Week One and Pictures

This first week here in Amman is going by so fast and I can't believe I only have a little over five weeks left here. The past few days have been amazing in both cultural and academic ways.

Host Family
After a few days of in-country orientation, we moved in with our host families. My host mom and dad are so nice and are such great cooks. My host family also includes two boys: Abdullah is 10-years-old and very smart and good at English. Aws is 5-years-old and very funny and loves to teach us new Arabic words. My family has been so welcoming and my roommate Emma and I love living with them.

   


Language Classes
I also started my Arabic class at the Qasid Arabic Institute and I am currently two days into classes. The teachers are amazing and with their help, along with being immersed in the culture, my Arabic has already started to improve immensely. The picture below was my Monday homework:

Food
All of the food here in Jordan has been awesome (I love falafel with hummus). During our in-country orientation, we had an amazing family style meal at a local restaurant and I'm including a few pics from that:

Daily Bus Ride
Every morning on our bus ride, we see the very beautiful view of Amman - it is crazy cool!

Roommate
A picture of me with my roommate, Emma (from Andover, MA)

 

Pre-Amman Photos
Here are some pictures from Frankfurt Airport and the White House before we arrived in Amman!!

PDO & Arrival in Amman

These past few days have been so amazing! After I left Denver early Sunday morning, I arrived in Washington DC around 4pm to start our PDO (pre-departure orientation). We spent Monday and Tuesday in the American Councils office building going over rules and basic safety for Jordan. I met some amazing people and PDO was very helpful.

Then the crazy plane rides started. An 8-hour flight to Frankfurt followed by an 8-hour layover made the last 4-hour flight to Amman seem like nothing. By the time we landed in Amman it was 3am local time and we didn't make it to the hostel until 4 in the morning. By that time, it wasn't worth going to sleep. So after a much-needed shower, we watched the sunrise from the balcony and enjoyed lots of card games.

Throughout the day, I met many new people, both locals and NSLI-Y directors, and tried lots of new foods. Around 3pm, we met a Foreign Service Officer from the US Embassy here in Amman and he explained more about the opportunities in international relations.

After that, the best part of the day came: dinner. Our local coordinator found this "family style" restaurant where we ate loads of meat, hummus, bread, veggies, and of course drank lots of tea. From this top floor restaurant, we could watch the sunset over the beautiful city of Amman.

Now, I am sitting on my windowsill with my roommate Emma listening to the Friday 4AM call to prayer. Loving this amazing experience in Amman!!

I will post more with photos later!

Packing's Done!

I'm all packed up and ready for my 7AM flight tomorrow. I'm taking one large suitcase (loaded with clothes, toiletries, and gifts for my host family), a backpack (with my laptop, Arabic books, and some electronics), and my camera gear/bag. Can't wait to get started with NSLI-Y

Introduction

My name is Abbie and I'm a 15-year-old from Golden, Colorado. This blog is meant to keep a chronicle of my travels and my experiences this summer in Amman, Jordan as part of the US State Department's National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y). I'll be living with a family and attending language school in Amman to learn Arabic for 7 weeks. I leave on June 17 and I'll return to the United States in early August.

For more information on the NSLI-Y program, click here.