By amberherrle
I have now been in Jordan for about a month and a half and I couldn't be happier with my experience. Before studying abroad, I was unsure if I was making the right academic decision, as going to Jordan would mean take a full course-load my senior year. With that being said, I think that living in the Middle East is essential to being a Middle East Studies major and I can't imagine my curriculum without it!
I wanted to take some time to write about a typical week for me so that other students going on SIT might get some idea of what their days would look like.
Sunday is the first day of the work week here which means that I have to be at my first class by 9am. I study Arabic with a 30 minute break from 9-12 and then I will go to the grocery store to pick up my groceries for the week. After lunch, we typically have a thematic seminar class. During our thematic seminar, we have guest speakers talk to us about a specific topic. The topic usually relates to the module subject that week. For perspective, this week the subject is Women in Islam.
After class I will go to a cafe or go straight home to spend time with my host family. Dinner is eaten on the floor and most typically done while watching TV - how can I object to that?
We used to watch Arab Idol on Sunday nights but now we watch Arab Idol ru-runs. Arab Idol is potentially the most popular TV show in Jordan, and every student on our program watches it with our family. I was extremely curious to find out what was going to happen when Arab Idol ended but to my surprise, we just watch re-runs of Arab Idol on the nights that we used to watch it.
After getting my daily intake of Arab Idol, I start my homework. For Arabic, I typically receive a newspaper article that I need to read and come prepared to discuss the next morning. I read the newspaper with my host sister, so that she can help me understand the article better.
One of my favorite things about Jordan is that families eat cake ALL THE TIME. And the cakes here are really elaborate (and tasty!). So I make mint tea with my family and then eat cake and watch more TV.
I have a 10pm curfew here (yes, this is normal!) so this is what most of my days look like. While a 10pm curfew was a surprise to me, I really don't mind. Also, there are not that many things to do in Amman after 10pm.
I try to have a diverse schedule but generally, this is my day to day! I love it here and couldn't be happier! As people are applying to Study Abroad programs, if you're reading this: do not hesitate to reach out to me, I would love to talk to you more about the program.