Summer 2016 I studied and interned in Amman, Jordan for eight weeks. While I was in the region I also had the opportunity to visit the United Arab Emirates and spend a total of three weeks in Israel and Palestine.  To confirm what most people wondered… yes my parents and family members were concerned that I was about to spend an entire summer in the Middle East. No, they were not supportive. Yes, at times prior to my departure I found myself in tears thinking that what I was trying to pull off was impossible, but I went ahead and put every effort into making my dream come true and I did. My dream was to be the first generation of my Cuban-American family to go aboard to demystify the world around me by fully immersing myself in the Arabic language and culture that I have been intensively studying inside and outside of the classroom for three years.  Prior to my experience abroad I made every effort to gather an understanding of Arabic culture and particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by taking classes on these subjects. Additionally, I joined the Arab Students’ Association and attended events by UF Hillel and other on-campus organizations. I strived to transition from speaking in MSA toward a Levantine dialect by practicing with friends and listening to music, and I practiced dabke every chance I got. Most importantly, through newfound friendships and hours of dialogues with Palestinians born and raised in the West Bank, in diaspora communities, and Jews and Israelis, I cultivated a body of knowledge to understand the narratives of Israelis and Palestinians the best I could as an outsider.  

      The culmination of this passionate study and assimilation was when I traveled to the region to study Arabic, the implications of refugee populations on Jordan, and to intern for the Near East Foundation. After a week of intensive Jordanian dialect classes, my program eased us into starting MSA along with our internships. The Near East Foundation is one of the longest running nonprofit humanitarian assistance and development organizations in the Middle East and North Africa. During my time there, we were wrapping up two projects. One project aimed to reduce economic vulnerability for Iraqi and Syrian refugees and impoverished Jordanians in the Zaqra governorate by providing business training for small home-based startups along with grants to help participants get started.  Additionally, we worked on a project to raise awareness about gender inequality and to promote women’s rights in the Tafilah governorate through a series of youth network workshops, trainings on the issue and nation-wide conferences to engaged the community and lawmakers to evoke policy change. I was responsible for documenting success stories of project participants. I had the opportunity to go with the field staff to the different project sites to conduct interviews in English and Arabic to tell their stories.

     After my program, things came full circle as I finally had the opportunity to visit my first friend from the region, Noor, and her family in the village that initially piqued my interest. This village in Israel called the Oasis of Peace, Wahat al- Salam and Neve Shalom, is a place where Israelis and Palestinians choose to live together for the purpose of peace. During my stay, I traveled throughout Israel and the West Bank and got to visit the homes and families of my best friends whom I met through the various exchange programs. There aren’t words to explain the transformative experience I felt as I witnessed their Israel and their Palestine through their eyes. 

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