by Mohd Shadab (YES 2019-20, Indian, hosted with CIEE in Belmont, ME)

Always be prepared to face every kind of situation. Always keep your soul and mind positive and focus on the positive things that nature and the world are offering you. This is what I learned throughout my exchange year. The past few weeks have been really unexpected and challenging for most people. I always accept challenges and this epidemic is one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced.

During this difficult time of social distancing, I am still enjoying each and every moment of my exchange year with enthusiasm and have been super busy.  I think this is a good time to introduce and exchange culture with my host family. My host family and I are cooking Indian dishes, watching Bollywood movies, learning more about each other’s religions and finding a lot of similarities in both cultures. I have also started Hindi language classes for my youngest host sister and she has learned a lot about Indian culture and language. We also flew kites together which was a very interesting and unique experience for me as I have never flown a kite before.    

Currently, I am trying to work on my Global Youth Service Day Project (GYSD). My school friends and I were supposed to introduce and implement our project for disabled people in my host school and community, but because of social distancing we have deferred that plan to a later date.  However, to do something for my host community, I have been working from home on a different project. I have decided to make appreciation cards for my town hospital and donate sanitary pads for the people who are unable to get those because of this lockdown. My advice is to enjoy each and every moment of your exchange year. Stay happy and be optimistic; everything will be just fine.