As my second week in Amman comes to an end, I have just begun to settle into my routine here – wake up, eat a crazy amount of bread, hail a taxi, go to class, scavenge for wifi, hail a taxi, eat a crazy amount of bread, and then spend the evening hanging out with our host family. Sadly, that routine is about to be turned on its head as Eid Adha break begins here in the Muslim world – a full 9 days with no routine and a lot of confusing plans.
This past week I did a lot adjusting – culturally, academically, and personally. My week began with the first of what will be many 2-hour classes in MSA. I had to switch classes to be in the correct level, but once I was, it is great to finally be in a class where I feel like I can truly learn Arabic in an enriching academic and professional setting – a breath of fresh air.
I also had my first session for all of my other classes: Advanced II Colloquial Jordanian Arabic, Media Arabic, Introduction to Islam, and Development Economics in the Middle East. So far, I liked them all, and hope I will learn a lot from them – however, I won’t have any of them again for another week!
In addition to all these first class meetings, CIEE also arranged for us to visit a nearby research center with an extensive and acclaimed library – ACOR. I was immediately attracted to this place – the enormous library of fascinating anthropological, social, and archaeological research basically had my name written all over it. As soon as the Associate Director mentioned that among research fellowships and PhD opportunities, ACOR also offers undergraduate internships, I had my goal. I am proud to say that I am going to be one of those interns throughout this semester! I can’t wait to spend more time at this scholarly community.
All in all, the academic adjustment Read More »
Christine in Amman - كرستين في عمّان 