Arabic Category

Kate Jensen is from Norfolk, VA and participated in the Jordan Summer 2017 program. Looking back, the application process for NSLI-Y went by in a flash; before I knew it, I was being rocked by the turbulence of a plane descending over the deserts of the Middle East. I remember my first few days in Jordan vividly. From the moment I stepped off the plane with my cohort of scholarship recipients (with whom some of my best memories have been made), I was drawn to the unfamiliar world around meRead More

Lillian Cox is from Fargo, ND and participated in the Morocco Academic Year 2017-2018 program. In late November of 2017, I found myself huddled with two of my friends in a cold house in rural Morocco. During my gap year abroad, I had to get used to a lot of new things. I learned a new language, learned about a new religion, and learned how to navigate in an entirely unfamiliar environment. After two months of living in Rabat, my group took a cultural excursion. We stayed with host familiesRead More

Aidan McGahey is from Drexel Hill, PA and participated in the Morocco Summer 2018 program. Traveling to another country for an extended period of time is hard in any situation, but traveling to Morocco with no prior experience in Arabic really proved to be a challenge at first! When I arrived in Morocco, my NSLI-Y roommate Talat and I were greeted by our host mom, aunt, and sister, and were taken through the winding streets of Rabat, and through the مدينة قديمة, or old city, to our host family’s home. We were immediatelyRead More

Tanya is from Irving, TX and participated in the 2018 Arabic summer program in Jordan. I was always fascinated by Ancient Egypt since childhood and in 2013 when I visited Egypt with my family, the images from the countless books and History Channel became a breathtaking reality. This trip inspired me to apply to the NSLI-Y Arabic program and when I was accepted, I imagined having a similar experience to Egypt in Jordan. However, what I envisioned, quickly proved to be wrong. The experience of living with, studying, and eatingRead More

Wafae Baghnaoui, an NSLI-Y language partner and journalism student in Rabat, Morocco created a video on the 2017-2018 NSLI-Y Academic Year program in Rabat. Students share their language learning journies and their cultural discoveries as well. We encourage you to watch these impressive scholars use their Arabic to discuss these topics and more.Read More

Allan is from Burke, VA and participated in the Arabic program in Morocco. At school, Allan sat next to a girl from Morocco and learned about the diversity and beauty of her country. Yet every day when he got home to watch the news, he noticed that any mention of countries like Morocco was passed up for images of war, violence, and extremism in other parts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This desire to hear about Middle Eastern politics from a local perspective and to delveRead More

C.J. is from Albuquerque, NM and participated in the Arabic programs in Egypt and Morocco. There is a saying in the NSLI-Y community that, “you are just one C.J. away from knowing everyone.” Meaning, Carlo James Aragon (better known as C.J.) knows so many NSLI-Y alumni and applicants that you are sure to have him as a mutual acquaintance. C.J. has touched many in the NSLI-Y community, spanning across cultures and continents. C.J.’s passion for cross-cultural connections has shone through during his two NSLI-Y Arabic programs and time abroad inRead More

Lillian participated in the Morocco 2017-2018 academic year program.  As of today, I have only 2 months left in this amazing country. Now that I’ve been living here for well over 6 months, I think that I have learned a lot about Morocco. I wanted to take a minute to talk about the things that I’m grateful for, and what I’m going to miss when I leave. I think that I am still the same person as I was when I came, but I will take certain parts of MoroccoRead More

Lillian is from Fargo, North Dakota  and currently participates in the 2017-18 Morocco academic year program. As any exchange student knows, food is one of the best parts of living abroad. I feel like so much of a culture is shown through food. In Morocco, not only is the food delicious, but the hospitality surrounding food tells you a lot about Moroccan culture. I’ll talk through some of the most important things surrounding Moroccan cuisine, and then include some pictures of my favorite foods! Kuli, kuli, kuli!  “Kuli” (eat!), isRead More

Hunter is from Oshkosh, WI and participated in the 2017-2018 Morocco Academic Year program. When I was thinking of ideas for my next post, I thought it might be interesting to share what an “average” day for me looks like. No two days are the same of course, but each day goes a little something like this: I first wake up at around 7/7:15 and take a shower. After that, I eat breakfast which our host mom prepares for us. The food’s always zween bzef! For breakfast, we usually haveRead More