So, after quite a bit of confusion, I know the homestay situation now (kind of).
After having such an amazing homestay/exchange student experience in Spain last year (shoutout to Clara, Elena & Julia <3), that I was really looking forward to living with a homestay in Jordan. But when my acceptance letter came and it said that we were staying in apartments with other NSLI-Y students, I was excited to live with the other NSLIYers but also kind of disappointed to not get the authentic experience of living life with a Jordanian family. After all, when in Spain, my favorite experiences where when we went to the Feria (huge carnival) and walked around and had the best Spanish churros with my host family and got to experience life as a Spaniard. Those experiences were just as enriching as all the sites we saw. Recently though, I found out that we will be staying in apartments with 3 other NSLIYers for about 3 weeks and then after Ramzan ends (around July 6), we will stay with host families for 3 weeks. I am so excited because this is honestly the best of both worlds! I am so excited to get the chance to get to know the other NSLIYers really well in the beginning and go through the process of getting adjusted to Jordanian culture together, but we will also have quite a bit of time to live with and become a part of a Jordanian family. It also makes a lot of since because I know that many families speak little to no English and when we move in, we want to have a foundation of Arabic so that we are able to communicate. Furthermore, moving in after Ramzan is smart because life definitely slows down during Ramzan and we wouldn't want to be rude and eat in front of our host families while they are fasting. I haven't gotten any specifics about who my host family is but I know that that information should be coming around the beginning of June. I will keep you updated. Bye! Sophia
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Unfortunately, Islamophobia is all too real and nowadays, the fear extends beyond just Islam itself but all things associated with it, like Arabic. After reading this article in the New York Times about a college student who was deplaned for merely speaking Arabic, I was really astounded and made me realize how important programs like NSLIY and YES Abroad* are in encouraging understanding between the US and other countries and cultures. The thought that the mere mention of Arabic provokes the assumption of terrorism really disappoints me.
On the other hand, I was really uplifted after reading this article (also in the NYT) which highlights a Muslim high school girl who lives a couple of miles from San Bernardino, wears the hijab and won Prom Queen. It makes me really happy to see that a community who was harshly affected by a tragedy to be able to overcome the temptation of becoming bitter and hateful. These are 2 super thought provoking articles I would highly suggest reading if you have the time! Let me know in the comments below if you see any other interesting articles about Islamophobia or people actively working against Islamophobia, I would love to read them. Bye! Sophia *The Kennedy-Lugar YES Abroad Program is another study abroad program through the State Department that sends students for a year to countries with significant Muslim populations. The focus of the program is not on language but predominantly on cultural understanding. Now that I am able to formulate some basic sentences, I thought that I would properly introduce myself to you in Arabic. !اسَّلامُ عَلَيكُم .اِسمي صفية وَهانْوَتي .انا مِن مدينة سن فرنسِسْكُ في امريكا .عُمري أربعة عشرة سِنة Translation-
Greetings (literally-Peace be with you). My name is Sophia Vahanvaty. I am from the city of San Francisco in America. I am fourteen years old. |
We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us. !أهلا و ساهلاHi! I'm Sophia, a high schooler from the San Francisco Bay Area. I received a scholarship through the State Dept. to study Arabic in Jordan in the summer of 2016. Categories
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