By Mohd Shadab, (India 2019-20, hosted with CIEE in Maine)

When your dreams come true, you are the happiest person in this whole universe. Coming to the U.S. was my dream, and now that I’m here, I just love each and every moment. American holidays are the most fascinating for me because everything is new and interesting. I already celebrated Thanksgiving, which was very awesome. I went to Sea World and Disney with my host family to celebrate, and after that, we had a family get-together and a small dinner.

And now I am eagerly waiting for Christmas. Today we went to buy our Christmas tree and then we started to decorate it. It is really looking beautiful. My host mom also told me some interesting facts and activities for Christmas, like 24 days for Christmas chocolate eating! She also told me about Santa Claus bringing gifts and putting them under the tree, but only if the children have been good, which seems very fascinating to me!

My youngest host sister really loves elves and believes that elves move around the house before Christmas but become dolls during the day. So, as a special surprise, every night before going to bed I put elves in different places around the house, and when she wakes up in the morning the first thing she does is go to find the elves.  She’s very happy when she finds them! I am counting each day until Christmas day and gifts. I am very thankful for Allah that I am part of this amazing YES program and host family.