It has been a long time since I've blogged, but I'm bringing this blog back to life to detail the next nine weeks of my summer, which will be spent in Amman, Jordan. I will be headed to Amman with the Critical Language Scholarship, which is a program funded by the Department of State to encourage college students to study critical languages. The language which I will be studying is Arabic and I am one of twenty four students on the program.
While in Amman, I will spend a lot of time in Arabic class or practicing the language with local language partners. Even though the program is very academic and language intensive, I am hoping to explore Amman a lot. Further, I will be living with a host family, although I do not have many details about that yet.
This experience will likely have many similarities to the exchange which I did in 2015 in Muscat, Oman, but is also likely to be very different in a number of aspects. Since my exchange in Oman, I have continued studying Arabic at college. I am very excited to be back in the Middle East and immersed in Arabic once again and am hopeful that my Arabic will significantly improve during these nine weeks.
I leave for Pre-Departure Orientation in two days, and then will head to Jordan. The past few weeks have been rather hectic with preparing for leaving, and it seems weird that it is now almost time to go.
I will try to keep this blog updated reasonably frequently, but I am not sure how often I will have internet access.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Sunday, September 13, 2015
The Final Week in Oman, Goodbyes, Thank you's, and Reflection
Many apologies for the long blogging hiatus- a week after I got home I broke my jaw in multiple places and spent a few weeks in the hospital with multiple surgeries. Writing this blog post has been on my to do list for a very long time but now I am finally getting around to it. Since I last blogged, I have taken my final exam and given my final presentation, said some painful goodbyes to people and places, and reunited with my family and the Wisconsin cold. But without further ado…
The Sunday before I left, I had my written final exam. Overall, the final exam went really well. It’s amazing to me to see how much Arabic I learned in the span of seven weeks. At the beginning of the trip, I knew the alphabet and about ten basic phrases. Leaving, I was writing paragraphs about myself, my family, and the weather. NSLI-Y is a language intensive program and that is one of the reasons that I chose to apply, but I never imagined making this much progress in Arabic. Walking away from the final Arabic class was a weird feeling because so much of my life in Oman had been shaped in that classroom and I am so grateful.
After the final exam came our first goodbye. We had a few final hours to spend with our FGLLS, the Omani girls that came to AMIDEAST every day to help us with our Arabic. Even though at the beginning we were unsure and quiet with each other, the FGLLS soon became our Omani friends. They invited us into their homes, laughed and joked with us, taught us about culture, showed us pictures of their pets, and even took us ice skating. We exchanged goodbye presents, took selfies and recorded video messages, and cried. The FGLLS gave so much of their time to us, the American girls who couldn’t spell, and someday I hope to reunite with them and have them be proud of my Arabic.
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Then I went home and thought about packing, but packing indicated finality and I wasn't ready to accept finality quite yet,
Monday morning the group went back to one of the first places that we visited in Oman: Souq Muttrah. It was fun to see the improvement between the first visit and the final visit. The first time I was at the Souq, I was unsure of my numbers and didn’t want to deal with bargaining- a necessity in the Souq. But this time, all of us were more confident and much more successful in our bargaining. We left laden with gifts and purchases to bring back home, but all wondering how we would pack to not be over the weight limit.
Then, we were sent home for nervous preparation for the final presentation and goodbye dinner. The night started off with the bus taking us to the wrong hotel, but that was the only mishap of the night and those of us on the bus found it quite amusing. All the NSLI-Y girls were dressed in our traditional outfits from Eid and it was nice to see everyone looking so beautiful.
The final oral presentation had to be between three to five minutes long on a topic of our choice, and were to be presented in front of all the host families, our teachers, and some of the AMIDEAST staff. I chose to do my presentation on Omani food. I think that my presentation went okay, I don’t really have any memories of it though. But then it was over, and the feelings of exhilaration kicked in because I had accomplished something that I never thought seven weeks previous that I could have done. After everyone’s presentation, dinner was served. Before going back home, all of the students received certificates of completion of the program and took several group photos.
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My last view of the lonely AMIDEAST building on the hill,
one of my "homes" in Oman. |
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Meredith and I spent the rest of the afternoon with our host family, watching them play video games and then watching a movie together. The little moments together have the most meaning and I feel so blessed that our family chose to open their homes to us.
After saying our goodbyes to our host family we all headed to the airport, where we said a very tearful goodbye to Zainab and then walked away while security stared at us, only to have issues with the format of our boarding passes and then have to go back out to the ticketing area. The second goodbye to Zainab was much more brusque because none of us wanted to go through it again.
