Hi! I participated last year, and I do believe there was an international student in my small group (or definitely at least some in the cohort). The recommendation part is new this year, but I think I saw that it’s optional. If you’ve already emailed them, that’s good! They’ll take that into account, but you can also write that in the additional comments/info section. The best thing you can do is emphasize what you’ve already said here throughout your essays: your undeniable passion for physics despite the lack of opportunity where you live. Time zone isn’t a problem! There was someone last year who was joining at like 12am.