"!احلاً و سهلاً " by Betül Aydın
In less than a week, إن شاء الله, I will be starting my day miles away from where I am now in my house in rural Ohio. After months of planning and preparing, I am finally excited to go to Amman and spend the semester in this new environment, advancing my Arabic while also learning more about Jordan, its people and their culture.
Before I get too ahead of myself, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Betül and I am a junior International Studies major with an Arabic minor at Kenyon College. Although I started learning Arabic more formally during my first semester at Kenyon, I have really been studying the language for many years. I am a Turkish-American who learned Arabic growing up to be able to read the Quran. Even though I did learn how to read Arabic, I can't really understand much, so once I got to college, I wanted to start taking classes to build on what I knew. Learning Arabic is personal to me as I not only want to increase my understanding of different cultures, but I also would love to understand religious texts without the need for translations.
At first, I was curious, and later my curiosity was fueled by my love for the culture as well as the language. As a person who is bilingual, I know and have seen just how much can be lost in translation countless times, so I especially value reading texts in its original form. Over the course of the past two years I have been taking Arabic classes, I felt more connected to my religion and closer to people of various backgrounds as learning a language is not only about memorizing new vocabulary and grammar rules — it gives a glimpse into a different culture and presents a whole new way of understanding the world.
I also realized just how many social, historical, and cultural overlaps there are between Turkish and Arab people multiple times throughout this journey. Both my names, Fatıma Betül, for instance — or most Turkish names from that matter — are Arabic. In class, I have recognized unfamiliar words numerous times just because I am fluent in Turkish. Seeing overlaps between Arab culture and my own is very exciting and I can't wait to learn more while also being exposed to unique differences.
Study abroad will be an incomparable experience for not only language immersion but will also provide me the opportunity to expand my global outlook. As an International Studies major and an aspiring journalist, I believe this is a vital quality to have for someone who wants to write about others and also for anyone who wants to be a considerate global citizen.
As we begin this new decade, I am so excited about heading to a new place where I can expand my knowledge of Arabic and the MENA region. Along with the excitement, however, also comes some nerves. I am not entirely sure if my Arabic will be enough to navigate the streets and the colloquial dialect, but I am confident that this experience will be fulfilling as long as I am willing to take on different challenges.
Overall, I hope that I will be able to effectively communicate my experiences through this blog throughout the semester. I can't wait for all the awaiting adventures, especially observing Ramadan — the most sacred month of the year in Islamic culture — in a Muslim-majority country where I will be able to break my fast and eat iftar with others who are also fasting, hear live Adhans and go to mosques for daily prayers.
In the future, I hope to become a journalist who covers politics, and given my Turkish and Muslim identity, I am particularly passionate about the Middle East. I can't wait to go to Jordan at the start of this decade since it is where I hope to spend more time in years to come!
