Today was the start of the work week in Jordan, so we went off to visit the company Oasis 500 and the Princess Sumaya University for Technology. In the afternoon, we also had a guest speaker from int@j before having free time to relax, shop, and explore Amman.
Our morning started with our visit to Oasis 500, which is a leading early stage and seed investment company. We learned that this company was born as a request from the King to build a new platform for entrepreneurships to start their own companies in Jordan. After a brief presentation, we were able to walk around their office and meet with three entrepreneurs who started their own business. It was a great chance to hear from them and the processes they went through! This visit was great since it provided a connection between Israel, which is known for their startups, and Jordan, which is attempting to produce more startups.
We then headed to the Princess Sumaya University for Technology, where we were treated like royalty! We got to hear from the president of the university, as well as the deans of the business and engineering schools. Around fifteen current students joined us, so we had a great time getting to know them and learning about their college experience. They also had plenty of questions for us! We all went away with gift bags, coffee, and snacks.
After having a quick lunch, we then met a representative from int@j at our hotel. It was a very informal meeting that was more like a discussion. He asked us about our opinions of Jordan and based on each person's response, he shared his perspective about the viewpoint. It was a great chance to have a real conversation with a Jordanian businessman. After the chat, the group had the chance to visit the local mall, or relax at the hotel until dinner time.
For dinner, we had a special treat! We were joined by members of the Amman Conversation Exchange for a meal at the hotel. This group is primarily Jordanian students that are learning English. During dinner, they got to practice their English and we had the chance to learn some Arabic. After dinner, we gathered in the hotel lobby to continue our conversations. The time flew by and we ended up spending nearly three hours with them! They were such a great group of people and we were so honored to get acquainted with them!
