Ethan Pintar ‘25

The following post was adapted from a conversation between Ethan Pintar ‘25 and Nela Loftin ‘28, an intern with the Global Engagement Office (GEO).¹

Ethan is an Global Studies major with a minor in linguistics, who studied abroad through the CIEE Advanced Arabic Language Program. In this blog, Ethan recounts the warm welcome and unexpected experiences that he encountered during his time in Amman, Jordan.

What can you tell us about your program?

Last year, I went to Jordan for the full year. As someone studying Arabic, I was seeking out language immersion. I wanted to learn the Jordanian dialects of Arabic.  I took a Standard Arabic class, a Jordanian dialect class, an elective media class, and an introduction to Islam class. 

My favorite class was the dialect class. It was mostly speaking. There was very little writing and a lot of talking. Every Friday, we would go down the street to talk with the university students. I really hated the assignment at first. It was super awkward.  It was not a typical or comfortable experience for the university students or for us. But, it definitely helped me a lot. And I can laugh about the assignment looking back. 

The academic culture in Amman is definitely different; it was more hierarchical, but our class felt pretty American since it was a small cohort and we had many group discussions. Most of the professors had been with the program for a while, so they knew how to work with American students. 

What is the culture of Amman like?

Before going, I didn’t realize how diverse Amman is. There has been so much immigration into Jordan from other Arab countries and from Africa. There were so many people from different places. 

Depending on the semester, students might also be in Jordan during Ramadan.  The culture becomes very different during this month-long observance. No one is eating from dawn to dusk. Throughout the day it’s very quiet. Then after sundown, the restaurants open back up and the nightlife comes alive. 

Overall, I expected living abroad to be harder than it was. People were just very, very friendly. The whole hospitality culture is huge.  I didn’t have any of the big issues that I was expecting. 

For example, I’m Jewish and I had a Christian host family. I was expecting there to be some awkwardness – that they would feel weird about me – but it was the exact opposite. My host mom was very religious, and she would ask me stuff about the Torah like every other day. It was very entertaining. I think, generally, people who host students are going to be more accepting by nature.

Any memorable experiences?

Amman is not very touristy, but there is a central district where there are some historical ruins. Our program also took trips to the South of Jordan.  We visited Petra, where there are Nabataean ruins from 2000 years ago. There’s also a desert where we got to ride camels. We went to the southern region twice with the program, and I went back once on my own. 

Living with my host family was very memorable. I got to know the extended family a little bit. And other students were living in the same apartment complex. The students who were living with families got a lot better with language.  When you go home and are still speaking Arabic, you progress quickly, especially compared to the other students who would switch to English. So I would recommend doing a homestay.

Any lessons of growth or advice for future participants?  

Studying abroad teaches you to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and with uncertainty in general. No matter how much you prepare for it, there’s still going to be tons of things every single day that you don’t understand or expect. 

For example, I made an unexpected friendship when I wasn’t even looking with a doctor from Syria who wanted to move to Germany.  I was in an internet cafe on my laptop leading a class [I offer online tutoring sessions in German] when I was overheard by another customer. She asked me to tutor her in German. That’s how it started. But we ended up meeting every week for a month or two. We talked about all sorts of things. It was a really meaningful connection.

The best way to prepare for your experience abroad is to just be in the best mental headspace you can be. Take on things that are weird or uncomfortable to you at first. And if you’re on the fence, I would say just do it. It’s the kind of thing that you’ll probably never be able to do again in your life after college. It’s well worth it.

1. The views and/or opinions represented in the GEO blog belong solely to the student(s) and do not represent Swarthmore College; students are not liable for any errors or omissions in the personal experiences they share.  ↩︎