Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan, until Dec. 19.

Sometimes when I reflect on my study abroad experience here in Jordan, I just laugh at all the bizarre situations I get myself into. For example, somehow I ended up practically alone on the dance floor trying to do my best imitation of Arabic dancing at a Palestinian [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan until Dec. 19.

My family has been talking for weeks about the annual trip to the small, “forested” village of Ajloun to get their year’s supply of fresh-pressed olive oil. After all, ‘tis the season for olive harvesting. At my school building, we picked all our olives weeks ago to donate [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan until Dec. 19.

After listening to the call to prayer five times a day for the past three months, I decided to get back in touch with my own religion. Two weeks ago I went with an American friend and my host family’s Sri Lankan maid to St. George’s Cathedral, which [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan until Dec. 19.

Still smelling the salt of the Dead Sea on my skin, I’ve returned from a trip through the south of Jordan. This is the Jordan of legends: the awe-inspiring Petra, sunrises over Wadi Rum, sunsets over Aqaba’s sparkling aqua water, quiet valleys in Dana, and the salty depths [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan until Dec. 19.

Since I arrived in Jordan, almost everyone I met, taxi drivers and lecturers alike, asked me who I would vote for in the U.S. presidential elections. I always said “Obama, of course!” and they would reward me with a big smile. But many of the people I met [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan until Dec. 19.

I just spent a week in Cairo exploring ancient ruins, winding through alleys in a city of garbage, marveling at whirling dervishes, talking politics at the Arab League, chatting with Egyptian students, and listening to reggae under a bridge over the Nile. Overall, it’s been a whirlwind of [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan, until Dec. 19.

Never in my life have I felt as out of place as I did for the past three days in the Badia, which is the desert region in northeast Jordan. For three days I wore a hijab and a dishdash, lived in a one bedroom house with eight [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan, until Dec. 19.

My newfound Jordanian friend invited me to her aunt’s house for iftar. Located on the outskirts of Amman, the house was lovely and had a beautiful garden and patio. Tonight’s specialty: munsuf, which is a bed of rice covered with lamb, and janeeb, which is a sauce [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan, until Dec. 19.

1. Listening to “Barbie Girl” while cruising towards Mount Nebo: Last weekend a few friends and I ventured out of Amman and towards the Dead Sea. My host brother arranged for a friend of a friend of a friend to guide us around the village of Madaba and [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan, until Dec. 19.

Tonight I visited a mosque for the first time with one of my Arabic teachers and a few other female students. I’m sure we made quite a sight –- a bunch of fair-skinned Americans self-consciously fumbling with head scarves by the light of a streetlamp outside a [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan, until Dec. 19.

Since the maid and I are the only non-Muslims in the house, we eat breakfast together every morning during Ramadan before I go to school. In a mix of Arabic and English we usually try to chat about our families back home and our new lives here. She [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan, until Dec. 19.

Ramadan was exciting for the first week because it has all the festivity of Christmas in the U.S. Colored lights — mostly in the shape of the Muslim moon and star — hang in all the windows, strangers greet each other with “Ramadan Kareem!” and the kitchen is [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan, until Dec. 19.

Ramadan Kareem! Today is the first day of Ramadan, which means that tonight at 7:05 p.m. the nighttime feasting will begin! Last night my host family kept trying to get me to eat in the middle of the night. Still stuffed from a dinner of potato, eggs, and [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan, until Dec. 19.

Top 5 most awkward experiences:

My host mother was trying to explain the shower to me and kept asking me to undress and get in so she could show me. I insisted, however, that I could manage. I was confused because she placed a bucket inside the tub [...]

Laura’s abroad in Amman, Jordan, until Dec. 19.

The past two nights couldn’t have been more different. One night I was drinking gin and tonics with my newfound American friends in a bar, and the next night I was drinking cup after cup of mint tea with about 25 members of my host family and their [...]