"Returning to Amman" by Ben Schmida
مرحباً
My name is Ben Schmida and I am a Junior at American University in Washington DC with a major in Arabic Studies. I grew up in Vermont but spent the early part of my childhood living in Moscow, Russia. This will be my second semester studying abroad in Jordan and I am looking forward to my return. My first semester was an amazing experience and I hope to continue improving my Arabic, my knowledge of the city, and the culture. Returning this semester comes with a lot less anxiety about living in Amman: I know my host family very well, my local neighborhood, how to communicate with taxi drivers and store clerks, and the basic structure and rigor of Amideast courses. Despite this, there are still a few unknowns that excite me such as meeting the next cohort of students, exploring new parts of Amman, experiencing the Jordanian spring (supposedly the most beautiful season in Jordan), and being in Jordan for the holy month of Ramadan.
As a photographer, one of the things I am looking forward to most in Jordan is capturing photos throughout the country. I spent the majority of my free time last semester walking around Amman taking photos on my digital and film cameras and I cannot wait to return and start shooting again. Looking forward to this semester, I want to set photography goals for myself that go beyond my comfort zone. Before I left Amman in December, I had grown relatively comfortable with the parts of town I photographed most frequently, Jabal Alwebdeh (جبل اللويبدة), Downtown Amman (وسط البلد), and Abdali (العبدلي). This semester I want to set a goal to photograph a new area of Amman I have never or rarely been to at least once every two weeks. This will not only challenge my photography skills, but will also expand my knowledge of Amman as a whole.
This semester I also plan to focus more intently on learning the local Jordanian dialect. I was able to gain a decent understanding of Jordanian colloquial Arabic last semester but spent a majority of my time studying MSA. This semester I would like to focus on and improve my colloquial Arabic as I find it far more useful to communicate with people in Jordan. Whether it be through my colloquial Arabic class, speaking with my host family and locals, or talking to taxi drivers, I want to spend as much time as possible learning Jordanian Arabic.
Benjamin Schmida is a junior at American University studying on the Area and Arabic Studies program in Amman, Jordan for an academic year.
