Visit the Global Studies and World Languages Academy’s (GSWLA) Facebook page and you will feel like you are traveling the world.
Ireland. Spain. Israel. France. Germany. The Philippines.
Photos and videos from GSWLA students and teachers fill the page, featuring their experiences abroad visiting schools, local attractions and host families.
A photo posted Oct. 2 at 12:56 a.m. announced the arrival of six GSWLA students and one teacher in a new international destination for the program.
The students’ hosts were waiting right outside in Amman, Jordan.
After three years of videoconferencing with the Amman Baccalaureate School (ABS) in Jordan, a student exchange was arranged. GSWLA students visited the Middle East Oct. 2-9 and then hosted ABS students in Virginia Beach Oct. 9-17.
A video post from Jordan Oct. 4 at 10:56 a.m. reported, “While in Wadi Rum we participated in a reenactment of a battle that Lawrence of Arabia was in. 2 of our students were ‘captured.’ Watching the horses and camels come across the desert toward us was amazing. The students loved it. The action was a thrill!”
“Getting on and off camels is tricky,” was the caption for another video posted Oct. 4 showing students dismounting camels. “Camels make noise too, when they aren’t happy. Our students look like pros though!”
On their final day in Jordan, Oct. 8, GSWLA students skyped with an Academy class in Virginia Beach and made presentations to various ABS English classes in Jordan. For their international peers, they described where they live in Virginia as well as information about U.S. media, education, sustainability, traditions and customs.
“The other students asked great questions, and they had fun discussing similarities/differences between our two countries,” reported a GSWLA Facebook post.
Gayle Hartigan, the GSWLA teacher who accompanied the students to Jordan, described the discussions between students and with their Jordanian host families as “priceless.”
“Living with host families and attending another school gave our students an opportunity to ‘walk a mile’ in someone else’s shoes,” said Hartigan. “The students from both schools had many stereotypes dismantled while they visited each other. Our students gained a broader view of the Middle East, and the Jordanians gained perspective on teen life in the United States.”
Less than 24 hours after landing at Norfolk International Airport Oct. 9 with their GSWLA hosts, the Jordanian students got some of their first impressions of teen life in the U.S. by attending the Tallwood High School Homecoming festivities.
No rest for the jet-lagged weary. It was time for dancing.
Other activities for the overseas visitors’ remaining days in Virginia Beach included visits to Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, Back Bay Refuge, Sandbridge Beach, Virginia Aquarium, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Virginia Beach oceanfront and Tallwood classes.
For one Jordanian student, seeing an exhibit at MOCA was particularly moving. “It really impressed me to see artwork by people with disabilities. That was really something special,” he said.
As for the attractions GSWLA students saw in Jordan, they also had their favorites.
Senior Lewis Winston said the lost city of Petra was breathtaking. “You come out of this gorge in the rocks and you see this six-story high treasury building carved out of the stone right there. It was probably the coolest thing for me,” he said.
Wadi Rum, a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan, was the favorite of senior Sebastian Pommerenk. “It is a huge vast dessert we went to and watched the sunrise on the sandstone. We also rode camels. It was just really, really amazing. It was a beautiful place despite the dryness.”
Andrew Clark, GSWLA senior, couldn’t name a single favorite location because he was enamored by the entire country. He said it was the perfect place for an aspiring archeologist like himself, noting it would be “amazing” to study abroad in a country like Jordan after graduation.
“It is basically one of the best countries in the world to study artifacts,” said Clark. “Civilizations tens of thousands of years old lived there. The oldest statues in the world are kept in the Jordanian Archaeological Museum, dating back as far as 65,000 B.C.”
It was information about these sites and experiences that GSWLA students and their Jordanian visitors shared with third-grade students at Landstown Elementary School (LES). LES is one of the school division’s Global Passport Schools, and the opportunity to interact with students who had either visited Jordan or lived in Jordan is one the third-graders embraced to broaden their horizons.
Prepared with handwritten questions on index cards, third graders asked questions of their guests in small groups.
Rand Ramini, ABS junior, and ABS teacher Farah Saad entertained the questions of one group that ranged from food and entertainment to geography.
What subjects do you learn?
“I study Arabic, English, Math, Physics, Business and Chemistry,” said Ramini.
What kind of food do you eat?
“We mainly rely on rice and bread,” said Ramini. “The main dish in Jordan is called ‘mansaf.’ It is white rice, hot yogurt and lamb.”
Do you have ice cream?
“Oh yes, lots of ice cream, and we have popsicles as well,” said Saad.
What do you do in Jordan?
“The same as you,” replied Ramini with a smile. “I watch TV and spend time with friends on the weekends. Our weekends begin on Thursday.”
An gasp of jealousy from the third graders’ at the thought of three-day weekends prompted Ramini to explain the cultural difference.
“We go to school on Sunday,” Ramini added. “Friday is a holy day for us, so we don’t go to school Friday and Saturday. That’s our weekend, and we return to school on Sunday.”
There was still time for questions, and the curious third graders had more to ask.
What’s the Dead Sea?
“It’s the lowest point on earth,” answered Ramini.
“It’s so salty you can float!” added one third grader, to the delight of Ramini and Saad.
Does Jordan have a big city with big buildings?
“Yes,” said Ramini, “there are big buildings in Amman, our capital city.”
What board games do you play?
“We play lots of board games. We play Monopoly, chess and Risk. Do you have Risk?” asked Saad.
What’s the popular sport in Jordan?
“Football,” said Saad. “I’m a football player.” Another gasp from the students trying to envision her playing what they know to be football.
“In Jordan, football means soccer,” explained Saad. “We have women’s and men’s national teams.”
Do you have McDonald’s?
“Yes!” replied Saad with enthusiasm.
“And they deliver it to your house,” interjected Hartigan who was listening to the discussion.
Saad elaborated after seeing the third graders amazed reaction to the idea of McDonald’s delivery.
“In Jordan we have Ifood.jo, and you can order anything and it will come straight to your house,” said Saad. “It might take a while but it will be delivered.”
McDonald’s delivery was one of many selling points for third graders who said they want to visit Jordan themselves.
GSWLA seniors, like Pommerenk and Winston, already have plans to return to visit their Jordanian host families.
“I hope to go back for spring break and stay more than a week this time, maybe three,” said Pommerenk.
He added, “I thought European and American cultures were quite the same, but I discovered even Middle Eastern culture is so similar based on age. Teenagers everywhere are always the same. It was just so mind-blowing how similar every person is. We do all the same stuff. It’s really, really neat.”
Winston, who also plans to visit during spring break, agreed, “I learned never go in with any preconceived notions. That’s what I did, and I had the best time of my life.”
What a wonderful opportunity. I’m so glad to hear they’re getting these experiences. Also glad they shared it with LES and a little piece of the experience with all of us through this great write-up!
What a great opportunity for Rebekah! Thanks for sending this. Someone participating in such an exchange will never look at the world in the same say again.