I’ve Come So Far!

By:

Dekonte Pajibo

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Dekonte Pajibo

<i>"Hello" in your host country's language:</i> Bonjour! <i>Home Institution (your U.S. University/College):</i> University of Texas at Austin <i>Expected graduation year:</i> 2022 <i>Destination city & country:</i> Paris, France <i>Program provider:</i> University of Texas at Austin <i>Major/minor:</i> Nutrition <i>Demographics:</i> First-Generation, African-American <i>Future career aspirations:</i> I hope to join the United States Peace Corps and pursue a career in public policy. <i>Top 3 goals for your time abroad:</i> 1) Greatly improve my French, 2) Grow in my knowledge of French culture, 3) Embrace a new academic environment

I officially have two weeks left of my program, CET Jordan has been nice enough to accommodate me needing to finish four days early to start my new on-campus job! The plan for these next two weeks is to complete class as normal with the addition of an extra day each remaining week to ensure I finish the entire course. Although my learning journey is coming to an end, I still have a bunch of assignments left to complete, specifically homework, three presentations, two papers, quizzes, three language evaluations, and two final exams. To say I am overwhelmed is an understatement but I am going to try my best to work hard until August 1st.

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At the beginning of the week, I had to present a topic I have learned in class to one of my teachers. I was able to choose anything I wanted so long as my presentation was at least 10 minutes long. I definitely struggled with that aspect of the assignment as my level in Arabic is still novice low but I did work hard and I did try my best. I had the help of my academic partner AKA my supplemental instruction teacher which was very useful!

I presented on what family is traditionally like in Jordan, in the US, and presented the members in my immediate family. I talked about what they liked to do, where they live, whether or not they were married, etc.

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Learning about family has been my favorite topic because it’s been interesting to learn how similar yet different Jordanian and American cultures are in this regard. For example, both of my teachers live with their families currently and don’t plan to leave until they are married which is really cool! I appreciate the emphasis on unity and support in Jordanian culture as here in the US it’s extremely common and even encouraged to leave home at 18 whether that be to go to university very far away or to make your own path separate from your parents or the person(s) who raised you.

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In general, it’s been a humbling and beneficial experience to learn more about customs in Jordan, a country that is so saturated with beautiful music, food, and history!

These next two weeks are going to be quite challenging for me, even more so than any week thus far so it’ll also be interesting to see how everything goes!

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Thanks for reading, see you next week!

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P.S the photo above is of some material I had to read and translate in class!