The flights home were uneventful, although long. At this point, I wanted to actually be home and not flying anymore, but I didn’t want the experience to be over. Janel and I sat together on the flights home, planning our future domination on the backs of camels and getting excited about flying over Greenland. After landing back in Chicago, we rushed through customs before the inevitable happened: I had to say goodbye. I was the first person to leave, and Janel and I had to go to a different terminal than the rest of the group. After many tears and hugs, Janel and I walked away. Leaving the group and saying goodbye to NSLI-Y was incredibly difficult. I made it to my gate with about five minutes to spare, and cried again after saying goodbye to Janel. I then boarded my twenty minute long flight home, in which the person sitting next to me must have been convinced I was crazy because I was crying like crazy but also smiling because I would be with my family and friends soon. The reunion with my friends and family at the airport was happy. Seeing the people that I love again was a really good feeling.
| My last views of Muscat, Oman. </3 |
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Overall, I could not be more grateful or feel more blessed to have had the experience that I had in Oman this summer. Beyond the language learning, I learned so much about the world and myself. I came back with an entirely new perspective on life and in what direction I want to take my life. This opportunity has truly changed my life. I am truly grateful to the State Department for believing in my abilities to do this program and providing me with the means to do so.
To the people that changed my life: I do not have the words to thank you. I was blessed to be part of the group with nine of the most incredible girls that I have ever met. Their open-mindedness, passion, and genuine kindness has given me hope for the future. I also had the two best program advisors, who took us into their hearts and became some of our greatest role models. I am so grateful. I will see you all again someday and the reunion will bring me so much happiness.
My favorite photo from the trip on what was one of the happiest days
of my life.
These girls became my family and best friends.
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I’ve been home for over a month now. Sometimes the whole experience doesn’t seem real, it doesn’t seem like it could have been me that made all of those memories and did all of those things. It’s beginning to feel far away and I want to hold onto those memories and remember as much as I can but at the same time remembering hurts. There is no real way to describe the experience as a whole to the people who were not there and make them understand the Oman that I experienced. I fell in love with Oman and the language. I want to go back so badly. But for now, I am working to find a home back in Wisconsin.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Family Gatherings and Spontaneous Roadtrips: Eid Break in Oman
The Eid vacation is almost over. I start school again on Sunday and I only have a week and a half left here in Oman. The time here has gone by so quickly and so happily and I am very sad to see the number of days dwindle down.
I have really enjoyed my time off from school because I have had the chance to experience the cultural side of Oman more and to travel around the country to see other parts of Oman rather than just staying in Muscat where I am living.
My classes ended last Wednesday and Eid officially started on Saturday. The timing of Eid is determined by the lunar calendar that Islam follows. Oman is a more traditional country and the crescent moon has to be sighted before Eid can start. Many countries started Eid on Friday, but because it was too cloudy to see the moon in Oman until Friday night, Eid started for Oman on Saturday. Because family is so important in Oman, Eid is a time for a lot of celebration within families.
On Saturday morning, Meredith and I got up to get ready for Eid and put on traditional Omani dresses. We then went over to the house of a family friend with a lot of our host father's family also. While we were there, the girls dressed up as "princesses" and giggled a lot as they told us that we were now "true Omanis". We also had iftar (the Arabic word for breakfast, however it is used during Ramadan as the meal when the sun goes down that literally breaks the fast) with them, which included a lot of meat, fruit, and other traditional Omani dishes. The group of people that we were with was really nice and asked us a lot about how we liked Oman and other general questions about America. Many people there were international and expatriates and did not speak Arabic so it was hard to practice our Arabic but many of them knew English so there was no communication barrier.
After a few hours at that house, we went back to my house to prepare for the host father's family to all come over. Meredith and I watched the meat and rice were prepared and then distributed as charity to neighbors. Goat is the most commonly consumed meat during Eid and so the dinner was rice and goat meat. All of my host father's family came to our house and it was a nice afternoon spent talking with family and observing what happens during Eid.
Another Eid tradition is the adults giving money to the young children. This is a lot like Christmas, but the gift is money. All the little kids got really excited to get their money just like how little kids get really excited before they open their Christmas presents.
The father's family left a little while after dinner because everyone was very tired after a long day of visiting. The rest of our host family went out during the evening but left us home to rest and have some peace and quiet.
The next day, our host family took us to Nizwa where they used to live. We stayed in a barrack at the place where our host father used to work and seeing more of their life in Nizwa was interesting. While we were in Nizwa on Sunday and Monday we went to the Jabreen Castle which was constructed during the late 17th century and has been preserved very well. I really enjoy seeing more of the history of Oman so going to old forts and castles is really interesting to me.
