Amman, Jordan CIEE Lang & Culture Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The hardest part of being abroad, academically, was the level of education I received. I didn't realize it before, but my home university really delivers a top-notch education, particularly in my discipline. The professors they had did not seem to be of the same caliber. They seemed difficult, but I didn't feel I learned as much, or even fraction. One of my professors prided himself in being very difficult, covering loads of material. Often times mentioning he has never finished his syllabus. He had a lot of readings, but that was about it. Most lectures were either personal stories, or being dominated by this one student in the class who had memorized every terrorist organization with ties to the Middle East. The professor did lecture, but it was mainly the students who kept the academic thread going. The lectures always fell flat of learning anything of substance in comparison to what I expected. He always had an idea of what he wanted but could never get it across. I would ask him, and he couldn’t ever really answer. He thought he was making his point get across, but I never understood. Which is what I told him, but he didn’t seem to grasp that – which meant he would just repeat his answer. After I point I began asking him the same thing, but differently, hoping that would bridge the gap, but it didn’t. Also, this professor was supposed to be a serious power play on the political scene of the Middle East, and Jordan. The problem was he seemed so out of touch with his environment. This professor was my professor in two classes, and other class was equally unsatisfying. I’m sure the other students loved it, but I was expecting more. My other teacher, the language one, was a mess. This being said, I worked with the other teachers in my program, and they were phenomenal. My teacher was the worst among them because she constantly came into class with her emotions not entirely under control. She was always very cutesy and innocently flirted with the guys. That was fine, until she got engaged half way through the semester and stopped flirting with the guys. That meant went the guys in our class would joke around with her before she would snap at them, whereas before she would play along. She was constantly on Facebook, and after the engagement would start texting in class more. On occasion, she would be lecturing and all of a sudden stop. When I looked up from my textbook to see why, she was standing their texting on her phone. Sometimes, she would walk half out of class, standing in the opening of the door and send a quick text and then pop back it. Other times, she would give her opinion on something, like culture or religion, and would lash out at you if you disagreed. Once we were learning the clothes in Arabic, and started saying how much of a bad Muslim she was for wearing jeans, and then said that Muslims and Arabs all believe in the same things. I rose my hand and disagreed her views on clothes and that all Arabs and Muslims believe what she believes. She said I was wrong, and she was visibly upset with. Want to know the funny thing? Aside from this whole disagreeing part, I am also Arab and Muslim, so I was even more upset. Most times I did disagree with her, so it made this uncomfortable. The only reason I think she didn’t focus more attention on me was the fact there was one other student she really didn’t like, so I was a little more at ease. This all pinnacled into fears that the other Americans (the other students in my class) would assume all Arabs and Muslims act like her, I thought that didn’t even cross my mind till I heard a couple of them mentioning it. I should restate though, the other Arabic language professors were amazing, and I enjoyed briefly working with them. My professor, well, this spring was her last, so no other Amman, Jordan CIEE student will go through class with her again. I did have an internship at the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy , and it was interesting. My official supervision was the teacher I had mentioned before, but luckily he wasn’t too invested at the internship. I worked mostly with my supervisor’s four assistants and the rest of the building. Some of my responsibilities at my internship included sitting in on lectures offered by the Institute, speaking with diplomatic attaches, research and revising translations of projects and ads. Two of them really kept me busy. Also, I had made friends with other employees at the Institute, so if they needed something, and I was free, I helped. Luckily I am somewhat tech savvy, so even if work ever came to a standstill, I worked on updating the desktops in the office.

On-site administration of your program

Weaknesses, I'll get the bad stuff out of the way. There were a lot of assumptions made on the behalf of the students. Telling us why we were in our chosen study abroad country, what our motives were and what our decisions would be, and that was unpleasant. Don’t assume things, just let us make our own decisions and stand for ourselves, give us a chance. The education sucked, it could have been worse, homework load was the most challenging the Arabic language portion. That was the most academic it got. That was an upside. Strengths: Such a supported staff, they were really there for the students from the application portion to the onsite folks. Special thanks to Iris Michaud and Jennifer Adcox, those two were lifesavers. I guarantee you no other program can match people like those two, they really made the experience amazing. The trips were awesome, so keep those in! The Khalifa Building and TAGs membership were pluses as well. Keep the internships, one of the best aspects of my study abroad, but give it more of a purpose. Sometimes we didn’t do much at our internships, other times we did a lot. Find a nice productive balance.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Family was nice, food was good, home was clean. Good neighborhood, close to the University. I didn't buy anything except for milk, which my host family destested. Downside, far away from anything fun, pretty weak nightlife. My host dad loved English, my host mom spoke more Arabic with me. The family was nice, probably one of the best in the program. They had internet, and in a country where water is probably worth more than gold, they let me shower every night.

Food is AMAZING!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The overnight trips and day trips were amazing. Go on as many as possible! Jordan is beautiful country and has a lot to offer. Wadi Rum, Petra (A World Wonder) and Aqaba are some of my favorite sites.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Felt super safe, occasionally I had to deal with the taxi drivers who were being jerks.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Arabic. EVERYONE speaks English, which drove me crazy. I liked it, but I wish they, the locals, spoke more Arabic with us. I wish my program taught Arabic in an immersion method, where in Arabic clss they ONLY speak in Arabic.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Americans