Is This Really Immersion?

     After spending two weeks in Jordan my Arabic has improved dramatically. I have made many Jordanian friends, enjoyed amazing food, and learned local customs. Although I am in a country where the main language is Arabic, and 94% of the country is Muslim, I still find myself speaking English the majority of the day. Many times when I go to a restaurant or ride a taxi, the driver will speak the little English he/she knows. I understand they are eager to practice their English, but I want to make the best of the little time I have here. 

     Last night my group of 12 students went to a sports club for dinner and to watch the soccer game with some of our teachers and language partners. I told my friends that for the next 3 hours I would not speak English, and if I did, I wanted them to give me a "friendly slap on the arm". I ended up getting very creative to explain things to people. After my time was up, I kept speaking Arabic even though I didn't have a commitment because it was easy and fun for me. I feel like I learned more in those 3 hours that I did in 3 days of class. I made a commitment from this day forward to speak at least 2 hours of only Arabic in the evening, which is usually the more social time of the day. I'll update you all on what happens. Once again, I want to thank everyone who helped me get here, and I have included brief commentary's below the pictures. 

Thanks and enjoy! 

A couple of my fellow students and I at a Cafe called Rakwan Arabia. 

We were given a list of places to find in an area called Al Webdeh. We took a taxi to the area, and talked to many people in Arabic in order to find our destinations. 

My friends Ahmed and I riding horses on a beautiful lookout on the side of a highway. 

It only cost us 1 JD ( $1.4) for ten minutes of riding. 

My friend Hamza who was with us. 

Ahmad and Hamza

Here is a Turkish Coffee set up. It is common to see these all over Amman. They mix the coffee directly into the water. This has a lot more caffeine than American coffee, in only about 3 ounces. Most places I have gone to have refused to put cream into it like it was impossible. In America, it wouldn't matter because as they say " the customer is always right", but in Amman the customs are more important than money, which in this case was; no milk or cream with Turkish Coffee. 

This is my Professor, Reeham! My classmates and I spend 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, learning from her. She has a masters in Arabic Linguistics and is also a mother of 2 daughters and 1 son. She is amazing, and I am so blessed to learn from her. 

One of the Kings Mosque's                                                                 A beautiful Church in Downtown Amman

A Greek statue head. I named him, curly-osis. 

Airplanes that flew back and forth over Amman as part of a show for something king was doing. 

One of my Cross Fit coaches! 

My Cross Fit, box, Desert Star

A t-shirt shop called Jo-Bedu that was a part of the Al-Webdeh scavenger hunt

First Week of Traveling ! أول اُسبوا السافر

Hey Everyone,
I know many of you are busy, so feel free skip past the intro and view the many pictures with brief commentaries.  

Day 1

Departed for New York at 11:09 PM

Day 2

Flew into Boston and transferred to a plane to New York. I met a woman on the Airplane who started a “soup in a can business” and was checking out a factory in Toronto to take her business international.

Took a subway to see the World Trade Center and Financial District. Toured the World Financial Museum.

Took a subway to Times Square, then back to the airport.

Total time in New York: 10 hours

Day 3

Arrived in Paris and had a 4-hour layover.

Flew on Gulf Air to Bahrain, and arrived at 6:30 pm.

I met a German guy who told me it was only 10 BD to rent a car which is around $25. I rented one, and drove around the whole island in 2 hours, then rented a hotel for the night.

Day 4

I met a guy named Abdullah in a coffee shop in Bahrain who was the coordinator for leases in the mall that the coffee shop was in.

He took me around some cool town in Bahrain and to an Old Castle, while teaching me about business in the Middle East.

I drove back to the Airport, and flew to Jordan.

Total time in Bahrain: 23 hours.

I arrived at the airport and my friend, Raed, picked me up from the Airport, and drove me to his house in Amman for tea. I met his sister who is going to the Colorado in two weeks. I gave her my sisters email’s so she can hang out with them while she is there. Raed drove me to my friend Jordan’s apartment who is studying Arabic near the University of Jordan.

