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
5 Comments
Cynthia
8/13/2016 07:27:49 am
Wonderful experience. Will you be able to continue your Arabic at Urban?
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Sophia
8/16/2016 06:49:04 am
Unfortunately, Urban does not have an Arabic program but I have been looking into taking classes at the Pacific Arabic Institute or with a tutor. Either way, I definitely want to work towards fluency
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Zahra
8/16/2016 12:56:18 am
Love your blog Sophie - thank you for sharing your experiences and I really enjoyed all of the multimedia, especially the food pics!
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Sophia
8/30/2016 09:58:51 pm
Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoy it and miss you!
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Charlotte
12/2/2021 10:09:23 am
Dear Sophia,
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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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