My amazing, beautiful friends!

These girls are truly what have gotten me through this semester. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have Romilly and Natalie as my roommates and best friends. Although we come from very different backgrounds, we have created a lifelong bond during these three short months. Mariah may not live with us, but she is our honorary roommate and is always a welcome guest in our apartment. The separation anxiety we are sure to experience in just 10 days is going to be rough, to say the least.

Waking up to views like this!

Whether it’s from our balcony or in the desert of Wadi Rum, the views here in Jordan are incredible. Nothing makes you more grateful for this experience than watching the sun rise behind the skyline of Amman. Jordan has some of the most beautiful landscape and architecture that I have ever seen, and these are some of the photos that I know I will always look back on to remind myself of this beautiful country.

Camels!

Seeing a camel in the countryside of Jordan will never cease to amaze me. I don’t think I could ever get used to seeing a herd of camels crossing the road, and I wouldn’t want to. One of my best experiences to-date was petting a camel in the Wadi Rum desert, and I don’t know what could possibly top that. However, this goes hand-in-hand with one of my least favorite experiences of witnessing the mistreatment of many camels and horses in Wadi Rum and Petra. Regardless, this was definitely a bucket list item that I didn’t even know was on my bucket list until now.

The cats, of course!

I wouldn’t be my mother’s daughter if the cats weren’t one of my favorite parts of living in Jordan. My roommate Natalie and I are hard-pressed to walk past any cat on the street without saying hello and giving it a little pet. The cats in the photo here are some that Mariah and I saw this past weekend in Jerash. The orange cat was cleaning its friend and they were cuddling in the cutest way ever. We couldn’t resist hanging out with them for a while, and Mariah even managed not to scare them away with her weird meows that she insists on doing.

English transliterations!

I can only imagine that the mistakes that I make when speaking and writing in Arabic are just as funny as the English translations we see around town. Some of my favorites have been “teps,” “soup”=soap, and “joose.” These little things often make our days a little brighter after a hard class.

Isra!

Isra is by far my favorite teacher I have ever had. She is the most patient, kind, and empathetic woman that I know. She has encouraged me on my worst days, and somehow remains patient throughout all of our antics during class. Not only is she an amazing person, but her instruction this semester has been incredible. She always speaks clearly and expressively, which helps us to understand her even when she is using new vocabulary. She knows what each of her students needs and somehow meets each of those needs during class. I wish everyone was lucky enough to have an Isra, but don’t even think about stealing her from us.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: CET: Study in Amman, Jordan