We came back to Muscat on Monday night. On Tuesday morning, the NSLI-Y girls left on a spontaneous road trip/expedition with our program directors. This road trip has been probably my favorite part of the trip so far.
On Tuesday morning, we went to Wadi Shab, which is an oasis area close to the Indian Ocean. There is a hike through the wadi to a cave. The hike involves a lot of time walking through palm groves and rocky areas and swimming/wading through the wadi. The hike, although hard and very very hot, was incredibly worth it. The peacefulness before the entrance to the cave was immensely enjoyable. The views were also gorgeous.
After the hike, we headed to a resort on the Indian Ocean. The resort had a beach area so we spent a lot of time swimming, playing in the sand, and enjoying the sun. I can now say that I have been in three of the four oceans!
It is so nice to have the time to relax while we are here in Oman and have time to be with the whole group, because all too soon we are going to be split up.
That night, we went to the "turtle beach" in Oman. Photos are not allowed to be taken at night, so I don't have any pictures, but we got to see four Green Turtles, including one laying her eggs. All of us were excited to see the turtles, so that was a lot of fun!
The next morning (Wednesday), we got up and got on a traditional Omani wooden boat (a dhou) and spent a few hours boating around the Indian Ocean and we saw some sea turtles swimming around in the water. Being out on the water was so relaxing
After the boat ride, we went back and played on the beach and swam again until lunch. We thought that we would be going home that night, but our wonderful program directors surprised us with an extension of the trip!
After lunch, we took a three hour drive down to the desert, which was magnificent and incredibly vast and endless. On our way, we stopped to take pictures of some camels, because they were the first camels that we had seen in the wild in Oman. Once we got to where we were staying, we went dune bashing. This would be something that I would never have tried on my own, but it turned out to be really fun and I'm glad that I did it.
We spent the night talking, playing with the sand, and camping out under the stars. It's moments like these that are my favorite moments of the trip, the ones when the whole group is together and it's so peaceful and calm around us.
The next morning we got up early and went camel riding! Before I left the United States, I always told people that one of my main goals for the trip was to ride a camel and I'm super happy that I actually accomplished it. While it wasn't the most comfortable experience in the world, it was a lot of fun.
After camel riding, we were invited to go to a Bedouin woman's house to have traditional coffee. It is experiences like this that truly show us the people and lifestyle in the Middle East. The woman was incredibly generous and even though she didn't speak any English we still had a good time and enjoyed the experience.
After that, we returned to Muscat and went back home. The road trip around Oman was a really good experience and I am really glad that I got to see more of the country and many different aspects of the natural beauty that is found in Oman.
I still have the rest of today and tomorrow off before I go back to school. I should probably start my final presentation and work on some studying because I only have a week left of classes. I am not ready to be facing my final days in Oman, but I know that I have grown a lot as a person during my time here and I am excited to see how these changes are reflected when I return back to the United States.
I have really enjoyed my time off from school because I have had the chance to experience the cultural side of Oman more and to travel around the country to see other parts of Oman rather than just staying in Muscat where I am living.
My classes ended last Wednesday and Eid officially started on Saturday. The timing of Eid is determined by the lunar calendar that Islam follows. Oman is a more traditional country and the crescent moon has to be sighted before Eid can start. Many countries started Eid on Friday, but because it was too cloudy to see the moon in Oman until Friday night, Eid started for Oman on Saturday. Because family is so important in Oman, Eid is a time for a lot of celebration within families.
On Saturday morning, Meredith and I got up to get ready for Eid and put on traditional Omani dresses. We then went over to the house of a family friend with a lot of our host father's family also. While we were there, the girls dressed up as "princesses" and giggled a lot as they told us that we were now "true Omanis". We also had iftar (the Arabic word for breakfast, however it is used during Ramadan as the meal when the sun goes down that literally breaks the fast) with them, which included a lot of meat, fruit, and other traditional Omani dishes. The group of people that we were with was really nice and asked us a lot about how we liked Oman and other general questions about America. Many people there were international and expatriates and did not speak Arabic so it was hard to practice our Arabic but many of them knew English so there was no communication barrier.
After a few hours at that house, we went back to my house to prepare for the host father's family to all come over. Meredith and I watched the meat and rice were prepared and then distributed as charity to neighbors. Goat is the most commonly consumed meat during Eid and so the dinner was rice and goat meat. All of my host father's family came to our house and it was a nice afternoon spent talking with family and observing what happens during Eid.
