Why Jordan?
"Life starts outside your comfort zone" |
Well, I did not see this one coming.
I applied for the NSLI-Y (National Security Language Initiative for Youth) scholarship run by the American Councils and US State Department earlier this year through a prolonged process. When I got in this April, I of course was excited to hear the news. At that time, I knew nothing about Jordan and absolutely nothing about Arabic. My first thought was: HOLLA. Then my second thought was: What did I get myself into? This is truly one of the first times I have thrown myself into something being an utter novice... Until the end of July, I will be spending my summer with 11 other incredibly unique and driven high school students living in apartments in Amman, Jordan. We will be not only immersing ourselves in the interesting Jordanian culture, but also spending hours at the Qasid International Arabic Institute--a place where Arabic scholars would die to go to... a place where I sort of "wound up". Quelle chance!! (As we would say in French). The most incredible part of this all is that I have been reminded constantly that "my grandma's taxes are paying for this" (which is bizarre but I guess true... sorry to all those tax payers), but truly it has put this experience into a different perspective, that the government needs students to take this opportunity and create stability in the future. For months I have been trying to put off Jordan and it has definitely been something that I have been so incredibly reluctant about... yet as I write this I am sitting in one of the most beautiful and intriguing countries in the world not wanting to leave. |