Highlights: The highlights of my trip were the excursions to Wadi Rum and Aqaba. Wadi Rum was amazing because we rode camels and stayed overnight with the Bedouins. Riding camels for at least an hour through the desert was an once-in-a-lifetime moment! The moment was so surreal because a year ago I never would have imagined me riding a camel. Once we arrived back to the camp after watching the sunset we had Bedouin prepared dinner. The food was great. We had dishes from lamb to hummus. Aqaba was amazing because it was my first time ever going snorkeling, scuba diving, and swimming in clear water, let alone the Red Sea! The Red Sea was like swimming in a salt-water fish tank, but with so much religious significance. If you were wondering this is the same sea that Moses crossed when he freed the Jews from Egypt. Both of these experiences together made my experience life changing and amazing.
Academics were fun and interesting. I took courses in Arabic 101 and US and Middle East history. Arabic was very challenging because of how fast paced the class was. Arabic was difficult, but the feeling you get when you can hold an elementary conversation with an Arab is gratifying. The US and Middle East class was very informative. One might argue that the class presents bias views, but it is good to see how the other side feels apart from the western view.
Morning: Usually I would wake up between 6:00-6:15am every morning to prepare for school. I had to get ready so early because I had transportation waiting for me at the SafeWay grocery store across the street from the apartment. After getting dressed I would head over to the pick-up spot, but before the bus would arrive (around 7:10am) I would grab a snack or two out of SafeWay. The first pickup would consist of my apartment and another down the street. We would arrive at the other pickup spot around 7:20 to pick up the second group of two apartments, and then we would head to school. The ride to school usually took between 25-35min. Since me and three other students did not have class until 10:30 we would do some homework or hang out at the ISA office on campus.
Afternoon: My typical afternoon/evening would consist of me taking both of my classes until 3:00pm. After school I would either grab lunch/dinner or relax at the apartment. Sometimes I would go over a Jordanian’s home for dinner. Jordanians are friendly and usually as soon as you exchange numbers they invite you over for dinner. I would also hang out at cafés or restaurants with fellow ISA students who are usually accompanied by Jordanians. Then I would usually head back to the apartment where I would get on Facebook, check my emails, and do some homework.
Evening: In the evenings, it really varied with what I had planned for the night. If I had tickets to an event (such as the Royal Tattoo) I would mainly hang around the main city, get something to eat from a restaurant (my rules when eating out were to not eat at the same place twice and to not eat at someplace that I could go to back home), and then kill time by window shopping and watching street performers. I didn't really want to go back to the flat because I didn't want to have to make two trips back to the flat. I was happier keeping myself occupied in the city.