![\"GSWLA](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/GSWLA-arrival-in-Jordan.jpg\")
<\/a>The students\u2019 hosts were waiting right outside in Amman, Jordan.<\/p>\nAfter 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.<\/p>\n
A video post from Jordan Oct. 4 at 10:56 a.m. reported, \u201cWhile in Wadi Rum we participated in a reenactment of a battle that Lawrence of Arabia was in. 2 of our students were \u2018captured.\u2019 Watching the horses and camels come across the desert toward us was amazing. The students loved it. The action was a thrill!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting on and off camels is tricky,\u201d was the caption for another video posted Oct. 4 showing students dismounting camels. \u201cCamels make noise too, when they aren’t happy. Our students look like pros though!\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other students asked great questions, and they had fun discussing similarities\/differences between our two countries,\u201d reported a GSWLA Facebook post.<\/p>\n Gayle Hartigan, the GSWLA teacher who accompanied the students to Jordan, described the discussions between students and with their Jordanian host families as \u201cpriceless.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLiving with host families and attending another school gave our students an opportunity to \u2018walk a mile\u2019 in someone else\u2019s shoes,\u201d said Hartigan.\u00a0\u201cThe students from both schools had many stereotypes dismantled while they visited each other.\u00a0Our students gained a broader view of the Middle East, and the Jordanians gained perspective on teen life in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n No rest for the jet-lagged weary. It was time for dancing.<\/p>\n For one Jordanian student, seeing an exhibit at MOCA was particularly moving. \u201cIt really impressed me to see artwork by people with disabilities. That was really something special,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n As for the attractions GSWLA students saw in Jordan, they also had their favorites.<\/p>\n Senior Lewis Winston said the lost city of Petra was breathtaking. \u201cYou 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Wadi Rum, a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan, was the favorite of senior Sebastian Pommerenk. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrew Clark, GSWLA senior, couldn\u2019t 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 \u201camazing\u201d to study abroad in a country like Jordan after graduation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is basically one of the best countries in the world to study artifacts,\u201d 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Prepared with handwritten questions on index cards, third graders asked questions of their guests in small groups.<\/p>\n What subjects do you learn? <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI study Arabic, English, Math, Physics, Business and Chemistry,\u201d said Ramini.<\/p>\n What kind of food do you eat? <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe mainly rely on rice and bread,\u201d said Ramini. \u201cThe main dish in Jordan is called \u2018mansaf.\u2019 It is white rice, hot yogurt and lamb.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you have ice cream?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cOh yes, lots of ice cream, and we have popsicles as well,\u201d said Saad.<\/p>\n What do you do in Jordan?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe same as you,\u201d replied Ramini with a smile. \u201cI watch TV and spend time with friends on the weekends. Our weekends begin on Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n An gasp of jealousy from the third graders\u2019 at the thought of three-day weekends prompted Ramini to explain the cultural difference.<\/p>\n \u201cWe go to school on Sunday,\u201d Ramini added. \u201cFriday is a holy day for us, so we don\u2019t go to school Friday and Saturday. That\u2019s our weekend, and we return to school on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n There was still time for questions, and the curious third graders had more to ask.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the Dead Sea? <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the lowest point on earth,\u201d answered Ramini.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so salty you can float!\u201d added one third grader, to the delight of Ramini and Saad.<\/p>\n Does Jordan have a big city with big buildings?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d said Ramini, \u201cthere are big buildings in Amman, our capital city.\u201d<\/p>\n What board games do you play?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe play lots of board games. We play Monopoly, chess and Risk. Do you have Risk?\u201d asked Saad.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the popular sport in Jordan? <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cFootball,\u201d said Saad. \u201cI\u2019m a football player.\u201d Another gasp from the students trying to envision her playing what they know to be football.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Jordan, football means soccer,\u201d explained Saad. \u201cWe have women\u2019s and men\u2019s national teams.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you have McDonald\u2019s?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYes!\u201d replied Saad with enthusiasm.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they deliver it to your house,\u201d interjected Hartigan who was listening to the discussion.<\/p>\n Saad elaborated after seeing the third graders amazed reaction to the idea of McDonald\u2019s delivery.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Jordan we have Ifood.jo, and you can order anything and it will come straight to your house,\u201d said Saad. \u201cIt might take a while but it will be delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Other activities for the overseas visitors\u2019 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.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Rand Ramini, ABS junior, and ABS teacher Farah Saad entertained the questions of one group that ranged from food and entertainment to geography.<\/p>\n<\/a>