Day 5

Raed and his friend Ayman picked me up, and took me on a tour. We went to an old Roman ruin on top of a mountain, then to an old Roman amphitheater, then to a friends house who had 45 cats and a group of Pigeons that he trained. He was able to get a few of  them to land on me. After that, we went to a market on Rainbow street.

Day 6

Went to Kind Hussains Automobile Museum and met some new friends at different coffee shops. We also had lunch at an old abandoned amusement park.

Day 7

Woke up, went to a café for some coffee, and met some girls, whom I played my favorite card game "Dutch Blitz" with. Took a taxi to Cross Fit Dessert Star. After the work out some guys I met took me back to the apartment. I went back to the café and met a guy who does cancer diagnoses at the Kings Royal Hospital. He took me to a café in downtown to meet with my Cross Fit friends. I hung out with them for a couple hours and got a ride back to the apartment.

Day 8

Took a taxi to SIT campus and checked in. They took me to a hotel where all the students will be staying before we move in with our host families. We had dinner together later that night with the whole group and the director, Yassir Hamid.

                                                 
                                             The Museum of World Finance in New York

A sandwich and cappuccino in Paris 

My first tea at Raed's house

Water Melon Truck

The Citadel Museum on top of a mountain in Amman,

The architecture ranged from Greek to Roman and finally to Christian and Islamic styles

Pet birds

This meal cost us 1JD; only 1.45 USD

King Abdallah Automobile Museum 

Playing cards with some girls I met in a Cafe 

My friends Abdullah, Almotasam, and Wesam 

The hotel we check into on Monday

I thought it was interesting that the light switches are always on the outside of the bathroom. I glad my sisters aren't here haha

A foot sink for Muslims to wash their feet in before prayer

Playing cards with my sisters at DIA before I left

Unlike American museums, you can climb all over the ruins

Roman Amphitheater

The hardest part about being here is not getting enough sleep because I'm too excited for the next day!

Once again, I want to thank everyone who played a part in helping me get here.

شكراً خزيلً و مسلما

Last Day In Colorado

Hello Friends,

The day is here, I leave Colorado tonight at 11:09 pm, arrive in New York tomorrow at 7:00 am, Paris at 11:20 am on Wednesday, Bahrain at 6:35 pm on Wednesday, and finally Jordan at 8:30 pm on Thursday. Some may think I'm crazy for traveling so long to get to Jordan, but the ticket was cheap and the layovers are long enough that I will have time to get out and do some site seeing!

I want to thank everyone who helped me prepare for this trip over the past year:

• Scot Allen, Julia Helminiak, Chris Churma, and Kathy Lynch from Office of International Programs and GO Abroad
• Dr.Jenny Morse, Cole Strehlow, and Allyson Welker for helping me with my Scholarship Essays! 
• Dr Niel Grigg for connecting me with some of his Jordanian friends 
• Kit Bargmann and Jourdan Baldwin for connecting me with some of his CrossFit coaches at Desert Star Crossfit in Amman, Jordan
• My Arabic teachers over the past year Hosam Aldeen and Bashayer Alwazzan
• And the many Fort Collins community members who purchased Celestino's Promotional Booklets to help me fundraise!

 I will be posting many pictures and stories on this blog weekly throughout the trip, and making a video that I will post when I get back from Jordan.

 Once again شكراً جزيلاً أنتم ( Thank you all very much!)

Hiking the Incline in Colorado Springs with my friend Josh Bohney ( on the right) last night. 

A good way to say goodbye to Colorado for the Summer!

Change from Morocco to Jordan

  Although I was guaranteed to study abroad in The Arabic Language Institute in Fez ( ALIF), located in Fez, Morocco, I was still looking into programs closer to The Middle East. I started searching for programs in The Middle East when I learned that the Arabic spoken in Morocco is very different from the Academic Arabic I am currently learning at CSU. The Academic Arabic, also known as Fus-ha or Modern Standard Arabic is spoken more in The Middle East. While volunteering in the INTO program at CSU as an English Conversation partner, I was advised by a few students from Libya and Kuwait to look into Jordan because they speak about 90% Fus-ha and 10% Jordanian Dialect, where as Morocco speaks around 20% Fus-ha and 80% Moroccan Dialect (A mixture of French and Arabic). I applied three weeks ago to the The Intensive Arabic Language Program in Amman, Jordan for the Summer of 2014. The program is 7 weeks: 5 learning at the school and living with a host family, and 2 weeks of traveling to Bedouin tribes located throughout Jordan. I was accepted yesterday, and am now in the process of getting medical exams, filling out paper work, applying for scholarships, and all other plans involved. Thanks so much for reading this and everyone's support. Assalam Aleykum ( Peace be upon you)!

