...and touchdown.

Well, this was definitely the start of an adventure. My flight here had some memorable quirks, but nothing too terrible. The arrival in Amman was obviously exciting. Now it’s time for orientation! Here’s a quick timeline of my trip so far (times per my time zone!): Saturday 9:30am – I wake up to finish stuffing the last things in my bags, make my bed, and eat a good meal. 11:00am – I leave for the airport. It’s just over an hour away in good weather, and there is no telling what the roads will be like this time of year. My flight leaves at 2:33pm, so I have to have my bags checked by 1:30pm at the latest. Who says an extra hour of wiggle room isn’t beneficial? 12:30pm At the airport, and printed out my first boarding pass. For some reason they cannot print the next two connecting flights! Oh no! Maybe this means I have to go through security again, if I have to exit the secure area to get them to print my other two. 01:00pm Through security. I’m a terribly nervous flier until I’m through security. Once I’m through security, I can relax until customs. 2:10pm Flight to D.C. boarding. We have to de-ice because it’s so cold and snowy! 5:15pm Meet Alison in D.C.! 6:20pmish Flight to Vienna boarding (Late!). The plane announces that they won’t allow any rolling carry-on baggage in the cabin. WHAT!? So they checked my carry-on bag the rest of the way to Amman. I still don’t know if I’ll be charged for it! 9:15pmish Arrive in Vienna, and this sweet Iraqi lady asks me if I speak Arabic. Well, not really, but it was enough to help her get to her connection. Here, Alison and I met Tierny and Rebecca as well! 10:10pm Flight to Amman, Jordan boarding. Middle East, here I come! 4:35pm Arrive in Amman. Wait… I’m in the Middle East? 4:50pm Alison, Rebecca, Tierny and I are waiting in line for passport control, and an officer sees our American passports. “You’re American? Americans need a visa.” “We have ours!” “Oh! Go over here then…” and we get taken to a really short line. Score! 5:00pm All our baggage arrived. We’re waiting in the “no-claims” customs line, because none of us actually know if we have something to claim so we decided to give it a try. Another officer comes up to us, “Where are you coming from?” “United States.”, “oh, just go.” – no customs for us! So crazy. 5:15pm The CIEE employees meet us, check our names off and hand us a cell phone to call our parents and let them know we’re in. Then we’re off to the hotel! 5:45pm Arrive at hotel. We have to go through security every time we’re entering the hotel. I’m talking x-ray of any bags and metal detectors. How crazy! It’s beautiful though, and we had dinner as a group. We were given cell-phones by CIEE as soon as we entered the hotel. 8:30pm After dinner, we were going to have a “study session”, which lasted for about 15 minutes before two of the year-long students invited us to go to Rainbow Street for a few hours. So we grabbed a cab and headed down. It was good to get to know some of the people! It gets real when you take money out the first time!

Quick Facts about Jordan

Often, people make the mistake of thinking the Middle East is homogeneous. That cannot be further from the truth, so I decided to post some quick information about Jordan. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia, Palestine/Israel, Syria, and Iraq. It contains the Dead Sea and Petra, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Amman is the capital city of Jordan. It covers 649 square miles (1,680 km²), with a population of more than 2 million people. Amman has an extensive history – reaching back to biblical times. That being said, it is a very diverse city in the Middle East.

There aren’t laws restrictions in Jordan, but the “dress code” typically it is slightly more conservative than in the United States. The cities and tourist areas have more relaxed code than in the smaller towns and villages. The spectrum of clothing styles is extremely broad. It is not uncommon to see traditional Arab attire on the same sidewalk as skinny jeans and t-shirts. Shorts and skirts, for men and women, typically are styles that cover the knee. Colors are very welcome! Arabic is the language spoken in Jordan, though many people also speak English. Islam is the official State religion, but there is also free practice of Christianity, Druze, and Baha’i faiths. Christians make up about 10% of the population. Just as a demonstration of how Jordan is not a strict Islamic state, Halloween is allowed to be celebrated:

Jordan is technically a semi-dry climate, with temperatures usually ranging between about 85°F (30°C) in summer and 55°F (13°C) in winter. That does not mean it does not get colder! This year, the area has had a lot of snow already.

As for safety concerns, the CIEE program recently sent out a pre-departure security update. In summary, it said: No large-scale political demonstrations in over one year, although small ones are expected to continue. While there is contact with refugees from conflicts throughout the Middle East, Amman is far from any borders and thus relatively buffered. All of the students are required to have a cellphone on us at all times, in order that the CIEE program will be able to contact us if necessary. One of the most exciting things about Jordan? Falafel! I hear it’s everywhere, and I love this stuff!

Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Amanda. I'm a 21 year old senior at Central Michigan University. I've been studying Political Science:International Relations and Religion. Over the past few years, I've taken an interest in the Middle East, and added Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. With that interest, I've made many friends from across the Middle East and have also begun to learn Arabic. To finish my undergraduate experience with a bang, I've decided to go on a grand adventure. I'm going to study abroad in Amman, Jordan for a semester. I'm extremely nervous, thrilled, happy, worried, confused, scared, and optimistic about this trip. I've heard of great experiences in studying abroad, as well as horror stories. Regardless of the mixed feelings, I'm going. It's my dream. It's what I want. It's going to be an adventure. Note to all of my family and friends: Many of my friends (including my sister!) have studied abroad in European countries or South America. My parents were hesitant about my sister living in Poland for a semester, so you can imagine their reaction when I mentioned going to Jordan. With the help of many friends from the Middle East, a ton of research, and quite a bit of stubbornness, I have their support. My extended family hasn’t been so easily sold on me living close to the wars going on in Syria and other countries, but I am so thankful for everyone’s support, whether monetary or prayers, and trusting in my ability to make choices as a (reasonably) rational adult. I chose Jordan because I wanted to go to an Arabic speaking country to work on my language proficiency. The culture is so much different than in the United States and I’m itching to experience it firsthand. As I prepared my application and learned more about Jordan, I realized that Jordan is pretty central geographically in the Middle East. As I'm starting to plan out my trip, I'm looking at all of the exciting places I can go to. I can travel within Jordan. I'm a hop, skip and a jump away from Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, and even Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates aren't that far. I'm going to live with a host family because one of my main goals in study abroad is culture-sharing. As many of you know, my dream is to help spread cultural tolerance and awareness through research and education so this is an amazing opportunity for me. Academically, I'll be taking two Arabic classes and a seminar on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Okay, I'm a nerd, but I'm super excited about that seminar! I applied to the program in September, was accepted in October. I already had my passport from previous travels, and finally applied for my visa in late December. I chose the multiple-entry visa, which is good for six months. It only took two weeks for them to get it back to me, and I'm so excited to go! Keep checking back, I'll post again soon.