I Can Almost Taste It

     Summer is almost here. One more final, my Spanish final. I'm ready for summer to get here. In exactly five weeks I will be boarding the plane to D.C and two days afterwards I will be on my way to Oman.
    Earlier this week I got to have a conference call with Amideast, and found out some new things about the trip. My first three weeks in Oman will be spent with the other students (there are fifteen in total, all girls) and then afterward we will be put with host families. Chances are I won't find out about my host family placement until I get to Oman. Weekdays will be spent going to classes for four hours and we will spend the rest of the day adventuring or doing homework. I also found out that we will get to take a trip to Salalah, and from mid June to August the Salalah Karif festival is held, so hopefully I will get to take part of that action.
    Everyday I become more and more mentally prepared for my trip, but my adventure will be coming soon enough.
   
   

Homesick at Home with Good News on the Side

    With  mothers day in the United States on Sunday and mothers day in Paraguay on Tuesday I couldn't help but to be reminded of all the things I did with my host family. I was very fortunate with my host family placement. I got along with them well, and I will never forget playing ping-pong with my host dad every day. My host mom was an amazing cook, and treated me to all the typical Paraguayan foods. In the six weeks that I was there I was able to form a strong relationship with them, and I know that I will definitely be visiting them next summer. Once you get back from an exchange trip you're glad to be home, but every so often pangs of 'homesickness' will hit you. Lately I've been realizing that I miss Paraguay more and more every day. I can't help but thinking of how much exchange trips open you to the world, and realizing that this summer I will find one more place to call home.
    Today signified a key point in my junior year, the last day of AP exams! I finished off with the AP English Language and Composition Exam, and I am now happy to say that I am done with AP for the year, allowing me to fully focus on Oman and learning Arabic. I'm looking forward to a conference call on Monday, and will hopefully be receiving mammoth amounts of information over the program.
    Six weeks and three days until departure!

New Program Dates

    I recently got an e-mail and fortunately my summer program has been extended! Originally the trip was from July 5th to August 15th, but it is now July 1st to August 17th, giving me 6 extra days (every extra day makes a difference)!
    Once I finish with AP tests I will be able to imagine all the possible extra things I will do in those 6 additional days, but right now I have gotten to the point where I'm even having dreams where I watch myself take AP tests. I am just waiting for the next two weeks to end and then my mind will be in full Oman mode, and this will definitely be a pleasant change from AP mode.

“Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will.” ~Vernon Howard

     Today I did it. I decided to take the plunge (well more of a plunging my pinky toe into a cold pool type of thing), but I did it. I began to study Arabic. I am fortunate enough to have a friend that is fluent in Arabic and today I learned the phrase that I will be using non-stop: Can you repeat that? I also learned several other basic phrases that will be key to my survival, but this also made me realize that these next ten weeks I will need to be working like crazy so that I won't be hopelessly lost when I get to Oman, but then I think about how being lost is all part of the fun of an exchange trip as long as you have the skills to somehow figure out how to get yourself out of the situation. Right now I'm working on getting the basic skills for that survival.
    The fun part about learning a new language is that you're a child again (in another culture). I have been learning the Arabic alphabet by listening to the alphabet song which the characters of a show that seems like the Arabic version of Elmo sing:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifktT2RAVtg&feature=related. I have yet to come near to being able to singing the whole song or even a ninth of it, but I am going to get it within the next ten weeks. I also found this website http://www.funwitharabic.com/alphabet.html which is very useful, and goes through everything well, but I find it easier to remember things when they are put in a song, so I will be mixing the use of this website and the alphabet song to fully learn it. Fortunately the Arabic alphabet only has two more letters than the English alphabet, and that makes me feel better about my capacity to learn it.
     Right now I'm taking small steps at a time so that when I get there I won't be completely overwhelmed by the language, and I have so much excitement that I might as well channel it towards something productive.
    I can't wait until I get there!

From Texas to Oman

https://maps.google.com/

A map of where I'm going, I have a 25 hour flight ahead of me!

Taking the first step away from shore

     Today I found out I received the NSLI-Y scholarship!And I'm beyond excited, I went into today thinking about how excited I was to get my rejection letter, I honestly just wanted to hear anything from NSLI-Y even if it was a rejection. Instead I got the amazing surprise that I had been accepted into Oman!
    When I wrote my bucket list at the beginning of the year the first thing on my list was to become trilingual (at least), and now I will be able to cross that off my bucket list!
    Studying language and culture are some of the things that bring the most pleasure to my life, and a sure way to be constantly learning. Last summer I went to Paraguay on a study abroad trip, and the learning never ceased. Study abroad trips open an incredible view on life, and the open mindedness you receive is immeasurable.
     The countdown has already started, 10 weeks and 4 days until my departure. I am ready for all adventures that await!