You'll eat goat organs if you're hungry enough Past Review
By A student (Arabic, Tufts University) - abroad from 02/12/2012 to 05/23/2012 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury In Amman
People will say that Amman is boring, that it's hard to be a girl, that they didn't have enough opportunities to get involved with local cultures, etc etc. This has everything to do with attitude. Amman is not Paris, and you shouldn't expect it to be. But Amman is beautiful in its own way... it's a city built largely due to the influx of Palestinian refugees, it's devoutly Muslim but trying to show religious tolerance, it boasts some of the highest rates of women's involvement in politics and education systems in the Middle East, but I couldn't walk down the street in peace. But i can't imagine learning more about Middle Eastern culture and the way it handles social issues. My advice is to be open, expect to be uncomfortable, and don't stay in an apartment.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
If you're a girl, do a homestay! It's really difficult for girls to get authentic cultural experiences, because it's inappropriate to hang out in cafes like men can, and that's how people get invitations to dinners and things. A homestay is tough (I had an 8pm curfew, so many rules, had to keep my room spotless, you eat what they eat and sometimes that's goat innards) but it was SOOO worth it. I will forever have a family in Jordan, my language skills improved immensely, and I got a sense for Jordanian culture that my friends in apartments sorely lacked. |
| * Food: |
Depends on homestay/apartment. My family cooked and i generally loved the food. Fruit got harder to come by in the end, but a little initiative at the fruit market fixed that. I started to hate rice and pita, but I definitely didn't starve. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
this had absolutely everything to do with my homestay. people who tell you they didn't feel part of the culture were probably living in apartments. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I was fine. there's a mandatory HIV test that requires you to get your blood drawn, and the clinic is terrifying and questionably clean. but other than that I was well taken care of. Jordan has great healthcare. |
| * Safety: |
Amman is a safe city. the only time i felt threatened was due to cat-calling and occasional stalking (men will follow at a close distance and say things). These aren't actual threats, and if you confront them they will be mortified, but it's unsettling. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
things like food, haircuts, and services are all really cheap. Imported things are expensive. I found that I spent about the same as I do when I'm at Tufts except that I could feed myself for 3 dollars a day. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | i'll estimate about 50-70, but my homestay was 400/m and they fed me two meals a day. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Don't go shopping at malls. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
we weren't allowed to speak English. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Arabic 21 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 10+ |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | If your background is in classical arabic only (what we learn at Tufts), no amount of studying will prepare you for Amiyya. Just go with it and prepare to sound like an idiot... you'll pick it up soon enough. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | nothing comes to mind. studying vocab is useless and you won't know what they're saying the first coupe weeks, but then you'll figure it out and everything will click and suddenly you'll find yourself speaking with relative fluency in amiyya using words that you had never heard before arriving. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
