As-salama alaykum from Jordan,
My name is Adrienne Miller. I am a junior Ruskie majoring in Public Health through the center with an Arab Studies minor. I have had the great privilege of starting my study abroad trip in Jordan with a little pre-trip fun in Paris. I
did 4 days in Paris and am now in Jordan studying modern standard Arabic for 9 weeks. I unlike many of you have never left the country. This has been my first excursion the big unknown a.k.a the rest of the world and I'll have to
say that I have taken to heart on my traveling thus far the idea that:
"There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign"- Robert Louis Stevenson.
First up, Paris! Paris was a dream, and almost everything I had expected it to be. I lived in the real Paris, also known as the Latin Quartier, and it was spectacular! I was extremely happy to have taken French for 6 years and to actually be able to use it. I was rusty but it all came back. I realized there that
I also learned some great traveling lessons like
I also had the great "stupid american" moment of not being aware of how big Europe is on conservation, and so I spent a good hour dealing with my lights going in and out because I didn't leave the room key in the slot to keep the lights on. When I went to tell the concierge the lights in my room were broken and they explained to me how it worked, I felt like a doofus.
The tourist sites are worth seeing Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, etc, but be a Parisian for a day and just stare at people in cafes and definitely take the roads less travelled to see the authentic city. It's worth it. Remember, it is not a tourist attraction, but instead home for millions of people.
Next up was Jordan, Paris and Jordan were very VERY different places. There were many shocks, let me roll off a list for you:
The most important piece of information I have had the chance to reflect upon is that people are human beings wherever you go. They laugh, smile, joke, care for one another, protect, teach, etc. You can find good people everywhere you go, and as my home stay has taught me, you always have room for more family. They may not speak your language or follow your same customs. I am fasting right now and am not even Muslim, but when push comes to shove they are people who look out for you. I have bonded so much with my Davidson friends in my home stay and
with my home stay family. I am learning so many in an outs of the city and language by having them speak to me. We struggle to understand each other often but the right intentions are always there and patience is never in short
supply. I am loving my experience and looking forward to more in the future.
Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.
Ma'a Salama,
Adrienne Miller
My name is Adrienne Miller. I am a junior Ruskie majoring in Public Health through the center with an Arab Studies minor. I have had the great privilege of starting my study abroad trip in Jordan with a little pre-trip fun in Paris. I
did 4 days in Paris and am now in Jordan studying modern standard Arabic for 9 weeks. I unlike many of you have never left the country. This has been my first excursion the big unknown a.k.a the rest of the world and I'll have to
say that I have taken to heart on my traveling thus far the idea that:
"There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign"- Robert Louis Stevenson.
First up, Paris! Paris was a dream, and almost everything I had expected it to be. I lived in the real Paris, also known as the Latin Quartier, and it was spectacular! I was extremely happy to have taken French for 6 years and to actually be able to use it. I was rusty but it all came back. I realized there that
- Parisians aren't as mean as they are stereotyped to be.
- All the women aren't walking around in heels. (Thank God!)
- Paris in the rain may be as beautiful as people say, but it is not fun to be stuck in.
- Being able to drink champagne and wine of age there every night was not as exciting as I expected it to be.
I also learned some great traveling lessons like
- Ask the main taxi administrator at the airport what a fair price is.
- Avoid all the taxi people in the airport that try and bombard you
- Never pack more than you can lift and carry on your own
- Have a printout of your hotel address and possibly a mapped out google map pic for your cabby.
I also had the great "stupid american" moment of not being aware of how big Europe is on conservation, and so I spent a good hour dealing with my lights going in and out because I didn't leave the room key in the slot to keep the lights on. When I went to tell the concierge the lights in my room were broken and they explained to me how it worked, I felt like a doofus.
The tourist sites are worth seeing Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, etc, but be a Parisian for a day and just stare at people in cafes and definitely take the roads less travelled to see the authentic city. It's worth it. Remember, it is not a tourist attraction, but instead home for millions of people.
Next up was Jordan, Paris and Jordan were very VERY different places. There were many shocks, let me roll off a list for you:
- All the building are the same color (desert sand tan)
- America seems to have exported all of its fast food restaurants here (Popeye's, Dominoes, Church's Chicken, McDonald's etc)
- The work week here is Sunday- Thursday not Monday-Friday. I am already 7-8 hours ahead of everyone I know, and days start to get boggled in your brain when the work week changes too.
- Cat calls are ridiculous here and refer to ducks and lemons and being tasty etc, and the men are very bold. They stare you down as you walk and feel no remorse about it and if you stare back that is an encouraging sign to them, and they will follow you.
- Helpful tip, when you are ever in a cab, leave your window rolled down, you can't trust every taxi driver and never know when you will have to make a quick exit. If anyone wants to hear a frightening story about a late night taxi drive, I definitely have one.
- Maids are very common here even for people of average means.
- A copy of your passport should always be on hand, you need it for a plethora of different situations: hospital identification, buying a burner phone, crossing a border, etc.
- During Ramadan (a muslim religious month), everything shuts down and the entire city's schedule switches in literally a day. We eat and stay up all night and sleep and stay in all day.
- Being covered from neck to ankle is hot but kind of liberating, even if you still get steed down.
- Here I can pass for an array of ethnicities. I get South African a lot.
- The Dinar is 1.43 to our Dollar, but I can do a lot more with that dinar. A taxi ride across the city is 1-2 dinar and you can get a full meal here regularly from .35 kirsch (cent) to 5 dinar.
- Not knowing the language well enough to speak it means you rely on body language more, are more observant about everything and force you to get good at reading a map.
- Every country has something worth seeing and many things worth experiencing not matter where you go. I have currently been to the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum, Mount Nebo, Madaba, Jerash, Ajiloun, and all over the city of Amman, and each was a new experience that I would not have changed (except maybe putting on more sunscreen hahaha).
- Lastly, people who speak the same language as you can be found everywhere, and can be a great asset to you when you need a helping hand. I am going to be best friend's with the US Embassy officials by the end of this
summer.
The most important piece of information I have had the chance to reflect upon is that people are human beings wherever you go. They laugh, smile, joke, care for one another, protect, teach, etc. You can find good people everywhere you go, and as my home stay has taught me, you always have room for more family. They may not speak your language or follow your same customs. I am fasting right now and am not even Muslim, but when push comes to shove they are people who look out for you. I have bonded so much with my Davidson friends in my home stay and
with my home stay family. I am learning so many in an outs of the city and language by having them speak to me. We struggle to understand each other often but the right intentions are always there and patience is never in short
supply. I am loving my experience and looking forward to more in the future.
Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.
Ma'a Salama,
Adrienne Miller