Eh. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

On-site administration of your program

There were a couple key administrative people who were excellent, but by my second semester there, they had both left. This program has been dealing with a steady influx of students over the past few semesters, and frankly the quality of their administration is where it suffers the most. There was little to no flexibility in terms of program rules, to the point where it was pretty apparent that lying was the only option to excuse a non-medical absence or travel plans. (We were allowed two days of excused medical absences, and all other absences directly affected our grades.) After spending 8 months there with the same staff, being met with the same rigidity over and over made it apparent that when it came to our well-being, they would rather not know where we were and what we were doing in favor of policy to cover their behinds. A second point: at the end of the spring 2012 semester, the position of director was in transition. As a woman traveling in the region, if they don't choose another American female for the position, take caution. Jordan is very mild in terms of relative treatment of women, but the culture still looks very differently at women's behavior, especially when alcohol is called into question. From what I experienced and what I heard from friends, we actually encountered very few instances of real sexual harassment from Jordanian men, but there is currently nobody in that administration with whom I would feel comfortable having open dialogue about discomfort and sexual harassment. We dealt with an issue coming from within the program for almost an entire semester, and because alcohol was frequently involved and there wasn't a clear policy (or really any policy) on reporting issues of a sexual nature from within the American students, fear of punishment and victim-blaming kept the issue from being resolved until almost the end of the program. The director handled it swiftly, but without her I have absolutely no idea who we would've turned to in the office for any real solution. Because this country is so mild, I think it becomes easy for staff to be complacent, and there doesn't appear to be any training in terms of handling inter-student problems, which very much bothered me. As much as I hate how this sounds, definitely make sure there is going to be a female, non-Jordanian resource in the office, not because you will likely need it, but more due to the disappointment and difficulty if you do end up needing some of that support and it's not there.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Again, the high number of students attending the program definitely affected some aspects of the experience. I lived in a homestay for almost a full semester, and an apartment for the other. The housing director definitely didn't have time to vet potential homestay families as thoroughly as they're used to doing, so the experiences were fairly mixed. I personally had good interactions with the housing director, but I also know of many instances where she wasn't at all pleasant to deal with, or outright ignored problems. Yes, there's an extent to which you have to deal with cultural clashes and adjustment, but there's also an extent to which you have to take stock of what kind of treatment you expect. Being wishy-washy with the housing director will get you nowhere, and don't be afraid to ask to switch homestays if the problems are really intolerable.

The food here is great, if not a little fatty. Options for gluten-free (though only in an apartment, really) and vegetarian (also much easier in an apartment).

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

This is definitely what you make of it. Amman is so westernized that it's very easy to have a virtually American college experience here, and not see a lot deeper than surface cultural differences. As a woman especially it's a little bit harder - young Jordanian men, while not threatening, will 9 times out of 10 see you as an opportunity to practice "interacting" with the opposite sex, and young Jordanian women don't usually stay outside their homes past sundown.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Jordan is a very, very, very safe country. There were only a few rare instances where I felt threatened as a woman, but none where I felt threatened as an American/white person.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Jordan is not necessarily a cheap place to live, depending on how close you are to a bus line. Food beyond basic essentials isn't cheap either (although vegetables and rice are), and non-essential items (like gifts) tend to be pretty expensive for what they are.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

Satisfied with the amount of time spent in language class, but it was too easy to get away with speaking English in the city (just like anywhere else). Definitely have to go out of your way to practice and make it work.

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• Host Family
• Apartment

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• Americans
• Host Family

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• Americans

• two of my four Arabic teachers were absolutely fantastic
• my internship (although not everybody had the same stellar experience)
• travel opportunities, both with and without the program

• administration in general
• students from other CIEE programs weren't housed together, or encouraged to mingle
• experience as a second-semester student