We were so lucky to finally get host families the last two weeks of the program. My friend Aikum and I shared a family who lived in Amman. Our host mother was youthful and cool; we called her Mimi and she loved to take us shopping and out to see Amman. We also had a host dad who was very busy usually. Lastly, we had two host siblings... An 11 year old girl named Rayan and a 7 year old boy named Abdullah. Both were ENORMOUSLY sassy, but very cute. They were always doing something, and if not they were watching Disney channel (which is so very American). Lets not forget our extended family of uncles, aunts, cousins, grandmothers, grandfathers (the list could go on and on) who always seemed to be over. Aikum and I seemed to be constantly busy. Yes, we still went to school til roughly 2pm everyday but afterward we were either doing homework or with our families (sometimes til 3 in the morning). Whether that was playing in their pool (which does not seem to help the Jordan water issue..) or going out with the girls to see Amman, we had so much fun. An interesting experience we had was going to an all girls swimming pool, which was definitely different. We got to eat local dishes, such as Mansaaf (lamb, rice, and yogurt) and celebrate the grandmother's birthday with the family. It was such an incredible opportunity to finally put our arabic to use and to connect and learn in depth about the Jordanian culture. Plus have two new little siblings!
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"Speaking with someone in your own language creates conversation, but speaking with someone in their language creates understanding" |