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By Sarah Obeid
I never thought in this lifetime I would eat a boiling, teriyaki-flavored snail on the side of a street in a foreign country thousands of miles from my American home. I never imagined coating my entire body from head to toe in a thick Dead Sea mud, rich with skin-hydrating minerals.
Two summers ago in 2012, I studied abroad in Amman, Jordan, where I completed the first level of Advanced Arabic at the University of Jordan. I stayed with my Palestinian grandparents, who reside in a small flat in Amman.
My grandfather, who I call Seedo, drove me to the university five days a week. Classes started at 9:30 a.m. and finished at 2:30 p.m. Students from all around America were studying Arabic at this university. During our lunch, my American friends and I would walk around the campus, then sit down to refresh ourselves with Arabic mint tea or instant coffee. The people of Jordan love instant coffee, especially my own family, who drink it daily.
My friends James, Erin, Jenna, and Diana and I would chit chat about things we could do in Jordan on the weekends and share our experiences with the culture. We would sit in the cafeteria or on benches near some trees, listening to the afternoon call to prayer from a nearby archaic mosque. The sound of the five prayers throughout the city is so beautiful; they are called out by the imam to bring unity among the people of Jordan. People are constantly reminded of the five prayers. Seedo and my grandmother, also known as Tata, never miss a prayer. I have never seen such dedication to faith.
The Arabic class was, to say the least, challenging, especially the grammar. The entire lecture was always in Modern Standard Arabic. I am very familiar with colloquial, Palestinian Arabic, which is what my family speaks and understands. However, Modern Standard Arabic is a whole different ball game. Colloquial can often use entirely different words than in Modern Standard. Even some of my cousins have trouble using Modern Standard Arabic and laugh when I would use it to speak with them. My cousin Sarah would tell me, “Ya Allah (Oh God) Sarah! We never say that, say this instead!”
Every week, we would have to learn a vocabulary list of around 50 words. We would learn topics about Arabic weddings, the economy of Jordan, concepts in Islam, etc. The instructions in the book were all in Arabic. My professor, Dr. Mouna, was a kind-hearted lady with a strong accent. She always smelled fresh and fragrant in the mornings. Dr. Mouna would only use English sparingly and would make exceptions here and there if the students were truly having trouble understanding a concept or idea. In one instance, I had not a clue of how to phrase my question in Modern Standard Arabic, so instead I used Palestinian slang. Dr. Mouna laughed, replying with, “Sarah, habibti (my sweet) I am very proud of you, but no slang is allowed, I want to hear only Modern Standard Arabic.” I studied very hard and earned an A in the course.
My father’s entire family is Palestinian but live in Jordan during the summer, where a lot of Palestinians live. My cousins, aunts, and uncles live in Qatar during the year, but in the summer, all the relatives come home to their parents in Amman. I was very fortunate in that I could always get Arabic help from my Seedo, grandmother or my Aunty Rana or Uncle Mazen. Having family with me helped improve my Arabic speaking skills because not only did I hear Arabic in the classroom and streets, but also in my grandparents’ own home. I was continuously immersed in the Arabic language. By the end of some nights, I longed to hear a little bit of English.
I had been to Jordan probably ten times before. I had a pretty good knowledge base of where to find the best Shawerma (famous Arabic sandwiches) cafes and coolest shopping malls. My aunt has spent summers buying shirt after shirt from our favorite place in Jordan, Al Hussein. The area consists of long streets of retail stores, some in which you can bargain and others you cannot. During this summer, my Aunty Rana and I bought clothes, jewelry, make up, and mouthwatering, salty corn from the corn man on the side of the road.
The Arabic program at the university also included travel packs on most weekends. There were some weekends I did not travel with my classmates because I had already made other arrangements with my family. I did visit Petra, the Dead Sea, Mount Nebo, and the ancient Roman Theater in the heart of Amman. My Tata took me to see the ancient Roman Theater built thousands of years ago in downtown Amman for concerts and many forms of entertainment. The large theater is breathtaking at morning, noon, and night. We climbed the theater’s steps eventually making our way towards the ancient Citadel, which towers above the city. The Citadel is one of the oldest landmarks in Jordan and contains ruins from the Umayyad dynasty. It is now a museum for visitors and tourists. My Tata and I stood on its grounds peering out in all directions. How I would give anything now to go back to that moment in time.
I felt the same way walking on the white, rocky ground of Mount Nebo one warm, sunny afternoon. We students trekked up the high mountain of Madaba. As we strolled around the area, we came to the ledge where Moses proclaimed to have seen the Holy Land while standing on the mountain. An overwhelming satisfaction came over me. Not many people can say they have been able to get anywhere close to the Holy Land.
When I was six or seven years old, my mother, who is also a world traveler, brought my brother and me to the Holy Land. I distinctly remember visiting the Dome of the Rock and touching the exact place where it is believed that Jesus died on the cross. I can express the same sentiment about Petra, an ancient Nabataean city. There was nothing like walking through the Siq, a narrow pathway filled with unique rock formations and colors. Reaching the end of the Siq and arriving at the Treasury was an experience I will never forget. My pictures do not do the Treasury justice. The Treasury opens straight up to the Petra Valley, a place chock-full of intricate carvings and architecture.
While Mount Nebo, Petra, and the Roman amphitheater are two spectacular archeological sites, the Dead Sea was a more intriguing experience for me. My classmates and I stayed at one of the few Dead Sea resorts. We only explored the sea for a full day. The Dead Sea has a high salt concentration, containing some of the most saline water on earth. No life can thrive within the water because of the high amounts of salt. People actually float without effort. The funniest part of the day at the Dead Sea was when a group of German tourists walked into the water, lay back, and read newspapers as if they were sitting in a beach chair on the sand.
The Dead Sea is known for its large supply of black, gushy mud alongside the water. We joined the other tourists, as well as Arabs, who caked themselves in mud, some of them from the face to feet. The minerals in the mud are supposed to heal, causing the skin to look and feel healthier. As the heat intensified, the mud hardened, feeling like a cover on my face. Removing the mud took forever, but the experience was worth it.
I ate traditional Jordanian food at a buffet in the resort. Arabs in general eat lamb, chicken, and fish, but Middle Easterners, especially Palestinians and Jordanians from what I have observed, eat lamb weekly. Jordanians and Palestinians eat mounds of rice. A popular dish, Mensef, contains lamb and pine nuts on a bed of rice covered in a thick, sour yogurt. The hot yogurt is plain, mixed with onions and lamb juice, tasting almost like a broth. Another common dish, Moulikhiya, includes chicken on top a bed of rice covered in a spinach stew. People often squeeze lemon juice on top of the meal. These meals are made frequently for weddings, parties, and everyday lunches and dinners. There is no such thing as eating lightly.
As an aficionado of traveling the world, studying abroad in Jordan was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I consider myself lucky, for I had such memorable experiences and adventures at each location. I met friends from all across America and Jordan. I also advanced my Arabic speaking, writing, and reading skills. The Arabic language is something I will always treasure, something I have always appreciated. My dream is to one day be fluent in not just colloquial Palestinian Arabic, but Modern Standard Arabic as well. I will do whatever it takes to fly back overseas to continue learning one of the hardest, yet most extraordinary languages in the world.
