After a rocky start at a three day orientation in Washington DC, everything changed when I was finally in-country. Although I was lucky to be in Israel exactly this time last summer, in a few short minutes I found that being on the other side of the Dead Sea was completely different. I have had a taste of Arab culture before while in Egypt, and somewhat when in Turkey a few years back, but Jordan is completely new to me. The Jordanian culture moves at a different pace, which some refer to as "inch allah" or which roughly translates to "hopefully" or "it is in the hands of God", which elicits the kind of "live in the now" and "cross that bridge when we get there" attitude common to the culture. Truly, there is no exact translation for "inch allah", a saying as common as our "like" or "um" which highlights the importance of being able to actually speak the native tongue in order to understand a country's culture.
Arabic is something a year ago I would never imagine myself doing. Frequently Jordanians will say "why are you studying Arabic? It's too hard!!". Well trust me, I know. But when an American speaks a foreigner's language, it truly opens so many more doors to all sorts of conversations that would be limited in only English.
As I write this I have been in Jordan for almost a week. The days are long and short at the same time, yet I can truly say five days ago I knew "my name is Lena" and now I can write full sentences on some of the most random topics. I am FAR from comfortable with Arabic but now I can hear select words, and write a full page after an hour... which yes I look back at and think, what on earth did I just write?? But truly, I have made progress in under a week that I did not think was possible.
So WHAT ON EARTH have I been doing this past week?! For the first few days I lived with the group (me and 11 other high schoolers) in Al Fanar Palace Hotel to transition to living in Jordan. We have visited Ajloun Castle, which is a beautiful ruin northwest of Amman. We have also seen the souks in downtown Amman and spent time at the HUGE and beautiful Roman Theater. Being on top of the Theater and hearing the Ramadan call to prayer was truly a rewarding moment. I have also learned hundreds of vocab words these past few days, that I really hope have not gone in one ear and out the other. And lastly, a few days ago the 12 of us moved into our apartments in Amman and we starting our classes at Qasid Arabic Institute. Wow. So here is a few sentence overview...
Apartments: 4 apartments for 3 girls and 3 boys. A family close to the NSLI-Y program owns the apartments... I share a room with two girls: Beckie and Killian. We have two bedrooms... A king sized bed, and three twins (??). We also have a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. And of course we totally swagged out the apartment.
Qasid Institute: We are so lucky to be at one of the most famous world renowned Arabic institutions. We are most definitely the youngest students and we are taught by Jordanians. We take buses to the institute everyday except for on weekends and take four hours of INTENSE class, which are actually very fun. We are also learning MSA and Ammiya (a dialect) at the same time which are pretty much two langauges at once (completely confusing). And I cannot speak Arabic without spitting out random words in French... Anyways we also get ABSURD amounts of homework.
Who?: 11 American students who are extremely passionate about language and culture. We all get along and have small enough of a group to all be together at once which is really nice. These are seriously some of the smartest, most driven, and unique people I have ever met. I feel like such an individual, not one person is remotely like me. We have an Indian girl from Wisconsin, a Guatemalan from Chicago, a boy who grew up in the DR and Panama father worked with Peace Corps, then two of my roomates... Beckie from Vermont who also travels loads, and Killian from Colorado (we also all speak French), we have a Saudi Pakistani who speaks five languages, a Swedish Muslim, an Alaskan (because of course you need an Alaskan in there!) and a language-math lover from Seattle. Each of us bring SUCH different perspectives, are so incredibly different, and all here for a common goal. They are all INCREDIBLY INTELLIGENT... Let me just say today I CRIED (tears of knowledgeable emotion) because we had the most passionate discussion about "how 'perfect' is the American government" this heated conversation ranged from race in America, to the Iraqi government, to the history of Guatemala, and Cuba to Eastern European governments... Seriously what group of teenagers have you ever heard talk so passionately about this conversation. It's so nice to hear people who care so much about more than what their outfit looks like.
Food: Yummy. KEBAB. Lots of falafel. Loads of hummus. Rice and chicken. Bottled water.
Daily Schedule: Get up, breakfast, class starts at 8:30 and ends at 12:30. Come back for lunch, usually an afternoon activity including meeting with NGOs or visiting tourist spots in Jordan etc. But it ALWAYS includes more homework than I have probably done my entire junior year. This is why this blog has not come so far quite yet... Woops. We have a ridiculous amount of studying, workshops, and homework our teachers give us. Meaning truly I have not stopped doing Arabic (besides eating dinner) since I have came home. So... thats 4 to pretty much 11. It's hard. No joke. I literally live and breath Arabic.