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| After the relatives dressed me up |
Another Eid tradition is the adults giving money to the young children. This is a lot like Christmas, but the gift is money. All the little kids got really excited to get their money just like how little kids get really excited before they open their Christmas presents.
The father's family left a little while after dinner because everyone was very tired after a long day of visiting. The rest of our host family went out during the evening but left us home to rest and have some peace and quiet.
The next day, our host family took us to Nizwa where they used to live. We stayed in a barrack at the place where our host father used to work and seeing more of their life in Nizwa was interesting. While we were in Nizwa on Sunday and Monday we went to the Jabreen Castle which was constructed during the late 17th century and has been preserved very well. I really enjoy seeing more of the history of Oman so going to old forts and castles is really interesting to me.
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| Jabreen Castle |
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| Jabreen Castle |
We came back to Muscat on Monday night. On Tuesday morning, the NSLI-Y girls left on a spontaneous road trip/expedition with our program directors. This road trip has been probably my favorite part of the trip so far.
On Tuesday morning, we went to Wadi Shab, which is an oasis area close to the Indian Ocean. There is a hike through the wadi to a cave. The hike involves a lot of time walking through palm groves and rocky areas and swimming/wading through the wadi. The hike, although hard and very very hot, was incredibly worth it. The peacefulness before the entrance to the cave was immensely enjoyable. The views were also gorgeous.
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| Inside Wadi Shab |
After the hike, we headed to a resort on the Indian Ocean. The resort had a beach area so we spent a lot of time swimming, playing in the sand, and enjoying the sun. I can now say that I have been in three of the four oceans!
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| Relaxing on the beach |
It is so nice to have the time to relax while we are here in Oman and have time to be with the whole group, because all too soon we are going to be split up.
That night, we went to the "turtle beach" in Oman. Photos are not allowed to be taken at night, so I don't have any pictures, but we got to see four Green Turtles, including one laying her eggs. All of us were excited to see the turtles, so that was a lot of fun!
The next morning (Wednesday), we got up and got on a traditional Omani wooden boat (a dhou) and spent a few hours boating around the Indian Ocean and we saw some sea turtles swimming around in the water. Being out on the water was so relaxing
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| Indian Ocean |
After the boat ride, we went back and played on the beach and swam again until lunch. We thought that we would be going home that night, but our wonderful program directors surprised us with an extension of the trip!
After lunch, we took a three hour drive down to the desert, which was magnificent and incredibly vast and endless. On our way, we stopped to take pictures of some camels, because they were the first camels that we had seen in the wild in Oman. Once we got to where we were staying, we went dune bashing. This would be something that I would never have tried on my own, but it turned out to be really fun and I'm glad that I did it.
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| Camels in the wild |
We spent the night talking, playing with the sand, and camping out under the stars. It's moments like these that are my favorite moments of the trip, the ones when the whole group is together and it's so peaceful and calm around us.
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| The desert is endless |
The next morning we got up early and went camel riding! Before I left the United States, I always told people that one of my main goals for the trip was to ride a camel and I'm super happy that I actually accomplished it. While it wasn't the most comfortable experience in the world, it was a lot of fun.
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| I rode a camel and fulfilled one of my Middle Eastern dreams |
After camel riding, we were invited to go to a Bedouin woman's house to have traditional coffee. It is experiences like this that truly show us the people and lifestyle in the Middle East. The woman was incredibly generous and even though she didn't speak any English we still had a good time and enjoyed the experience.
After that, we returned to Muscat and went back home. The road trip around Oman was a really good experience and I am really glad that I got to see more of the country and many different aspects of the natural beauty that is found in Oman.
I still have the rest of today and tomorrow off before I go back to school. I should probably start my final presentation and work on some studying because I only have a week left of classes. I am not ready to be facing my final days in Oman, but I know that I have grown a lot as a person during my time here and I am excited to see how these changes are reflected when I return back to the United States.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Seven Things I Love About Oman!
First of all, Eid Mubarak for those celebrating Eid today!
The activity at my house has quieted down a little for a while so I thought I would put up a brief blog post. More about what happens during the Eid holidays will be up after Eid.
For now, seven things I love about Oman!:
EmmaLeah Hardin
The activity at my house has quieted down a little for a while so I thought I would put up a brief blog post. More about what happens during the Eid holidays will be up after Eid.
