How is that even possible? It's such a bittersweet feeling.
Although the days range from sunny to rainy, and from cold to hot, everyday in Amman is beautiful. It still amazes me how peaceful I find this city- it's like an oasis in a region of chaos.
Lately I've been remembering the most random things about my life back in America, and it's become so weird how extremely foreign my own home seems to me. The other day, I couldn't remember the name of my subdivision, so I asked Stephen, and he said...COPPERFIELD.. I wouldn't have never come up with that! I also had an epitome and I remembered that tater tots exist,like really?- why does that make me so excited?, and I even remembered that once I get home I will have to actually re-learn the concept of charging my phone, cause I sware I've only charged my super-cool-nokia about five times this entire semester.
I'm going to miss the bread man at the end of the road, and the way-too-small cups of nescafe. I'm going to miss the call of prayer, and the seas of hijabs on campus. I'm also going to miss Amman's constant blue skies and rolling hills, and I'm going to miss the acquaintances I've made at the local stores. I'm going to miss zatar, and falafal- duh.I'm even going to miss the absurd and awkward conversations I have with the locals... mostly taxi drivers.
Last week I turned 20 and I entered the REAL WORLD... but not really. I just feel really accomplished! My friends and I went for happy hour at a local bar, and what a hoot... they brought me a birthday roll covered in chocolate.... they were out of cake (: Only in Jordan.
Last Thursday marked the end of Arabic classes... and boyyyyy am I not going to miss Arabic class, but I am going to miss my class-mates! We became a family, and it's going to be so weird next semester without them. After our last class we went to a Yemeni restaurant and feasted, sitting on the ground, on the most amazing food on the planet. I'm thinking I'm going to eat as much Arabic food as humanly possible before I leave?? cause it's SO good. Speaking of, last night was the official farewell dinner... khallas!!! It was actually really sad knowing it was the"Farewell Dinner." I'm starting to get emotional!
Today I took the Arabic post-test, which was the same test I took when I got to Amman to place me into my Arabic class. I breezed through it, and I literally couldn't believe how much easier it was the second time around, only four months later. Now that all of my Arabic is officially done, I have a weekend in the Holy Land (HALLLAA!), 2 exams, and a very limited amount of dinar and food I'm trying to stretch till the end- will I make it??..
The greatest source of happiness I have found through my experience here is being able to speak with total strangers in a foreign language- its a special kind of connection. Sometimes, I find it even more difficult to find English words than Arabic words because I am so used to speaking Arabic- so I'm pretty sure I'm going to be speaking a lot of Arabeezy once I get home. The other day a local woman stopped and asked me directions, and I had a full conversation with her without thinking twice about it. Once I walked away I had realized I just given her directions and hadn''t translated anything in my head from English to Arabic- the Arabic just came naturally. That.... is a successful semester abroad.
-Blonde Girl Out
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