The Cultural Exchange Project Travel Blog

The Joy Of Quiet Conversation Volunteering Abroad In Jordan

Written by Randy LeGrant | Jan 20, 2012 2:05:00 PM

I'm not sure where I found the Blog, A Little Adrift by Shannon O'Donnell. I'm glad I did. I highly recommend her travel Blog. She started traveling in 2008 on an around the world trip. Now she travels at her own pace and documents everything that happens on the road.

Shannon wrote a post about Feynan Ecolodge located in Jordan's Dana Biosphere Reserve. I was thrilled to see the post because GeoVisions has an incredible Conversation Partner program at the Feynan Ecolodge. We supply them with English tutors for the staff. And by staff I mean front desk workers, maids, restaurant workers and even the guides.

As the post points out, we need English tutors to live at the Ecolodge to help staff with their conversational English. And if you're looking for a place to recharge the batteries, look no further than Feynan.

If you any interest in Jordan, conversational English, ecolodges or finding a place to just "be" and have time to disconnect from the Internet, Feynan is a great place. I hope you'll read Shannon's post about her experience at Feynan. She posted some great photos too!

This is a great time to revisit Pico Iyer's NY Times piece last December entitled "The Joy of Quiet." Iyer writes, "Nothing makes me feel better — calmer, clearer and happier — than being in one place, absorbed in a book, a conversation, a piece of music. It’s actually something deeper than mere happiness: it’s joy, which the monk David Steindl-Rast describes as “that kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.”

If you read Shannon's post about her experience at Feynan and then take a look at Iyer's article, and if you have any desire at all to travel to Jordan, contact us. We can put you up at Feynan Ecolodge and make sure your room and your meals are covered. We only as 20 hours a week of your time to help all of the staff there speak conversational English. And as you see in these articles, you'll gain much more than you give.