Jordan: Some of the nicest people I have ever met... I literally ate my first Jordanian meal off the street for free, because paying for it would "offend him". The pillar of the Middle Eastern and the cross roads between history and modern issues. The country is RICH with so much to learn about, from religion, to food, to the economy, the ecology, the geography, the political situation, the ethnic groups, refugees... I could go ON and ON. I will expand on cultural differences and these topics later. Lastly, it is Ramadan, meaning no eating or drinking in public... or well a month in jail. So that has definitely impacted the trip. Lastly, just so everyone knows. Connecticut is hotter right now. WHAT??
Arabic is something a year ago I would never imagine myself doing. Frequently Jordanians will say "why are you studying Arabic? It's too hard!!". Well trust me, I know. But when an American speaks a foreigner's language, it truly opens so many more doors to all sorts of conversations that would be limited in only English.
As I write this I have been in Jordan for almost a week. The days are long and short at the same time, yet I can truly say five days ago I knew "my name is Lena" and now I can write full sentences on some of the most random topics. I am FAR from comfortable with Arabic but now I can hear select words, and write a full page after an hour... which yes I look back at and think, what on earth did I just write?? But truly, I have made progress in under a week that I did not think was possible.
So WHAT ON EARTH have I been doing this past week?! For the first few days I lived with the group (me and 11 other high schoolers) in Al Fanar Palace Hotel to transition to living in Jordan. We have visited Ajloun Castle, which is a beautiful ruin northwest of Amman. We have also seen the souks in downtown Amman and spent time at the HUGE and beautiful Roman Theater. Being on top of the Theater and hearing the Ramadan call to prayer was truly a rewarding moment. I have also learned hundreds of vocab words these past few days, that I really hope have not gone in one ear and out the other. And lastly, a few days ago the 12 of us moved into our apartments in Amman and we starting our classes at Qasid Arabic Institute. Wow. So here is a few sentence overview...
Apartments: 4 apartments for 3 girls and 3 boys. A family close to the NSLI-Y program owns the apartments... I share a room with two girls: Beckie and Killian. We have two bedrooms... A king sized bed, and three twins (??). We also have a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. And of course we totally swagged out the apartment.
Qasid Institute: We are so lucky to be at one of the most famous world renowned Arabic institutions. We are most definitely the youngest students and we are taught by Jordanians. We take buses to the institute everyday except for on weekends and take four hours of INTENSE class, which are actually very fun. We are also learning MSA and Ammiya (a dialect) at the same time which are pretty much two langauges at once (completely confusing). And I cannot speak Arabic without spitting out random words in French... Anyways we also get ABSURD amounts of homework.
Who?: 11 American students who are extremely passionate about language and culture. We all get along and have small enough of a group to all be together at once which is really nice. These are seriously some of the smartest, most driven, and unique people I have ever met. I feel like such an individual, not one person is remotely like me. We have an Indian girl from Wisconsin, a Guatemalan from Chicago, a boy who grew up in the DR and Panama father worked with Peace Corps, then two of my roomates... Beckie from Vermont who also travels loads, and Killian from Colorado (we also all speak French), we have a Saudi Pakistani who speaks five languages, a Swedish Muslim, an Alaskan (because of course you need an Alaskan in there!) and a language-math lover from Seattle. Each of us bring SUCH different perspectives, are so incredibly different, and all here for a common goal. They are all INCREDIBLY INTELLIGENT... Let me just say today I CRIED (tears of knowledgeable emotion) because we had the most passionate discussion about "how 'perfect' is the American government" this heated conversation ranged from race in America, to the Iraqi government, to the history of Guatemala, and Cuba to Eastern European governments... Seriously what group of teenagers have you ever heard talk so passionately about this conversation. It's so nice to hear people who care so much about more than what their outfit looks like.
Food: Yummy. KEBAB. Lots of falafel. Loads of hummus. Rice and chicken. Bottled water.
Daily Schedule: Get up, breakfast, class starts at 8:30 and ends at 12:30. Come back for lunch, usually an afternoon activity including meeting with NGOs or visiting tourist spots in Jordan etc. But it ALWAYS includes more homework than I have probably done my entire junior year. This is why this blog has not come so far quite yet... Woops. We have a ridiculous amount of studying, workshops, and homework our teachers give us. Meaning truly I have not stopped doing Arabic (besides eating dinner) since I have came home. So... thats 4 to pretty much 11. It's hard. No joke. I literally live and breath Arabic.
Jordan: Some of the nicest people I have ever met... I literally ate my first Jordanian meal off the street for free, because paying for it would "offend him". The pillar of the Middle Eastern and the cross roads between history and modern issues. The country is RICH with so much to learn about, from religion, to food, to the economy, the ecology, the geography, the political situation, the ethnic groups, refugees... I could go ON and ON. I will expand on cultural differences and these topics later. Lastly, it is Ramadan, meaning no eating or drinking in public... or well a month in jail. So that has definitely impacted the trip. Lastly, just so everyone knows. Connecticut is hotter right now. WHAT??