Do I really leave tonight?

In just a few hours I will be embarking on my latest journey--a trip to Amman, Jordan with the Critical Language Scholarship program. I will be there for 2 months, studying intensive Arabic at the Qasid institute in Amman. I am currently in Washington, D.C., wrapping up a two-day orientation for the program. I've met my 39 colleagues for the next two months who will also be doing the program, and am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to improve my Arabic with such wonderful students.

The CLS program is funded by the State Department and implemented by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). It provides scholarships for students at all academic levels to complete intensive programs abroad in languages deemed "critical" but the U.S. State Department. Of course, this includes Arabic--along with Turkish, Persian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, and Urdu. At yesterday's orientation session, we were told that 5,280 students applied for the program across all languages, and just 631 were accepted. I applied for the program last year and did not receive an award, and when I was notified of my award for this summer I couldn't have been happier or felt more lucky.

Having been to Jordan before last year, I know a bit of what to expect. I was only there for 5 days, but saw many of the common tourist sights. I'm looking forward to delving deeper into the city of Amman, becoming acquainted with more locals, and learning more about the city and the country. I will also be completing a PSU capstone course during my time in Jordan, called Museum of the City. While it is not typically an online course, I was able to work with the professor to complete it during my time abroad. The course centers around the ideas of city development and city museums, and through the course students are expected to engage with the community and ultimately develop an online "exhibit" about a city or element of cities. There are endless possibilities in Amman and the surrounding area, so I am anxious to begin the course. Coinciding with the capstone course and my goals to learn more Arabic, I hope to volunteer with a local organization in Amman called Carboun. This initiative promotes sustainability and environmental protection in the Middle East. It was founded recently and I'm hoping to learn more from them about sustainability initiatives in Jordan and around the region.

Next post will be from Amman, Jordan--I can't believe it! Ma'salaama - goodbye!