October 2024 – Page 2 – Tisch Global Jumbos

October 23, 2024October 31, 2024

A Letter to Home from Home, Thousands of Miles Away

by Nelson

Dear Ma and Ba,

“I miss home” is the least I can say about how I feel today. It’s strange how “home” has evolved so many times for me over the past few weeks. I thought I understood what it really meant when I left home in Quincy and arrived at the Tufts University campus to start my Civic Semester Orientation or even that morning when our cohort moved out of the Doodle House and transitioned into our homestays––which, I have to say, was quite emotional after having to say goodbye to the owner of the เจ๊นา อาหารตามสั่ง restaurant who cooked the most delicious pad see ew I’ve ever had. But after living in Chiang Mai for the past six weeks, sharing a space with 13 other (wonderful) people, and being part of the everyday life in the Huai Lan community these past few days, I’ve come to realize that home is much more than just a place––it’s the people, the small gestures of kindness, and moments of care that make home feel so much like home.

Living in the Huai Lan community these past few days feels complicated, especially having to adjust to a pace of life that is slower but fuller while, at the same time, quieter yet filled with the hums of familiar connections. But, in a way, it still feels so much like home. Ma and Ba, you might be wondering, “How are you doing with the language?” Well, to be completely honest with you, I’ve been stumbling my way through learning Thai (something I definitely have not been productive with), and though my vocabulary is still embarrassingly small, Meeh WanDi, my lovely host mom, has been extremely patient with me. I’ll probably never forget that night when my host family celebrated Pho Wanlip’s (my amazing host dad’s) 70th birthday, and I had to rely on a mixture of hand gestures and the few words I knew to navigate our small conversations around our dinner table.

October 16, 2024October 16, 2024

Growth and Gratitude

by LG

The weekend before I left for orientation at Tufts, my best friend drove down to Connecticut from Vermont to pay me a visit. Previously, Laurel and I saw each other every day for hours at a time. At that point, it had been about three months since I had last been in the same room as her, and we were on the precipice of nearly four more. On Monday morning as she loaded up the Subaru to head back up north, we stood looking at each other with tears streaming down our cheeks. “When I see you next, everything’s going to be different,” I told her. It’s a tad dramatic, but it’s rung true.

Since I said goodbye to Laurel, I’ve integrated myself into a group of people I can only describe as my Tufts University-assigned best friends. While I’d like to think our paths would cross in any universe, I’m endlessly grateful to Tisch College for guiding them together in this one. We’re all from different parts of the world, are interested in different things, and have different stories, but we all share the desire to adventure and understand a way of life different from our own. This community has taught me to love, trust, and breathe more deeply. From the very beginning, there’s been so much love in this house of strangers.

October 9, 2024October 11, 2024

A Little Update

by Natalie

It’s crazy to think that I’ve already been in Peru for over a month! This weekend we move in with our host families and I’m very excited. So far, we’ve done a lot already. We’ve been taking Spanish classes, a Latin American Civilization class, and of course our Pathways class. We’ve explored Urubamba, Cusco, and Paru Paru. We’ve gone on hikes and adventures, had bonfires, eaten delicious Peruvian food, spoken to locals in the Plaza and main market, shared group bus rides and movie nights, had fun family dinners, seen the Milky Way in the night sky, and so much more. I can’t even begin to express how happy I am to be in Peru, especially with this group.