Amideast Education Abroad in the MENA

I chose Amideast Jordan because I wanted the challenge of immersing myself in an entirely new culture, language and identity. I didn't want to do something typical. Long interested in the Middle East, I thought Jordan was the perfect balance of Arab, Islam, Christianity, modernity and antiquity. I could not have been more correct. Although the challenges I faced were many. My most memorable study abroad experience was the immersion. Living in Jordan was challenging, but not for the reasons I anticipated. King Hussein once said, "Jordan has a strange, haunting beauty and a sense of timelessness. Dotted with the ruins of empires once great, it is the last resort of yesterday in the world of tomorrow. I love every inch of it." Having traveled from Irbid to Aqaba, I could not agree more.

The language pairing system and excursions. All students were paired with 2 Egyptian local students interested in expanding their knowledge about American culture and increasing their English levels. They were instant friends and contacts and served as the perfect liaisons between our differing cultures and to ease in the transition of being in a new location. I continue to message and interact with them on a near daily basis and have been the perfect example of lifelong friends. They accompanied us on our excursions to historical sites and their input on culture, language, immersion, and daily life were invaluable. Word of mouth and personal references for the program carry a lot of weight - I listened to those who urged me to attend the program from both the American and Egyptian perspectives and was not disappointed in the least.

One of my most memorable study abroad experiences was when we went on our last program-led excursion to southern Morocco and one of our stops was the small Berber village of Zawiyat Ahnsal. The simple, rural but humbling village, located in the High Atlas Mountains, was definitely an eye-opening and influencing location that allowed us to escape the wifi side of life. Our activity schedule was enough to keep us busy and gave us a tired but accomplished feeling at the end of the day. Some of our activities included hiking around the village but my favorite was being able to teach English to the village children. A night, we stargazed and took in the magnificence of the night sky without any noise or air pollution to diminish the stars. Free time was spent around a plastic table with familiar and new friends in the village Sheikh's house over mint tea and sweet treats. It all was such a unique experience in which I was able to see one of the many facets of Morocco, especially one of the many indigenous regions. I was able to be of service to the children but I felt like I got so much from them in return. Without electronic distractions, I was able to experience a simpler side of life and have some pretty neat conversations with our hosts as well as my friends in the program. I don't think I'll ever be able to fully articulate the impact it had on me but maybe that's why it is so memorable. I chose this program because I thought the organization gave potential programmers some interesting places to study abroad such as Morocco, Jordan, etc. Within each country they offered several different programs styles in various locations according to your needs. They offered challenging and unique courses, the option of living with a host family, and multiple opportunities to immerse ourselves in the culture like interaction with Moroccan university students and a few program-led excursions. The Amideast program in Morocco always had our best interests in mind and they were always willing to accommodate us whether we wanted to be directed to social events around the city or if we needed their service.