We are leaving in less than 12 hours. I’m both terrified and
exhilarated. I’m nervous and happy. I’m confused and strangely ready. My PDO
has been a success. We visited both the Omani Embassy in DC and the Omani
Cultural Center. The people there were extremely
nice. They are possibly the nicest humans I’ve met in my lifetime. They
were so excited to have American students who are going to be living in Oman
visit them. At the embassy, they gave us a book about Oman and a map of Muscat,
which will be coming in handy VERY soon. At the cultural center, they gave us a
story book of traditional Omani stories and an information brochure. The woman
who gave the presentation there is an Omani young woman who is studying in the
University in Muscat. She gave us a bunch of advice, that I’m sure will be
coming in handy soon enough.
This morning, we went to the American Councils center in DC
(the Amideast part of it) and got a very long debriefing about the safety and
health concerns. We also went over the program rules. One in particular stuck
out-do not make any life changing decisions. For some reason, it seemed
slightly funny. This program in and of itself will change our lives and our
outlook on life (hopefully for the better), so it seems to be a misleading
statement (although I do understand what they are trying to communicate—don’t
get married, don’t get piercings, don’t get tattoos and so on). Also, we aren’t
allowed to hang glide…not that I would ever want to.
We received our Arabic textbooks as well…the most exciting
part is that we get to keep them! This way we can—ideally—continue our study of
Arabic even when we’re done with NSLI-Y.
So tomorrow at 4pm we are getting to the airport. Our flight
is at 7pm. I am beyond excited, although I am slightly hesitant about the
flying…I may or may not have an irrational fear of flying. (Ohei it’s 11.11
make a wish!) We’re getting to Muscat on Wednesday night at 9 pm ish, and we
are going straight to the hotel, where we can sleep in the apparently
unbearable heat..yay!
We are also going to Salalah during our first weekend in
Oman (weekends are Thursday Friday in Oman rather than the typical western Saturday
and Sunday deal). That should be really exciting, also because there is a
festival going on in Salalah during the time in which we’ll be there.
Oh I’m just so excited for everything…..the clothes, the
people, the language, the experience, the friendships we’ll form…
Also, Morocco kids, this is for you: all of you guys are
absolutely wonderful, and I want to hear all about your trip! It’s annoying
that we were placed together, because it’s basically Amideast saying “Oh here,
meet all these amazingly wonderful teens that are super accomplished and smart…BUT
WAIT, we’re taking them away from you in less than 72 hours” L Have fun in Morocco!
So tomorrow. The big day. Flight at 7pm, getting to Muscat
at 9 pm on Wednesday.
Oman, ready or not, here we come!
