Reflectiing on the trip so far...

Sorry for the break in reporting.


I am approaching the homestretch with approximately 10 days left before I journey home. Next week I take the final exam covering about a year worth of material which we attempted to learn in less than six weeks. Well, six weeks is clearly not enough time but I think it was an overall great experience. I definitely needed some sort of abroad experience before I graduated from Yale University and what better way to do it than by taking an extremely intensive language course funded by the State Department?

I learned about a different culture, a different social class, a different religion, a different way of life. I learned I love America. I learned I am VERY American. I learned how to bargain with a shop owner, eat a whole sardine, use ALL my language knowledge (French, Arabic, Spanish and English…yes even my eighth grade French), how to be vigilant while walking through a city, what being hot really means, the cheapest forms of international communication, graduate schools (several people in our program were well into their late twenties), how to be sensitive of culture, standards that are universal, how not to get taken advantage of, stereotypes of Americans, cultural customs versus religious customs, Ranger School, the Peace Corps, colonialism, developing countries and their growing pains, the importance of basic education, the difficulty of learning a language, and hospitality.

As much as I enjoyed learning all these things and surely more, I am very happy to be returning home to a place where I can do what I damn well please. I am excited to see my family. I am looking forward to making my little brother cute lunches, being my mother’s coworker, student, friend, workout partner, hanging with my friends by the pool (to even out my horrible farmer’s tan that was caused by all the conservative clothing I had to wear) while reading several books (first Harry Potter OF COURSE), working out in spandex again, and seeing the rest of my relatives in the south, yes you GMA, GPA, Cynthia, Erica, and Jackson! Lance, I will have to see you in the Fall…but we will have fun so no worries, and NO I am not stopping by DC I am going from Tangier to London to NY to Chicago to Des Moines.

If I do not manage to write between now and the end of the program it’s because I am SWAMPED with work. I love you guys and feel free to contact me via Email.