Returning from the badiyya, I was a bit saddened. The relationships I made, the genuine honesty of the people, the respect between children and parents, family members and general communal respect. The weather, the cleanliness of the air, the quietness, the sunsets across the mountains of Petra. The badiyya is with little comparison. It isn’t Orlando, it isn’t New…
Category: SIT Study Abroad
A Moment Away From Home
What a month October has been. A whirlwind of excursions, academic inundations, and copious sugar, I have developed significantly as a result of my experiences this month. Beginning with my badiyya homestay. Badiyya, an Arabic term loosely defined as desert, is more appropriately denoted as “rural.” Jordan is divided into three badiyyas: northern, central, and southern, each possessing individual topographic…
The Road to Sarajevo
The road to Sarajevo curls through the mountains. It snakes into tunnels and cuts along the pale rock. I spent most of my journey with my face pressed against the glass of the bus. I was half afraid, half exhilarated, looking at the long drop from the road to the waiting river below. I felt…
Armando Abroad: Elemental Excursions
Can you tell I like alliteration? It’s Exciting to Express Experiences this way. Ok, I’m done…moving on! I thought this should be a more light-hearted post since looking at my experiences the past few weeks through a serious academic lens would be overwhelming, for you and me alike. “Elemental Excursions” is about our trips to…
Conundrum
(Pictured: Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina) This week we lead an excursion to Bosnia and Herzegovina. A land that just a short 20 years ago experienced a war so horrific, and terrors that haven’t been seen on European soil since World War II. While the stay in the two cities of Sarajevo,…
Non-existing existence
(Newborn references the new nation of Kosovo, interesting to note it is written in English) Two weeks ago we went to Kosovo. A territory very contested in terms of sovereignty. At it stands as of current, 111 countries of the 193 United Nations members (A little over 55%). Among the countries that do not recognize…
Adventure #3: American Samoa
This past week, our group flew in an 18 seater Polynesian Airlines plane to American Samoa. Going in to another home stay, I was hesitant thinking there was no way I would get so lucky with my families twice in a row. I, once again, was in for a wonderful surprise. We were greeted by…
Reunited (with America) and it feels so good!
Today is my official two month anniversary in Samoa. It’s unbelievable to me that I have been on this tiny, beautiful island for eight weeks now. We were able to visit American Samoa for a week and to think that months ago I couldn’t point out American Samoa on a map is appalling. American Samoa…
No one is clean in war
I hear a lot of things about Kosovo, living in Serbia. I hear that it is the heart of Serbia, that Serbia is nothing without it. I hear that the people who live there have pushed the Serbs out, that America is to blame because of that. I knew that what once was a province…