December Recap: Winter Break & 2018 Reflection Christmas Eve Dinner: Street Food! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! During this season, although the majority of the population is Hindu, following with Islam, the Christmas holiday is still celebrated, of course on a smaller scale. Many malls and shopping centers shined the Christmas spirit with beautiful designs and decorations. I also went to the local Catholic Church a week before Christmas and celebrated there. It was an interesting experience to see the similarities yet differences of Christmas celebrated in India, especially as Christianity is a minority religion here. On Christmas Eve, the exchange students hosted in Delhi met up at the chapter president's house and did the traditional Christmas festivities such as decorating a Christmas tree, singing Christmas carols, and sitting around the fire. It was also a fun experience comparing our Christmas celebrations with the American YES students hosted around I...
Blog # 14 - November Recap: November Recap: YES Abroad Poster Child who?!? & Truth About Exchange So... I am going to dive deep in this topic as I think both sides of the equation need to be known regarding an exchange. First off, I would like to start off by mentioning that I am beyond blessed and love the life I am living in India, but that does not mean there are no challenges in exchange either. On social media, all you can see are the good sides of our exchange, and not the challenges. I say “our” as in most - if not all - of the YES Abroad & AFS India cohort love to show off our immersion into the culture in terms of the amazing new things we are living through, without showing the harder times as well. This November has been the hardest for me: going back to my normal studious routine from the past month full of adventure, cultural learning, and travel left me depressed and kind of just sad; as well as this, unnecessary “formalities” complicated most t...