Semi-Finalist notification

Hello!
So I am currently EXTREMELY EXCITED becausee.....
I AM A SEMI-FINALIST FOR NSLI-Y YEAR FKJGALSDKHGLAFDKHG

Here's a little vlog that I made :D

I'm hoping for the best!

I have missed this blog

Hello!
I wonder if there is still anyone reading this. If there is, salaam alekum! Kef halick?
I'm currently back in high school, and missing Oman more than ever.
Insha'allah I will hear back about my application to NSLI-Y year sometime in mid December.

I really hope I get it!
Also, here's a wonderful song I recently found, insha'allah you will enjoy it!

Ma Salama!
<3,
Ariel. 

Omani Newspaper

I was looking at Stephanie's blog today, and noticed that her host dad sent her a picture of an Omani newspaper, and it had our picture on it! This picture was taken at the closing ceremony, where we received our diplomas... :)
I miss them and Oman alot....

I guess this is the end. Or the beginning. However you want to see it

So..
I don't know what to do with this blog anymore.
It was used alot during the summer, but now there's nothing to write about.

I don't think I will be updating this blog anymore.
Well maybe I will with my decisions on what to apply for with NSLI-Y in these coming weeks, but other than that, I don't think I will.

Insha'allah, next year I will be using this again if I decide to go abroad.

So remember, don't stop at dreaming, make those dreams come true!

Shukran wa ma'a salama,  habibti!

Back in the fog

So I'm back home.









Yea.
This is the hardest post to write, so forgive me if it goes on forever.

Yesterday Omani time we got on the plane in Muscat, and said goodbye to Hannah, Katy, and the rest of Amideast staff as well as our host families. It was a really hard goodbye, but not as hard as the ones that followed. We flew from Muscat to Riyad, and in Riyad, the plane was filled with Saudis and other people flying to Frankfurt. I finally got around to watching the Avengers, and I spent the whole time either watching the Avengers, talking with Lily or sleeping. Finally, we got to Frankfurt, and had a wonderful five hour layover. We got through security just fine, and sat around for five hours.

I think we left on time, I can't quite remember. On the way from Frankfurt to DC I sat next to a Palestinian woman who had studied in Jordan. She had just come back from there witth her daughters and son. We talked alot, and in the end, she gave me her contact info and told me if I was ever in Jordan to go visit her.


We touched down in DC an hour earlier than expected, and we got off the plane. Five minutes after we got off the plane, it came time to say goodbye to the three girls who were ending in DC and Fatin. This was very difficult because Lily and Sarah and I had bonded so much, and they were staying in DC. I almost cried, but thankfully I didn't. Just wait though, I'm not a heartless person, I did cry later on.

We got through customs fine, nothing very exciting happened, no one got stopped. My flight left at 5.30, so I had time to kill. Me along with some other girls had later flights, so we said goodbye to those who had to leave right away...
I don't know how I managed to hold up. But I did.

Around 4.30, I had to go board, and thats when the harder goodbyes were. It wasn't that saying goodbye to those girls was harder, it was that I was actually leaving, and this trip was over. As I boarded my final plane to go home, I started crying. Thats when the floodgates broke open and the tears came running out. I'm pretty sure the flight attendants were very confused as to why I was crying.

Well. Then I got home, and that's the end of that adventure. I haven't decided if I will keep blogging ( I don't know what I would blog about) but this blog will still be here. Insha'allah I will go abroad again, and use this blog in the future.

مع سالامة عمان

احبك جدا

I've managed to pack everything that is solid into my suitcase.

It's true. I don't know how I managed at all, given the amount of stuff that I've bought. I can't pack my emotions and memories though, that would take more than the surface area of the entire globe.
As I was packing yesterday, I realized that I needed a carry on, because I only brought my backpack (stupidly, yes mom, I should have listened to you). So I mentioned this to my host family, and they gave me a bright green and bright blue duffle bag, that fits everything. Despite its color (those used to be my favorite colors, I have a pair of bright green jeans, believe it or not), this duffle bag will be a reminder of my host family, one of the many. They've been so nice and sweet and helpful to me during these three weeks. I can't believe that my time in Oman is coming to close. It's exciting, because I get to come back home with a fresh perspective on everything, and sad because I'll be leaving all the friends and people I've met here. Insha'allah, I will come back and spend more time in this wonderful timeless country.

I've learned so much about Omani culture, Islam, American culture, and so much about myself that I cannot believe how much a brain can hold. Before leaving for this trip, my friends and family kept telling me that I would be different when I came back, having experienced many different emotions and seen diverse ways of life. I didn't believe them; I knew that I wouldn't change at all because I was so sure of who I was. But I did change (I know that if you were one of those individuals, you're probabaly thinking "told you so"), and I changed alot. I cannot begin to explain how, because I don't know how much I've changed, this shows you how little I knew myself before hand. And yes, I am going cliche here, the typical "I found myself on an exchange program" feeling. I didn't "find" myself per se, but I did learn alot more about myself, and what I actually enjoy and want to learn, now what I thought I wanted to learn and thought I liked.

The 14 girls I was placed with have also changed the way I think and act. At first they were strangers, then classmates, the friends, and finally, family. They have taught me so much about themselves, myself, life and laughter. The memories will never be forgotten, and the time we spent together will be cherished forever.

Hannah, you are truly an amazing person for putting up with the 15 buckets of crazy that you were handed. You put up with us through sickness and health (literally) as well as tears and smiles. You made this trip very worthwhile and fun, adding your own zest to it.

Amideast (Katy, Fatin, Zainab, Steve); you guys were the backbone of this program, and you guys made it happen. I cannot thank you enough. You guys helped with everything, and made this program run smoothly and made it an adventure for everyone.

So ma salama Oman, the country that I have fallen in love with. I will return (insha'allah), so be prepared for me. The aspiring polyglot will not settle for one trip to this wonderful country.

Too close to be true

Today I had the last part of my final.

Today we said goodbye to out FGLL teachers

Today is my third to last day in Oman, and I'm not ready to leave.

I realize that I've taken my time here very much for granted, and I'm starting to regret not living in the moment. On the other hand, I never live in the moment, no matter how hard I try.
Our FGLL teachers prepared a video for us, and boy, did I cry. We all cried, and then they gave us a stuffed animal (a camel) and a frankincense burner. It was like Niagra Falls in there. No lie. Everyone was crying, but then again I think it had to do with the amount of estrogen in the room, given there were all girls.

After this, I went to a salon with a few other girls (as our afternoon activity). I went last night to get a haircut with my host sister, it was only 2 riyals, which is super cheap. But today, I decided to do a "deep condition". Basically, they put this chocoalte goop in my hair after washing it, and it makes the hair healthier? Well, my hair now smells delicious, and I want to eat it. Not my hair, but the smell. Ya know what I mean? It just smells so good. And normally at home I am the last person to care about hair care, but here with the super extra chlorinated water, my hair has gone bezerk. So the deep condition really helped.

Tomorrow henna and presentations, our second to last day in Oman.

I don't know how to deal with not seeing this 15 girls every single day when I get back, it will be extremely strange. I miss them already when I'm with my host family...ohboy.

Anywho, off to sleep (when we finally get home, I'm at an aunts house right now), crying makes people exhausted.

Bye!