A link to the study abroad page 

  http://www.sit.edu/studyabroad/sss_joi.cfm

A link to a YouTube video with American students who completed the program and were interview on Jordanian National Television.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJB8lwjG_Vk

Basic Arabic

 Arabic Conversational Words with Transliteration

Hello= Mar-haba

Goodbye= Maa-Saalama

Peace be upon you= Aa-ssalam Aley-kum , The Response= Wa-laykum aa-ssalam

How are you?= Kayfa al hal?

I’m good= Ana Bee-khyer, I’m okay= Ana aadee, I’m bad= Ana mobe- khare

Good morning= Sabah al khare, Response= Sabah al noor

Good night= Masah al khare, Response= Massah al noor

Nice to meet you= Tash-aa-rrafna

Girls= Bennat, Girl= Bent

Father= Aba/ Abu

Mother= Amm

Numbers

1=Wahhid

2=Ithnaan

3=Thalathat

4=Arba

5= Kamsa

6=Sitta

7=Sabaah

8=Thamania

9=Tissa

10= Asherra

How I started learning Arabic

 May of 2012, is a month I will never forget. Growing up in a family with four sisters and two incredible parents meant that the Evans household was always full of people, friends, and relatives. When I moved to Fort Collins to attend CSU, my parents only had my younger sister Juliet left in the house, which meant there were a lot of empty rooms and a silence my parents weren't used to. To solve the sudden change, my parents decided to rent the rooms out to Saudi Arabian college students who were studying English at the local community college in Littleton, CO. My parents figured it would help with finances, bring the house to life again, and since they are followers of Jesus Christ, it was a ministry opportunity.

     So in May of 2012, Abdalilah and Yazeed moved into to our home. At once I was thrilled to get to know my new roommates. Since I was the only boy with four sisters growing up, I was excited have in a sense "brothers" akh. I started introducing my akh to all my friends, and meeting many of their Saudi Arabian schoolmates. After a couple weeks, I began to learn basic conversational Arabic. After, a summer of cliff jumping, hiking, going to rugby games, and hanging out on the back patio getting to know two great jayeed guys, I returned to Fort Collins for school. 

    
 I had not enrolled in any Arabic classes, but decided to pick up a CD set that taught one how to speak basic Arabic while only taking about 20 minutes a day. I learned a lot of Arabic from “The Pimsleur Arabic CD program.”  As a result, I was able to practice speaking with random Arab people I met around Fort Collins. In February of 2013, I joined the CSU cycling team, and met a guy named Mubarak, who was from Kuwait. I started practicing cycling with Mubarak, which helped practice the language. Soon enough I met many of his Kuwaiti friends. My desire to learn their language became very strong. 

     Many of the foreign students at CSU do not have a lot of close friends that speak English. They go to class, but it is hard for them to get out and grow relationships with Americans when they have a whole community of their own countrymen/women who speak their language and know their culture. When Americans speak to them in their language they immediately respect what we have to say, and trust us more than any other American they have met.  

     I will be taking First Year Arabic I and II this school year (2013/2014), at Colorado State University, and will be studying Abroad in Jordan next summer. I am fundraising for my plane ticket, visas, shots, tuition, books, host family expenses, ect. through Colorado State Student Fundraising. Many of you viewing this blog may have supported me by purchasing a Celestino's Promotional Booklet. 

Thanks for your support. I look forward to sharing with you about my experience abroad, and plans that develop for my trip through the school year. 

My family's second host student Abdalilah

Our students,Yazeed and Abdalilah, with my four sisters

Some friends from my cycling team on the right from ( my friend, Mubarack, from Kuwait on the right)