In a couple of weeks, I will say goodbye to the MENA region for now and return home. While I am excited to see my family and friends again, this semester has been the best whirlwind I have experienced!
I will be thankful to Jordan, Turkey and Morocco for the best and most immersive cultural experiences imaginable--from the extremely welcoming people to the amazing food, dances and traditions I was lucky enough to experience, even with the constant moving from place to place. I will forever be grateful to my host families in each country that ensured I experienced every bit of culture, and essentially made me a new member of their family.
Along with these amazing experiences, I have learned the realities of politics in the region, especially learning not to always believe what the media tells you and the importance of experiential learning. Evacuation due to war has taught me so much about American privilege, the realities of war in the Middle Eastern region and how families who have relatives, children or parents across the region can affected even from miles away.
My mission coming to the Middle East was to learn more about a region that is constantly stereotyped in different ways and to both learn and teach the realities of what I saw.
