Highlights: The major highlight of my internship experience was when I spent a weekend helping run an ecological camp for 30 teenage boys from an orphanage in Amman at an eco-park near the Jordan River. At the ecological camp we planted trees, taught the children about composting and solar power, and stayed up late dancing and singing with the incredibly charismatic and enthusiastic children.
During my time in Jordan, one of the highlights was the trip to Wadi Rum, Aqaba, and Petra that the CIEE program arranged for us. One of the most memorable moments was when I slept under the stars at a Bedouin camp. I would wake up every once in a while and see brilliant constellations moving across the star-studded sky. I woke up in time to scramble up a mountain in my pajamas and see the most magnificent sunrise of my life.
Morning: I wake up at around 7am every morning in order to have enough time to shower and make breakfast, which usually consists of pita bread heated on the gas stove with lebneh and hummus on the side. I then split a taxi to the university with some other students living in my area and if there isn't too much traffic, I get to the University of Jordan in time to get a cup of Turkish coffee from the university cafeteria before class. All morning I have classes in Arabic.
Afternoon: After my Arabic classes and a quick lunch from a nearby falafel stand I take a taxicab from the university to my internship, which is in another part of town. Sometimes the taxi driver doesn't know where it is so in my limited colloquial Arabic I give him directions, which can easily turn into wrong turns at the many roundabouts in Amman. At the office I report to my supervisor, and if I don’t already have a project I’m working on, I go around the office and ask if anyone needs help – there’s always a project that needs help, whether it is writing a blog entry on environmental issues, creating educational tool-kits on composting and solar power, or researching water policy in Middle Eastern countries. At work, we get free coffee and tea, and the workplace is a mix of local professionals and interns from all over the world.
Evening: The office closes at around 4:30 pm. After work, I grab a taxi home, which usually takes awhile since taxis are less frequent in the area of the city where I intern. When I get home to my host family’s house, they are usually in the living room watching TV, and the moment I walk into the door, my 5-year old host nephew vies for my attention. My host mom usually has food ready on the stove. One of my favorite dishes is cucumbers stuffed with meat and rice and doused in a delicious sauce. In the evening, I do my Arabic homework. Sometimes I meet up with some friends on Rainbow Street or Wakalat Street, popular hang-outs in Amman, or go to an internet café at Mecca Mall, a huge shopping mall a few minutes bus ride away from my host family’s house. I stay up late usually watching Turkish soaps dubbed in a Syrian Arabic dialect with my host family.