Happy birthday, Davan!!

Today’s post will be a little different from normal, as one of the YES Abroad girls has a special day coming up! We have all experienced the ups and downs of exchange life together, and tried our best to keep each other mostly sane through it all. Believe me when I say it wasn’t easy! I think it is safe to say that we all had somewhat unrealistically high expectations for Oman, and now we have learned that truly nothing can be perfect. In the words of one of my fellow exchange students, something can be great and we can love it, but it can never be exactly as we expected. Whenever one of us is going through a hard time, we always try our best to make them happy.

I have been impressed by the other girls’ resilience and optimism time and time again. Davan is one person who I really look up to because of this. She has not had the easiest year so far, and has had more than her share of horrible days, but she has stayed strong through it all.

Davan, you always have been there for all of us, no matter how difficult your life is at the time. I can always count on laughing with you- whether it is over our horribly botched versions of the Macarena which surprisingly turn out  to be incredibly awesome, or the very interesting and complex mix of languages we speak on a daily basis. I will never be able to say “large problem” again in any context without hearing your voice in the back of my head saying, “waaaaajid mushkilla”. Whether it is finding out you are moving in twelve hours or loosing your wallet and passport, you have taken all of your challenges in stride and managed to laugh at how ridiculous life can so often be. You are one of my biggest inspirations for this year, as well as being one of my best friends in the whole world, and I honestly don’t know how we only met less than four months ago! The past months have been some of the best in my life- there’s nothing better than exploring a new country with six of your best friends! So have a fantastic birthday- you deserve it! We will always be your friends, sisters, and support group. Love you, habibti!

– your unnie sagheera, “Khadija”

If you see the beautiful birthday girl on December 16th, be sure to wish her a fantastic 16th birthday!

One Hundred and Four Arabian Nights

One hundred and four days have passed, and with them memories have been made and friendships cemented. The YES Abroad girls started this journey as little more than strangers, quiet and a bit awkward, but I can now say that these girls are the closest friends I have. They are always here for me, whether I need a shoulder to cry on or a sympathetic ear to complain to, or simply a friend to celebrate with.

I left my family and friends at home, and the YES Abroad girls have filled their places. I know that I can call them up at any hour of day or night and they will answer and listen- I can only hope that they know that I am always here for them too.  Our bond is more than that formed by friendship; we all know what the others are going through, as each and every one of us has experienced the myriad of feelings that comes along with studying abroad. Our group is funny, quirky, and a little bit crazy, I can always count on laughing when I am with them, no matter how bad of a mood I am in. Of course we have our arguments and disagreements, but like any group of friends we get through them and forgive one another. At the end of the day, there are few blessings which I am more grateful for than the YES Abroad girls and Oman; this experience has taught me so much about myself and tested my strength and resolve. I can only hope that the next months are as wonderful as these past three have been. Challenges have arisen, but we have managed to stay somewhat sane through them all. At the end of this year we will part; already we think about this day with dread. However, this year will always stay in my memories as one of the best years of my life. For now, I will continue to enjoy each and every moment here.

“No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever.”
– Francois Mocuriac

 

!عربي

As many of you know, my ultimate goal in applying to YES Abroad was to learn Arabic. Arabic has always interested me, and I remember checking book after book about Arabic and Islam out of the library in fifth grade. I thought that my dream of learning Arabic would have to wait until college, and I could have never dreamed that during my junior year I would be surrounded by Arabic on a daily basis!

I have studied Spanish for three years, and enjoy it very much. Before I came to Oman, I loved to speak to anyone I could in Spanish. Since I came here, I have transferred some of this love over to Arabic. Arabic is certainly challenging, as is any language, but there is nothing more exciting than reading a paragraph in Arabic and realizing that you can understand it all. I came here underestimating how much I would have to work to improve my Arabic. I irrationally thought that it would somehow be forced upon me; hours upon hours of hearing nothing but Arabic would just miraculously make me learn it, right? I couldn’t have been more incorrect! It has taken hard work, practice, and dedication to improve my Arabic to even a beginning conversational level, but it is certainly worth it!

When we had just arrived in Oman, our bus driver got lost and stopped to ask for directions in a parking lot. Two days ago I happened to stop in that same parking lot, and a wave of memories rushed over me. I remember all seven of us YES Abroad girls trying to explain to him in our very broken Arabic how to get to our destination, but to no avail. It had taken the seven of us so much effort to even muster up the courage to thank waiters in Arabic! I remember meekly whispering, “shukran” to waiters in restaurants, half-hoping that they wouldn’t hear me. Though my Arabic still isn’t sufficient by any means, I have gained vocabulary and grammar skills, but most importantly I have gained confidence. Yesterday I had a conversation with two Saudi women entirely in Arabic about why I am in Oman and why I want to learn Arabic. Of course I stumbled on words and messed up conjugations, but managed to get the thought across nonetheless.

Learning Arabic will be a life-long journey, and at times it will feel insurmountable. However, I am so grateful for the opportunity to begin learning now. I am on my way to achieving a life-long dream, and have never felt better.

An Arabic word pronounced “AlHamdullilah”, which means “all praise is due to God”. And yes, I can read that!

Thanksgiving Abroad!

When we pause to think about our lives, we discover that we have so much to be thankful for. It can be easy to loose sight of these good parts in life, as we encounter trials and tribulations as we go about our lives, but the key to being a happy person is to always try to focus on the good rather than the bad. Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to re-focus ourselves and to think about what we have to be thankful for.

I was in Dubai with my host family for Thanksgiving, so I didn’t celebrate it, but the days leading up to it were extremely influential for me. I had recently been going through a hard time, and it became difficult to look at the good parts in life. Right as I was beginning to leave that period, I was asked to give a short speech at the house of the US ambassador, Greta Holtz, about what I am thankful for. As I was informed about this, my first thoughts were, “what do I have to be thankful for?” Most, but not all, of the people I love and cherish are over 7,000 miles away! But as I began to prepare, I discovered that I really could go on and on. When we step back and take a moment to think about all the reasons we have to be thankful for, we discover that we really have more than we normally realize or acknowledge. Thanksgiving was, for me, a good way to clear the negativity from my life and focus on the good parts. I am sure that I will encounter more rough times during my year, but for now I feel that I am happier than I have been for a while. Changing my outlook and focus has changed my everyday life. After all, “gratitude is the attitude”!