For now, seven things I love about Oman!:
- The weather. It is ridiculously hot here, two weeks ago the temperature reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit. As a Wisconsin native, I was slightly worried about how I would tolerate the extreme heat. However, I love it! I wish the weather could be like this in the US all year round. Everyone else in the group thinks I'm crazy because I love the weather, but not being cold all the time feels really nice. Dealing with the cold this winter is going to be especially hard though.
- The stores known in America as "supermarkets" are called "hypermarkets" in Oman. There are other translations that make me laugh but hypermarket is my favorite.
- Mangos, juices, and fresh fruits. I cannot get over the amount of fresh fruit available here and how good it is! I have fallen in love with mangos and mango juice, two things that really aren't available in Wisconsin...
- The people. Before I came to Oman I did some research on the country. There were a lot of mentions of how nice and friendly the people are here. I didn't really believe that until I got here. The kindness shown to me transcended my expectations. Even though I am an American, I am treated with kindness and respect and considered to be one of the family. The people here are very caring and I am very thankful for that.
- The importance of family. Oman, like most Middle Eastern countries, is very family orientated. Family is everything in Oman. Many evenings are spent at the homes of relatives and there is a great amount of respect within the family for the elder members. The importance of family is also prevalent in the structure of the language. In English, I can just say that someone is my "cousin". But in Arabic, I have to specify more who that person is, whether he is the "son of my paternal uncle" or the "daughter of my mom's sister". I really like how the Arabic language structures itself around family, just like everyday life here in Oman. While family is important in America, Omanis place a much higher value on family and I think this is something that really should be implemented into other cultures. The sense of family here is something that I will miss when I'm back in America.
- Souqs. Although it can be challenging to bargain, I love being at the Souq and seeing the more traditional Omani items that cannot be purchased at malls. I'm excited to bring back a part of Oman with me.
- Change. This experience has forced me outside of my comfort zone and to grow as a person. In the end, this might be the most lasting and beneficial part of the whole experience.
EmmaLeah Hardin
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Excursions and Fun: A General Update of Weeks Three and Four
Yesterday marked the four week point since when I got to PDO in Washington D.C.. I only have three weeks left in this country but I wish that I could have so many more. I didn't know what to expect when I came to Oman, but I have fallen in love with this country. The people here are incredibly nice and welcoming. Family is one of the most important things in Oman and even as a foreigner, I am still recognized by my host family and all of my host family's extended family as a member of the family and I am treated as such. I have been blessed with a wonderful group of girls in my program as well as amazing program directors who have become more like our family away from home than our supervisors. In twenty days I will be home and I will have left these people and this country behind. That thought is really saddening to me but also makes me push to make sure that these last twenty days are the best that they can be.
Class has been going well. There are four or five hours of instruction each day and then an hour and a half of practice and extra instruction with our Omani peer facilitators (FGILS). Being in class for such a long stretch of time is difficult but I know that I am learning a lot. When I got to Oman I knew my alphabet. Now, four weeks later, I just took my midterm on the first four chapters of Al-Kitaab and gave a presentation on myself and my family. Sometimes it doesn't feel like I have learned a lot but I really have. I generally have a basic idea of what people are talking about in conversation even though I don't know what they are saying specifically. I can carry on a basic conversation about myself.
There are moments when I feel really good about how much I have progressed and I can see myself taking Arabic throughout college and studying abroad and obtaining my fluency in this language. There are also moments when those dreams feel impossible. But I have to take the future as it comes and see where it takes me.
Another important part of the program here is learning about culture in Oman. Writing about the cultural excursions is a lot more interesting than writing about what I did in class, so that is why this blog is more orientated towards the culture side of my international experience than the language aspects.
On Tuesday (7/7), our program and our FGILS went to the Seeb Souq for iftar and a scavenger hunt. A souq is a traditional outdoor market. The one in Seeb is quite close to the beach and the Gulf of Arabia so seeing the ocean was quite nice. The weather was also really warm which was pleasant. Before iftar, we all just wandered around the market a little before finding our restaurant. Iftar consisted of fresh fruit and fried meat followed by chicken, bread, French fries, salad, and juice. Exotic juices are extremely common here and that is definitely something I will miss a lot.
After dinner, we were split up into groups of two or three to start our scavenger hunt. We were given a list of clues (in English) that we needed to use to figure out what items to find (in Arabic). To find these items, we had to ask for directions for a store that sells it (in Arabic) and then ask the owner for permission to take a picture with it and ask for the name of the item (all in Arabic).
