Why I am in Jordan
Lama Tarayra taught me how to count to five in Arabic.
Her experiences working in Israeli-Palestinian summer peace camps moved me to tears.
I decided it was worth taking Arabic.
I hated my major.
I loved Arabic.
I changed majors to Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic.
Part of the program involves doing a summer study abroad program.
I went.
My best friends at BYU were Jordanian.
I wanted to hang out with them.
Once they got to Jordan, I did.
But I didn't go with anybody else.
This was against the rules.
So I was sent home early.
And kicked out of my major.
And had to reapply to BYU.
I had previously decided to defer for the fall semester.
I kept that plan.
I worked at a Jewelry Store.
I earned a lot of money.
I used the money to buy a plane ticket to come back to Jordan.
While I was in Jordan the first time, I became friends with Adam (Nedal) Tashman.
He introduced me to Sanaa Hammouri.
Sanaa and I became close friends.
She told me to come to the University of Yarmouk.
I assumed they had a language center on campus, like the University of Jordan.
I came back by myself.
Adam (Nedal) arranged for the missionaries to pick me up and for me to spend the first few nights at his house.
Then I moved to the Hammouri's house.
Heba Hammouri helped me enroll in the Language Center.
I have been here ever since.
I want to go back home and become involved in the Arabic club at BYU, and get certified in Arabic Teaching. Beyond that, ba'arafesh.
Stop thinking about tomorrow.
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