ELI student's essays: Jordan - Saudi Arabia

ELI student: Hamza Omar Haimour

Jordan

Jordan-Saudi Arabia

When I was 18 years old, I was living and going to school in Saudi Arabia. In my free time, I used to go into the desert with my friends. We were usually a group of 12 people. We used to go by car, and the drive into the desert could take up to three hours. When we reached our destination, we would collect firewood, make a fire and brew Arabica coffee and tea. After having refreshments, we would ride camels through the sand dunes and explore the surrounding area. The sand dunes went on forever and the sky was blue and gigantic, and during the daytime the desert would get very hot, but as the evening set in, the temperature cooled down considerably.

After returning to our campsite at the end of the day, we would sit down and talk and joke and laugh. Then we would cook our dinner – usually a meat dish called “kabsah” with rice - and satisfy our hungry stomachs. When we finished eating we would clean up and sit around the fire telling stories or singing songs until at last we would fall asleep under the stars.

On the second morning we woke up at sunrise, and we made our breakfast. Breakfast always consisted of several varieties but the main dish often a dish called ‘’mahmos’’. After that we cleaned the place, and we gather our purposes and left.

______________________________________________________________________________

The students' essays are entirely prepared by ELI students during the semester term they spend studying at the English Language Institute (ELI) at the College of Staten Island/CUNY.

They prepare this academic work while having classes of grammar, reading and writing, communications, and TOEFL preparation workshops, with the supervision of their ELI teachers. Topics are chosen by ELI students and they reflect personal points of view of the topics selected and facts and information researched by them.

ELI students dedicate time to make the best articles and carefully prepare their essays in and outside class. All ELI students participate, from beginning to advanced level. ELI wants to show their work considering their English level in order to become an academic tool for future English-learning students.

Most of all, ELI wants to show content related to topics students may have experienced while studying English in New York, an important topic in their home country, a current issue, or any other topic they decided to write about.

ELI is very proud of the academic work that represents the outcomes of each student, who not only learns English as a language but also is capable of expressing meaningful content-based language.

Enjoy reading the anthologies!

English Language Institute

College of Staten Island
elistudy@csi.cuny.edu

www.csi.cuny.edu/campus-life/student-services/center-global-engagement/english-language-institute