This was a really good experience for me. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, but in a good way. In the United States I am not particularly comfortable talking to strangers nor doing things like hailing taxis. I am even less comfortable doing stuff like that in a language I barely know. However, I got through it and everyone who helped us was extremely nice and understanding, which helped put the evening in the "learning zone" and not the "panic zone".
The next excursion was the next weekend (7/10-7/11), when we went to Nizwa and Jebel Shams. Both areas are in the interior of Oman so they are less hot and humid. Nizwa is the former capital of Oman and dates back tot he sixth ad seventh century in the history of Oman. We all got up early on Friday morning to head to school to get in the four wheel drive cars that we would need to get up the mountain. The two hour drive to Nizwa was fun because we got to see more of the interior of the country, because we had only really been in Muscat previously.
Our fist stop in Nizwa was the souq. There was an animal market going on so we saw a lot of people selling and buying goats and cows. We also walked through a vegetable and fruit market and then a pottery/souvenirs area where a lot of the girls made purchases.
We then explored the Nizwa Fort and Castle, which were constructed around 1650. We climbed to the top of the fort to see the beautiful views around Nizwa as well as explored the grounds and inner buildings in the castle and fort.
After exploring the fort, we went to a small town near Nizwa and explored around there. We walked through a grove of date trees and explored an area with a little spring and more green foliage than I had seen in Oman previously. It was really nice to be in the interior of Oman and outside the city of Muscat.
We then traveled to our campsite on Jebel Shams, the highest mountain in Oman. The road was definitely quite rough and bumpy, but we stopped many times for pictures. We saw a lot mountain goats, which was pretty awesome.
Our camping site was not a traditional camping site. We were staying in Arabian tents, which were significantly nicer than any American tents that I have ever seen, and the "tents" even had bathrooms attached.
After arriving at Jebel Shams, we relaxed poolside for a while before deciding to explore. A small group of us went on a small hike with our Residence Director which ended with us spending an hour sitting on the edge of the mountain enjoying the perfect peace and calm. The calmness felt so good. During this period of free time, some girls also formed a goat army.
After dinner, all of us got together and spread some mats out under the stars. It was nice to see the stars, the moon, and a little bit of the sun for the first time since leaving the United States. It is too dusty here to see them; the sky is a permanently hazy gray-ish color. We had some really nice conversations, everything from college advice and feminism, to sharing stories and reflecting on the trip and musing about the future. It's nights like these that I think that I will miss the most. I love the sense of community within our group. I've never experienced that to such as a degree as I have with the other girls on this program.
The next morning we got up early to go on a hike down the mountain. We had to go early in order to avoid the worst of the heat. The hike, although it was only about two and a half miles, wasn't easy. The views, while I wasn't staring at my feet to make sure I didn't trip and die, were spectacular and definitely made the difficult hike worth it.
Views from the hikes:
After we came back, we had a few hours of down time before lunch. After lunch, we left for Muscat again although we did make a few stops to take some group pictures and enjoy the pretty views.
One of the girls made a video recap of the weekend, shown below.
The other notable thing that happened recently was that yesterday was the last day of classes before Eid break. Eid is a holiday that marks the end of Ramadan and is filled with a lot of family time and food. I also have ten days off of class for this holiday, so I'm pretty happy. Yesterday in class we took our midterm, which I think went pretty well for me. It was also the 18th birthday of one of the girls in the program, so we planned her a surprise birthday party. The party went really well, her parents and the FGILS were there as well as all of the NSLI-Y girls and the program directors.
Because we spend so much time at our school building (14 hours yesterday), it is beginning to feel like a second home in Oman to a lot of us. Yesterday we started a decorating project, and the other girls who worked on it and I are really happy with how it is coming.
I'm starting to feel really at home here in Oman and I'm really happy. I'm really excited as to how this experience has changed me as a person and I look forward to how I continue to grow from my time remaining in the Middle East.
Eid Mubarak!
EmmaLeah Hardin
Class has been going well. There are four or five hours of instruction each day and then an hour and a half of practice and extra instruction with our Omani peer facilitators (FGILS). Being in class for such a long stretch of time is difficult but I know that I am learning a lot. When I got to Oman I knew my alphabet. Now, four weeks later, I just took my midterm on the first four chapters of Al-Kitaab and gave a presentation on myself and my family. Sometimes it doesn't feel like I have learned a lot but I really have. I generally have a basic idea of what people are talking about in conversation even though I don't know what they are saying specifically. I can carry on a basic conversation about myself.
There are moments when I feel really good about how much I have progressed and I can see myself taking Arabic throughout college and studying abroad and obtaining my fluency in this language. There are also moments when those dreams feel impossible. But I have to take the future as it comes and see where it takes me.
