Now that I have finally caught up on everything I want to share about the trip, I want to touch on a little bit of how it has been to return home and some of my final reflections of the trip.
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This post is kind of just a random compilation of a bunch of outings and events.
While in Jordan, I was really lucky to have a family who not only welcomed me into their home and were so caring the entire time and taught me so much about Jordanian culture and Arabic but I also really felt like I was a part of their family. Not just my immediate family but all the grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends made me feel welcome at all gatherings and get-togethers.
Family and friends are a really big deal in Jordan. Our apartment was a revolving door of extended family and friends who would drop by to chat, have tea or just say hello. And if someone wasn't at our house, we were probably at someone else's house. Several times a week, we would drop by both sides of my host grandparents house to chat and they would shower us with snacks and sweets. And odds were that while we were there, another cousin or aunt or uncle would be there too. Jordanians have a really wonderful priority on being surrounded by people who love you. Even our next door neighbors, who my family was very close with, became a place I felt so comfortable going over and having snacks and chatting. I really cherish the sense of community I felt in Jordan. Besides just spending time with friends and family, I attended quite a few parties/celebrations with my host family including an engagement party of a family friend and my host grandmother's birthday party.
5 days a week for 4 hours a day, you could find us at the Qasid Institute working hard in Arabic class. In this post, I hope to give you a little more of an insight into what Arabic class looked like.
Honestly, words can't describe how amazing and caring my host family was. I moved in with them on July 9 and from there, my language skills improved a ton, my understanding of day-to-day Jordanian culture was augmented and I got to have a fantastic time playing with my host siblings.
I want to make sure to maintain their privacy while also giving you guys a good idea of my life in Jordan but basically, I had a mom named Noor (which means light), a dad named Mohannad (which means he who deserves praise), 11 year old brother named Laith (which means lion), 9 year old sister named Nadeen (which means hope) and a 20 month old brother named Abdullah (which means servant of God). Daily Life in Host Families looked like this- 7:00- Wake Up 7:15-Eat breakfast (Usually egg or pita with cheese and a cucumber) 7:35-Bus comes to house to pick up for school 8:15-Class starts 12:35-Class ends and (sometimes) leave for excursion or have study time at school 4:00(the time we came back really depended on the excursion and varies between 1:00-7:00)-Arrive home and play with siblings (we usually go hurtling down the street on scooters or watch Arab's Got Talent or do headstands or go over to the neighbors house) 5:30-Do homework 7:00-Spend more time with family (often this meant going out to their friends or relatives houses but other times it was just talking or watching TV with them) 9:00-Eat dinner 10:00-Go on a drive or walk to downtown and get ice cream or slushies or go shopping and walk and talk 11:30-Come home and go to bed I was really fortunate to have a host family that was super helpful with my language learning and taught me tons of new words and helped with my homework when I had questions. Having the constant opportunity to practice listening and speaking Arabic enabled me to become much better at both skills. Also, by just observing daily life, I was able to pick up on so many of the subtler nuances of Jordanian life. My host family also took me to an engagement party and a birthday party and other family gatherings that gave me even more opportunities to meet other Jordanians and practice speaking. Everyone was so kind and patient with my limited Arabic and really made me feel included as part of the family. As for my siblings, every minute with them was so fun and engaging and while I do have two younger siblings, having a toddler in the house was so fun (albeit a lot to handle :)). They both were learning English in school and were super helpful if I ever needed to ask for what a word was. More of the outings with my host family to come! Sophia |
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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