I have been working on Arabic for 2 years now, and am finally going to be going to the Middle East for my senior year of my undergraduate. You might ask, why learn Arabic? We're in the US...not a common language! I intend to use this language in the business world, and am immediately beginning my MBA after Graduation with a specialization in Global Business. With that out of the way...
I am traveling with the CIEE program. This is a third party program which is an approved study abroad provider with the University of Utah. I have to leave my family behind, and finances has been a real concern. I've been lucky enough to receive several scholarships, including the Gilman. This one is particularly prestigious, and will pay for a good chunk of the costs. My picture will be used in publications, and I will then be able to network to get a job using this language.
So why Jordan specifically? Officially, Jordan is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The US has enjoyed a friendly relationship with this country for decades, and so it is a (more) safe country to be in. The program is language intensive, and will cover most of my needs both at the university level as well as casual daily interactions, with the end goal being a good working language grasp when I get home next year.
Things have already cost more than I expected, but then again, I expected to pay more then I was told. I had to buy a passport, which I expected, but I didn't know that it was yet another hundred bucks for a visa, and that they'd have to have my precious, brand new passport sent to them, and, additionally, it was going to be another $25 just to ship it back and forth.
I am coming home between semesters, so I also have to pay for an extra ticket. It is also my hope that I can visit friends out in nearby countries. I have an uncle in Italy which I hope to visit during Spring Break, and I have a friend in Algeria which I hope to visit on the Fall Break. Israel is a very close neighbor, and has many places I'd like to see. Hopefully I'll make friends that want to see it as bad as I do, and I will get to share that experience during free time on weekends. Weekends consist of Friday and Saturday, so TGIF is now TGIT. There's lots of new things to get used to. My second flight will include a day time, ten hour lay over in Germany. I'm going to find a locker for my bags and see some of Germany as well.
While I am extremely excited, and scared and nervous and everything else in between, I also am really worried about leaving my family. I have an extremely supportive husband that is not only putting me through school, but is also going to take over the responsibilities of everything I do, plus be the breadwinner. I'm not sure how I got so lucky, and I am going to miss him. It's like leaving my left leg at home...not sure how I'll function. He's just too much a part of me. I also will miss my children. Thank God, الحمد لله for Skype and email. Skype will give me a local phone number, so my kids can call whenever I'm online, and I will get messages via voicemail as well. It's still hard not to be there in person, and I hope, in this regard, that this trip goes by quickly.