Another important part of the program here is learning about culture in Oman. Writing about the cultural excursions is a lot more interesting than writing about what I did in class, so that is why this blog is more orientated towards the culture side of my international experience than the language aspects.
On Tuesday (7/7), our program and our FGILS went to the Seeb Souq for iftar and a scavenger hunt. A souq is a traditional outdoor market. The one in Seeb is quite close to the beach and the Gulf of Arabia so seeing the ocean was quite nice. The weather was also really warm which was pleasant. Before iftar, we all just wandered around the market a little before finding our restaurant. Iftar consisted of fresh fruit and fried meat followed by chicken, bread, French fries, salad, and juice. Exotic juices are extremely common here and that is definitely something I will miss a lot.
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| Arabian Sea |
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| Juice menu, I chose strawberry |
After dinner, we were split up into groups of two or three to start our scavenger hunt. We were given a list of clues (in English) that we needed to use to figure out what items to find (in Arabic). To find these items, we had to ask for directions for a store that sells it (in Arabic) and then ask the owner for permission to take a picture with it and ask for the name of the item (all in Arabic).
This was a really good experience for me. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, but in a good way. In the United States I am not particularly comfortable talking to strangers nor doing things like hailing taxis. I am even less comfortable doing stuff like that in a language I barely know. However, I got through it and everyone who helped us was extremely nice and understanding, which helped put the evening in the "learning zone" and not the "panic zone".
The next excursion was the next weekend (7/10-7/11), when we went to Nizwa and Jebel Shams. Both areas are in the interior of Oman so they are less hot and humid. Nizwa is the former capital of Oman and dates back tot he sixth ad seventh century in the history of Oman. We all got up early on Friday morning to head to school to get in the four wheel drive cars that we would need to get up the mountain. The two hour drive to Nizwa was fun because we got to see more of the interior of the country, because we had only really been in Muscat previously.
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| Views from Nizwa Fort |
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| Views from Nizwa Fort |
We then explored the Nizwa Fort and Castle, which were constructed around 1650. We climbed to the top of the fort to see the beautiful views around Nizwa as well as explored the grounds and inner buildings in the castle and fort.
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| Foliage! |
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| Date Tree! |
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| Our "guardian goat" |
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| NSLI-Y girls prove they have another talent besides learning languages: we can take jumping pictures |
Our camping site was not a traditional camping site. We were staying in Arabian tents, which were significantly nicer than any American tents that I have ever seen, and the "tents" even had bathrooms attached.
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| Our "tents". |
After arriving at Jebel Shams, we relaxed poolside for a while before deciding to explore. A small group of us went on a small hike with our Residence Director which ended with us spending an hour sitting on the edge of the mountain enjoying the perfect peace and calm. The calmness felt so good. During this period of free time, some girls also formed a goat army.
After dinner, all of us got together and spread some mats out under the stars. It was nice to see the stars, the moon, and a little bit of the sun for the first time since leaving the United States. It is too dusty here to see them; the sky is a permanently hazy gray-ish color. We had some really nice conversations, everything from college advice and feminism, to sharing stories and reflecting on the trip and musing about the future. It's nights like these that I think that I will miss the most. I love the sense of community within our group. I've never experienced that to such as a degree as I have with the other girls on this program.
The next morning we got up early to go on a hike down the mountain. We had to go early in order to avoid the worst of the heat. The hike, although it was only about two and a half miles, wasn't easy. The views, while I wasn't staring at my feet to make sure I didn't trip and die, were spectacular and definitely made the difficult hike worth it.
Views from the hikes:
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| 8 members of NSLI-Y Oman and 1 RD. An incredibly great group of people. |
After we came back, we had a few hours of down time before lunch. After lunch, we left for Muscat again although we did make a few stops to take some group pictures and enjoy the pretty views.
One of the girls made a video recap of the weekend, shown below.
The other notable thing that happened recently was that yesterday was the last day of classes before Eid break. Eid is a holiday that marks the end of Ramadan and is filled with a lot of family time and food. I also have ten days off of class for this holiday, so I'm pretty happy. Yesterday in class we took our midterm, which I think went pretty well for me. It was also the 18th birthday of one of the girls in the program, so we planned her a surprise birthday party. The party went really well, her parents and the FGILS were there as well as all of the NSLI-Y girls and the program directors.
Because we spend so much time at our school building (14 hours yesterday), it is beginning to feel like a second home in Oman to a lot of us. Yesterday we started a decorating project, and the other girls who worked on it and I are really happy with how it is coming.
