TIME! The embassy reflected the geographic location of Tajikistan on a map, in that the unassuming embassy was tucked amidst a series of connected houses. A flag floated from atop the door. (There's apparently a flagpole attraction in Dushanbe? Okay then.) We took a few pictures outside, and soon waited to go down to the little basement to interview with the embassy man. A little nerve-wracking? Maybe. But I decided to walk in without much thought.
Maybe I'm not supposed to reveal "inner details" of embassy student visa interviews, but he asked me routine questions about me, my plans in Tajikistan, etc. I think he warmed up to me after I mentioned the poet Rumi being one of my inspirations for studying Persian. He also offered some conversation, telling me about the 1) good hospitality! 2) amazing poets 3) good fruit! 4) something about water that I don't remember. He might've been sarcastic. Apparently, this embassy dude was notoriously moody. But I think the warm DC day and my attempts at conversation thawed his icy heart! He asked me if my background was Japanese or Korean (A: none of the above. Chinese) and called me "neighbor!" and wished me luck! Since Tajikistan borders China! I'm a little proud to say that my interview went pretty quickly.
Soon, a couple of students and I start walking back to the AC office, with a detour to Starbucks (and they forgot our drinks. uh oh). Everyone ended up meeting up at the office, and we went up for lunch! Some kale salad, and a chicken parmesan wrap (with Chips Ahoy! I always need dessert at every meal). I think of all us were tired by that point… we receded into ~teen mode~ and went on our phones (I found everyone on FB though. Finally!)
Everyone else was heading to the airport, so they decided to send me to the train station first, I guess. Two hours early. AC staff sent me to Union Station, hugged me goodbye, and I was ~free~. It's fun, traveling alone. You're just you, soaking in the world. I stood in the middle of Union Station, staring up at the gorgeous ceiling and ignoring the obnoxiously red, white, and blue outfits of a large tour group. I was thinking about the Lyft ride I had on the way over, and how it spun me on my axis until I twirled to a stop, in the middle of Union Station (Here, I transition from blabby, retelling-story Vanessa to terribly introspective and self-reflective Vanessa).
Sometimes, I think things are meant to be.
The Lyft came in a few minutes.
He welcomed us to his large, sleek black car with water and candy. I was a little wary, but companion (C) cautiously took a candy. He was ostensibly African, and spoke with an accent. C struck up conversation, and we found out he spoke 8 languages: Chinese, English, Japanese, French, a few others, and not included in the 8 were 3 languages of local areas in Cameroon. He apparently learned all these from living in these places (except English: he learned through YouTube. See mom, YouTube is educational!)
I think asking him about his languages led him to open up to us. Of course, I'm a little shyer, but I'm really getting better. C (reminded me of my sister, actually!) really did the work, but I hope that I transformed his day, just like he did for us.
This man was Cameroonian. He had been a soccer player, planning to play for the Cameroon's national team in the World Cup, and things were looking pretty good (he pointed out his nice watch from that time!). Only, he spoke out against corruption in the government, and so, the authorities sent police to stab him, leaving him a coma for four months. Four. Months.
He soon sought asylum in the US. And, he told us about how he had built up his life in the United States -- the details are getting fuzzy, but he was talking about how he decided to move out of his living space, gave most things away to charity, and lived out of his car while working, and saved up to buy a very nice car. My explanation doesn't seem very… put together, but pieces of our conversation are already floating in fragments around my head. Here's what I was left with.
He offers me how I can find magic. Magic? I ask. Yes: it is to focus. Focus, concentrate on anything you can do, and you can achieve it. He connects this to C's aversion to driving. See, if you focus, you can drive! He asks if I've had boyfriends -- No, I laugh. Good, because for now, all you need to do is focus. (School, etc. whatever I do!) and you can have a great life. "You're smart, just like C!"
I thanked him, but he imparted another bit of advice - "Ah, don't thank me. This is all you - you should thank yourself." I think we had mentioned, by this point, that I was heading to Tajikistan as part of a study abroad scholarship program. I was taken aback, but in a good way. Yes, I am pushing forward. Yes, I am trying to do good, do great things. I should thank myself, right? Right. I deserve it.
Somewhere in there, he also talked about his son, who had gone to school in Cameroon - a couple of years younger than me. But he continued his advice, talking "as if you are my daughter." I was touched. Does anyone talk so authentically, intimately anymore? He explained (in great detail) about how you can build up your own credit (a little strange to talk about on a Lyft ride, perhaps. But he was extremely earnest, and I couldn't help staring at him in awe and surprise the whole time.). Even now, as a teenager, I can open a credit card, starting small with a lower credit limit, setting aside money every month to pay it off. So I can build up credit score, be able to get jobs, get loans, everything like that.
