After 2 flights and about 19 hours of traveling, I finally arrived safely in Amman. I was greeted at the airport by a good friend of mine and taken to their home where I will be staying for the next several weeks. As we weaved through the Amman traffic, I was reminded of the driving experience back "home" in Kenya. Five lanes of traffic on a three-lane road, roads that aren't well marked, and a commotion of people running across the highway in front of vehicles barreling down the road. Most people who have just arrived in the country might be at risk of peeing their pants out of fear for their life, but I had a small smirk on my face as we made our way through the city because it almost felt as if I was "home".

You may be wondering why I keep putting the word "home" in quotation marks. Well you see, the idea of "home" is a very complicated concept for me. I am a U.S. citizen but grew up overseas in Kenya. I then moved back to the U.S. to go to university and get my degree. Because of this movement growing up, I identify as a Third Culture Kid or TCK. A TCK is a child that spent a portion of their developmental years living in a country that is not their parents' home passport country. A common struggle among TCKs is finding where and who they belong with. For a TCK, the culture(s) in the countries they grew up in combine with their parent's home, or passport, culture to create a unique "third culture" of their own.

This background is one of the many reasons that I am so excited to be involved at an international school this semester. The majority of the students that I am working with are TCKs like me. There is an automatic connection that I share with the students at Whitman because of our cross-cultural experiences.

I did not waste any time jumping into school at Whitman. The school week here is Sunday-Thursday because of Friday services at the mosques. I arrived late at night on Sunday and woke up to go to school early on Monday morning. The staff and students at the school were extremely excited to welcome me to Whitman. I met my mentor teacher who has lived in Jordan for multiple years and has a passion for teaching mathematics. She teaches one period of Pre-Algebra and two periods of Algebra 1 to 7th and 8th graders. I am excited to work with older students in this second half of student teaching as well as be in a mathematics classroom. Because my teacher only teaches 3 periods in the morning, my afternoons are quite free giving me extra time to work on my assignments and also sit in on a few Arabic classes! I am also looking forward to this because it leaves some time open after school to get involved with some of the sports teams at Whitman and also explore the city a little more!

It was so fun to get to know different people at Whitman and I even made a bunch of connections with people who are connected to my school in Kenya in one way or another. One day after school, I was riding back to the place I am staying with a group of teachers and we got talking about Kenya. One teacher was sharing how she was roommates with someone that taught at the school I went to. I asked what her name was and when she told me my jaw dropped. Her roommate was my 11th -grade English teacher! On one hand, I couldn't believe the connection we had just made, but on the other hand, I wasn't surprised at all. For a TCK, making connections like this with people who work in the international school community isn't that uncommon. That being said, it is always a refreshing and exciting moment!

It was a long week and I am quite exhausted, but I got the chance this weekend to walk around the city a little bit and explore. I finally exchanged some money and got a SIM card so that I can Uber around the city more easily and exchange contacts with people. I must say that doing these sorts of things is much easier than in the U.S. and a lot cheaper as well! The buildings in the city all look the same, but they are beautiful in their own way. It has been cool to learn more about the culture and history of this region as I walk around the city and spend time with my host family. The people in Amman are very hospitable and kind. I've also been trying to learn a little bit of Arabic although I must admit, progress has been slow. Arabic is a tough language to learn, but I hope to pick up more as time goes by. Next week, I will be doing a little bit of team teaching with my mentor teacher and also begin to plan some lessons on my own!

I apologize for not getting as many pictures this week! I was so busy trying to focus on soaking it all in and getting my feet under me that I completely forgot about taking pictures for my blog! Be on the lookout next week for more pictures and updates on some of my cultural experiences and what is happening in the classroom!