The Wonders of Cities and Marvels of Traveling
Reflections on a Train to Winchester
June 20, 2022 – There’s something special about a British railway station on a Sunday. Travelers milling about, some so obnoxiously early that their train isn’t even displayed yet, others so abhorrently late that one misstep between the gate and the platform will leave them watching their train pull off into the countryside. It attracts…
Matriculation
October 31, 2021 -October 16th was a very special day in Oxford: Marticulation Day. Matriculation at Oxford and Cambridge has a slightly different meaning than the way the term is used at US universities, where often it is synonymous with enrollment and often occurs once a student pays their initial deposit. However, matriculation at Oxford…
Dreaming Spires
October 31, 2021 – It’s been an amazing first month in Oxford. There’s so much to report on I may have to split it between two posts! Here are some highlights of the past few weeks. The university’s stunning architecture looms over you while walking around the city. Nowhere is more iconic than the Radcliffe…
The Next Adventure Begins
September 23, 2021 – Well, dear readers, I’m back once again; this time with a bachelor’s degree and a rebranded blog: “Reports and Reflections from Life Abroad”. All of my content from my semester in Jordan is still available to read, and I will once again update weekly about my newest adventure: graduate school at…
Lessons from Amman – Part 2
December 12, 2019 – Part 2 of lessons from abroad: Lesson 3: We are small, and that’s okay! I’ve written a lot about living in a historical place like Jordan, so I won’t recount what that’s like. However, being in front of such history is a humbling experience. At times, it puts everything in perspective,…
Lessons from Amman – Part 1
December 7th, 2019 – Since its finals week and there’s not much else to do, I thought I would write a few short posts this week about different lessons I’ve learned while studying in Amman. Hopefully I’ll find a way to weave some photos in so they’re not as boring. Lesson 1: Take time to…
Christmas in Jordan
December 1, 2019 – I was informed that I haven’t written anything in awhile, but that’s mostly because I’ve been busy with finals and, therefore, haven’t done anything overly exciting. However, it is Christmas season in Amman, so I have lots of pictures to share. In Jordan, Christians make up about 4% of the population…
Jerash
November 17, 2019 – Jerash is an ancient city about 50 km north of Amman. The archaeological park within the modern city is home to one of the largest sites of Roman ruins outside of Rome. The journey at Jerash begins at the mighty Arch of Hadrian, built when the Roman Emperor visited Jerash (then…
Jerusalem
November 11, 2019 – I came to Jordan with 1 trip in mind: traveling to Jerusalem. I finally got the chance to go there this past weekend with my friends. We crossed the King Hussein Bridge border crossing from Jordan into the West Bank on Friday afternoon, and, after going through immigration on the other…
As-Salt
November 2, 2019 – On Friday, myself and two friends took a bus to the city of Al-Salt (pronounced and often romanized as As-Salt because of the intricacies of Arabic phonetics), which lies about 30 minutes West of Amman. Until the Twentieth Century, As-Salt was the largest city on the East Bank of the Jordan…
A Tour of Biblical Jordan
October 27th, 2019 – Before I talk about Biblical Jordan, I have to share some photos from the coolest museum in Amman: the Royal Automobile Museum, which houses the collection of the Royal Family’s classic cars. Most of the cars belonged to the late King Hussein, who was an avid collector of vintage cars. On…
Fall Break 2: Beirut
October 21, 2019 – I didn’t tell many people that the second half of my fall break would be spent in Beirut, Lebanon because I didn’t want people to worry. For many people of an older generation, talking about Lebanon revives memories of Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, and Dan Rather reporting about the civil war…
Fall Break 1: Oman
October 14, 2019 – Last week was midterms which mean this week was the something we’ve all been waiting for: fall break! My friends and I packed up and headed to Oman. Oman is a gorgeous country on the Gulf that is relatively unknown by Western tourists.A brief history of Oman: Oman has been inhabited…
The Olive Harvest in Ajloun
October 5th, 2019 – Much like in the US, October is harvest season in Jordan. As a cultural excursion, CIEE gave us the chance to travel North to Ajloun to assist some locals with the olive harvest. Ajloun is about an hour North of Amman, home to Ajloun Castle and two churches to the Prophet…
Another Weekend in Amman
September 29th, 2019 – Finally, after almost of month of weekend adventures, I spent a weekend in Amman. It was a pretty lazy weekend, filled with homework before midterms and catching up on sleep. However, my friends and I still manged to visit 2 really cool sites in Amman: the Jordan Museum and the King…
Wadi Rum and Petra
“What does the desert have to whisper to your soul?” September 22, 2019 – I had the most amazing experience of my young life this past weekend. Through CIEE, several of us were able to explore and camp overnight in Wadi Rum and go to Petra the following day. Here’s how the weekend went: We…
The European Film Festival and Umm Qais
September 14th, 2019 – Another amazing weekend in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan! My friends and I started off the weekend by attending the opening ceremonies for the 31st European Union Film Festival in Amman. This year’s festival included films from 21 European Union member states and 1 film from Turkey (which was immensely interesting…
Madaba and other Adventures
September 7, 2019 – This past weekend I traveled down South from Amman to the city of Madaba. Myself and five friends, Tess, Ben, Sarah, Chris, and Jack, left right after class on Thursday and caught a bus at the Northern Bus Station that would take us to Madaba. Once we arrived in the city,…
First Weekend in Amman
September 2, 2019 – The weekends in Amman are quite fun! This past weekend, my friends Tess, Chris, Sarah, and Ben, (other students with CIEE) and our other friend Omar (an American Fulbrighter doing research in Amman) went to the السوق الجمعة (“Friday Market”) on Rainbow Street. The سوق is full of different colors, aromas,…
Ancient City, Modern Life
August 29, 2019 – What do you do when the stones you’re walking on contain 3,500 years of history? This is the thought I had while touring ancient Amman this week. The tour began with a trip to the Amman Citadel. The Citadel is considered the center of the city of Amman, and you can…
First Day in Amman
August 26, 2019 – The last few days leading up to my flight to Amman, Jordan were filled with anxiety. Thinking about how long the semester will be, worrying about fitting in with peers and my host family, and the persistent feeling that you forgot to pack something important (which seemed hard to do with…
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Reports and Reflections from Life Abroad 