On a more light-hearted note, I mentioned I was heading back home, to New Jersey. He complained about how the gas costs more, since there are gas station attendants that pump your gas (extra charge, I presume). But he mentioned how he liked going to New York City, often alone, because he likes time alone. That really resounded with me. His son, people close to him, were all that really mattered -- not many friends. I thought about that -- that is what I hold dear too. My mom and dad, my sister -- they are the most important to me. I remember, I remember - we were driving by the Washington Monument, and I was thinking about my family, loving and feeling with this man and my companion.
He also talked about his adjustment to American life - when, for example, men at work cursed at him, saying "fuck you, go back to Africa." What did he do? He laughed. And that provoked the men even more, and he continued laughing and laughing. When you take the power away from those who try to tear you down? That's when you win. This reminded me of what my mom went through once, working in NYC a number of years ago - a lady on the street yelled "Go back to China" to her. Comments like that are even more prevalent right now. From this, our Lyft driver said, to grow your own happiness every day, instead of seeking some grand prize. Because, we don't know what will happen to us -- our car could crash (not comforting, but I got his point), my train could crash, anything could happen. So we can only grasp for happiness within the realms of time. What is the point of being rich, buying houses and cars left and right, filling your body with junk, if you can never be sated without happiness?
This transitioned into a brief discussion of how health is crucial, above all - physical, emotional, mental. How can you be happy with loads of riches, if you aren't healthy in your body and soul?
He talked about the reason why he was telling us all this. (I had only been slightly concerned that we might crash from all this talking). He expressed his belief in the power, the access of information. He talked about how Cameroonians traveling/living abroad often refused to share the opportunities, knowledge they gathered so they could be superior. He didn't believe in that, at all. He believed in the power of information -- for example, all the students from China studying in the US. Can't they gather what they can learn of freedom of information, consent, fair government principles, and try to incorporate that into the Chinese government? After all, Xi Jinping's victory in securing the demise of the term limit seemed to signal a dictatorial grab for power. Regardless of political views, at any rate, he wanted us to know why he wanted to share his experiences with us, on this fifteen-minute Lyft ride, like we were his daughters.
Most of our conversations are disjointed in my head, but I do remember the tail end of it, as we were pulling up into the line of vehicles outside Union Station. He said, it is most important for you to know yourself. In America, people lie too much - to other people, to themselves. When you go to the doctor, you know exactly where it hurts, what's wrong - my stomach, my head, my arm, wherever. If you go to the doctor for help, but can't even say what is wrong with your own self, how can you know to improve yourself? I realized this truth - no one is perfect, obviously. But how can you live, every day, without knowing your own faults and obstacles and working to overcome them?
His words had just been gushing out of him. All this observation on the human condition, his own difficulties and victories, were spilling out of him. His meanings bloomed in front of us. And we couldn't help but admire them, and gather our own seeds, and try to make them bloom too.
At the end, I said, 谢谢你教我们的一切。祝你将来开心，身体健康。My wording was awkward, but I really wanted to be heartfelt. He replied with, 谢谢。我爱你 to us. Isn't that crazy? Just talking about languages opens up a world of identity and self-reflection and exploration, and it ended with a few traveling souls in the midst of Washington DC, sharing each other's hearts, even as strangers. He shook hands with us, said, we'd hopefully see each other someday, again. One more 谢谢，I added an ありがとうございます。Then, good bye.
At some times, C and I exchanged glances - in incredulity, in shared knowledge or understanding. We hugged goodbye - how could we not, after that whirlwind of guttural truth we just went through?
I had spun on my axis, and there I was, staring up at the ceiling of Union Station.
I had two hours to kill.
Everything I did seemed mundane following that Lyft ride. I took a stroll around the food court, resisted Haagen-Dazs. Window-shopped at all the Union Station stores, bought American souvenirs for my Tajik host family. Had a major spending session at Papyrus - bought gifts for my dad and grandpa for Father's Day. Dawdled, until my gate FINALLY showed up on the screen. I boarded - Amtrak track 5, left Washington Union Station at 3:25 pm.
By coincidence, my quiet self ended up being seated in the only quiet car of the train.
(My height also prevented me from putting my suitcase on the top rack).
Now, it is 4:57 pm, Friday, May 25 and I have been writing this for the past ninety or so minutes.
My Tajik-studying friends are heading home on their planes.
We're leaving for Tajikistan in less than a month.
I'm scared by what's up ahead. I'm excited to be a different, better, stronger person by August by all these changes. I want to learn and grow. And I think I already have started, from this visa trip.
I can't wait to see where NSLI-Y takes me.
