Our CIBU family includes two very interesting students from Jordan, Osama and Esraa Ballout. Theirs is a love story, a story of mutual support, and a story of dreams of education, children, and the ownership of their own business.
Osama is a student in CIBU’s DBA program, with a targeted graduation date of early 2016. His creative and intellectual curiosity and knowledge have been inspired by Dr. Sharghi and Dr. Bugarin among his other professors in the program. He remembers his early days in San Diego more than a year ago when he lacked the Eng
lish confidence he has now attained, and he and Esraa felt a little lost. To this day, they thank CIBU staff members for driving them around and helping them find a home.
Studying at CIBU, Osama says, has opened his eyes to opportunities he didn’t know were available to him. His Bachelor and Master’s degrees are in accounting, earned from Yarmouk University in Jordan. He would like to complete his dissertation around the topic of blending e-commerce and accounting information systems. His background in the food industry in Jordan through his family’s business has already exposed him to the commerce, and he longs to open his own business. His instructors at CIBU have also inspired him to strive to teach one day. At 190 cm, Osama is also a great basketball player.
You’ll recognize Esraa from her beautiful smile and stylish, colorful head scarfs! She describes herself as a fashionista, she is generally quiet and studious. Esraa loves to cook, using lots of spices like black pepper, cumin, green chile, and cardamom. She also loves to read and learn languages. Esraa earned a degree in medical laboratory sciences in Jordan and worked as a microbiology analyst for a Jordanian pharmaceutical company, Bella Pharmaceutical, before meeting Osama and accompanying him to America.
Their wedding was a traditional Jordanian affair, starting with a “signature ceremony” in which the bride and groom, with the encouragement and blessing of their families, sign an official document at the courthouse, indicating their intention to marry. They celebrated with a big feast, known as ”mansaf”, consisting of lamb, rice, yogurt, kenafah, cake, and juice.
Like most of our CIBU students, the Ballouts love San Diego. They spend time walking along the harbor, in Seaport Village, in Balboa Park, and in their neighborhood of Hillcrest. They love the fact that they have made friends from all over the world, including students and San Diego transplants from Taiwan, Mexico, Germany, Turkey, The Sudan, Croatia, and Somalia. Esraa comes from a family of 7 children, and Osama from a family of 13. When asked how many children they want to have, the discussion began. “Four”, says Esraa, “Six”, says Osama. They will most likely settle on five!
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