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. If someone had offered me the opportunity to extend my trip for several more months, I would have done so in a heartbeat. By the end, I had finally developed confidence in my ability to navigate the city, converse in Arabic and had a better understanding of Jordanian culture. In addition, the really deep bonds with my host family and the other NSLIY students made it incredibly hard to say goodbye. It's really difficult leaving behind the life you've created in your 6 weeks there. Even though I've been back for almost a month, Arabic words still slip into my conversations, I miss hearing the beautiful call to prayer everyday and I miss the wonderful sense of community I found in Jordan. It's really hard to explain and put all of this into words but reverse culture shock has been very real for me. (this link does a really good job of explaining reverse culture shock). Amman and Jordan as a whole hold a really special place in my heart and I already can't wait to return. I hope through this blog I've been able to share a little bit of what a wonderful place Jordan is. Thank you all for following along on my experience!
!!!مع السلامة
1 Comment
Mustafa
8/27/2016 07:17:32 am
Beautiful sentiments, Sophia. We are so glad that you had this amazingly positive experience. Inshallah you will return soon to Amman.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
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
All
Archives
April 2017
|