Pre-Departure Thoughts...

Hi, my name is Helin Akcam and this is the first of what I hope will be lots of blogs about my study abroad experience with CIEE in Amman, Jordan. Being one out of two of the first students to go on this newly approved Clark program, I am extremely excited to share my experience with all of you. I hope this will be a very educational and exciting journey that will teach me a lot, both academically and otherwise so.

There are about nine days left before I leave for Amman and there are a lot of thoughts floating around in my head. It is hard to believe that after nearly a year-long process of thinking about study abroad and applying, the time has already come for everything to begin! One of the strangest parts for me is the fact that I will be gone for so long! I already left the United States back in December, to come visit my mother who lives in Turkey and am now spending time with my family here before I embark on my journey. I won't be returning to the US again until August, as I'm planning on traveling to Lebanon and Turkey after my program finishes in Jordan in May. It is the longest I will be away from the US since I moved there when I was 10 and it is definitely hard to believe I will be gone that long.

Other than my long absence from home, I am filled with a billion different types of excitement, nervousness, impatience, happiness, anxiety and many other mixed emotions. There are just so many things to look forward to!

As a Political Science major, I am studying International Relations, specifically between the Middle East and the US. That's why I chose the program in Amman, because it not only offered me an excellent opportunity to learn Arabic, but also gave me the chance to immerse myself into the region and culture that I will be focusing on in my career. The program Clark offers is the CIEE Language and Culture program, so I know I will be in very good hands for learning Arabic. Of course, I am really nervous about not having studied Arabic before departing on my trip. I know the first couple of months, where I will not speak any Arabic, will be extremely difficult. I am hoping that some of the others on my program (from other schools) who have studied Arabic can help me out at first! But the other courses I am taking are all related to what I want to do (i.e. Arabs and Americans, Conflict in the Middle East, International Relations in the Middle East, etc). I am definitely excited to take a couple of those classes! I am also hoping to get an internship while I'm there, which would make my whole experience even better! We don't find out until we get there, but hopefully I got lucky enough and will be able to intern this coming semester.

Another point of excitement and slight nervousness is the fact that I chose the homestay option for my residence while in Jordan. This means that, if they find one suited for me, I will be living with a local family in Amman during my time there. I decided to do this because it would be extremely beneficial for learning the language and getting really immersed in the culture. But of course, this will be the cause of many changes to my lifestyle. As a girl, I will probably have a curfew somewhere between 9-10. Also there are different house rules about certain things, such as always wearing slippers in the house and keeping things extremely clean and neat. Some of this stuff I have already had the chance to experience, due to my Turkish culture, but a lot of it will be different for me too.

When I think of all the traveling I will get to do, however, all my nervousness goes away! I know we get about 3 trips, one of them being overnight, funded through CIEE. These include visiting the ancient city of Petra, Wadi Rum, the city of Aqaba and many old castels and ruins left over from thousands of years ago. I am so so so excited to see all of these places that have existed for so long! I also hope my travels bring me into other countries, such as Lebanon (where I will actually go once my program ends) and Israel, as well as the West Bank. Traveling as much as possible is definitely one of my major goals for when I am there.

With all of this in mind, I really cannot wait to start my adventure in Middle East! I know there is a lot that still seems overwhelming and scary, but I think it is definitely going to be one the funnest and most exciting things I've done in my life so far. T-9 and counting!