Highs and Lows in Jordan
We just discovered another fascinating student blog from a study abroad experience and recommend it highly.
Last time, we described Washington and Lee junior Shiri Yadlin’s blog from Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Shiri’s classmate Megan Dailey is spending the winter term in Jordan, and posting to her 100 Arabian Nights blog.
Megan, an Medieval Studies major and a varsity volleyball player, began spinning her study abroad story on the blog before she left her home town of Birmingham, and has shared some wonderful insights and interesting anecdotes. For instance, she writes about the chicken heart moment during her rural homestay in the Badia area of Jordan. She lived with a Bedouin family and experienced the daily life, culture and traditions of a Bedouin community. She also ate a somewhat squishy chicken heart that she and her four-year-old host brother had been throwing at one another. (We’re not making this up.) What’s cool is that Megan says the moment of the chicken heart was when she firmly established herself as part of the family.
That’s one of the many stories that Megan relates with great insight and humor. We especially liked “Fog, Gunshots, and Swords: A Wedding Story” and “Spring Break East Vs. West,” in which Megan compares her 2010 spring break trip to the Gulf of Mexico with her 2011 spring break trip to Oman and the Persian Gulf. We highly recommend sharing her trip vicariously.