Jordan homestay: Why we host students

While Alejandra was visiting SIT Study Abroad in Jordan last month, she spent time visiting and chatting with homestay families about their involvement in our programs.  In this video, a Jordan homestay family explains why they enjoy hosting students as part of a homestay.

The homestay experience…a family away from family.

I was amazed at the welcome we received. In Jordan, we visited four different homestay families and each one welcomed us as they do our students, with open arms, full meals and laughter.

A critical component of our SIT Study Abroad programs is the homestay. The homestay provides our students with the opportunity to live with a local family for several weeks, days or even months. The homestay not only helps improve language skills but it provides a direct, personal connection to the local culture.

Although the idea of the homestay is often the most frightening aspect of the program, almost all of our students end up saying that it is one of the most rewarding and powerful experiences of their semesters. Departure from a homestay often ends is hugs, tears and years of friendship.

SIT Study Abroad Jordan: Homestays and Language Practice

Duncan Pickard, SIT Study Abroad Jordan Summer 2008, talks about speaking Arabic during his rural homestay experience in Jordan.

Practicing Arabic Speaking in Jordan

SIT Study Abroad student Margaret Ormsbee, Jordan Summer 2008, talks about her homestay family. “They say eat, eat, eat. All the time eat.”

Students on SIT Study Abroad programs often spend a great deal of their time practicing the local language. Our summer Jordan program provides non-stop opportunity to bring the Arabic language out of the classroom and into daily life. Yesterday Alejandra Pallais, Director of Constituent Relations, had a chance to spend some time with several of our Jordan study abroad participants, and was able to capture a bit of a discussion in a local Jordanian park.

A window into Jordan with SIT Study Abroad

The group enjoys a meal in Jordan.

We arrived in Jordan yesterday. After days of debating what to pack, wondering whether I too would need to follow Muslim dress codes, I get to answer these questions first-hand, directly from the Jordanians. This is my first time in the Middle East, first time in a Muslim country. Like our students, I had all the pre-departure questions and worries only to realize that there is nothing to worry about; the Jordanians would answer these and many other questions with a smile and enthusiasm. (By the way, I didn’t really need so many long sleeve shirts. Foreigners can dress as they normally would.)

The aim of our trip is to experience and understand the power of our programs on the ground. For one week, we are living as SIT Study Abroad students. We’re participating in Arabic lessons, attending excursions, visiting with homestay families and eating ful, humus, and khubz arabi (Arabic bread).

Practicing Arabic in class

After being here for one day, one thing has become evident: it is our local staff who make our programs what they are. SIT Study Abroad Jordan staff are professional, enthusiastic, and passionate. They are loyal, not only to their students and Jordanian culture but also to the SIT Study Abroad methodology. They believe wholeheartedly in the power of one-on-one cultural exchange. They believe in providing students with the highest quality, most authentic Jordanian experience possible. Whether it’s standard Arabic grammar, local Arabic dialect, cultural norms or daily Jordanian life, the staff are commitment to providing the students a true connection to Jordan, its people, its language and its culture.