I'm starting to feel really at home here in Oman and I'm really happy. I'm really excited as to how this experience has changed me as a person and I look forward to how I continue to grow from my time remaining in the Middle East.
Eid Mubarak!
EmmaLeah Hardin
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Second Week in Muscat (6/28-7/4)
The second week in Oman was just as good as the first one. Because I am writing this rather late, I will just try to give an overview of some of the highlights.
That evening, we went to a very large Interfaith Iftar. As usual, the food was quite good. We talked to some local women about Islan and listened to a presentation about the importance of love in faith. Before all the NSLI-Y girls went home, we decided to head to a McDonalds so we could get some American food. The whole night was a really nice bonding experience for all of us and our Resident Directors.
Thursday was the holiday Karankashew (a very rough transliteration). Karankashew can best be described as Halloween in Islam. Karankashew marks the middle of the holy month of Ramadan and swerves as a way to entertain the children. During the night, all the little children put on their best clothes and run around to other houses and sing and ask for candy.
On the weekend, the NSLI-Y girls and our Resident Coordinator went to the home of our Program Director about an hour outside of Muscat. The point of the weekend was to be able to relax a little bit and be more 'American'. The first day was spent swimming in the Program Director's pool, watching Finding Nemo in Arabic as well as critiquing Happy Feet 2, having a dance party to American music from 2005, having an Omani barbecue, and sitting on the roof admiring the beauty of the country at dark. We also did some Omani cooking on the first day, which turned out pretty well. Our PD had also stocked up on some American comfort foods like chips, chocolate, and ice cream so we were pretty happy. The second day was the Fourth of July. Two girls got up early to make red, white, and blue pancakes and we ate them while singing happy birthday to America. Being away from America on this very American holiday was weird, but I think it made us appreciate the United States and our lives there more. After serenading America, we went back to swimming and lounging around enjoying our relative freedom before heading home. As much as I love it here in Oman, it was nice to have a weekend to relax and be able to swim and wear shorts; being able to step back into a culture that I know and am comfortable with for just a little while makes the cultural adjustment so much easier.
Thus ends the recap of week two, hopefully I will find time to do a recap of week three soon. We are all going camping for the next two days, so that will be a fun experience. It's weird to think that my time here is almost halfway done; I don't want to leave.
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| Driving around Muscat |
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| Driving around Muscat |
- One morning our FGIL groups (Omani girls that help us with colloquial speaking and answer any Arabic questions that we have) were canceled and we were taken to two museums, Bayt Al-Veranda and Bayt Al- Zubair. Both of the museums were about Omani history and it was interesting to learn more about the country in previous years, especially because most of the development and infrastructure in the country is only around thirty five years old. While we were at the museums we were given a list of vocab to find, somewhat like a vocabulary scavenger hunt.
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| Artifacts at the museum |
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| Painted goats outside of a museum |
Thursday was the holiday Karankashew (a very rough transliteration). Karankashew can best be described as Halloween in Islam. Karankashew marks the middle of the holy month of Ramadan and swerves as a way to entertain the children. During the night, all the little children put on their best clothes and run around to other houses and sing and ask for candy.
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| Karankashew candy |
On the weekend, the NSLI-Y girls and our Resident Coordinator went to the home of our Program Director about an hour outside of Muscat. The point of the weekend was to be able to relax a little bit and be more 'American'. The first day was spent swimming in the Program Director's pool, watching Finding Nemo in Arabic as well as critiquing Happy Feet 2, having a dance party to American music from 2005, having an Omani barbecue, and sitting on the roof admiring the beauty of the country at dark. We also did some Omani cooking on the first day, which turned out pretty well. Our PD had also stocked up on some American comfort foods like chips, chocolate, and ice cream so we were pretty happy. The second day was the Fourth of July. Two girls got up early to make red, white, and blue pancakes and we ate them while singing happy birthday to America. Being away from America on this very American holiday was weird, but I think it made us appreciate the United States and our lives there more. After serenading America, we went back to swimming and lounging around enjoying our relative freedom before heading home. As much as I love it here in Oman, it was nice to have a weekend to relax and be able to swim and wear shorts; being able to step back into a culture that I know and am comfortable with for just a little while makes the cultural adjustment so much easier.
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| Poolside |
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| Swimming felt so nice |
Thus ends the recap of week two, hopefully I will find time to do a recap of week three soon. We are all going camping for the next two days, so that will be a fun experience. It's weird to think that my time here is almost halfway done; I don't want to leave.
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