I haven’t processed the past few weeks yet. It has been a mixture of stress and exhaustion with a little elation and fun thrown in. I have past the half way point, which, at certain times, I felt was never going to come. And now, we’re finishing our last night in Dubai for our international excursion, and heading back to our routine in Amman. During our trip to Dubai, we were continuously reminded that we are students here to do a cultural study on the environment and the people in context with the SIT program theme of Modernization and Social Change. Trust me, it wasn’t hard to see it all around us.
Dubai is an insane and exciting city with so much to do and see (I am so broke now) but you still get an opportunity to see the Emirati people, here and there, mixed in with the tourists. The Emirati’s hold onto their Gulf region culture of the long white thobes for men and the long black dresses and hijabs for women. A city in which was built upon immigrants and tourism and is Western with a local people holding their Islamic conservative culture. Very interesting to think about the cultural and societal implications whilst enjoying the beach for the week… (oh and we had educational excursions and lectures. We only spent a few days at the beach).
I cannot believe I will be leaving Jordan soon. I have grown so close to the teachers and staff here at SIT. Amman has come to be my home; I know the streets, the stores, the people. This place has provided me safety and security for the past almost 3 months and the idea of leaving it scares me. Just as the idea of leaving my home in Orlando scared me. It is a completely new existence for me, living and traveling to far off places. I never thought this would be my life or that I would have these experiences. Life sometimes pulls you in directions you never expect and to go with the flow, if you will, is the only way to grow.
These next coming weeks I will be so busy with my final project doing research and writing. We get one last “Hoorah!” going on an excursion through the whole country. I will get to see places in Amman where it is nothing put red sand and mountains (and camels). Wadi Rum, one of our stops, is where The Martian was filmed, which I find very exciting.
This semester has flown by so quick and I haven’t had the ability to process it all yet. But, I guess what I do know about this semester abroad is I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Nor, would I change any portion of it. The parts where I struggled, where I cried, where I was so annoyed I wanted to scream were all worth the moments when I laughed and my smile span from ear-to-ear. It has all been worth it.
