Sean O’Connor

My Fulbright

My Fulbright was an absolutely amazing experience. Spending nine months in Sri Lanka gave me a new perspective on nations transitioning to ‘modern’ economies. After 26 years of civil war – which ended in 2009 – the country is trying to rebuild, trying to move forward. Ethnic tensions are still present, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the enormity of the situation.

Living in Trinco was the first time that I was truly an outsider; I was virtually the foreigner in town. It took me the better part of three months to find my way in the community, and once I did life became much easier. I built my network, found a community, and started to really understand the hardships that Trinco faced.

Some metrics from my nine months in Sri Lanka:

  • 22,096 miles on planes
  • 18,550 miles on buses
    • Approximatley 742 hours (30.9 days) on buses
  • 2,051 miles on trains
  • 661 miles on motorcycles
    • 151 miles with a box of puppies on my lap
  • 426 miles in cars
  • 5,477 photos
  • 88 blog posts
  • 79 students taught
  • 2 months spent living in a hostel
  • 10 days spent in silent meditation
  • First Fulbrighter placed in the Eastern Province post war

My Blog Posts:

The Most Popular Posts:

Fulbright Skills & Big Take Aways:

Destruction and Rebuilding

Teaching

Food

 Around the Island

Cultural Events

Miscellaneous

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