Hayley

After London 2005 I got bitten by the curiosity bug and took Arabic 101 my last semester at BYU. Suddenly my last semester became 3rd to the last semester and stayed two more semesters in order to get a minor in Arabic. One of the semesters I spent in Morocco learning the most useless dialect of Arabic there is.

Why Morocco? It was supposed to be Egypt, but Lebanon and Israel decided to go to war and the powers that be thought we would be safer in North Africa, a far more extreme and conservative area when it comes to Islam. I've absolutely grown to love Islam and Muslims.

I lived in Fes in the part of town that is over 1,000 years old and still going strong. The part of town where people don't believe in toilet paper. And where the only way to bath is in a public bath house naked in front of lots of other naked women. Oh no! There I go babbling about the Middle East again.

I graduated in 2007 and after a brilliant summer with Natasha, Carrie, and Rochelle I - yes - moved to London. You know where we had classes in the Hyde Park Chapel? I go there for institute, church, and FHE. I'm getting my MA in Middle Eastern Studies, specifically Film and Society in the Middle East, from the University of London.

I'm not fluent in Arabic as it requires more time in the Middle East, so hopefully that will happen after this year. Nor am I fluent in the language of love as I am still as single as ever, but not without great stories of both being tread on and treading on the road of romance. Depending on the day I think guys are either great or big fat retards.

I love London. It is a great base for traveling (if the money is there, that is) and I've been able to visit lots of places, and in turn, be visited by a number of family and friends, including Carrie and Rochelle.

This all sounds so great on paper, but I've discovered that life is life no matter what exotic location one is in. In fact, emotions tend to be more extreme away from home. So it can be really great and really lonely. But it is worth it when Christ supports me through it all.