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Continuing Cross-Cultural Connections

Camel Ride In The Desert

By Mohamed Hamed (YES 2018 – 2019, Tunisia, hosted by AIFS/AYA in Florence, SC) 

My host community in Florence, South Carolina has experience hosting students for years. So I got to know many of the former students that have been hosted either by my host family or other families in the past. These connections make for a large network of exchange students and alumni across many countries!

My friend, Mazen Tej, (YES 2015 – 2016) a Tunisian YES alumnus, who was also hosted in my community three years prior, told me that some friends from his exchange student group were going to visit Tunisia. I was very excited because I felt a bond that connected us even though we never met. It was the fact that we had all been placed in the same community and enjoyed our placement to the fullest. I was eager to welcome, Jana, a FLEX alumna from Serbia, and Kristijan, a YES alumnus from Macedonia, (YES 2015 – 2016), who lived with my host family three years ago. 

Matamta

I showed them around my hometown and took them to the south, where they got to see the desert and oasis. Even though we never met, we all felt a connection among us, something that made us understand each other and ultimately made us very good friends. 

I want to let the new exchange students know about the importance of the friendships that they are going to make during their year in the US. I found that I have very good friends even though they had been placed in the same community as me three years ago! I advise all current exchange students to make as many friends as possible because those relationships will last for a lifetime.

Kristijan Spirkoski (YES 2016 - 2017, Macedonia, hosted by AYA in Florence, SC) 

Mazen Tej (YES 2016 – 2017, Tunisia, hosted by AIFS/AYA in Florence, SC)

Read about Mohamed's first reflection on being part of his exchange student family here!

Oasis

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