Mish Kwayis

It’s been awhile since I've written! Usually in my downtime I watch the news with my host dad or dramas with my host mom. I really think these dramas have helped me bond with my family. "Zawaj Maslaha" (mbc1 every night at 8pm in case you're interested) is my favorite. It's a Turkish drama dubbed in Arabic, which is pretty common here. I make comments in my limited Arabic like “Hiya mish kwayis” (she is not good) or sometimes I simply click my tongue to show my disapproval. It’s a lot of fun getting worked up about dramas in another language! Luckily my host mom translates whatever dialogue is happening into simpler Arabic for me, and the actors’ dramatic expressions make it easy for me to guess what’s going on.

Kanafah making class at school

A couple days ago, my host sister found out she did well on a college exam that she had been studying for for months, so that night we had a party. I thought it would be just a small gathering as extended family members were trickling in, but then someone brought in giant speakers and everyone started dancing in the living room. It was crazy; at one point our sister was on someone’s shoulders and we were all dancing and clapping around her. We dabke-ed and belly danced until midnight, and then I sat in the kitchen with my host cousins and they helped me with my Arabic pronunciation.

I love my host family and extended family a lot, and my heart is broken that I can’t go to the wedding that’s taking place the night we leave. I’m not ready to go home-America is a distant memory for me. Of course I miss my real family, but this adventure is going by too fast. I'm spending six weeks in Al-Urdun studying Arabic, and when I go home, I’m going back to being a cashier and wondering how I’m going to pay for college. I really think I’ll come back someday for a semester or a year. I love this place so much!